Its all governed by this basic equation:
calories in - calories out = weight gain
The important thing to remember is its not the absolute quantity of food you eat that's important for weight control. Its the difference between what you eat and what you use.
Here are some possible causes of overweight and obesity. No doubt, if you put your mind to it, you can greatly expand the list!
- Food, an obvious candidate.
- Physical activity or exercise. More like the lack of it!
- Inheritance. Genes or bad eating habits from parents.
- Medical reasons. This is a rare cause of overweight.
Overeating
I believe this is the number 1 reason why people gain weight. This is not about stuffing yourself till your tummy is near bursting (that obviously makes it worse). We tend to overeat in more subtle ways. For instance if you tend to choose foods high in fat or calories-dense foods, you are more likely to gain weight. Better to choose foods such as whole wheat bread, potatoes, or vegetables.
Have you been bored, upset,or just tired? Of course, who hasn't! Do you find yourself heading for the cupboards or fridge? That's using food as a 'quick-pick-me-up'. I am afraid that's bad news - more calories in.
We all love going to the pub for a pint with our friends. Nothing wrong with that, just remember that a pint of bitter is about 190 calories. That glass of white wine generously gives you 113 calories. By all means go to the pub, but ease on the numbers.
Physical activity
In general today's lifestyle is more sedentary than in the years gone past. The work is lighter, what with all those machines helping. Cars and lifts mean we don't have to walk much anymore.
You can join a gym, of course. But then you might have a tight time budget, especially if you have kids and you have to do house work. The first thing that gets squeezed out of the budget is the exercise regime ("after all I can always do it tomorrow!"). Of course you may not be able to join a gym because its neither affordable nor practical.
In the home it doesn't get any better. We are spoilt for choice on what device to use so that we do less work. We have the remote control so that we don't we have to get up and go to the telly. On average, we watch more than 20 hours of TV(I know, this is in spite of not having time for exercise).
By Paul Katsande : Article Source
The author is the webmaster of katsande.com, where you can find more tips and interesting stuff.
