People who have a BMI equal to or higher than 30 with no obesity-related health problems may benefit from taking prescription weight-loss medications. These might also be suitable for people with a BMI equal to or higher than 27 with obesity-related diseases.

However, a person should only use medications to support the above lifestyle modifications. Achieving and maintaining weight loss is possible when people adopt lifestyle changes in the long term.

Regardless of any specific methods that help a person lose weight, individuals who are conscious of how and what they eat and engage in daily physical activity or regular exercise will be successful both in losing and keeping off excess weight. I have an injury that is keeping me from physical exercise.

Is there any way to continue keeping the weight off? If your injury allows, you can do some simple exercises while sitting in a chair, such as lifting light weights. You can also use resistance bands while sitting or lying down. Some other ways to keep the weight off include counting calories and sticking to a healthful diet that includes fruits, vegetables, lean meat and fish, and whole grains.

Ensure that you include plenty of nutrient-dense foods in your diet, take the time to plan meals, use portion control, drink plenty of water, and maintain a positive attitude. Gerhard Whitworth, RN Answers represent the opinions of our medical experts. All content is strictly informational and should not be considered medical advice.

A new trial explores the effect of varying the portion size of food and making healthful, low-calorie choices on women who are trying to lose weight…. So many of us try so hard to reach the ideal body weight that we desire, but the question is: once we achieve our weight goal, can we maintain it?

Exercise alone is unlikely to help you shift the pounds, a new study finds. Instead, physical activity should be combined with a healthful diet.

Although obese participants had higher levels of hunger and satiety hormones after 2 years of sustained weight loss, hunger hormones seemed to be…. Starting the day with a big breakfast, followed by a medium lunch and a small dinner, may benefit people with obesity and type 2 diabetes, new study….

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Medical News Today. Health Conditions Health Products Discover Tools Connect. Medically reviewed by Gerhard Whitworth, R. Share on Pinterest Eat a varied, nutritious diet. Share on Pinterest Regular physical activity can help a person lose weight.

Share on Pinterest Having social support is a great way to stay motivated. Losing weight. Q: I have an injury that is keeping me from physical exercise. A: If your injury allows, you can do some simple exercises while sitting in a chair, such as lifting light weights.

Was this helpful? How we reviewed this article: Sources. Medical News Today has strict sourcing guidelines and draws only from peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations.

We avoid using tertiary references. We link primary sources — including studies, scientific references, and statistics — within each article and also list them in the resources section at the bottom of our articles.

You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy. Share this article. Latest news Ovarian tissue freezing may help delay, and even prevent menopause. There are many factors that contribute to a person's weight, including: diet, physical activity, genetics, environmental factors, health care support, medications, and illnesses.

The science behind weight management is complex, but one of the key concepts that governs weight management is Energy Balance. burns in a given time period. The calories a person consumes come from food and drink intake.

The quantity of food and drink consumed by an individual may play a role in weight management, as may the types of food and drink a person consumes.

Physical activity can be related to a person's professional activities, non-work related daily activities like walking or cycling, or it can be in the form of activities such as recreation or team sports.

Physical inactivity leads to less energy expenditure and is a factor that impacts obesity rates in both children and adults. Basal metabolic rate BMR is one of the main components of a person's daily energy expenditure. It is defined as the amount of energy that is expended during a given amount of time by a person at rest.

This energy at rest is used to pump blood throughout the body, maintain proper brain function, break down toxins, and ensure other bodily functions.

Technically speaking, BMR is the energy the body expends during the following specific conditions: immediately after waking up, while in a resting state, and after fasting for 12—14 hours.

The BMR is directly proportional to a person's lean body mass. BMR is also affected by acute illnesses and increases with burns, fractures, infections, fevers, etc.

It can be measured via direct and indirect calorimetry. However, it is also possible to approximately estimate BMR using several equations that factor in a person's age, sex, height, and weight. Jeor equation. The Mifflin St. Jeor Equation has been found to be the most accurate predictor of BMR compared to BMR measured by direct and indirect calorimetry.

Body mass index BMI is a value used to get a general sense of a person's overall mass and is calculated using a person's height and weight. It is more often used than weight alone to determine if an individual is underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese.

The following two equations can used to calculate BMI depending on the units used for height meters vs. inches and weight kilograms vs. pounds : [5]. Though BMI is often used to help assess for excess weight, it is not a perfect representation of a person's body fat percentage.

For example, an individual can have a higher than normal BMI but a normal body fat percentage if they have higher than average muscle mass. This is because excess muscle contributes to a higher weight. Since BMI is not a perfect representation of a person's body fat percentage, other measurements like waist circumference are often used to better assess for unhealthy excess weight.

The following table shows how different ranges of BMIs are often categorized into underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese: [5]. On average, groups of people with "obese" BMIs may have a higher risk of developing illnesses like diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia high cholesterol , liver disease, and some cancers.

However, BMI has limitations when used to describe individual health rather than describing populations of people. The thermogenic effect of food is another component of a person's daily energy expenditure and refers to the amount of energy it takes the body to digest, absorb, and metabolize nutrients in the diet.

