Sandy G. Couvillon - The Complete Idiots Concise Guide to Healthy Weight Loss

Instead, you learn the basics that help you lose weight faster and stay healthier. Simple, smart, commonsense approaches are the hallmark of this book. Start now to plan your new thinner wardrobe and attitude. You can have the results you want and deserve. Extra Bites The sidebars in this book offer tips, inspiration, valuable knowledge, and definitions. WEIGHTY WARNING Mistakes happen, but these warnings should help keep you from stalling your progress and making fattening mistakes. DEFINITION The definitions of words and concepts in these boxes will expand your knowledge of weight loss, nutrition, and health termswithout expanding your waist. THINSPIRATION Like a friendly weight-loss coach, these boxes contain positive, inspiring, and uplifting thoughts, plus encouragement, for your journey from being overweight to being thin. THINSPIRATION Like a friendly weight-loss coach, these boxes contain positive, inspiring, and uplifting thoughts, plus encouragement, for your journey from being overweight to being thin.

All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be or are suspected of being trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Alpha Books and Penguin Group (USA) Inc. cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark.

• The U.S. obesity epidemic
• Health risks of being overweight or obese
• Knowing you can succeed
• Very real benefits of living at your ideal size

Thats the image to hold in your head as you read this book. Its also the self-image you should keep for the rest of your lifebecause thats the way you can look! For now, however, youve got a weight issue. Perhaps youre carrying 15 pounds and a few more inches than your ideal. Maybe its 50 pounds or more. Perhaps youve tried different diets and food plans, along with various exercise regimes. Most likely, your long-term results have been disappointing.

Although you might have lost weight at times, eventually something happened, and you regained the weight, perhaps even more than you lost. Worse, you are at a loss as to why your best efforts have failed. You know there must be a solution to your weight issue. After all, arent there plenty of people who both enjoy food and stay at their ideal size, the size that is realistic for them? The good news is that you can be one of them! Thats the fundamental message of this book. A Nation Getting Fatter You are not alone. population is larger than ever before in history and keeps getting larger. population is larger than ever before in history and keeps getting larger.

Gradually, we have become a land of supersized individuals. More than 67 percent of American adults are overweight and 33 percent are obese. That means more than 97.1 million adults in the United States are unsuccessful at managing their weight. The medical definition of overweight is having a body mass index (BMI) of between 25 and 29.9. If your BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9, you are within the normal weight range. If your BMI is higher than 29.9, you are considered to be obese.

To calculate your BMI, multiply your weight in pounds by 704.5, divide the result by your height in inches, and then divide that result by your height in inches a second time. DEFINITION The Body Mass Index(BMI) is not a perfect guide, but its a useful one. There are a few obvious exceptions to the formula: Athletes with very high muscle mass will have a higher BMI, and people, such as the elderly, who have lost a great amount of muscle mass due to reduced nutritional reserves will have a low BMI. The U.S. population has been getting progressively weightier for the past four decades. The proportion of the population that is overweight or obese has increased from 24.4 percent in 1960 to 68 percent in 2010.

Heres how it breaks down: 24.4% in 196062 24.9% in 197174 25.4% in 197680 34.8% in 198894 68% in 2010 The trend isnt slowing. The Centers for Disease Control considers obesity to be a frightening medical epidemic. About 20 million men and 20 million women are obese. Thats a 61 percent increase since 1991. In 1991, only 4 of 45 states that participated in a National Institute of Health study had obesity rates of 15 to 19 percent of their adult populations. By 2000, 49 of 50 statesColorado was the one exceptionhad rates of 15 percent or greater.