Weight Loss Introduction

Summer is almost over. Dreams of fitting into that summer dress or those jeans are starting to be a far-off memory. Losing weight was supposed to help with your back, hip, and knee pain. It was supposed to take the burden off your cardiovascular system and your renal system, and lower your blood pressure, your cholesterol, and blood sugar levels. It was supposed to help with your sleep, mood, and libido. Fall will be here in no time, and you can just about hear those donuts and jars of apple cider calling your name. “Well, there’s always next year,” you may tell yourself and your doctor.

We hear too often that if only we could resist food temptations, if we had more self-control, and more self-motivation to exercise, then we could lose weight. Yes, eating a high-calorie diet, and leading a sedentary lifestyle are well-known causes of weight gain. But obesity and weight gain can be a much more nuanced issue. Billions of dollars are spent on weight loss each year in the US, yet 68.8% of adults in the US are overweight or obese, and the number keeps rising.(1) Obesity is a national problem, which infers that there are factors at play beyond the individual’s actions. Shining a light on the various factors that contribute to obesity is worthwhile, both for understanding the process of gaining weight and for constructing a plan to healthfully lose weight.

In this series of featured articles, we will be focusing on weight gain and its impact on health, the physiology of obesity, weight gain and diet, exercise, habits, stress and other factors, body image, and the psychology of weight gain. A few volumes of textbooks should be written on this subject matter. I’ll spare you that here, and try to keep these articles detailed yet pertinent so that this information can be utilized effectively. I will try to organize the information so that you can skip to sections of each article that pertain to your specific health issues. My hope is to offer a more comprehensive and healthy approach to losing weight, and to ultimately create a platform for people to support each other in their health goals.

References:

  1. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institute of Health. http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-statistics/Pages/overweight-obesity-statistics.aspx