Certain medications can cause either weight loss or weight gain. Metanalysis has shown that phentermine and topiramate , pramlintide , naltrexone , bupropion , and liraglutide have been shown to induce weight loss.

Medical conditions associated with weight gain include hypothyroidism , [23] Cushing's syndrome , Polycystic Ovary Syndrome PCOS , and congestive heart failure. Polycystic ovary syndrome PCOS , which is characterized by insulin resistance and hyperandrogenism , is a common condition that has been linked to obesity.

Obesity has been linked with pancreatic β-cell dysfunction and insulin resistance. In individuals with blood sugar levels in the prediabetic range, weight loss was demonstrated to have many benefits including improved glycemic control and a reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Common gastrointestinal disorders associated with weight loss are malabsorption due to Celiac disease or chronic pancreatitis. While Type 1 diabetes has been found to cause weight loss, type 2 diabetes has been associated with weight gain.

As weight loss depends partly on calorie intake, different kinds of calorie-reduced diets, such as those emphasizing particular macronutrients low-fat , low-carbohydrate , etc. The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension DASH diet focuses on increasing the consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products.

The Mediterranean diet involves eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans while replacing butter with extra-virgin olive oil and limiting red meats, dairy, sweets, and processed foods.

The ketogenic or "keto" diet involves intake of less than 50 g of carbohydrates daily along with increased fat and protein amounts. The plant-based diet is largely based on consumption of beans, grains, fruits, and vegetables and removal of meat, fish, and occasionally dairy and egg products from intake.

Intermittent fasting IF involves consistent fasting blocks of time where fewer or no calories are consumed. Some studies have suggested that using smaller plates might help people to consume smaller portion sizes. Modifying portion sizes may impact energy intake.

Large portion sizes could be one of the factors contributing to the current increase in average body weight in the US. The majority of guidelines agree that a calorie deficit, particularly kcal daily, can be recommended to those who want to lose weight.

A high protein diet relative to a low-fat or high-carbohydrate diet may increase thermogenesis and decrease appetite leading to weight reduction, [54] particularly months into a diet when rapid weight loss is observed. Studies have demonstrated that when compared to solid foods, soup ingestion decreases the amount of energy intake and increases feelings of satiety.

Studies have shown that a diet high in dairy decreases total body fat. Fruits and vegetables have been shown to increase satiety and decrease hunger signals. Fruits and vegetables are two sources of fiber as discussed above.

Dietary fiber has been suggested to aid weight management by inducing satiety, [5] decreasing absorption of macronutrients and promoting secretion of gut hormones. Due to the high volume or water content of fiber-rich foods, fiber displaces available calories and nutrients from the diet. In general, large intakes of dietary fiber at breakfast have been associated with less food intake at lunchtime.

Resistant starch is a type of non-digestible, fermentable fiber resistant to amylase digestion in the small intestine. Caffeine and black coffee have been associated with increased energy expenditure and subsequent weight loss. Catechins are polyphenols that are a major component of green tea extract.

Moreover, catechins in the brain play a major role in satiety. While green tea intake alone may not significantly reduce weight or BMI, combining intake with other strategies aimed at weight loss could be helpful for both loss and weight maintenance.

Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. It isn't essential that you have an outcome goal, but you should set process goals because changing your habits is a key to weight loss.

Adopting a new eating style that promotes weight loss must include lowering your total calorie intake. But decreasing calories need not mean giving up taste, satisfaction or even ease of meal preparation.

One way you can lower your calorie intake is by eating more plant-based foods — fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Strive for variety to help you achieve your goals without giving up taste or nutrition.

While you can lose weight without exercise, regular physical activity plus calorie restriction can help give you the weight-loss edge. Exercise can help burn off the excess calories you can't cut through diet alone.

Exercise also offers numerous health benefits, including boosting your mood, strengthening your cardiovascular system and reducing your blood pressure. Exercise can also help in maintaining weight loss. Studies show that people who maintain their weight loss over the long term get regular physical activity.

How many calories you burn depends on the frequency, duration and intensity of your activities. One of the best ways to lose body fat is through steady aerobic exercise — such as brisk walking — for at least 30 minutes most days of the week.

Some people may require more physical activity than this to lose weight and maintain that weight loss. Any extra movement helps burn calories. Think about ways you can increase your physical activity throughout the day if you can't fit in formal exercise on a given day.

For example, make several trips up and down stairs instead of using the elevator, or park at the far end of the lot when shopping. It's not enough to eat healthy foods and exercise for only a few weeks or even months if you want long-term, successful weight management.

These habits must become a way of life. Lifestyle changes start with taking an honest look at your eating patterns and daily routine. After assessing your personal challenges to weight loss, try working out a strategy to gradually change habits and attitudes that have sabotaged your past efforts.

Then move beyond simply recognizing your challenges — plan for how you'll deal with them if you're going to succeed in losing weight once and for all. You likely will have an occasional setback. But instead of giving up entirely after a setback, simply start fresh the next day.

Remember that you're planning to change your life. It won't happen all at once. Stick to your healthy lifestyle and the results will be worth it. There is a problem with information submitted for this request.

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