| 5 steps to a healthy weight  Are you at a healthy weight? Reaching and maintaining an appropriate weight is important for overall health and can help you prevent and control many diseases and conditions, such as heart disease and high blood pressure. Follow these 5 steps to get started.
1. Determine your body mass index (BMI) BMI is a measure of body fat and is a good indicator of your risk for diseases that can occur with more body fat. To estimate your body fat, simply use the NHLBI's BMI calculator, BMI tables, or download the new NHLBI BMI mobile (iPhone) application. Find your BMI category: | Underweight | ‹18.5 | | Normal Weight | 18.5-24.9 | | Overweight | 25-29.9 | | Obesity | BMI of 30 or greater |
2. Measure your waist circumference Determining your waist circumference helps screen for possible health risks that come with overweight and obesity. If most of your fat is around your waist rather than at your hips, you're at a higher risk for heart disease and type 2 diabetes. This risk goes up with a waist size that is greater than 35 inches for women or greater than 40 inches for men. To correctly measure your waist, stand and place a tape measure around your middle, just above your hipbones. Measure your waist just after you breathe out. Check the table of Risks of Obesity-Associated Diseases by BMI and Waist Circumference to see if your BMI and waist circumference measurements increase your risk for developing type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and/or heart disease.
3. Determine your risk factors for diseases and conditions associated with obesity Along with being overweight or obese, the following conditions put you at greater risk for heart disease and other conditions. Check the risk factors you have: [ ] High LDL cholesterol ("bad" cholesterol)
[ ] Low HDL cholesterol ("good" cholesterol)
[ ] High triglycerides
[ ] High blood glucose (sugar)
[ ] High blood pressure (hypertension)
[ ] Family history of premature heart disease
[ ] Physical inactivity
[ ] Cigarette smoking These risk factors play a role in next steps, particularly if you fall in the overweight category of BMI. If you are overweight, or have a high waist circumference, and have two or more of these risk factors, your risk is similar to someone who is considered obese, and it is recommended that you lose weight. Even a small weight loss (5-10 percent of your current weight) will help lower your risk of developing diseases associated with obesity. If you are overweight, do not have a high waist measurement, and have fewer than two risk factors, you may need to prevent further weight gain rather than lose weight. 4. Focus on lifestyle changes Most people who are trying to lose weight focus on just the goal of weight loss. However, setting the right goals and focusing on lifestyle changes are equally important. Maintaining a healthy weight requires striking an energy balance between the calories you consume from food and beverages and the calories your body uses to function and be physically active. If your energy in is equal to your energy out, you maintain weight. If you eat less and burn off more calories over time (calories in is less than calories out), you will lose weight. The key is to focus on dietary changes and physical activity that will lead to appropriate weight loss and weight loss maintenance, and to set goals that involve following a healthy eating plan, watching portion sizes, being physically active, and reducing sedentary time. Changing the way you approach weight loss can help you be more successful at weight management. 5. Set realistic and useful goals You should develop goals that are a) specific; b) attainable; and c) forgiving (less than perfect). "Be more physically active" is a great goal, but it's not specific. "Walk 5 miles every day" is specific and measurable, but may not be attainable. "Walk 30 minutes every day" is more attainable, but what happens if you're held up at work one day and it rains during your walking time another day? "Walk 30 minutes, 5 days each week" is specific, doable, and forgiving. In short, a great goal! Tips to achieve your goals: - Select short-term goals that move you ahead in small steps and write them down. As an example, you may wish to aim to reduce 100 calories a day initially, then 300, and eventually eat 500 less calories each day.
- Monitor your weight. Regular monitoring of your weight is essential to help you check weight loss progress or maintain your lower weight. Keep in mind that one day's diet and physical activity patterns won't have a measurable effect on your weight the next day.
- Keep a food diary. Keeping a record of your daily food intake will help you stay on track when trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight.
Get a printable food diary form. - Monitor your behavior. Observe and record some aspect of your behavior, such as servings of fruits and vegetables, number of unhealthy fast food meals, or amount of physical activity. Self-monitoring of a behavior usually moves you closer to the desired direction and provides records to let you and your health care provider know how you're doing. When the record shows that your activity is increasing, you'll be encouraged to keep it up.
- Reward success. When you achieve a small goal, reward yourself–but not with food. An effective reward is something that is desirable, timely, and dependent on meeting your goal. Good choices may be material (a movie, music, book, or payment toward a most costly item), or an act of self-kindness, such as an afternoon off from work or an hour of quiet time. Frequent small rewards, earned for meeting smaller goals, are more effective than bigger rewards that require a long, difficult effort.
Get more tips for successful behavior change! You may have seen the extensive weight loss that some reality show contestants achieve in a short period of time. The reality is that slow and steady weight loss is the safest approach to losing weight and keeping it off. If you are interested in additional weight-loss program strategies and tools, visit the NHLBI's Aim for a Healthy Weight Website at http://healthyweight.nhlbi.nih.gov. If you would like guidance on choosing a weight loss program, review these guidelines on selecting a weight-loss program.  Popular Resources - 'Aim for a Healthy Weight - Facts About Healthy Weight' Fact Sheet
- 'Aim for a Healthy Weight: Keep an Eye on Portion Size' Z Card
- 'Aim for a Healthy Weight: Maintaining a Healthy Weight on the Go' Pocket Guide
NHLBI health information now available at your fingertips The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has updated its Web site and added more digital information including podcasts, educational videos, Web applications and downloadable fact sheets. Browse the updated online catalog to locate NHLBI materials and find out how to access NHLBI resources, from clinical practice guidelines to fact sheets, including: - Downloading specific educational materials for self-printing
- Using content in newsletters and on Web sites
- Ordering print materials in limited quantities
- Ordering printers' disks, to use when locally printing large quantities
Materials may also be ordered in printed form at no charge in limited quantities. |
