Weight Loss Safely

Overweight people have an increased risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, and other illnesses. Losing weight reduces the risk. This brochure tells you how to lose weight safely.

Ask Your Doctor About Sensible Goals

Your doctor or other health worker can help you set sensible goals based on a proper weight for your height, build and age.

Men and very active women may need up to 2,500 calories daily. Other women and inactive men need only about 2,000 calories daily.

Exercise 30 Minutes

You need to use up the day's calories and some of the calories stored in your body fat.

Eat Less Fat and Sugar

This will help you cut calories. Fried foods and fatty desserts can quickly use up a day's calories. And these foods may not provide the other nutrients you need.

Make sure your other foods that day are low in fat and calories.

Eat a Wide Variety Of Foods

Variety in the diet helps you get all the vitamins and other nutrients you need.

Diet Pills

If you do use them, read the label carefully. Also, be careful about taking cough or cold medicines with diet pills you buy without a prescription. These medicines may contain the same drug used in diet pills, or a similar drug with the same effects.

Effects on health

A large number of medical conditions have been associated with obesity. Health consequences are categorised as being the result of either increased fat mass (osteoarthritis, obstructive sleep apnea, social stigma) or increased number of fat cells (diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease). Central obesity (male-type or waist-predominant obesity, characterised by a high waist-hip ratio), is an important risk factor for the metabolic syndrome, the clustering of a number of diseases and risk factors that heavily predispose for cardiovascular disease. These are diabetes mellitus type 2, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and triglyceride levels (combined hyperlipidemia)

1. Cardiovascular: congestive heart failure, enlarged heart and its associated arrhythmias and dizziness, cor pulmonale, varicose veins, and pulmonary embolism
2. Endocrine: polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), menstrual disorders, and infertility
3. Gastrointestinal: gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), fatty liver disease, cholelithiasis (gallstones), hernia, and colorectal cancer
4. Renal and genitourinary: erectile dysfunction, urinary incontinence, chronic renal failure, hypogonadism (male), breast cancer (female), uterine cancer (female), stillbirth
5. Integument (skin and appendages): stretch marks, acanthosis nigricans, lymphedema, cellulitis, carbuncles, intertrigo
6. Neurologic: stroke, meralgia paresthetica, headache, carpal tunnel syndrome, dementia, idiopathic intracranial hypertension
7. Respiratory: dyspnea, obstructive sleep apnea, hypoventilation syndrome, Pickwickian syndrome, asthma
8. Psychological: Depression, low self esteem, body dysmorphic disorder, social stigmatization
9. Musculoskeletal: hyperuricemia (which predisposes to gout), immobility, osteoarthritis, low back pain