4 Tips to avoid becoming obese!

Obesity is the term used to describe anyone who is excessively overweight.

Typically this happens when a person either consumes more calories than they burn off, make bad choices when it comes to food selection or in very rare cases have a medical condition.

If you live a sedentary lifestyle where little or no exercise is involved and you continuously choose to eat unhealthy food, at some point you will gain weight.

A few key things to look out for are…

1. Do you become breathless during the simplest of tasks?
2. Have your clothes become too small or tight?
3. Do you crave sugary treats or junk food constantly?
4. Have your joints become painful? Typically lower back, knees and ankles?
5. Have you started to snore at night?

These are just a few symptoms that may be warning signs that you are gaining too much weight.

All is not lost though…. My advice to avoid getting to this stage or to pull yourself back from it would be to:

1. Add some lean muscle mass

Get lifting weights in the gym as well as doing some cardio. The more muscle mass you have the higher your metabolic rate will be. Cardio is great when supplemented with lifting weights but on its on its own cardio won’t be as effective.

2. Avoid trans fats

Trans fats are typically man made fats that the body struggles to break down and utilise in an effective manner. The body typically will store this type of fat in the body which can be very difficult to shift.

3. Steer clear of sugar 

Some research is now suggesting that sugar can be as addictive as drugs. It may seem a little extreme to class sugar as a drug, however when you look at it sugar is addictive, leads to cravings and urges you to want more and is extremely hard to eliminate from your diet. I’m not saying to cut it out completely but try to avoid it as much as possible.

4. Limit your alcohol consumption  

The calories contained in alcohol are empty calories and when combined with the calories you are consuming in food can tip you over the required calorific intake you actually need. Alcohol also has a tendency to lower inhibitions making you much more likely to consume and indulge in foods you know you shouldn’t be.

So there you have it, apply these simple tips and stay clear of becoming “obese”.

Remember to take care of your body, it’s the only one you have.

Olly.