Physiological Consequences and Health Risks of Excess Body Weight
Description of Concrete Experience
I am 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighed 175 pounds when I was diagnosed with hypertension. In the year 2003 at the age of 33, I was diagnosed with high cholesterol and high blood pressure. By then my cholesterol results were 260 and an average range of 140 -200. My blood pressure was 159/101. My cholesterol LDL level was high and I had to take Lipitor medications to lower my cholesterol. I am also taking Lisinopril to reduce my high blood pressure. As of January 2011, I have lost a considerable amount of weight and I weighed 145 pounds and my cholesterol was 231 with an LDL “bad cholesterol” of 120 (range 0-129) and HDL “good cholesterol” of 99 (range 41 – 89). My blood pressure is back to a normal reading of 119/ 89.
Reflection
I was quite shocked when the doctor gave me the results and an ultimatum that I was to work hard to reduced mu cholesterol levels to less than 200 in three months and that included taking Lipitor. This news was scary because the doctor also indicated that my triglycerides were too high and they were increasing gradually. This made me reflect on the members of my family who have suffered a cholesterol problem some at a very early age.
This made me less optimistic about the ability to lower my cholesterol level but I took up the challenge. Lipitor is the prescription drug that I was given and this is normally used along with low-fat dieting to effectively lower the low-density lipoproteins which are often referred to as the bad cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood. On the other hand, the drug can raise the High-Density Lipoproteins, the good cholesterol.
Generalization/Principles/Theories
I was also taking Lisinopril which an Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor to help me in the management of hypertension. The drug acts very fast and within one hour I always felt its effects and it takes 12 hours to be eliminated. Together with the Lipitor, the two drugs greatly reduced the risk of me developing a heart attack, stroke, or any other cardiovascular problem related to LDL and hypertension.
Testing and Application
My doctor made me understand that having LDL and being obese would have increased the risk of developing heart problems. I was hypertensive already with 260. By lowering the level of cholesterol in my body, I have reduced the risk of heart attack that results from coronary heart disease which in turn develops because of high cholesterol in the blood. The risk is reduced by a factor of 20-30%. This means that those people with more risk factors like a family history of the disease, obesity, smokers should be more watchful of their cholesterol levels.
Current Nutritional Theories and Recommendations for Maintaining Healthy Weight
Description of Concrete Experience
Developing the best answers for me in trying to reduce and maintaining a healthy weight has not been easy. Essentially, I understand that for such matters, there is never a one-size-fits-all approach that can be applied for several situations like mine. The different circumstances change and so does the approach of weight management. I understand that the challenge is both psychological and biological. Normally, the body has a set point bodyweight that one returns to after losing weight.
Reflection
In terms of nutritional theories of maintaining body weight, I have been adhering to the consumption of nutrient-rich food. I have been taking a variety of foodstuffs because there is no single foodstuff that can supply all the nutrients at once. My daily food selection has included eating bread and other whole-grain foodstuffs. I also eat plenty of organic fruits vegetables and milk. To reduce the number of fats that I consume I have often eaten baked or broiled foods such as fish, chicken, turkey, and shrimp. I try to stay away from fried fast foods like French fries, cheese, chicken, fish, and fried bananas.
Generalization/Principles/Theories
Surveys in America have shown that people do not eat enough fruits, whole grains, dairy products, and vegetables but rather they consume a lot of fast food. I use to cherish eating fast foods until when I was diagnosed with hypertension and high cholesterol in 2003. I try as much as possible to eat organic food though they are slightly expensive but very good for my health. Sometimes I was tempted to skip meals to beat my goal of reducing cholesterol below 200 but I realized it resulted in overeating afterward. I have disciplined myself to eat regular meals and intervals but not to starve myself.
Testing and Application
Rather than eliminating most of the foodstuffs from my diets, I have selected the ones that have high cholesterol, sugars, and salts. In the past, I used to eat for pleasure at times but since I realized I could just moderate the food I consume, I only eat food that is major sources of the nutrients I want. This healthy eating has enabled me to maintain a good rather healthy body weight based on sex, height, and age.
Having excess body fat had been the cause of my high blood pressure but currently, I do not feel the effects of high blood pressure. This nutrition strategy, I believe has reduced my risk of developing diabetes, heart disease as well as other related medical conditions. My sensible eating habits have managed the problems I initially had of losing and gaining weight irregularly. I am working to introduce regular exercises to my schedule.
