How to Treat And Prevent Obesity

Prevention is the best form of cure, so if you’re currently in great shape, keep doing what you’re doing. Regular exercise, along with a calorie-controlled diet based around nutrient-dense foods is a surefire way to avoid obesity.

If you’re one of those lucky people with a fast metabolism though, who seems to have to do very little to stay skinny, be warned. One day this may just catch up with you and your bad habits could start to show ill effects. You should take a look at your lifestyle now, before it’s too late.

Even if you’re currently morbidly obese, there are so many things you can do to get yourself back on the right track, lose the weight and start making a healthier future for yourself.

Set Goals

Without goals, how do you know what you want to achieve?

You need something realistic to aim for. If you currently weigh 300 pounds, don’t look to get down to 150 within six months – this isn’t going to happen, and trying will only make you fail. You need small, measurable steps that you can sustain and build on.

Give yourself one longer term goal, such as dropping 30 pounds over the course of three months and one shorter one such as losing a consistent 2.5 pounds a week.

You need behavioral goals too – how are you going to make sure you do hit your weight loss target?

Read through the following and create some behavioral goals based on these key habits of healthy people:

Food Quality

Before worrying too much about calories, macronutrients or following a certain type of fad diet, clean up your eating habits.

Stick to the outer aisles in the supermarket and stock up on fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, natural (ie. no sugar/fat added) dairy products, animal proteins such as meat, fish, poultry and eggs, as well as unprocessed sources of carbs and fats – root vegetables, brown rice, whole-grain cereals, nuts, seeds and good quality oils such as olive, peanut or coconut.

Ditch the junk food for good. It may hurt, but going cold turkey is the only way you’ll break your bad habits for good.

Meals

Eat three square meals per day.

Each meal should contain a protein source, be at least 50 percent fruits or vegetables and have just a small amount of added carbs or fat. In between, snack on meat, boiled eggs, unsalted nuts and seeds or berries, but only if you’re genuinely hungry.

Exercise

Ideally, you’d follow a progressive, periodized strength training routine with high intensity cardio thrown in, but for now, anything that gets you moving is good – the tricky stuff can come later.

Walk to the shops instead of driving, get off the bus or train one stop earlier before work, take up a sport, go swimming or bowling instead of watching a movie and be as active as you can. If you are extremely obese already, even just walking up and down the stairs or to your mailbox can help. Gradually increase how much you move, and you will be fitter in no time.

Adherence

Keep a meal diary and log all your food intake along with your exercise, daily thoughts, feelings and struggles. Review this once a week and set new goals based on how you’ve progressed. When youw rite everything down, you hold yourself accountable. You won't be able to lie to yourself. This is truly motivating.