I'm Obese... Where do I Start
obesity is becoming a real big problem for the western world. According to Public Health England the prevalence of obesity among adults has increased sharply during the 1990s and early 2000s. The proportion who were categorised as obese (BMI 30kg/m2 or over) increased from 13.2% of men in 1993 to 26.9% in 2015 and from 16.4% of women in 1993 to 26.8% in 2015 (HSE). By 2050 the prevalence of obesity is predicted to affect 60% of adult men, 50% of adult women [1]. These are very worrying statistics.
I believe those who are obese are unhappy with their current state of health, don't get me wrong I am sure there are plenty of people who may be obese who are perfectly content, however most will be unhappy.
For those who are unhappy they feel stuck. They feel like they have no choice but to keep being obese as they do not know where to start. A lot of the time they may feel depressed and ashamed to ask for help. They may try but more often than not they fail.
Why? It is common sense to most people. Eat less more more.... So why if it is that easy do we have these worrying statistics?
Because it is not easy , otherwise we wouldn't have this problem. Obesity doesn't happen overnight. It develops gradually over time, as a result of poor diet and lifestyle choices, such as:
Eating large amounts of processed or fast food – processed or fast food are usually made with cheap ingredients that are high in fat and sugar
Drinking too much alcohol – alcohol contains a lot of calories, these calories cannot usually be used by the body as energy therefore are stored as fat. People who drink heavily are often overweight
Eating out a lot – you may be tempted to also have a starter or dessert in a restaurant, and the food can be higher in fat and sugar
Eating larger portions than you need – you may be encouraged to eat too much if your friends or relatives are also eating large portions
Drinking too many sugary drinks – including soft drinks and fruit juice
Comfort eating – if you have low self-esteem or feel depressed, you may eat to make yourself feel better
Unhealthy eating habits tend to run in families. You may learn bad eating habits from your parents when you're young and continue them into adulthood.
Lack of physical activity is another important factor related to obesity. Most people have sedetary jobs, don't get me started on the muscular imbalances that is for another blog. However sedetary jobs usually involve sitting down for long periods, meaning that they are burning less calories.
To add to the sedetary jobs people tend to go for the easy options such as using cars for short trips, taking the lift instead of the stairs and being plain lazy
For relaxation, many people tend to watch TV, browse the internet or play computer games, and rarely take regular exercise.
If you're not active enough, you don't use the energy provided by the food you eat, and the extra energy you consume is stored by the body as fat.
So where do you start?
Well the main thing is you take it slow. Too much too soon is a sure thing to failing.
I would highly recommend you pick one aspect of your lifestyle which you know you can implement straight away.
Self-directed fat loss programs fail 98% of the time, but not because fat loss is so hard. It’s because most people make fat loss hard by trying to learn and do too much at once. It’s “all or nothing” at its worst, and it leads to a staggeringly high rate of failure.
I am a Precision Nutrition certified coach, on the other hand, my clients as well as thousands of Precision Nutrition clients enjoy an amazingly high success rate. And that’s because we understand how successful change really happens. You see, successful, lasting change only happens by introducing new habits/ behaviours slowly — and only when a client is truly confident they can do them.
If you don’t want to be part of the 98% that fail at fat loss, I strongly recommend you do the same thing we do. So here’s a list of proven habits and behaviours that’ll help you lose fat. And what do you do with them?
Simple: first, read through them and choose one habit to follow for the next 14 days or so.
Pick whichever one seems easiest for you. Once you choose, ask yourself the following question: “On a scale of 1-10, how confident am I that I can do this habit every day for the next 14 days?”
If the answer is a 9 or a 10, you can get started on that habit. However, if your answer is less than a 9, either choose a different habit or make your chosen habit easier until you’re really confident you can do it.
For example, instead of exercising 30 minutes a day, could you do 15? How about 5? Give yourself permission to make it easier and easier on yourself until you’re at least 9/10 on the confidence scale.
Then do it. Remember, this is about truly being honest with yourself. Forget about what you think you should be able to do; what can you do, right now? In my experience, to be truly confident (which is what separates those who succeed from those who fail), people need to start with one, quick, easy habit each day.
I hope this helps
Remember as always any questions let me know
[1] http://www.noo.org.uk/NOO_about_obesity/adult_obesity