Weight management is everyday mathematics. Weight is kept under control when energy intake and consumption are in balance. During the day, you should eat the same amount of energy as you consume. So should we count calories or just follow a healthy lifestyle?
Counting calories is not needed. Weight management is not so fastidious. It is more important to be aware of your choices. Remind yourself by thinking about what kind of food choices you make and what they are based on.
Plan your meal schedule, eat meals of appropriate size, and enjoy them. It is good to eat five meals a day about every 3–4 hours. Sometimes you can eat more freely, as long as the basis of the diet is healthy. Weight management is about maintaining a healthy weight, not always losing weight. Daily activity and exercise help with weight control as they consume energy.
Overweight
Obesity is caused by excessive energy intake. Excess weight makes you tired and makes life heavier. Excess weight also hinders body control and predisposes to exercise injuries. Obesity exposes its carrier to many diseases and health hazards such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and depression.
In particular, the accumulation of visceral fat around the waist (inside the abdominal cavity between the intestines and internal organs and the liver) causes many diseases. Genes partly regulates where fat accumulates in the body but smoking, heavy alcohol consumption and low physical activity increase waist obesity.
The relation between your height and weight can be checked using the Body Mass Index (BMI), and waist circumference with a measuring tape.
Emotional eating
Emotions are valuable. We rejoice, we cry, we fear, we yearn, we tense, we overwhelm, and we love. Emotions and eating are sometimes related. You can enjoy eating and food as long as your emotions don’t over-regulate long-term what you put into your mouth.
Sometimes, when you’re bored, you start to wonder what you’d find in the fridge. Even if you are stressed, you may be looking for something sweet since eating treats may make you relax for a while. Moments of joy feel even better when you celebrate them with delicacies.
Emotional eating means that different emotional states generate cravings for a certain type of food despite a real need. Even though you are not really hungry or thirsty, you eat according to your mood, regardless of your meal times. This type of behavior can increase energy intake unnoticed.
Tips for weight management
Weight management means a commitment to better eating habits and exercise. It is not a good idea to fix your lifestyle on an all-or-nothing basis. It is smart to start weight loss with small everyday choices.
For example, you can ask a health nurse for help with weight management. The list for weight management tips gives you ideas to initiate weight management. You can choose one thing from the list each week that you pay attention to.
- A regular meal rhythm is the foundation of weight management. Eat balanced meals and snacks every 3–4 hours so that you are more likely to have control over your eating throughout the day.
- Eat vegetables. Add vegetables, berries and fruits to each meal. They have little energy, but you will feel more satiated. Begin with the vegetables you like the most.
- The plate model helps you to put together meals. About one quarter of the plate should be filled with grain products or potatoes, and another quarter of the plate with fish, egg, lentils or meat. Fill one half of the plate with vegetables. In addition, one slice of whole grain bread with soft vegetable oil spread, a glass of water or fat-free milk/buttermilk and dessert of fruit or berries are also parts of the meal.
- Don’t forget a healthy snack. Meal sizes are more likely to end up being too large if snacks become forgotten. There are plenty of healthy snack options in grocery stores.
- For drink, the best option is water. This way you don’t become unconsciously consumed with energy that doesn’t make you feel full.
- Use alcohol with caution. Alcohol contains a lot of energy, which accumulates as a visceral fat in the waist.
- Move. Even a small movement is better than being still. Nutrition and exercise together are the best means for weight management.
Fad diets
Following a variety of trendy diets promises tremendous results in weight management. However, criticism and one’s own thinking are important. Scientific research has rarely been conducted on the functionality and healthiness of fad diets. On the other hand, the authors of Finnish nutrition recommendations are professionals in nutrition.
The principal aim of fad diets is often rapid weight loss. It is typical of those diets that the intake of some nutrients is restricted. One or more foods may also be considered as a “wonder substance” and advertised with health or weight loss benefits.
Weight management should not be based on unjustified restrictions and promises of rapid weight loss. The faster the weight is lost, the more easily it is to return. For example, in the keto diet, the amount of carbohydrates is minimized and the diet is mainly composed of proteins and fats. This is not recommended as the brain needs carbohydrates to function, and excessive intake of fats increases the risk of high cholesterol.
Eating disorders
Dissatisfaction with one’s own body is a huge burden for many. Too limited a diet and hysterical weight control can lead to an eating disorder at worst. The most common eating disorders are anorexia, bulimia, and orthorexia.
At the beginning of the disease, an eating disorder is mainly a mental illness, but if it persists for a long time, it can lead to serious physical illness. The person with an eating disorder does may not recognise the illness, so he or she needs the support of those around him or her to identify his or her situation.
It is worth to think critically about the fitness photos that are visible on social media. Too a rigorous life overstrains thoughts, confuses the secretion of sex hormones, strains the heart muscle, and makes the bones brittle.