Your weight is important for your overall health, and with millions of people being overweight or obese, conditions related to weight problems become an even greater concern. Obesity is on the rise, affecting over 40% of adults in the United States, as well as nearly 20% of children and adolescents.
Left unchecked, obesity can contribute to a number of medical conditions, including stroke, heart disease, sleep apnea, depression, type 2 diabetes, and kidney failure.
Maintaining a healthy weight is more important than ever, so if you’re on a regimen to lose weight, what weight is considered healthy for you? How do you know what to aim for, and should everyone have the same goal?
Residents of Beverly Hills, California, looking to reach their target weight to stay healthy can find help with Dr. Shawn Veiseh and his skilled team. Let’s look at the complications of obesity, the factors to determine your ideal weight, and ways to reach that goal.
Obesity is often the result of a combination of factors like inactivity, stress, unhealthy diet, and even lack of sleep. Your diet plays a large role, as foods high in salt, sugar, and calories can lead to issues with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and reduce the amount of insulin in your blood, spiking your blood glucose levels (blood sugar).
All of these factors can lead to a wide variety of problems in your body, in addition to the cardiovascular problems commonly associated with obesity. Problems with excess weight and lack of activity can weaken muscle mass, bone density, and strain your joints.
Being severely overweight also increases the likelihood of gastrointestinal reflux disease, or GERD, which causes acid to leak into your esophagus
It’s important to note that not every overweight person has health issues, but it still increases the risk of many different complications if not managed. Determining your ideal weight is complicated and depends on many factors unique to you such as age, height, and sex. Here are the main tools in determining your ideal weight:
This is a common method that measures your weight as it relates to your height. Generally, having a BMI of less than 18.5 means you’re underweight, between 18.5 and 24.9 is ideal, between 25 and 29.9 is overweight, and 30 or more is obese.
As the name indicates, this measures your waist size in relation to your hips. The higher the waist measurement in proportion to the hips, the greater the risk of conditions like cardiovascular disease and diabetes..
Also as the name indicates, this method measures your waist size to your height. Using WtHR, 0.5 is considered moderate weight and above 0.52 presents a higher risk for cardiovascular disease.
This measures the percentage of fat to your overall weight. Your body needs a certain amount of fat for many things, but too much is dangerous to your health.
None of these methods are perfect, but using a combination of these tools can help you gauge your weight loss needs.
We offer a medically supervised weight loss program, but the best lifestyle changes to reach your weight goals focus on engaging in regular exercise and eating a healthier diet (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins). It’s also important to understand that you need to make these changes long term for best results and better health as you age.
Understanding what your ideal weight is can help you set proper goals for long-term health, and we can help you find it. If you’re ready to reach your weight goals, Schedule a visit with Dr. Veiseh to get started. Call our office or request an appointment online today.
