If you have had enough of your obesity and want to get your weight under control, then here are some obesity treatments for you to consider. Remember though that before starting with any obesity treatments or making any drastic changes to your lifestyle and eating habits, it is imperative that you consult with your doctor. The obesity treatments below are just meant to be general guidelines. Some of these obesity treatments may not even be right for you.
The obesity treatments that you can safely choose to employ will depend on the following factors:
- Your level of obesity will determine the obesity treatments that you need. if you are too obese, some of the following obesity treatments may not work for you. The greater your obesity, the harder you will have to work to lose weight, and the more varied the obesity treatments you will have to try out till you are successful.
- Another factor that needs to be taken into consideration before picking one or more of the obesity treatments is your fitness level. Obesity treatments usually involve some level of exercise. If you have never exercised or are too obese to exercise safely, then you may have to lose some weight through other obesity treatments first before exercising.
- And finally, your existing health conditions will also play a role in deciding which obesity treatments you should go for. Obesity brings on a number of health problems. And certain health problems can prevent you from using all the obesity treatments to your advantage.
Weight loss should be gradual no matter what the obesity treatments chosen. About half a kilogram or 1 kilogram a week is actually a very good pace. Anything faster than this and you risk losing muscle instead of fat. You DO NOT want this to happen. Muscle helps you burn calories. So you will actually be losing one of your body’s inbuilt fat-loss tools.
Obesity Treatments through Lifestyle Changes
The only way that obesity treatments are going to be effective in the long-run is if you can put yourself in the mindset that your lifestyle needs to change to lose that weight and keep it off.
Change Your Eating Habits
It’s not about a ‘diet’ per se. ‘Diet’ is a dirty word today, associated with bland, boring food and restrictions. When talking about food and obesity treatments, the single most important thing you can do is to change your eating habits. Now that’s different from going on a diet. Here are a few simple ways in which you can start your obesity treatments today simply by making the following changes in your diet
DO NOT STARVE. Eat what you want. There is no need to deny yourself. What needs to change though is the quantity and frequency of the food you eat. So instead of eating a whole pizza, have one slice. Instead of eating it every week, have it once a month.
- Now here’s another tip about how often your should eat. In case you did not know this already, digestion burns calories too. So to get your digestive system burning, you have to eat often. The more you eat, the more you burn. But this does not mean stuffing your face all the time. Instead, eat a small meal every two to three hours. How small is small? Clench your fist. That’s how much food you need to eat at each sitting.
- Don’t eat a couple of hours before bedtime.
- Start your day with a good, healthy breakfast so you do not have cravings later on and gorge yourself.
- Cut down on sugar in your tea and coffee. Don’t forget that packaged juices and sodas also have very high levels of sugar.
- Cut down on alcohol.
- And finally, remember to break these rules once in awhile and treat yourself. If you go too long without the food that your body is used to, you will boomerang back to your old eating habits as you start to feel deprived.
Exercise, and Learn to Love It
One of the most-hated obesity treatments is exercise. There’s really no way around this so if you’re cringing at the thought of exercise there’s only one piece of advice to give you – suck it up and accept it!
Losing weight is about consuming less calories than you can burn. You can do this by the changes in your diet mentioned above. But you can also lose weight if you burn more calories. And exercise is the only way to do this. There are plenty of pills and potions and teas that promise to do this for you. Maybe they work to a certain extent too. But there is no magic calorie-burning technique.
If you have never exercised before or have not done much physical activity in a very long time, then you have to start slowly. This is so that you give not only your body but your mind as well a chance to get used to the idea and adapt to the new changes in your level of activity. Remember that changing your mind is as important as changing your body when it comes to obesity treatments. If you start with enthusiasm and do too much before your body and mind are ready for it, it is highly likely that you will give up soon when your body rebels and will feel too unmotivated to start over.
Incorporate more movement and activity into your daily life. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Take a 15-minute walk on your lunch break. Park your car far away from your destination so you have to do that extra bit of walking. Do stretches at your desk. Clench your butt cheeks on and off while you’re stuck at your sedentary job.
Now exercise does not mean you have to join a gym or do early morning marathon runs, unless you want to, of course. Exercise is any form of continuous activity that you enjoy. From dancing to water aerobics, spinning to yoga to Pilates, it all counts as exercise. If nothing, just turn on the music and dance in your living room every day. Have more sex. Join a power walking club. Zumba, anyone? Keep it simple, have fun, and make sure you break a sweat – the operative idea being to have fun no matter what you do.
Cut Down on Obesity-Causing Habits
There is a strong link between modern lifestyles and obesity. TV, video games, the Internet, coffee shops – all really cool and fun to do, but we take it to whole new level of extreme. Get out of the house instead of surfing the net. Go for a walk after dinner instead of plopping down in front of the TV. Changing these little habits is as much a part of obesity treatments as changing your eating habits or exercising.
