Weight Loss Essay, Research Paper

About one-third of Americans are extremely over-weight, which may be why crash

dieting is beginning to plague America. It’s estimated that Americans alone

spend 80-100 billion dollars on weight loss tactics. People go on these diets to

get quick results but are these results hurting them more than helping? The

answer is Yes! The only way to safely and effectively lose weight is through

old-fashioned exercise and the right diet. You cannot successfully lose weight

by simply cutting food from your diet or taking some pills, it is necessary to

work for your results. Without depriving your body of necessary nutrients

through dieting, you can lose fat and get the body you’ve always dreamed of, or

at least one you’re more comfortable with. The quote "The effects of the

current obsession with dieting can be devastating", said by Mr. Woodworth,

a long time exercise and nutrition expert, summarizes the dangers of dieting.

The many dangerous methods of losing weight: so called "dieting" or

starvation/fad diets, pills and drugs, over-exercising, surgery, and eating

disorders, have taken many casualties. Many people go on "diets", a

word so commonly misused, to get quick results of weight loss. Perhaps the most

common is minor starvation and fad dieting. This method is when people become

over concerned with calorie intake. Many deaths have been associated with low

calorie diets. By trying to shed pounds simply by cutting all fat from the diet

greatly increases the risk of getting cancer, heart disease, and other health

problems. That "low-fat" trap gets people hooked on reduced-fat snacks

or possibly not eating at all. So now the body is being deprived of necessary

nutrients not available in any pill or liquid form. Yes cutting fat and

cholesterol reduces the risk of heart disease and diabetes, but nutrient poor

diets have an even larger risk of getting those diseases along with many others.

Of course a large percent of dieters will lose weight but they will feel

depressed afterward and gain back even more than before they started the diet.

The reason why is because they are losing "healthy" weight along with

the fat they were hoping to rid of. In an infomercial with Tony Little, he

showed a graph of what the body loses when someone goes on a diet. By cutting

back on foods, the body becomes deprived of very important nutrients. Then when

it seems you are losing weight, what you are actually losing is fat AND MUSCLE.

Many times, more lean muscle than fat will be lost. And although they may look

slimmer because their size is smaller, they are actually weaker and more

susceptible to injuries due to losing "healthy" weight. Healthy weight

is muscle and bone weight, the things that support your structure and enable you

to perform rigorous activities. A lot of the time "healthy" weight is

misinterpreted, especially in females. Which leads to an amazing fact that 62%

of women and 44% of men that are dieting aren’t even overweight! But they are

misled when they step on the bathroom scale and "My God" look what it

says! They are not realizing that muscle outweighs fat over 2:1. Therefor, many

people may think they are fat even though they may be healthy. I myself am an

example of that. On a height and age chart it says my ideal weight for my height

is 155 pounds. I am 168, so does that mean that I am overweight? Not

necessarily. Charts and stuff are made for averages and trends because when

doing a body fat testing I had only 10.8% body fat which is below the average

for people my age and size. So the bathroom scale scares many people into

believing that they need to lose weight when it may not be necessary. On top of

overweight people dieting we also have healthy people dieting, both of which are

extremely dangerous. Thus, the fad diet/starvation method should be completely

avoided because simple "dieting" is just a stepping stone that may

lead to much more serious things that become life changing or life threatening..

What started as a simple "diet" may have progressed into another

dangerous way of losing weight through pills or drugs and eating disorders. How

wonderful it would be if we could all take a couple of pills a day and not worry

what else we may eat all while obtaining that body we yearn for. Unfortunately,

we don’t have that pill and probably never will so avoid the dangerous

imitations out there. What is not told about these miracle pills that make you

have the body of your dreams is that they cause fatigue, hyperphagia, insomnia,

mood changes, irritability and if really abused psychosis. While claiming to

boost your metabolism, reduce fat, and suppress your appetite they may become

addicting and your body may eventually depend upon them. Many of these pills

contain untested chemicals and slip by the FDA by claiming that they are food

supplements not drugs. And while each year many deaths are due to these products

they are still being used by seven percent of adolescent girls in the U.S. and

thirty-four percent have at least tried them. Furthering the risk of

complications in life and leading many times to death along with dieting. People

with eating disorders are believed to be the result from the 70 million

Americans who diet each year, lose the weight, regain the weight, and then diet

again. They, instead of going back to dieting once more, become anorexia nervosa

or bulimia nervosa. Anorexia is when an individual is more than 15 percent under

expected weight, fears gaining weight, females have amenorrhea (males lose sex

drive) and abnormal eating habits. They simply restrict food because the

pleasure in eating food is overwhelmed by guilt and anxiety. About 1 in every

100 girls between 12-18 years of age are affected. The complications of anorexia

are dehydration, gastrointestinal bleeding, chest pain, low heart rate, abnormal

temperature, bone growth retardation or osteoporosis, infertility, dry skin and

hair, constipation, epileptic seizures, the list still goes on. An awful lot

just to lose some weight don’t you think? Many people who simply use the fad

diet method get the urge to lose more weight and that is when they resort to the

life threatening disorder of anorexia. Approximately one-third of anorexics

become bulimia nervosa’s. These are people who binge eat then purge themselves

by vomiting. They become isolated and depressed and have a low self-esteem.

