understanding fat loss do you need it
Obesity is a condition caused by excessive accumulation of fat in the body. It not only affects physical appearance but also brings inconvenience to daily life. More importantly, obesity can lead to various complications, accelerating aging and increasing mortality. Medicine has defined obesity as the source of many diseases, and it has been proven that multiple illnesses are related to obesity.
1. Increased Risk of Diabetes
Obesity is one of the significant risk factors for diabetes. It causes excessive insulin secretion, which promotes fat synthesis and inhibits fat breakdown. The more severe the obesity, the higher the fasting insulin levels, and the inability to increase insulin secretion after eating to regulate blood sugar levels, leading to elevated blood sugar. Experiments have found that obese individuals have fewer insulin receptors in their cells or problems in accepting insulin, thus increasing the risk of diabetes. Weight loss can improve abnormal blood sugar levels.
2. Prone to Coronary Heart Disease and Hypertension
Obese individuals have increased fat tissue, higher oxygen consumption, and greater cardiac workload, leading to myocardial hypertrophy, especially in the left ventricle, which can induce hypertension over time. Lipid deposits in the arterial walls cause narrowing, hardening, and increase the risk of coronary heart disease, angina, stroke, and sudden death.
Obesity is closely related to hypertension. Among obese individuals aged 40-50, the incidence of hypertension is 50% higher than in non-obese individuals. A moderately obese person has more than five times the chance of developing hypertension compared to someone with normal weight and more than twice the chance compared to someone mildly obese.
3. Prone to Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases
Metabolic and endocrine abnormalities caused by obesity can lead to various diseases. Obese women are prone to endocrine disorders, making it difficult to conceive due to excessive fat cells in and around the uterus, leading to irregular menstruation.
4. Increased Cardiac Load
The incidence of angina and sudden death is four times higher in obese individuals. High fat content in the blood increases the total blood volume, enhancing the heart's contraction force, thus increasing the cardiac load. When the heart is overburdened, it cannot effectively pump blood, leading to blood accumulation in the cardiovascular system and, in severe cases, significant heart failure.
5.Causes Fatty Liver
About half of obese individuals have fatty liver. The liver synthesizes triglycerides but has limited space to store them. The imbalance in the synthesis and transport of triglycerides in obese individuals leads to their accumulation in the liver, causing fatty liver.
6.Causes Bone and Joint Diseases
Increased weight can cause joint damage and pain. The main bone and joint diseases caused by obesity are osteoarthritis, diabetic osteoarthropathy, and gouty osteoarthropathy, with osteoarthritis being the most common and harmful. Obesity-induced osteoarthritis mainly affects the knee joints, followed by the hip and finger joints.
7. Prone to Gallstones
Obese individuals have higher cholesterol content in bile acids than normal, exceeding the solubility in bile, making them prone to high cholesterol gallstones.
II. The Truth About Weight Loss
Nowadays, many people try various methods to lose weight: eating less, running 5 or 10 kilometers daily, aerobics, push-ups, enzymes, weight loss tea, etc. But are these methods really effective for us? Or what is your definition of weight loss?
Weight loss is a behavior aimed at reducing excessive body fat and weight. Moderate weight loss can lower the risk of obesity and improve the health of those with obesity-related complications.
Most people equate weight loss with losing weight, constantly saying: I want to lose weight, I want my weight to return to double digits! I've been exercising for so long, but my weight hasn't changed at all! What's going on! In fact, unchanged weight doesn't mean unchanged body shape. After exercising for a while, look in the mirror or meet a friend you haven't seen in a while, and they will surely tell you: You've lost weight!
The truth about weight loss is reducing body fat, not just weight! Scientific fat reduction shows a pattern of rapid initial weight loss followed by a slower decline. Simply losing weight can reduce not only fat but also muscle, bone density, vitamins, minerals, water, and various essential elements, severely affecting health.
Of course, Rome wasn't built in a day, and weight loss isn't achieved overnight. Once we decide to lose weight, we must persist and periodically adjust our weight loss plan based on our physical condition.
III. Obesity Assessment Standards
Obesity refers to a state where excessive fat, especially triglycerides, accumulates in the body. It is usually caused by excessive food intake or changes in metabolism, leading to excessive fat accumulation, excessive weight gain, and pathological and physiological changes in the body.
Body Mass Index
BMI (Body Mass Index) is an indicator for assessing the degree of obesity. It is calculated by dividing weight (kg) by the square of height (m). The formula is: BMI = weight (kg) ÷ (height (m) × height (m)).
According to BMI, it can be classified as: underweight ≤ 18.4; healthy 18.5-23.9; overweight 24-27.9; obese ≥ 28.0. In other words, a BMI between 18.5 and 23.9 is considered normal weight. For example, a healthy weight for a woman with a height of 1.7m is 53.5-69kg.
Waist-to-Hip Ratio
Waist-to-hip ratio, as the name suggests, is the ratio of waist circumference to hip circumference, i.e., waist circumference divided by hip circumference. This is also an important indicator for assessing obesity. Many women care about this index; the smaller the waist-to-hip ratio, the less abdominal fat you have. Generally, people with high visceral fat index also have a high waist-to-hip ratio.
Waist circumference measurement method: measure the horizontal circumference at the level of the navel center or the midpoint between the lowest rib and the iliac crest using a soft tape measure at the end of exhalation and before inhalation. Hip circumference measurement method: measure the horizontal circumference at the most protruding part of the buttocks using a soft tape measure. The evaluation standard is that a waist-to-hip ratio above 0.85 for women and above 0.9 for men requires caution.
Body Fat Percentage
Body fat percentage refers to the proportion of fat weight in the total body weight, also known as body fat percentage. It reflects the amount of fat in the body. The calculation formula is: body fat percentage = (fat weight ÷ body weight) × 100%.
The normal range of body fat percentage for women: below 30 years old is 17%-24%, above 30 years old is 20%-27%; for men: below 30 years old is 14%-20%, above 30 years old is 17%-23%. The measurement of body fat percentage varies with age and gender. Since women need a certain amount of fat to maintain a good S-curve, their body fat percentage is naturally about 10% higher than men.
Too low body fat percentage can cause dysfunction; too high (obesity) can induce various diseases. When a woman's body fat percentage is below 18%, it can affect her menstrual cycle. To accurately measure body fat percentage, factors such as weight, gender, age, race, and health status must be considered.
How to Measure Body Fat Percentage?
Visual Inspection:As shown in the picture, look in the mirror at home at night and see which body type you resemble the most.
(Image source: Internet)
Smart Scale:Visual inspection is not precise enough. If you buy a smart scale, you can easily get your body fat percentage. Smart scales use bioelectrical impedance technology, adding ITO conductive film or conductive metal sheets on the surface. When you step on it barefoot, it forms a closed-loop electrode. Since fat does not conduct electricity and water does, the fat content can be calculated by measuring current and resistance values along with weight. The only requirement for measuring body fat percentage is to measure it barefoot.
Skinfold Caliper:A skinfold caliper is an instrument for measuring body fat based on the thickness of subcutaneous fat. It is portable, easy to use, and accurate.