Managing Your Weight
12.31.09
Health is wealth. Keeping your health in right track and maintaining this is a ticket of having true wealth and wellness. But how do we do proper weight management?
Tip 1: Know your Desirable Body Weight
Basic to weight management is knowing your desirable body weight (DBW)
Formula for DBW of adolescence and adult in kilograms= (Height in centimeters – 100)
Remember to keep your weight within your desirable body weight and that should not go below 10% or beyond 10% of your desirable body weight. If you are way below it then check on some gain weight program and if your weight is more than your desirable body weight, then this is telling you that you are overweight or obese. Obesity is very unhealthy and it’s time to lose weight.
TIP 2: Know your Total Energy Requirement or Total Calorie Requirement (TCR)
Now you know your desirable body weight, next thing to consider in your weight management is to be conscious in what you are eating. To effectively lose weight, know what your body needs and take out the excess. While it is the dietitians and other health professionals’ job to know how much calories we need but it also pays a lot knowing your own TCR. Total Calorie Requirement will vary according to age range and physical activity of a person.
According to age range for adolescence
13- 15 boys 55 cal/KDBW (desirable body weight in kilograms)
13- 15 girls 54 cal/ KDBW
16 – 19 boys 50 cal/ KDBW
16 – 19 girls 45 cal/ KDBW
According to physical activity
Sedentary: 30 cal/ KDBW
Light activities example teacher, student, maids: 35 cal/KDBW
Moderate example car drivers, working student vendor: 40 cal/ KDBW
Heavy workers, farmers etc: 45 cal/ KDBW
How to compute:
TER= caloric requirement (according to age range or physical activity) x desirable body
Weight
Ie. TER= 35 cal/ KDBW x 45 KDBW
= 1575 calories per day
Optimum of 1600 calories required per day
TIP 3: Eat variety of nutritious food each day, preferably more on green veggies.
Green vegetables are rich in vitamins and minerals and contains small amount of calories. It also makes you feel full at longer span of time. Select foods with less caloric content. You may find it in food exchange list. Proper food diet promotes proper digestion and weight loss.
TIP 4: Drink 2000- 2500 ml of water a day.
It will prevent you from dehydration and cleanses your body well by removing the toxins.
TIP 5: Regular Exercise Everyday
This helps you strengthen your muscle especially your cardiac muscle! It even helps you burn excess fats stored in your body. Lose weight fast with regularly moving your muscles.