Weight Loss Basics - Measuring Progress

The Goal

Clearly, progress toward any one goal is first and foremost determined by the goal itself. If your goal is fewer pounds and nothing but, it would of course be very easy to determine: pounds lost equals forward progress, pounds gained equals not.

But often as not, the goal is not only weight lost, but improved appearance as well, which means inches lost-and here it becomes a question of which goal is most important to you, fewer pounds or inches.

It may be sixty/forty proposition, or some other ratio, which you and you alone, can determine.

The Most Important Goal

When it comes to long-term weight loss over the course of one hundred or more pounds, the most important goal may not be pounds lost, nor inches. It may well be quality of life regained, or it may be health restored. Again, it really is up to dieter to determine what goal is truly important, or-if there are several-which goal spans the others.

Appearance

There are cultures where a three hundred pound body is not only desirable, but envied and venerated. In the white Moor Arab culture of Mauritania, for example, female obesity has traditionally been valued as a sign of wealth, and obese girls are considered desirable. So desirable, in fact, that some girls are sent to fat farms, where, at the parents' behest, their young daughters are fed to splendid corpulence.

The same is true in Somalia, where obesity is not seen as a health threat but rather as a sign of success, wealth, good health, and happiness.

Health hazards aside, the U.S. and Western Europe do not share these cultural ideals. Rather to the contrary, through films and advertisements, the opposite extreme-to the point of anorexia-has become venerated and idolized.

Surely, the middle ground is most desirable. Few would consider a woman attractive if you can count her ribs at a twenty paces. A slim, agile, healthy body is what we covet at heart.

Progress toward this goal is measured in inches, rather than pounds, lost; with weight being much the secondary measurement.

Health

While appearance may be on a par with health for most obese men and women-at least from the view of self image and quality of life-in most heart of hearts we find that health is the overarching goal, for without it there is no life to have a quality of, or an appearance in.

Improved health has many manifestations: increased stamina, improved energy levels, and alertness, less shortness of breath, to name a few you can observe directly; and lowered blood pressure, lowered cholesterol among those that need to be measured medically.

Should you feel-or medically establish-that your health is improving, even though loss of pounds and inches may momentarily have slowed, realize that you are making progress, in the most important area of all.

Waist to Hip Ratio (Apple or Pear)

Some research indicates that a pear-shaped body-where most of the weight has gathered around the hips-faces a higher health risk than apple-shaped bodies-with weight gathered around the waist.

To determine this, measure the circumference of your hips at the widest part of your buttocks. Then measure your waist at the smaller circumference of your natural waist, usually just above the belly button. To calculate the ratio, divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement.

For females, a ratio below 0.80 is considered low risk, between 0.81 and 0.85, moderate risk, and above 0.85 high risk. For men, 0.95 or below is considered low risk, between 0.96 and 1.00, moderate risk, and above 1.0, high risk.

As with BIM discussed below, this ratio is to be viewed as supplementary measurement, not gospel, and should be read in conjunction with other indicators of progress.

Body Mass Index (BMI)

Also called the Quetelet Index, BMI was invented in the early nineteenth century by Adolphe Quetelet-a brilliant Belgian-as he developed his "social physics." Body mass index is defined as the individual's body weight divided by the square of his or her height.

The formulae universally used in medicine produce a unit of measure of kg/cm2, and is derived at by dividing your weight in kilograms with the square of your height in centimeters.

The internet abounds with BMI calculators, pick one you like.

BMI is used to determine where on a scale of desirable or healthy ratios a person falls, where lower than 16.5 is considered severely underweight; 16.5 - 18.5 is considered, underweight; 18.5 - 25.0 is considered normal; 25 - 30 is considered overweight; 30 - 35 is considered obese class I (between 210 to 250 pounds); 35 - 40 is considered obese class II (between 250 and 290 pounds); and over 40 is considered obese class III (over 290 pounds).

The greatest value of BMI is that is generally agreed upon, and so can be used as a fairly reliable yardstick of where you'd want to be; also, that it takes into account your height (although not your bone structure or other physical features, which may have bearing on your optimum weight).

As you burn more calories than you consume, you can use BMI as a reliable yardstick, but don't treat it as gospel. Use it in conjunction with other measurements of progress.