What’s worse though is that physically these people seem healthy but if you look

close they develop finger calluses or lesions, puffy cheeks , and erosion of

enamel on their teeth due to the stomach acids so frequently eating away at it.

It is in everyone’s best interest to avoid dieting and the other methods of

losing weight that come with it because there is a major difference between

dieting and having a healthy diet (food choice). To overcome these weight

problems and lead a healthier life you need look no further than a couple isles

over from where you usually shop in the market and a little bit of good old

exercise. First off there is one important thing you must know abut trying to

lose weight the correct way, it’s just like trying to become a millionaire, it

takes some work and some time. Losing weight the correct way will take longer

than a crash diet but it is a much safer method not to mention more permanent.

This may be the tricky part for most people, laying of the junk food. It is ok

to have junk food occasionally but making it an everyday thing will really

lengthen the weight loss process especially if you are older. The main entr?e

needs to be starchy foods. It has been said that breads are fatty but they

contain no more calories per gram than lean meat. These foods tends to expand

once in your stomach making you feel a little more full and giving you less of

an urge to eat and really stuff yourself. When you stuff yourself your stomach

grows just like when you exercise a muscle, the next time you will need more

food to satisfy it. Avoid the breads made with lots of oil or butter and ones

you need to put spreads on for flavor. It is wise to include a variety of fresh

fruits and vegetables into your diet. Greener foods tend to help metabolism (the

chemical that helps you break down food) better and are recommended. Although

McDonalds has Americas favorite fries, you better avoid that and any other type

of fried potato including potato chips. Even though they are vegetables they

have been doused with fatty oils. Dairy products are necessary foods so opt for

the skim milk, nonfat yogurt, and low-fat cheese. You’ll acquire a taste for

them and appreciate it in the long run. Protein is another necessary food that

you must watch carefully. Trim all visible fat off before steaming, grilling,

baking or poaching. Notice I did not say frying! Frying requires oil and oil is

a main ingredient you want to avoid. Cutting down on fats is the best approach

when you are attempting to make an appropriate diet. You do not want to

eliminate all fats but minimizing them helps. Calories are too often worried

about. It’s like saying, don’t fill up the car past ? of a tank because it

might not run as well. Calories are energy and energy is necessary. Now that

doesn’t mean fill up the car so much it starts spilling out on the ground and

flooding the parking lot. With the exercise you plan to incorporate in this

weight loss program you will use all of those calories and burn the existing

"fat" calories stuck on you body. By adapting this plan into your meal

plan you are very unlikely to put on any more weight unless all you do is sit on

your couch all day watching TV (it burns calories just not enough). Fat calories

are the calories you want to avoid. Any snacks that are high in saturated fat

and have a lot of total calories from fat. Now, to rid of your existing excess

weight there is one and only one way, by continuous aerobic exercise. In order

for the body to begin burning fat calories, which have a different make up of

carbohydrate and protein calories, the body must believe it needs to use the

larger amount of calories. For most activities in life your body uses calories

from carbohydrates or proteins for quick energy. Once you have been performing

an activity using your legs, i.e. jogging, biking continuous swimming, etc., for

12 minutes your body begins to use the fat calories to conserve on

carbohydrates. Thus, after 12 minutes of aerobic exercise (which is defined as

having your heart rate between 80-110 b.p.s) you begin to burn fat from your

body and sweat it through your skin cells. So recommended duration for exercise

is 20 minutes for beneficial results. Performing this activity once a day would

probably show results more rapidly but it is recommended you do it 3-5 times a

week especially if you don’t regularly exercise. There is a note of caution for

people who are extremely over weight to not try and over do it. Over exercising

can cause heart attacks so you should ease your way into exercising. Maybe start

just by walking, then a combination of walking and jogging, don’t try and over

do it hoping to get results instantly. All good things take time. So with

determination and persistency you can be on your way to a healthier lifestyle by

incorporating a healthy and plentiful diet with essential exercise. Without

dieting, you’re capable of sculpting a body more desirable for yourself and

staying in good health. Without buying pills and drugs and little gimmicks you

can make it much cheaper to take of that unwanted fat. Take yourself out of that

statistic that one-third of Americans are extremely over-weight driving them

into crash dieting. Through daily exercise and the right diet gradually lose the

weight which doesn’t put you at such great risks. The truth is dieting destines

you for death, while dedication destines you for doggedness.

WSOC Health Team 9 (1998, Editors) "Dangerous Dieting" 1998 The

Associated Press on the web Retrieved 12-10-99 from World Wide Web http://www.gocarolinas.com/living/health/nutrition/_dieting.html

Lane, Theresa (1996) Foods That Harm Foods That Heal The Readers Digest

Association Limited, London Berg, Francis M. (1995) Health Risks of Weight Loss

Hettinger, ND : Healthy Weight Journal Little, Tony (Producer) (1997, May 24)

"Healthy Living w/ Tony Little" Infomercial on CBS Woodworth, M. (1998

Sept) [Speech by Mr. Woodworth] At Walled Lake Central High School