Overweight | Health & Wellness

Achieve a Healthy Weight to Feel Good

jumpforjoy Achieve a Healthy Weight to Feel Good There are a lot of reasons to lose weight — from decreasing risk of certain health conditions to looking better in your new bikini. But did you know that maintaining a healthy weight can just make you feel better day to day? A new study shows that the number of healthy days per year decreases with obesity.

We all get sick from time to time. You can’t do much if you’ve been exposed to a cold or if there was just something off about the chicken parm you ate at that restaurant last night. But obesity-related illness is something you have control over. And if it can give you more days where you’re feeling energized, healthy and ready to tackle anything that comes your way, isn’t it worth it?

The first step in weight loss isn’t signing up for a gym membership and clearing your grocery’s freezer aisle out of frozen diet meals. In fact, big, impulsive, I’m-going-to-change-everything weight loss plans rarely work. Instead, you have to start by being honest and realistic with yourself — honest about your current health habits and realistic about your goals. Rather than hoping for rapid weight loss, commit to a healthy lifestyle that will lead to ultimate (lasting!) weight loss. Mayo Clinic has some great weight loss basics to get you started.

Worried About Your Weight? Measure Your Neck

woman on scales tape measure.inline Worried About Your Weight? Measure Your Neck For years, doctors have been using our BMI (body mass index) as the benchmark for measuring or health based on our height / weight ratio. Now questions are arising about whether or not BMI is the most effective indicator in determining obesity or weight issues.

A recent study published in Pediatrics this week suggests that measuring our neck’s circumference can better determine if a person is overweight or obese.

Using a flexible tape measure at the center part of your neck is easy, effective and inexpensive. Not only can it help diagnose weight problems, but it can also catch other health problems like sleep apnea.

BMI doesn’t take muscle into account so when an athlete is measured they may be determined as overweight, when in reality, they’re fit. Measuring neck circumferences are much more accurate and soon may become a regular routine during childrens’ physicals and in the future, adult physicals as well.