Many doctors now believe that when it comes to
your health, your waist measurement is important.
While knowing your body
mass index (BMI) is a good way to decide if you're overweight, it doesn't tell
the whole story.
BMI is a measure of how
healthy your weight is for your height.
If you have a high BMI,
you're likely to be carrying extra fat. But your health could be at greater
risk depending on where you store that fat.
Having a large amount
of tummy fat (compared to fat around your bottom or thighs) makes you more
likely to develop diabetes and heart problems.
A healthy waist
circumference for men is less than 94cm (37 inches), and for women it’s less
than 80cm (32 inches).
Losing weight and
keeping it off isn’t easy, but it has many benefits. You may only need to make
small changes to your lifestyle to maintain a healthy weight.
Why lose weight?
Obesity causes 9,000
premature deaths in England every year and reduces life expectancy by an
average of nine years.
It's also linked to
serious health problems and increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart
disease and cancers of the breast, colon and prostate.
Most people who are
overweight can blame their excess weight on eating more calories than they
burn.
That means there are
two main options if you want to lose weight: eat less or do more physical
activity. The best way to lose weight is a combination of the two.
Weight loss tips
You can reduce your
risk of obesity-related health problems by losing weight through eating more
healthily and doing more physical activity.
There are many articles
to help you attain a healthy weight.
You can cut down on
calories by making healthy food swaps in your everyday diet.
It’s not just small
changes to your eating habits that can make a big difference. Getting more
physical activity also helps you shed the pounds. You can do it simply in just
3 activity bursts each day.
Even if you're well on
the way to your target weight, there'll be plenty of temptation to overindulge.
One excuse for choosing
a quick, fat-laden supper is that healthy eating is expensive. Learning how to
eat well on the cheap will help you save the pennies as well as calories.
