Keeping your weight in check

Keeping Healthy

Adults BMI Weight Ranges

A BMI calculation in the healthy weight range is between 18.5 to 24.9.

For Black, Asian and some other minority ethnic groups, the healthy weight range is 18.5 to 23.

For people of White heritage, a BMI:

• below 18.5 is underweight
• between 18.5 and 24.9 is healthy
• between 25 and 29.9 is overweight
• of 30 or over is obese

Black, Asian and some other minority ethnic groups have a higher risk of developing some long-term conditions such as type 2 diabetes with a lower BMI

People from these groups with a BMI of:

• 23 or more are at increased risk (overweight)
• 27.5 or more are at high risk (obese)

Inactivity plus a regular normal diet leads to weight gain.

You can prevent gain or aim to loose weight by shifting your net energy balance to negative on a daily basis.

Steps:

It is best to develop lifestyles or habits that make such efforts sustainable. For some this might mean giving up sugar in tea or cereals , stopping fizzy drinks especially coca-cola or Pepsi regardless of their labels e.g sugar free or diet coke etc. Alcohol is another source of calories people don't realise. Of course some prefer spirits to avoid excess calories but that introduces more problems from harmful or dependence for those at risk. See example diet and activity chart with weight/BMI monitoring table.

1. Activity:
   • Daily brisk walks lasting 20 - 30mins
   • Regular bedside exercise routines: sit in bed and touch your toes, raise your arms above your head, raise both legs up in the air ...
   • High intensity interval training - HIIT
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2. Diet:
   • Stop flooding yourself with easy calorie such as from starchy foods. This is clearly why people gain weight when they spend greater than 50% of their wakeful hours sedentary.
   • Consider a no-Carbs plan for minimum two weeks. Then you may allow a once to twice weekly .mixed Carb / salad / protein diet
   • Switch to protein / veg / salad / some fat type meals in your first month.
   • Drink clear fluids. No sugary drinks, no beverages, no alcohol.
   • It is tempting to want to reward yourself by allowing your fav deserts. Don't. This is your brain craving "feel good" feelings that carbs may give you via dopamine circuits. It is how we get addicted to sugar and 'comfort eat'.
   • Note that :
     • 1g Carbs produces 4 Calorie unit of energy
     • 1g protein produces 4 Calorie unit of energy
     • 1g fat produces 9 Cal ...
   • But whilst carbs is easy to absorb and store, eating protein or fat requires some work to release its energy. In the absence of carbs in our diet, our body will try to break down fat or convert protein to energy. The end result is that we loose weight better
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3. Fasting:
   • Intermittent fasting is a great way to reset the body metabolism. The brain needs blood glucose to be at a given level to maintain its cognitive function. If serum glucose drops below a critical amount we become hypoglycaemic and may be confused, irritable, faint or collapse. To prevent this the body works hard to break down fat into energy and protein into glucose. Fasting will enable this process readily and prolonged fasting leads to weight loss.
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   • People who are overweight often say they eat very little yet continue to gain weight. The reality is that their main energy expenditure is from basal metabolic activities (BMR) and this is so low that to trigger an energy balance shift in the opposite direction, in the absence of exercise, their intake needs to be significantly low, enough to maintain a state of hunger. To meaningfully trigger the brain to switch to fasting mode, there needs to be no ready source of glucose from our diet. This is tough initially but can be achieved via intermittent or prolonged fasting. Anyone with any specific medical condition must consult their doctors before attempting a fast of any kind.
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Weight Loss: A steady combination of above measures will often lead to sustained weight loss ranging from 0.5 to 1kg every week or at least 2kg in a month. On achieving a healthy target weight, maintaining this weight is a balancing act which requires a combination of consistency with diets and a working routine.

Kindly share your experience in the comments section below.