In today’s world, where everybody is getting conscious about looking good, it has become all the more necessary to keep oneself in shape. If you have a good figure, not only it enables you to flaunt your body, but also it helps in boosting your confidence level. For some people, obesity becomes a serious cause of concern, thus affecting their mental fitness.

Weight loss isn’t always easy and it helps to learn what weight loss is all about. The primary reason to lose weight is health, not appearance. Losing as little as 10 kgs can help reduce your risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

Whether you are trying to lose 5 pounds or more than 50, the same simple laws of physics determine whether or not you will lose weight and how fast your weight loss will occur.

Our weight is determined by the amount of energy that we take in as food and the amount of energy we expend in the activities of our day. Energy is measured in calories. If your weight remains constant, you are probably taking in the same amount of calories you burn each day. If you’re slowly gaining weight over time, it is likely that your caloric intake is greater than the number of calories you burn through your daily activities.

Everyone is in control of the amount of food he or she consumes each day, so our intake of calories is something we can control. To a major degree, we can also control our output of energy, or the number of calories we burn each day.

The most effective method for weight loss is reducing the number of calories you consume while increasing the number of calories you burn through physical activity. To lose 1 pound, you need an expenditure of approximately 3,500 calories. You can achieve this either by cutting back on your food intake, by increasing physical activity, or ideally, by doing both.

Most experts agree that a safe, healthy rate of weight loss is one to 1 ½ pounds per week. Modification of eating habits along with regular exercise is the most effective way to lose weight over the long term. It is also the ideal way to ensure that the weight stays off.

Why is weight loss important?

Maintenance of a healthy body weight is important for maintaining both physical and emotional well-being and preventing disease. Excess weight and obesity have been associated with an increased risk for numerous medical conditions, including

• heart disease
• high blood pressure
• stroke
• diabetes
• osteoarthritis
• some types of cancers
• sleep apnea
• elevated blood cholesterol levels

It should be noted that reduction in weight for those who are overweight can make a major impact on the conditions listed above. Many overweight people also report improved mood, increased in self-esteem and motivation, and feeling healthier in general after they have lost weight.

The main reason to lose weight is for health

• Nearly 112,000 deaths per year may be attributable to obesity.
• The risk of death rises with increasing weight.
• Even moderate weight excess (10 to 20 kgs for a person of average height) increases the risk of death, particularly among adults ages 30 to 64.
• People who are obese (defined as having a body mass index [BMI] greater than 30) have a higher risk of excess death (they are more likely to die) from all causes, compared to people at a healthy weight.
• The incidence of heart disease is higher in persons who are overweight or obese (BMI greater than 25).
• High blood pressure is more common in adults who are obese than in those who are at a healthy weight.