Getting Started - some helpful hints!

I grabbed this from YouTube for you as it gives a short five minute bubbly burst of energy with a serious underlying message that might just help you on your journey to a newer, fitter, healthier you. You might already be doing a gym routine, eating healthy and looking after yourself and if so congratulations and well done. But if you are looking to get started, give this your attention - it might just help!

The five handy hints given here make sense and are :-

• Get your mind, your emotions and your motivation in gear with a bunch of motivational quotes that resonate with you, have some meaning, and will move you toward your goals. You can download these from just about anywhere. Print them off and stick them to your fridge door, your bathroom mirror, by your bedside, on the car dashboard and by the kitchen bench - all in clear sight to remind yourself constantly what it is you are striving toward.
• Keep a journal of your fitness regime - not only your exercise programme, but what you eat & drink too. This is so important, as it allows you to track your progress too over time. Really valuable!
• Go to the gym, go to the park, or wherever you feel you want to exercise, but make it a regular habit - three times a week as a minimum at the time that best suits you - early morning, mid-day, afternoon, evening, night-time. To motivate yourself further, get an exercise buddy too - someone that can spur you on, help keep you motivated, and ensure you stick with your end game in mind.
• Take photo's of yourself to measure your progress - before and after stuff that will be a reminder of how far you have come, and how far you have yet to go. Powerful stuff!
• Research and visit other Blogs, websites, reading material and videos - these will give you handy hints and tips, keep you motivated, and keep you well informed. Remember though - keep tuning in to this Blog - WhyWeight - for more daily updates to help you achieve your goals!

WhyWeight - don't hesitate, participate, before it's too late!

-Steve, at WhyWeight-

Vital Statistics - Worldwide Obesity Rates

There is much written and reported about the alarming increase in childhood and adult obesity rates across the globe. Current statistics indicate that there are over 530million obese people in the world right now, and this is ever growing. Obesity is defined as a person with a body mass index (BMI) of over 30kgs per square metre. BMI is defined as the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in metres (kgs/m2).

Even in my own sun-kissed, outdoor living Australia, it has been recently reported that obesity rates  are increasing more rapidly than anywhere else in the world. The results of the global study into obesity rates, published in the medical journal The Lancet, show that a quarter of the country's children and over 60% of the adult population is overweight. Australia's obesity levels are now on level with that of United States, although just a little less than New Zealand.

Worldwide, there has been a startling increase in rates of obesity and overweight in both adults (28% increase) and children (up by 47%) in the past 33 years, with the number of overweight and obese people rising from 857 million in 1980 to 2.1 billion in 2013, according to a major new analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013, published in The Lancet. However, the rates vary widely throughout the world with more than half of the world’s 671 million obese individuals living in just ten countries—the USA, China and India, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Egypt, Germany, Pakistan, and Indonesia.

Over the past three decades, the highest rises in obesity levels among women have been in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Honduras and Bahrain, and among men in New Zealand, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the USA.

In high-income countries, some of the highest increases in adult obesity prevalence have been in the USA (where roughly a third of the adult population are obese), Australia (where 28% of men and 30% of women are obese), and the UK (where around a quarter of the adult population are obese).

The findings come from a comprehensive new analysis of the global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in adults aged 20 years and older and children and adolescents aged 2-19 years between 1980 and 2013. The authors warn that the study presents a worrying picture of substantial rises in obesity rates across the world and say that concerted action is urgently needed to reverse this trend.

In the developed world, men have higher rates of obesity than women, while the opposite is true in developing countries. Currently, 62% of the world's obese people live in developing countries.
The prevalence of overweight and obesity in childhood has increased remarkably in developed countries, from 17% in 1980 to 24% in 2013 in boys and from 16% to 23% in girls. Similarly, in developing countries, rates have risen from roughly 8% to 13% in both boys and girls over the three decades.

Within Western Europe, levels of obesity in boys ranged from 14% in Israel and 13% in Malta, to 4% in The Netherlands and Sweden. Levels of obesity in girls were highest in Luxembourg (13%) and Israel (11%), and lowest in the Netherlands Norway, and Sweden (4%). 