Psychosocial Principles in Weight Management
Description of Concrete Experience
When I was diagnosed with high blood pressure and excess cholesterol in my blood, I suffered the most painful part of my condition, emotional suffering. The doctor gave an ultimatum I did not think I would achieve and feared the more risk I would be in. Besides, when a person is diagnosed as being obese, there is some stigma that comes with it particularly women as they feel they are not attractive enough and I suffered this too. I have heard people say that obese people were not attractive, gluttonous, and lazy and this lead to prejudice and this made me fear such stereotyping. Besides I feared getting stressed and eventually developing stress.
Reflection
High blood pressure and high cholesterol are a risk to physical health and consequently I know it could affect my psychological health as some people learning of my condition perceive me as being fat. They referred to this with ridicule and ostracism. However, having known that such a thing would happen, I prepared myself not to be demoralized or lower my self-esteem by losing at myself negatively.
I encouraged myself that I would do whatever it takes to reduce cholesterol even after several failures. In my case, I did not consider weight loss and reduction of blood cholesterol as the only issues about my health rather I considered cutting down the risk of developing more serious diseases as a motivation for me to struggle for good health. I had a bigger picture in mind, instead of just losing some few pounds and reducing the level of LDL in my blood, I focused on adopting a new lifestyle, healthy eating habits, and maintaining a healthy weight.
Generalization/Principles/Theories
It was very hard to overcome the psychological issues but once I got the right attitude I was willing to remain patient and achieve my goals slowly and be healthier even after so long. I accepted my condition and resolved to move forward. I knew, there was plenty to be done and the work would not be easy but to me, it did not matter what others thought or how long it would take me to attain the new life. I knew my body would gradually and comfortably adjust and that ways I would be better placed to permanently maintain the new healthy lifestyle. When I started achieving my targets in I felt excitement and zeal to keep up the new lifestyle. I was very motivated and this has been the reason why I have been able to enjoy the benefits of good weight management from 2003 up to today.
Testing and Application
By exercising regularly I have been able to be more apt on my diet strategy and this has improved my psychological well-being and my new nutrition habit has replaced my old lifestyle of sedentary living like eating at fast foods very often. Sometimes exercise and eating at regular intervals has suppressed excessive appetite that would cause a lot of snaking during the day. Furthermore, healthy eating and exercise improve general health even when the weight loss was moderate. To maintain healthy body weight requires nutrient restriction and disciplined habits and exercise. It would be problematic to diet and fail to exercise as weight loss would be minimal. On the other hand, exercising without diet would cause denser muscles to replace fats.
Explain the Physiologic Influence Of and Recommendations For Aerobic, Anaerobic, and Resistance Training In Weight Management
Description of Concrete Experience
Exercising 1 hour for 5 days a week helped me release stress as well as lose weight. I have come to understand that even modest weight loss is very important to healthy living. The simplest way of losing weight through very effective has been to exercise for at least 150 minutes per week. The mental and behavioral changes that I made to adhere to my eating habits continue physical exercises and have an attitude about food and weight management has been very helpful.
To have better results I have been exercising for at least 20 minutes every day and this is mainly aerobic exercise. To support my exercise, I have constantly adhered to low-fat foods and these are known to have a low-calorie level. Instead of skipping meals, I have planned regular meals and I do not miss breakfast. I also check my body weight very often to ensure that I can keep track of the way I am losing, gaining, or maintaining body weight.
Reflection
Aerobic simply refers to the presence of oxygen while anaerobic is the opposite, therefore in normal daily activities, human beings use oxygen like digestions and sitting. Simple exercises are aerobic activities because the body uses the oxygen it can to ensure these activities happen. When exercise increased and becomes more intensive, the amount of oxygen that the body takes in is not able to supply the activities hence the body begins metabolizing without oxygen. The anaerobic metabolism is a different way of creating energy and does not use oxygen and it’s an alternative to producing energy by oxygen use and this can only take place for a very short period.
The 20 minutes I normally do for one hour per five days is often aerobic because the 20-minute sessions do not exhaust the normal oxygen I breathe. I often do this type of exercise because this is the type of exercise that burns fat from my body as I breathe oxygen. I use low-intensity activities that include walking and jogging in the morning and these are mainly fat burning. Sometimes the exercise gets a little strenuous leading the body to require more oxygen hence anaerobic metabolism.