Obesity Treatments through Behavioral Changes
As mentioned earlier, obesity treatments have to tackle your body and your mind. It is much easier to deal with our bodies; most people are too afraid or too skeptical to look at the mental aspect of obesity treatments. But if you want to keep that weight off, you have to change your thought patterns or you will just go back to your unhealthy ways once the diet is over. Do you know that 70% of all people who lose weight will regain the same amount of weight, often more, in less than 5 years? Why do you think that happens? It’s simply because their obesity treatments only “treated” their bodies while leaving the real psychological aspects of obesity untouched.
Counseling or Group Therapy
Some people work best alone. But most of us need to work with someone – either an individual or group – to remain motivated. As part of your obesity treatments, join an obesity support group in your area. You get to share your experiences with obesity and obesity treatments with other like-minded (and like-bodied) people and can take comfort in knowing that you are not alone in your battle against the bulge. Plus, you may learn something about the obesity treatments that others in the group are using which may appeal to you.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Several victims of eating disorders have successfully been treated with cognitive therapy. It is fast-catching on as a strong contender for obesity treatments as well. This is a short-term therapy that focuses on eliminating the negative thoughts that cause a person to indulge in negative behaviors, and replace them with positive thoughts that encourage healing and personal growth.
Hypnosis
Skeptics may have much to say about this most unconventional of obesity treatments. But the fact remains that hypnosis works not only in getting rid of cravings and changing behavioral patterns but also in identifying incidents or triggers that caused you to start eating unhealthy in the first place.
Journaling
If nothing else, at least make private journaling a part of your obesity treatments. Fitness gurus swear by this tactic to help them keep track of weight loss goals. Write down what you eat, when you eat it. Write down what you are feeling when you binge or overeat. This way you can discover what triggers your unhealthy eating habits, and when you know the pattern, you will be better equipped to break it.
Natural Obesity Treatments
Ayurveda and homeopathy both use natural methods for obesity treatments. Both these natural obesity treatments have gentle obesity treatments that target the causes of obesity rather than the obesity itself. They are both excellent obesity treatments and very effective in the long run. The reason that natural obesity treatments are not popular is that they take time to work. And in our I-want-everything-now culture, natural obesity treatments just don’t make the cut.
Medical Obesity Treatments
If changes in eating habits and increased levels of activity do not work, you can speak to your doctor about medical obesity treatments. These are nothing more than diet pills which will be prescribed only for a short period of time to bolster the effects of your obesity treatments. The medication may do this by increasing your metabolism, stimulating your thyroid gland, or causing a decrease in appetite.
Sometimes, medical obesity treatments involve treating psychological conditions also. For example, some people are obese because they overeat due to extreme anxiety or clinical depression. Medication may help to ease the symptoms of the mental problems and thus be effective obesity treatments as well.
Surgical Obesity Treatments
Some cases of obesity are so severe that they require surgical obesity treatments to prevent extreme health problems. These obesity treatments are not for all those who suffer from obesity. Rather, surgical obesity treatments are only recommended when the patient’s life is at stake, or when an existing health condition that has resulted from the obesity is at its worst.
Gastric Bypass Surgery is one of the permanent obesity treatments wherein the length of the digestive tract is considerably reduced so that most of the food you eat literally bypasses the stomach and intestines and is passed out of the body without being absorbed.
Gastric Banding, or stomach stapling as it is commonly known, involves tying a band around the stomach so that its holding capacity decreases. This means you will not be able to eat as much as you used to, thus artificially controlling your calorie intake. This is one of the reversible surgical obesity treatments.
You should really not rely on surgical obesity treatments though. They are indeed very effective obesity treatments, but they carry high risks during and after the procedure. That is why these obesity treatments are only recommended when there really is no other option and the patient’s life is in danger.
Is Liposuction One of the Obesity Treatments?
Contrary to popular belief, liposuction is NOT one of the obesity treatments. Liposuction only removes the fat from under the skin to create more toned contours on people who do not have that much fat on their bodies in the first place.
Complements to Obesity Treatments
Following are a couple of obesity treatments that you might consider using along with a combination of the other obesity treatments to get results. They will not work on their own and should not be considered as a substitute for eating right and exercising, but they can give your efforts a slight boost.
- Diet teas can complement your other obesity treatments. Some teas like oolong tea and green tea are thought to help lose weight. They can, but only if other obesity treatments are also being used. Remember, there’s no such thing as magic obesity treatments.
- Daily massages can also contribute, if used with other obesity treatments, as the kneading helps to break up fat cells underneath the skin.
So there you are. Several obesity treatments that should get you started on the road to better health. Don’t give up when the going gets tough. Happy journey.
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