A Healthy weight

Weight loss and maintenance are crucial for overall well-being and can help avert and manage a variety of illnesses and ailments. A variety of variables determines each person’s optimum weight. Age, height, and birth gender are biological characteristics, but mental issues can also be responsible. 

Obesity or being overweight increases the chance of developing significant health problems such as heart illness, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, gallstones, respiratory difficulties, and some malignancies. It is important to have a healthy weight because it lowers chances of acquiring these illnesses, makes one feel better, and provides motivation to pursue life.

What is Obesity?

Obesity and being overweight are described as excess or substantial fat build-up that often poses a health concern. Being overweight means having a BMI of 25 or higher, while obesity means having a BMI of 30 or higher. The body mass index (BMI) is an excellent way to determine whether someone is overweight or obese. 

Obesity is commonly induced by consuming too much food and exercising insufficiently. If you ingest a lot of energy, especially fat and carbohydrates, but don’t burn it off through participation in physical activity. In that case, your body will store a lot of that energy as fats.

Factors Causing Weight Gain

A person’s weight can be affected by a variety of circumstances. Lifestyle, family background and genes, metabolism (the process by which your body converts food and oxygen into energy), and behaviour or habits are all elements to consider.

Genes: Several people can acquire weight more readily than others or accumulate fat around the midriff due to genetic factors. However, eating a good diet, being active, and avoiding harmful behaviours like drinking soda can all help to reduce the genetic propensity to fat.

Diet: The amount and food quality you eat significantly influences your body weight. When consumed in high amounts without any physical activities, food with high calories is stored as fat in the body, contributing to weight gain.

Sleep: Leptin and ghrelin, two crucial hunger hormones in human bodies, are influenced by sleep. Leptin is a hormone that suppresses hunger; thus, we usually feel fuller when our leptin levels are high. Ghrelin is a hormone that causes appetite. As a result of the changes in appetite hormones, increasing food consumption may result in weight gain. As a result of these changes in hunger, poor sleep may contribute to weight gain in the long run. Therefore, having a decent night’s sleep should be a top priority.

Ideal Weight Chart 

Because weight varies according to body size, there is no such thing as “optimal” body weight for everyone. Body structure, abdominal obesity, and height determine the healthy weight range, which is different for everyone. 

The ideal body weight supports both physical and emotional well-being. It would be best to feel strong, energetic, and assured. Maintaining a healthy weight can help you avoid risk factors, including hypertension and excessive blood sugar, along with weight-related issues like sleep disorder.

It is helpful to understand the ideal weight chart based on BMI- Body Mass Index:

The body mass index (BMI) is a widely used technique for determining body weight. It assigns you a health categorization based on your height and weight. Even while this appears to be a viable method of determining body weight, it has significant flaws. It should not be utilized as the sole diagnostic tool for determining your fitness or fat mass levels. The Body Mass Index (BMI) is a typical method for calculating a person’s weight following their height. A BMI calculation yields a single value classified into the following groups. 

• A person who has a BMI less than 18.5 is considered underweight.
• A BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is deemed to be optimum.
• A BMI somewhere between 25 and 29.9 is overweight.
• A BMI above 30 demonstrates obesity.

BMI is a reliable predictor of illness risk and may aid in assessing physical weight and disease susceptibility, mainly when used with other diagnostic methods. Remember that BMI ignores sex, body type, age, ethnicity, bone density, muscle mass, abdominal obesity, and fat deposition.

Although knowing where you stand on the BMI chart is helpful, it is only one metric of physical health weight.

How to maintain a healthy weight?

Maintaining a healthy weight requires a combination of things. What works with one person may well not work for another. Here are some tips that help in maintaining a healthy weight:

• Reduce your intake of ultra-processed meals and beverages.
• Drink enough water and sleep soundly.
• Choose foods that are high in protein and fibre.
• Increase your physical activity.
• Consume complete, nutrient-dense foods.
• Do not indulge in extreme diets that don’t work.

Conclusion

A healthy weight is essential for a healthy mind and all other aspects of life success. The underlying reason that causes the majority of issues is poor eating. Especially in an era when people’s lifestyles have changed so dramatically, it’s clear that individuals need to set aside some time from their hectic schedules.

You don’t need to break the bank to join a gym or hire a personal trainer. Consider your favourite physical activities, such as walking, jogging, bicycling, planting, household chores, swimming, or dancing. On most days of the week, try to schedule a time to do what you like. Then extend the time you spend doing it or add another enjoyable activity.