American is well documented to have issues with regards to people being overweight and obese. In America more than two thirds of adults are considered overweight and more than one third obese. These weight issues are the result of an energy imbalance. The body requires a certain amount of energy (calories) from food to keep up the basic functions of life. The body burns this energy (calories) through being active and the more active the more energy that is used.
So weight is gained when the body is consuming more energy than it is burning through being active. There is a tradeoff between dietary intake and output through activities. If more energy is being consumed than is being used then weight gain will happen. Some foods contain higher levels of calories than others, so weight can be managed by what you eat as well as how much you eat in balance with how active you are with regards to burning those calories.
The more calories eaten the more you will need to be active to burn these to keep your weight stable or indeed to reduce you weight. Increased activities to burn calories usually come in the form of physical exercise. However, making changes to one’s lifestyle needs to be something that is sustainable long term. If it is not, when weight is lost as part of a healthy eating and exercise regime it is normal for that person to revert back to their previous lifestyle with the weight going straight back on.
So the answer is to make more subtle changes to one’s eating and lifestyle habits that are sustainable. The results won’t be as quick but they can be lifelong, which is much more important. The first thing to do is look at your diet and work out what parts of your regular diet are high in calories that you won’t miss. This could be something like fizzy drinks or MacDonalds. The important thing is that it’s something high in calories that won’t be missed too much.
The next step is to increase the amount of calories you burn through increasing your activity. This can be things like riding a bike to work instead of taking the train or even getting off the train one stop early every day and walking the last part of the journey to work. Obviously participation in exercise is another way to burn calories. It’s very important to find something you enjoy as it needs to be a long term hobby and not a short term fix to try to lose weight.
In America the increase in health conscious American people has helped drive activities such as the Yoga. Yoga appeals to wide ranging audience, from those wanting to keep fit, the health conscious and the yoga enthusiasts that see yoga as a way of life rather than an exercise regime. Yoga is not a craze but now an established industry helping to provide healthy living for many American people. With more people doing yoga there is a greater need for more yoga teachers and more yoga activities as the yoga industry goes from strength to strength.
