OBESITY
What is obesity? The generally accepted terminology today is a Body Mass Index of 30 or above. ”Overweight” is considered a BMI of 25 to 29 and morbid obesity is a BMI of 40 or above. One-third of Americans are overweight and another third are obese. You can find your own BMI easily on the internet. However here are some simple extrapolations:
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The risks of being overweight increase exponentially as you approach a BMI of 30 and continue up above that! These include:
- Diabetes
- High cholesterol
- High triglycerides
- Heart disease and heart attack
- High blood pressure
- Stroke
- Arthritis
- Cancer of almost every type
- Disability
- Alzheimer’s Disease
- Earlier death
The bottom line is that you cannot afford the luxury of being fat—call it what you wish but significant overweight is fat, obese, unhealthy! Ultimately, you can use any excuse or rationalization you wish but being overweight is the result of eating more calories than you burn. Yes, low thyroid function may contribute but if your basal temperature (before you get out of bed) is 97.6 or above, you are not likely hypothyroid!
Poor nutrition and inadequate physical exercise are the likely contributors. Junk food, such as that at McDonald’s and its clones, highly processed food (like 60+ % of that in grocery stores!), monosodium glutamate (MSG), sugar, pop, aspartame-the Un-Equal, are major contributors. Sitting all day at a desk or computer is almost as unhealthy as eating junk.
The solution:
- Eat a minimum of 6 or more servings daily of real fruits or vegetables.
- Avoid high glycemic index foods. Eat Low Glycemic.
- MOVE!! It does not matter so much what you do but move your body about a MINIMUM of one hour a day.
- See STRESS-FREE, WEIGHT-FREE and
- THE INSTANT BLISS DIET.