Successful Strategies For Enhancing Fat Loss

Introduction

With the worldwide obesity epidemic, many individuals are trying to find ways to lose weight and keep it off. As the focus is often on total weight, it is obviously excess excess fat that represents the true health threat. Thus it is very important to comprehend the role that excess fat plays in health and disease and how to achieve a healthy amount of body fat.

Overweight or Obese

An individual's weight or body composition reflects the level of lean body mass (tissue, bone and muscle) and body fat. While what obese and overweight are used synonymously there is a good difference between these terms in both definition and associated health risk.

Overweight is defined as a human body weight above an acceptable weight with regards to height. This term may be misleading because it doesn't distinguish between excess excess fat and lean muscle mass. For example, it is possible to be overweight without having to be obese. A body-builder will be a good example of this scenario. Having a larger proportion of muscle tissue would make this individual appear overweight according to standard weight/height charts, yet this individual might have low excess fat and maintain good physical shape.

The body mass index (BMI) is commonly used to find out whether one's weight represents health risk. BMI is calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by height in meters squared (kg/m2). A BMI of over 25 kg.m2 indicates overweight. When percentage of excess fat is used, women with 25.1 to 29.9 percent and men with 20.1 to 24.4 percent are regarded as overweight.

Obesity is defined as having excess excess fat with regards to lean body mass. By generally accepted standards, men with greater than 25 percent, and women with over 30 percent excess fat, are regarded LGD-4033 buy as obese. When the BMI is used, people with a benefit of greater than 30 are regarded as obese.

Since it is excess fat (not excess weight) that's a health concern, when assessing your general fitness level it is very important to go through the percentage of the body that consists of fat, rather than simply total body weight.

Factors Affecting Body Fat

There are numerous factors that regulate your amount of excess fat, including:

· Diet

· Activity level

· Basal metabolic rate (rate at which calories are burned at rest)

· Genetics

· Hormones, such as insulin, thyroid, and growth hormone

Health Risks of Excess Body Fat

Carrying excess excess fat is associated with a number of our greatest health threats, namely cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes. The higher the degree obesity - the more the risk. Conversely, maintaining a lean, healthy body will help lower your risk of developing these diseases.

Obesity is really a known risk factor for developing heart disease. The extra excess fat creates an elevated workload and stress to one's heart, leading to high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, and enlarging of the heart. Obese people also tend to have high cholesterol levels, making them more vulnerable to arteriosclerosis, a narrowing of the arteries caused by buildup of plaque. This problem can become life threatening if vital organs such as the brain, heart or kidneys are deprived of blood.

Excess excess fat also can increase one's risk of developing cancer. The American Cancer Society has published a written report illustrating the connection between obesity and cancer mortality. On the basis of the observed association, the American Cancer Society estimated that current patterns of overweight and obesity in the United States could account for up to 14% of cancer deaths in men and 20% in women.

Obese men are more likely than non-obese men to die from cancer of the colon, rectum, or prostate. Obese women are more likely than non-obese women to die from cancer of the gallbladder, breast, uterus, cervix, or ovaries.

There is also a powerful link between obesity and diabetes. Excess excess fat can result in the development of a condition called insulin resistance, where your body no further responds properly to the insulin so it produces. Consequently, insulin is unable to bring glucose to the cell and blood sugar remain high. The pancreas responds to the by producing more insulin, which your body can't use, so insulin levels may also be elevated. This scenario of high insulin and high blood sugar are hallmark features of Type 2 diabetes. Developing diabetes increases the chance of developing other health issues, such as kidney and eye disease, and circulatory problems.

Being obese also can take advantage simplest body process - breathing - a complicated feat. For an overweight individual it takes more energy to breathe because one's heart must work harder to pump blood to the lungs and through the entire body. This will also result in elevated blood pressure and stress to the body. Excess excess fat is also associated with gall bladder disease, gastro-intestinal disease, sexual dysfunction, osteoarthritis, and stroke. The emotional consequences of obesity may be just as serious - low self-esteem, depression, and anxiety.