The multiTRIM Diet

All diet plans--except for the outright fraudulent ones, and be warned: they abound--have as their goal for you to burn more calories than you consume.
Possibly the most sensible plan we have seen in recent years is the multiTRIM diet which supplies all needed nutrients to maintain health and ease hunger in a fifteen calories meal-replacement drink.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ulf_Wolf

Weight Loss Basics - Shame

There is something that we don't talk about; we don't talk about it because it's a secret. It's one that we all have. Some of us have quieted it down, and some of us think it's a dark secret that we can't admit to a soul, even to ourselves.

It's what we do after working so hard to follow a regular regime of food and exercise. When everything is going great-until it isn't. That's the tricky part. You see, we don't even know when the thought will creep up. The thing is, it always does, and, on some level, it always will. What am I talking about? You know. I'm talking about THE BINGE. Such a silly word for something so destructive: the violent flogging of our very selves, the selves we think we hate. We do it alone, in secret, in the dark, so that no one will ever know. But we know. It's our shame, our dark little secret. We lie about it to everyone, especially to ourselves.

You know what I mean because you've done it, too. Sure, you'll tell everyone how well you eat, how you can't explain why you're not losing weight. "Maybe it's my thyroid," you'll say, "because I eat very well and not very much!" And everyone will sympathize and believe you, as well, because they see what you eat: the salads, the veggies, the fruits, and never dessert, right? Ah, but they don't see what happens after the door closes, when no one is around. The Binge. And then we lie again. "I will be there when the gym opens tomorrow, no matter what," we promise ourselves.

Lies. Sad, sad, lies.

Why would I speak of something that is so very difficult for you to talk about and for me to explain? Well, if we keep this secret deep inside of ourselves, it will stay right there, continuing to damage us as it has in the past. Do you think you are weak? Do you think no one will understand? Do you think you will be judged, ridiculed, and shamed? Are you afraid that if you look at it and speak of it aloud, then it will become real? It is already real. You know it is because you do it, and I will tell you this: you are not alone. Many people bury this dark secret, but there are ways to deal with it, and many of us have been able to deal with it by taking it into the light. We have found ways to deal with the pain, the sorrow, the solitude, and whatever else, by bringing it into the light. And when the secret is out, it no longer adds to our pain.

One remedy is to let others in. Let the people who love you into your world. Start by telling someone the secret, or if that is too difficult to do then do me a favor: before you sit down all by yourself to throw yourself away, take a moment to think about what it is you're feeling. I can guarantee you it's not hunger, but something deeper. Take a moment before you take that dive, and ask yourself what is hurting. If you can't tell someone, write it down in a letter to yourself. Then you can look at it clearly. At least it will no longer be a secret you keep from yourself. Write it down and keep writing until you don't have to keep hurting yourself, so that you don't have to eat and eat and eat until it hurts more than the pain you are feeling inside.

When you start to do this, to express yourself, to allow yourself to feel what it is you're really feeling, you will see that it's not hunger. Is it perhaps sadness? Despair? Fear? All of the above? Yes. It's pain. That pain is the reason you have the problem you have now, the reason you find yourself reading this. I understand, and I know that what you need is more than a list of foods that you should eat to lose weight. I can and will give that to you, but first, you need to have the strength, the conviction, to look within and own your feelings. Even if you do choose to self-destruct this time, the next time, at least, you might be able to name it and see it for what it is.

You see; you and I are no different. I have been where you are, and so have my clients. Many of us have crossed over and brought our pain to the light, but please know that even now I sometimes feel the sadness creeping up on me. However, I now know how to let myself feel and accept that it will happen again: we are human, and sadness is part of the human experience. Allow yourself to feel it, own it, and then love yourself, and hold your head up high with pride, with beauty, and with strength.

You can do this, we all can.

Berta Prevosti is a weight loss counselor known for transforming the lives of overweight women who have previously given up on losing weight. Over the past 7 years she has counseled hundreds of women losing thousands of pounds using emotional support and healthy common sense methods.

Berta translates her spiritual and holistic passion and background as a reiki master and yoga instructor to strengthen her ability to understand the emotional components that sabotage weight loss for each client personally. She backs this up with accountability requirements for eating in a new way that benefits the body as a whole. This combination was first placed in practice on her business partner, who after losing (and maintaining) 100 pounds joined her company. These two women, single mothers of 5 boys understand the overwhelming challenges that women face managing family, home, work and (last, but not least) their own goals.

Berta has seen over 50 clients a week for half a decade. Her expertise has grown to such a point that she can articulate points in a way that she hears at least weekly "I never had it explained to me that way - it all makes sense now". At her clients requests, and as a result of her growing waiting list, she is shifting her practice to the Internet to share her transformations and help more women reclaim the lives and dreams they had given up on.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Berta_Prevosti