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Factors Beneficial to Effective Weight Management

05-13-2009

Achieving your weight loss goal is only half the battle. The next step is to manage the desired weight you achieved. Ineffective weight management more than likely will result in gaining the weight back. In some cases, the weight gain will be significantly more than before. Effective weight management can be achieved through a combination of moderate exercise, good eating and drinking habits, and getting the rest you need.

Obesity is a big problem in many of the today's societies where fast food and lack of exercise are a way of life. There are those who are able to reduce their weight however they quickly gain it back because of ineffectiveness in proper weight management. If you are a person who has achieved your goal of reducing your weight, effective weight management is your first priority.

Effective weight management is first achieved by maintaining activity. Unfortunately, too many think that “activity” means strenuous exercise and it is for this reason so many give up. Strenuous daily exercise requires the availability of free time which few have. Many take the attitude that they have no time to exercise thereby negating all efforts towards effective weight management. What it takes is moderate exercise which can be achieved by taking daily walks. In fact, studies have shown that walking one hour each day helps to maintain weight, elevate the mood, lower the blood pressure, and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Sleep is crucial to effective weight management. Remember the last time you were sleep-deprived? More than likely you craved sweets and raided the refrigerator or snack machine in order to revive yourself. Lack of sleep causes an imbalance in two hormones known as Grehlin and Leptin. One of Grehlin's jobs is to stimulate the appetite. Leptin, on the other hand, is responsible for letting the brain know when we are full and no longer hungry thus aiding in appetite suppression. The result of the imbalance is the brain thinks that the body is hungry but cannot effectively determine when it is full-a formula for weight gain.

Don't be lured in by larger portion sizes. Extensive studies have been made showing that people usually eat more when given larger portion sizes. However this is one of the main marketing strategies of many food retailers and restaurants. Researchers have also determined that there is a perception by the consumer of greater value for a larger portion. Effective weight management can be achieved as long as serving portions consumed do not increase.

Use alcohol in moderation. Heavy drinkers are classified as males consuming more than 40 grams of alcohol and females 20 grams per day. This is roughly 4 and 2 drinks respectively. Alcohol throws off effective weight management because it introduces more energy into the system plus the person makes shifts in his or her diet during periods of higher consumption. Energy must get used or else it will be stored as fat and the shifts in diet usually account for higher consumption of fried foods. Recommendations are to have no more than 2 drinks per day for males and 1 drink for females.

Drinking water is required for effective weight management. Over half of your body composition is water so it stands to reason that it is essential for good health. One common use of water in weight management is to drink a glass before having a meal giving a sensation of partial fullness and preventing overeating. It has also been said that your brain does not discern between sensations of thirst and hunger. In other words, by drinking water you can actually satisfy hunger pangs at times. Water is much better to drink than diet drinks because artificially-sweetened diet drinks tend to cause insulin spikes that could actually increase your cravings for unhealthy sweets.