One two three four. Review on Healthy Weight Loss

.….five six seven eight, went the instructor.

Surveying the thirty odd participants of my aerobics class,

I’m a little puzzled. These girls are not fat! – with the exception of one or

two, many look pretty fit. Not that there was a shortage of fat girls in the

vicinity – but, hey, they haven’t made it here. As the class progresses

however, the picture emerges. These are the girls with issues about their “body

image”. They are the ones who looking for slim, toned bodies – and general fitness.

I notice that though professional and claiming to have

helped many people lose weight, the instructor herself is not very fit, nor

dressed appropriately – hardly inspiring. But the music is on, and you can’t

lax off. Its not the instructor who makes this session work, its those beats

and that hi five feeling that hits the group as you warm up to the beats  of  We

will, we will rock you. As we chant the numbers, the synchronization

happens by itself. **The camaraderie in the group is tangible as we grin at

each other, laugh and relax together then get up to jump again.*

 What about the fat girls?

There was a time not all that long ago that Obesity was not

even recognized as a health problem. You were fat – that was it. You went to

personal point, enrolled, spent some money, got slim, got fat again – uh, till

that murder happened. Suddenly Vandana Luthra became a whole lot cooler.

Many,

however, did not do this either. Of course it was social problem – but hey,

after some research it even became apparent that it was in your genes. All fat

people heaved a sigh of relief when it was proved that they could not really

help it. But that bubble burst soon.

 What makes us fat

We were all born(more or less) happy and healthy. Along the

way, we met:

1. Moms

and grandmoms – who were hellbent on feeding us to make us strong and

healthy. Along the way, other well-wishers took their place – and pointed

out that you were way too thin. *Did you want to point out that they

were way too fat?* There were also the friends and relatives who

propagated the body image prototypes – *you don’t look like a

“such and such” or a “so and so”* –  went they. Pile on a few other

food related perceptions, and viola, you have a fat kid on your

hands.

1. As you

grew older, you also met stress – studies, work, finances, and many

others. Whether you knew it or not, you subconsciously sought solace in

eating. Low self-esteem? - open the fridge and binge. Feeling tired

and out of control? – pop that packet of chips and hog. **Eating

gives instant gratification.*

1. We

meet processed food – chips, white bread, white sugar, white rice –

in general, a white fatty delicious world that doesn’t help the muscle

mass but feeds the fat cells.

1. But

the worst of all these was one of your own choosing – a sedentary lifestyle.

No, you protest, I go to office every day(*and plonk yourself into that

overstuffed chair). I eat very little(of fried, fatty foods and

burn it oh, so little). I’m on the move the whole day(in an

airconditioned car). I’m not overweight(or fit*). Oh Yes, we

all do it – we hate to sweat, we drive everywhere we can, sit in front of

our computers, avoid the stairs and say that we are ahem, healthy.

 Obesity – The health problem

What has been realized in the past ten odd years – is that

obesity is not just a condition, it is a major and impending health problem

fast looming on heads like an epidemic. Obesity does not just directly lead to

Diabetes and Heart related problems, it has direct correlation with cancer,

asthma, sleep apnea and maybe even memory loss. Apart from the social stigma of

being obese, patients report poor vision, memory loss, mood swings, …the list goes

on.

 So why not just lose it?

The problems with losing weight are many:

1. Fat

cells never die. You lose weight, lax off, gain it back again like a yo-yo

till you just get tired of it.

1. As you

lose weight, toxins are released into the body – so, as such, there is no

safe weight loss technique.

1. As you

do lose weight, the metabolism also slows down – so, there is an automatic

compensation – the body refuses to lose weight.

1. Exercise

has long-term benefits for health but there is no real correlation with

weight loss.

1. Fat

people often ending up playing games with themselves confessing to their

wanting to lose weight but posing many obstacles(very real to them) as to

why they do not have the time, the circumstances, the health and blah,

blah to do it.

1. Long-term

lifestyle changes that are really useful in weight loss are the ones that

are the hardest to make. One of the ways to do it would be to have a peer

group on the lines of alcoholics anonymous – a set of like minded friends

with whom activities and problems could be shared.

 A law against obesity?

I know the arguments against too

many laws but considering the very real economic burden that this health

problem places on the world, it does make some sense to have some laws in

place.

1. Imagine

if you could be offered a discount on all your purchases on a basis

calculated by the average weight of the adults in your household.

1. Or a

cut in your insurance premium?

1. How

about being able to sue Frito Lays for placing too many adverts on TV?

1. Or

fining schools for allowing too much junk food into their canteens?

1. Even an income tax rebate?

Well, some of this makes pretty good sense to me!