Weight Loss: Preventing Weight Gain

Health, Fitness & Nutrition

Gaining weight in adulthood is a common thing but as long as we keep eating healthy and exercising this can be controlled and kept to a minimum, too much weight gain during middle age however increases the risk of diabetes and heart disease along with leaving us feeling lethargic.
Studies have shown that for every two pounds we gain the risk of developing diabetes over the next ten years rose by 20%. Not only does the risk of diseases such as these occurring but also too much weight gain can put a strain on the joints, the knees in particular.
Weight gain also increases the risk of several types of cancer including colon and breast cancer, a weight gain of more than 45 pounds during middle age can increase the risk of breast cancer in women by 20%.
The importance of having a healthy nutritional diet cannot be stressed enough as this is the only way of preventing unwanted weight gain in middle age and so preventing the risk of disease.
This can be achieved by reducing slightly the amount of calories you have per day, this reduction can be as little as 100 calories per day.

Daily nutritional needs

To get all the nutrients we need every day to keep our bodies healthy then it is recommended that we eat different types of foods from 4 food groups, these are categorised into the following

• Bread, cereals and potatoes – This group consists of bread, potatoes, breakfast cereals, pasta, rice and noodles and is sometimes called the starchy carbohydrates group.
• Fruit and vegetables – Fresh, frozen, tinned or dried fruit and vegetables all count in this food group as does vegetable juices or fruit juices.
• Milk and dairy products – this category includes milk, margarine, butter and cheese .
• Meat and fish – This category includes fresh lean meat, fish, chicken and eggs, it is important to remember that some of these products can be high in fat so trim off all outside fat and remove the skin from chicken.

There is a fifth food group which consists of foods containing fat and sugar; these should be eaten sparingly as part of a healthy diet but should never replace foods from the essential four groups. There are 8 top tips we should follow for leading a healthy diet, these are:

• Base your main meals on starchy foods
• Eat lots of fruit and vegetables
• Eat more fish
• Cut down on sugary foods and foods containing saturated fat
• Try to eat less than 6g of salt per day
• Get regular exercise
• Drink plenty of water throughout the day
• Remember breakfast is the main meal of the day.