This is when I stop my exercising because anaerobic metabolism burns glucose in the body and converts it to starch for storage in the body muscles as glycogen. Considering that this process does not require the use of oxygen, this type of metabolism is only used for a very short period in strenuous activities. The byproduct of the process is lactic acid which normally causes a burning sensation in muscles during exercise and this is an indication that the body is using up glucose and not fat.
Generalization/Principles/Theories
I am encouraged by the fact that reducing body fat directly benefits the body by reducing the risk of weight related diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular conditions. Since I began exercising and dieting, I do not feel the same way I used to feel heavy. The reduced weight has translated to having improved HDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels, normal blood pressure, and a good waist-to-hip ratio. I based my conclusions on studies that have shown that reduced body fat was a more potent modulator of the cardiac structure compares to the pharmacological therapy recommendations.
Exercising is very effective and even for the people who have a family history of high blood pressure and are leading sedentary lifestyles can be able to slow the progress or prognosis of the condition or stop it altogether by this strategy together with diet. The only people who may not be able to achieve their required results are those who suffer the disease because of a serious genetic cause. A comprehensive program for maintaining body weight at a healthy position comprises of regular exercising, attending stress reduction and management program, and a proper diet that has low-fat and organic foodstuffs. This combination of interventions has helped me to reverse the heart condition I was diagnosed with.
Testing and Application
My doctor advised that even minimal activity was enough to expend body energy. For instance, walking to turn off the television rather than using the remote was using energy. Talking a walk rather than sitting at home and relaxing on weekends has also been very beneficial in my strategy of maintaining my body weight. All my life has been filled with doing the little things that will see me use energy like cooking my food, walking to places around the house, walking upstairs rather than taking a lift or escalators.
Funny though is fidgeting as it helps to keep some pounds off and chewing gum has also been suggested to expend some energy. However, I understand that I should not depend on mild activities when I need to lose more weight since intensive activities that expend energy can prevent weight gain.
I will be seeking to make my exercising more strenuous because this is when the chances of future success will increase. Intense exercise means that more metabolisms would lead to anaerobic respiration which converts glucose to glycogen for storage. Resistance has been very effective in ensuring that I build some muscles and I have been doing it once a week.
The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Various Methods for Determining Healthy Weight
Description of Concrete Experience
I have used the following to determine a healthy weight loss just like many other people with the same problem. I have uses a scale, BMI charts, and tape measurements. Besides these, there are other methods including how well clothes fit, percent body fat, and bathroom weight scale. However, it is recommended that only the doctor can accurately evaluate the weight of an individual and recommend the relevant weight determination strategy.
When the results indicate too much fat, then an individual is at risk of developing weight-related problems like cardiovascular complications or diabetes even when they exercise. Its main disadvantage is that genetics can cause some people to have bodies with too much fast but still have a lesser risk of health problems. Besides, the method is not universally accepted because of the lack of a standard of measure.
Body Mass Index is often used by doctors who assess patients for overweight or obesity diagnosis. The method involves dividing the weight of an individual in pounds by their height in square inches then the result is multiplied by a factor of 704.5. A product of over 25 is overweight and over 30 is obsessed. The disadvantage of this is that it fails to take into consideration the different body types and percentage of body fat hence misleading for some people.
Reflection
This is the most common method of determining healthy weight and it is what I often used whenever I visited the hospital for a check-up. By dividing weight in kilograms by the height in meters squared, a number is derived and this is what is used to evaluate the weight whether it’s healthy or unhealthy. Values of 18.5 to 24.9 show that the individual has normal and therefore healthy body weight. 25 to 29.9 BMI is a sign of overweight. Studies of BMI and cardiovascular diseases show a great correlation between a BMI of over 25 and the prevalence of cardiovascular problems and diabetes.
I loved this method as it was considered the best and it’s popular, fast, and efficient. Even though it fails to measure body fat, it’s more accurate in an approximation of the fatness of an individual. It is hence more reliable than using a tape measure and a simple scale. Drawing a chart to monitor the body weight changes helps to keep the weight in a certain range.
Generalization/Principles/Theories
As much as I liked using BMI, it has its shortcomings. Since it’s not a measure of body fat, it often gives false results for muscular persons and they are wrongly categorized as overweight. Besides, the scale can place people with less fat in the underweight category. Very short people and pregnant women often get inappropriate results that cannot be used for useful medical assessments. The patient must understand that abdominal fat is riskier to health than hip fat.
