A body mass index that falls between 18.5 and 25 defines a normal weight. Doctors define morbid obesity as having a body mass index higher than 40. When you're trying to bring that number into the former range, simply getting started may feel like a tremendous challenge, especially if you associate diet and exercise with deprivation and discomfort. Starting with incremental changes can make a tremendous difference to your overall health and longevity.
Diet
Step 1
Calculate your current body mass index using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's BMI calculator in the Resources section below. Knowing where you stand will help you plan the path ahead.
Step 2
Keep a food journal for at least a week, and record everything you eat without making conscious changes to your diet. To change your eating habits, you must first understand those habits. This step alone could help you shed pounds, according to a 2008 study published in the "American Journal of Preventive Medicine" that found people who tracked their food intake consumed fewer calories.
Step 3
Subtract 500 calories a day from the figures in your food journal. Adding a pound of body fat requires 3,500 calories; so does losing that pound. If you take away 500 calories per day, you'll average a pound a week of weight loss. You and your doctor may decide to revisit how many calories you cut and how many pounds you want to shed.
Step 4
Remove foods from your home that don't help your weight-loss efforts. A bag of chips at the grocery store is less of an invitation to eat than a bag in your kitchen. If you feel wasteful getting rid of these foods, give unopened items to a food bank or to friends.
Step 5
Add new foods to your diet. Because dieting often feels like a purely subtractive process -- cutting calories, removing foods from the table, shedding pounds -- it's important to focus on what you can add to your diet for better health. Accompany every meal and snack with at least one serving of fruit or vegetables to improve your nutrition and stave off hunger.
Step 6
Make changes you can embrace in the long term. Switching from frying to grilling, substituting cream sauces for vegetable-based ones and replacing chips with crackers are changes that let you continue to eat foods you enjoy.
Exercise
Step 1
Move whenever and however you can. Every bit of physical activity you get during a day counts toward calories burned. Doing household chores, walking the dog or shopping count as exercise, too, so find reasons to move.
Step 2
Take frequent breaks from your desk, computer or television to stretch and move your limbs. You'll burn about three times as many calories standing as you do when sitting, while giving your brain a change of scenery.
Step 3
Seek forms of exercise that fit into your schedule, ability, and level of fitness. You're more likely to stick with an exercise program that doesn't cause you discomfort or pain.
Step 4
Check with your doctor about a form of exercise that will be safe for you. Consider one you enjoyed as a child or always wanted to attempt. Recumbent bikes or stationary cycles can accommodate larger body types comfortably and keep stress off your knees, while swimming lets you feel weightless enough to encourage you to keep moving.
Step 5
Seek support from others. Take family members with you for walks, or join a fitness class with other people who also want to lose weight so you can encourage each other and enjoy exercise in a social context.
Tips and Warnings
- Weight loss improves your health and comfort while you're in the process of losing. If you feel discouraged about how far you have to go, remember how much better you'll feel after taking just a few steps. Genetics and metabolism may predispose you to gain weight easily, but these are surmountable obstacles, not absolute barriers. Slow weight-loss success still counts as success; celebrate every lost pound instead of comparing your losses to your friend's, your relative's or your own past losses.
- Consult your doctor and get a physical before starting any weight-loss program and continue to check with your doctor as you progress. While your health will improve as you lose weight, your doctor may have additional recommendations or restrictions on your weight-loss efforts.
References
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Understanding Morbid Obesity
- University of Cincinnati; Management of Morbid Obesity; April 2007
- Rush University Medical Center: Causes of Morbid Obesity
- American Heart Association Journal; Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis; James A. Levine, et al.
- Science Daily; Keeping a Food Diary Doubles Weight Loss, Study Suggests; 2008
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