The FINANCIAL — There are very few people in the world who have tried going on a diet. Losing a couple of kilos is almost always an attractive prospect.
Going on a diet is one of the most popular methods of achieving this. However the effect depends on proper management of the diet.
Office workers are becoming increasingly inactive, resulting in a higher risk of obesity. The risk of obesity among them has increased by ten percent.
Before dieting, calculate how many calories your body burns every day, dieticians recommend. To lose weight it is necessary to eat 500 fewer calories every day than your daily caloric needs. Going below 1,200 calories a day is forbidden by dieticians though.
“Say for example that a patient’s basal metabolic rate is 1,400 calories and he/she burns 900 calories with regular exercise, walking around and visiting a sports hall three times a week,” said Marina Gabisonia, dietician based in Tbilisi. “To lose weight, a patient should eat less than 2,300 calories (1,400 + 900 = 2,300). This is a calculation of BMR and activity level. The idea is that the real secret to weight loss is to make small, lasting changes; to forget about instant results and settle in for the long run. This way you won’t gain your weight back and more,” said Gabisonia.
It is advisable to visit a doctor and only after their examination to start dieting. Possible problems needs to be ruled out right at the beginning of the weight loss process. It is not advisable to lose weight via a crash diet, endocrinologists say. A gradual approach to achieve lasting effects is most successful.
Physical activity is other advice they give to those who want to lose weight. “Going on a diet does not mean being hungry all the time. It is about getting the right nutrition. Efficient and balanced nutrition, getting the correct numbers of calories and having a consistent regime give the best result. That way the patient and doctor are both satisfied,” said Nino Esakia, endocrinologist from Tbilisi. “I understand that sometimes patients are advised to eat food which is not available in Tbilisi’s supermarkets or alternately is very expensive. During the diet selection process special attention should be paid to the budget of the individual client, motivation, willingness and if she/he has any allergies,” Esakia added.
“The idea is to not cause a deficit of any vital substances in the diet,” said Irina Lomtadze, endocrinologist. “A balance should be kept between different food groups. Fruit and vegetables are the best choice for a diet because they hinder the absorption of fats and carbohydrates,” she added.
How can you lose weight without damaging your health? Moderate weight loss and keeping it so permanently is better than fast weight loss which weakens the organism, dieticians say. “Otherwise instead of having a beautiful body we can become unwell. Many teenagers and young women starve arbitrarily. Hunger and lack of vitamins cause different pathologies. For example goitre, gastric pathologies, cachexia, skin diseases, infertility etc,” Esakia added.
Besides these diseases, in the case of a bad diet it is almost impossible to lose weight. In fact it is likely that one will actually gain weight instead, endocrinologists warn.
“What’s most effective is to keep cutting calories over a long period of time, thereby gradually reducing one’s weight. With rapid weight loss bulimia can often develop,” Lomtadze said. “In the past protein diets have been popular. The protein content in food is very important, but without carbohydrates and fats in food as well, different problems can arise. Vitamin deficits, heart pathologies and immune system disorders are some of these problems,” she added.
People overeat for all kinds of reasons. Fast food, lack of exercise and nutritional disorders are pre-conditions of gaining weight. “This is a century of technological developments. People do not walk, instead they use transport for movement. People eat high calorie foods. This is why dieting is so common nowadays in the world and in Georgia as well,” Esakia said.
“Obesity is a worldwide problem. Nowadays people are more informed about the dangers of being obese. People fight against being overweight not only for aesthetic reasons, but as a disease,” added Lomtadze.
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