Richard Madison - Microscopic Habits For Weight Loss: Change Your Life With Simple Ancient Habits for Modern-Day Weight Loss

The most prominent feature of a persons physical appearance is weight. The first time you meet a person, you might not take note of the perfume he/she wears or what brand of watch is on his/her wrist but you will immediately notice whether the person is skinny or on the chubbier side. This is why people are so mindful of their weight. Everybody wants to look good and maintain an impressive fitness level.

Apart from these cosmetic reasons, there are significant medical benefits of keeping body weight at an optimum level. It works as a preventive tool against diseases like diabetes, hypertension, stroke, heart attack, gout etc. The tendency to lose or weight gain depends on numerous factors which include genetics, metabolism, lifestyle and environment. Currently, the underlying trend seems to indicate that people tend to gain weight more easily as compared to losing it.

Putting on a few extra pounds every now and then is one thing, but consistently gaining weight over the years exposes you to a great amount of health hazards. Excessive body weight is a medical problem on its own and is known as obesity. America in particular is quite hard-hit by the epidemic. According to recent statistics, more than thirty five percent American adults are obese. In children this rate is a little over seventeen percent.

Excessive weight is caused by more than one factors. Stress, for example is one of them. When people are tensed or depressed, they sometimes resort to comfort eating. This leads to patterns of over-eating and weight becomes a secondary concern. Therefore we can say that body weight and mental health are directly related. With the world becoming a more and more stressful place with menaces like terrorism and unemployment, it is unsurprising that so many people are becoming over weight.

Another major reason of the increase in obesity is the unhealthy routine that the young generation has adopted. Earlier, outdoor games and sports used to be an integral part of daily life. More recently, the focus has shifted to fancy gadgets and online games that are played indoors, while sitting comfortably on a chair. While these games might be great for mental stimulation, they do not do much good to your physical health. This kind of routine makes one lazy, prone to eating disorders and what we informally refer to as a couch potato, which results in weight gain.

People are becoming increasingly career-oriented. This leaves less time for cooking and deprives them of home-made food. Due to the demanding nature of work and odd working hours, many rely on take away food that is available throughout the day. This food, among its other debatable qualities is not always made with utmost care and has proved to be fattening. Thus, here we have another reason explaining the rise of abnormal weight gains.

Once your weight exceeds a certain limit, it is much harder to be back in shape than shedding those extra pounds that you casually ignored. When you are highly over weight, it becomes nearly impossible to even perform household chores and run errands. You become out of breath easily and experience palpitation of the heart. Apart from the diseases that you are prone to, your increased weight proves to be a great burden on your finances because of the medical bills. Moreover, beyond a certain acceptable weight limit, surgical procedures will be required to remove fat from your body. The side effects of such procedures will remain with you for the rest of your life. Hence it is better to be safe than sorry and keep a constant check on your weight.

This brings us to the most important question which is, how do we know what is our optimum weight? Thankfully, there is a very effective tool that can tell us whether we have the right weight or need to gain or reduce it. The Body Mass Index(BMI) is calculated by dividing weight over height. You can compare your BMI with a standard chart that considers age and gender in addition to mass and height. This chart would tell you in what category ranging from under weight to obese, does your BMI stand.

Whats even better is that nowadays there are many digital applications that you can use to calculate BMI. You would not even have to do the math yourself. The apps can be downloaded in your device or simply used online. In a more conventional approach, you can just keep a weighing machine at home. It is inexpensive and would save you a lot of trouble that you would have to face in case your weight exceeds a certain limit. If you are extra vigilant about your health, seeing your family physician regularly for a complete checkup is also an option. That way, you can leave the analysis to him/her as the doctor would know your family history and would tell you about early precautions if the tendency to gain weight is in your genes.

Science also suggests that it would be harder to lose extra weight as the age increases. This is not only because of decreased physical efficiency, but just the way our body is programmed. The longer your body has carried the extra weight, the more your organism is accustomed to it. The increased fat also leads to high levels of cholesterol, the most dangerous consequence of which is the possibility of a stroke. Hence it is necessary to take timely action if you feel that your body fat is crossing the border towards unhealthy.