How well clothes fit is very simple as a person feels that the clothes are loose and sagging when they were initially fitting well. The disadvantage is that while loose clothes could be a sign of weight loss or tight clothes showing weight gain, it could as well be a symptom of a serious problem like the effects of medication or pregnancy causing the loss or gain respectively.
The bathroom weight scale has the advantage of being effective and simple. However, its disadvantage has been that it takes a lot of fat to weigh the same as muscle meaning that a fit individual could weigh the same as a sedentary individual but they may not be the same in terms of health.
Testing and Application
Three main ways can be used to measure body fat since most of the methods of checking healthy weight do not measure body fat. These are skinfold calipers, hydrostatic weighing, and homebody fat scales.
Skinfold caliper is a form of the caliper that professionals use to measure how much fat one has. An individual can do it at home by use of Accu measure and following instructions carefully. It’s regarded as very cost-effective.
Homebody fat scales have been famed has faster and convenient to use. I never used them but the scales use bioelectrical ‘impedance’ to evaluate body fat in percentage. The scales pass a low electrical current through a patient’s body and the calibrated scale measures impedance (resistance). The results are computed with other factors to give the amount of body fat one’s body has.
The most accurate of ensuring that body fat is measured reliably to do the underwater weighing also called hydrostatic weighing. The method employs the Archimedes principle. The doctor first calculates the body density based on water displaced. The reason why body fat is an important measure is that it is a crucial component in weight control. Besides, body fat requires fewer calories than muscles and when I have less, I will gain more calories I can consume before the weight gain.
The Hazards of Various Fad Weight Loss Diets
Description of Concrete Experience
I have been one of the many people who desperately wanted to lose weight faster and hence believing in the diet fads. As a result, I have often been on the Lemonade diet. My inspiration came from singer Beyonce Knowles who uses this diet to lose weight fast for a roll in the movie. However, I manage to lose weight only to gain every pound back within 30 days. I have been on the cabbage soup diet and lost 10 pounds because I was inspired when Mayo Clinic in Minnesota recommended this diet for heart patient that need to lose a tremendous amount of weight before having surgery. I gained all my weight back with that diet too. I have also taken Adipex diet pills.
I lost about 15 pounds but gained 7 pounds back over 4 months. My best and longest results were between 2003 and 2009 when I went to the gym, park, and join a 30-day boot camp to work out. I lost weight and felt good as well as was able to eat anything I wanted without gaining weight.
Reflection
The cabbage soup has been given a lot of publicity with many television programs showing that it is effective. However, these reviews have been short-term with the soup wining. The problem is that a person gains the weight back after stopping the use of the soup.
Also popular is the lemonade diet. The diet has gains greater fame in recent years with celebrities being used to promote the product. Essentially there is nothing like a celebrity like Beyonce gaining a quick fix from the diet. The faster solution comes at an extra cost since dieting can cause heart problems, strokes, and more weight gain when an individual stops using it. I have personally experienced this gain. Following the regimen of these diet fads and eating nothing could cause heart palpitations hence causing serious illness.
Generalization/Principles/Theories
I realized that fad dieting caused both short- and long-term effects on the body. Even though they brought about bodyweight loss very fast, this was only temporary for me, as I gained back the weight and found it unhealthy. Dieting has an impact on metabolism as it slows it and at times it can be halted and it’s this that causes a person to think that the diet is great. The body is deprived of proper nutrients that would otherwise have been gained through a normal diet.
These nutrients are very important and deficiency depletes the stored ones and the body begins to show signs of malnutrition. Fad diets affect metabolism and this puts the body in a position ready to gain weight in the future, as such I always gain weight immediately after I stopped using the fad diets.
The long terms implications can be very devastating. Depression, aggression, sinus problems, rashes, muscle loss acidosis, and reduced sex drive have all been associated with fad dieting.
Testing and Application
The few times I used fad dieting I suffered some nutritional deficiencies that caused me to feel weak not knowing it was a sign of malnutrition as the body exploited muscle stores hence causing muscle loss. However, each time I returned to normal eating, I gained weight even faster. This means that during the time I was dieting of the lemonade and cabbage soup, my body lacks essential nutrients like minerals and vitamins.
During the time I was dieting, my body did not use food well as metabolism was affected by my drastic actions of not consuming nutrients. My body was, therefore, prepared to gain weight in the future. This is the reason behind my weight gain whenever I stopped the fad diets. The process of losing weight while on diet and gaining it when I stopped could be dangerous as it can make losing weight more difficult but pose risk to problems already highlighted.