One contributing Professor quoted "Unlike other major global health risks, such as tobacco and childhood nutrition, obesity is not decreasing worldwide. Our findings show that increases in the prevalence of obesity have been substantial, widespread, and have arisen over a short time. However, there is some evidence of a plateau in adult obesity rates that provides some hope that the epidemic might have peaked in some developed countries and that populations in other countries might not reach the very high rates of more than 40% reported in some developing countries."

Furthermore, "Our analysis suggests that the UN's target to stop the rise in obesity by 2025 is very ambitious and is unlikely to be achieved without concerted action and further research to assess the effect of population-wide interventions, and how to effectively translate that knowledge into national obesity control programmes. In particular, urgent global leadership is needed to help low-and middle-income countries intervene to reduce excessive calorie intake, physical inactivity, and active promotion of food consumption by industry."

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by The Lancet. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Marie Ng, Emmanuela Gakidou et al. Global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 1980–2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013. The Lancet, 2014; DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60460-8

The Lancet. "Obesity rates climbing worldwide, most comprehensive global study to date shows." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 28 May 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140528204215.htm>.

Note that the final chart here says 'Protect Yourself - Move More and Eat Smart'. Wise advice that we all need to heed. Obesity is an epidemic, and whether you are in this category, or just a little overweight and want to do something about it, there will be more great helpful stuff coming your way soon!

WhyWeight - don't hesitate, participate, before it's too late!

-Steve, at WhyWeight-

Welcome - to WhyWeight??

Hello and welcome to my new Blog!

If you are reading this it may be because you have concerns about your weight, your level of fitness, your standard of health, your physical (and possible mental) well-being and have decided therefore that it could be time to do something about it. If so, well done! You've come to the right place.

I first joined a gym over twenty years ago - back when I lived in the UK and when, on the brink of a divorce I decided to change something in my life. That was my first step to a healthier lifestyle and a fitter more energised me - it was as much a mental step as it was an emotional one at the time, because my life was in turmoil and I needed a release mechanism. Joining a gym was one of the best things I ever did, and I have never looked back!

My gym routine takes in five days a week Monday to Friday, and I have been doing this for so long now that this routine has become part of me, and its what I do to kick start my day. But that's just me, so please, don't get hung about about having to join a gym just to get in shape and start your journey to losing weight and getting fit, slim and trim. There is more to it than that as you probably know, but make no mistake, regular exercise is very much part of the equation, and, it doesn't have to be done in a gym either. Future Blog posts will talk more about this as we move forward.

Eating and drinking habits are also a vital part of the equation and go hand-in-hand with your exercise programme. You will have heard all the negative debate about 'junk-foods', foods that are bad for you, eating too much and drinking too much of the wrong foods and beverages. But, let me tell you this - there is no food that is bad for you! What is bad however, is the quantity and frequency with which you eat 'junk food' or those foods supposedly 'bad' for you! If you eat fried chicken, burgers, pies, pizza and bucket loads for carbonated soft drink every other day, then sure, this is bad for you and you're not going to live very long, but, if you only do it once every two, or three weeks or every month as a treat then there is no harm in that at all. Life is all about a healthy balance and this philosophy extends to food and drink too! There will also be more about nutritious, healthy, wholesome eating and drinking as part of a 'balanced' diet as we move forward.

Added to all of this is your mental and emotional approach to a new healthier, fitter, more energised you! Unless you have your eyes on the prize, and really want to get fit, have that determination and are truly committed to making it happen for you, your family, your loved ones and your significant others, then you are likely to fail! There will also be a more about this other important part of the equation as we move ahead.

Exciting times lay ahead - make a decision, get focused, be determined and make today the first day of the rest of your healthy, balanced, new life!

Oh, and for the record before we go any further - I am 51 years of age, weigh in at 73Kilos, I enjoy a beer and a wine (or two or three!) at the weekend after my four AFD's (Alcohol Free Days) each week, I'll eat a burger, pizza, chipped potatoes, a slice of banana bread from time to time, and have a large (skimmed milk) coffee every day down at the beach . . . but, that is all in balance with all the other good stuff I do!

Keep watching for more . . . soon!

WhyWeight - don't hesitate, participate, before it's too late!

-Steve, at WhyWeight-