Weight Loss and Lifestyle Modifications

Please note that this guide is very helpful treatment approach, management and care for several health situations like:-

If you are healthy and you simply want to maintain very good and lasting health.
If you are over-weight.
If you have Diabetes.
If you have Hypertension.
If you have high Cholesterol or Body Fats
If you have Heart Failure, or Heard Disease.
If you have Kidney failure, or Kidney Disease.
If you have joints pain, especially hips, knees, and ankles.
If you are having infertility and your weight is also high.
If you have stroke.
If you have had Heart Attack
If you have Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) syndrome.

Please note that if you have the resources, and you are detailed enough to follow fine rules and measurements, feel very free to also try out seeing the professional Nutritionist or Dietician.

Otherwise the following guides are very practical, simple and easy to use by both the highly educated as well as the less educated members of our community, and if followed religiously, it works very well:-

OVER-WEIGHT.
(a) The first is how do you know that you are over-weight? Another question about the same issue is, what is your Ideal Body Weight?

Simply measure your height in centimeters. Then take away 100 from it. What is left is your ideal body weight. For instance, if your height is 170cm, your Ideal Body Weight will be 170-100, and the answer is 70. So your Ideal Body Weight is 70kg. For practical purpose you can assume that if you are about 70kg to even 75kg, you are not doing badly.

(b) Another way doctors use to check your weight is what is called Body Mass Index (BMI). Let us not go into that arithmetic now, but BMI from 20 to 25 is regarded as fair enough for you. So when you are with your doctor, always feel free to ask her/him to please let you know your BMI. That will help you and the doctor to repeatedly keep an eye on how your weight is going.
REDUCE/STOP SALT.
Take note that most of the mistakes about salt intake are made by the person who cooks the food. So please teach every member of the family, and especially the cook, that these changes you are introducing are vital to all of the family, not only you. If everyone gets used to it, it becomes easy for all throughout life. If someone wants to use salt, let the person add some salt in her/his own separate food. The food should be in the form that if someone comes to the home and tastes it, the person must complain that there is no salt in it. The person can be given salt to add to his/her own separately. Note that in the first few days, the food will be tasteless, but just after few weeks/months, the food will become as nice as ever. The reason is that the taste buds of the tongue quickly re-adjust to the low or non salt you are eating.

When you will know what you have achieved is when you go to public function and they serve food. Others will be enjoying it, but once you taste the food it will be too salty! You will then remember that you are achieving something.

Salt retains/stores excess fluid in the body; thereby increasing weight, increasing blood pressure and contributing to heart and kidney failure.
QUANTITY OF FOOD.
If you are used to eating once a day, continue with it. If you are used to eating morning and evening, continue with it. If you are used to eating three times a day, continue with it. Where the change must be is QUANTITY OF FOOD.

Many people might tell you that your weight is because of type of food you eat. They will advice to increase vegetables. Ask the person, why is it that Cow eats only grass/vegetables but it is extremely fat? The reason is in the QUANTITY OF FOOD. If you watch Mr Cow very closely, you will notice that he is always eating! Any time Mr Cow is awake, he is eating. Indeed, even while asleep, Mr Cow still manages to eat on occasions! So Mr Cow is fat because of the total quantity of food he eats per day.

So now that we know, the way to reduce the quantity of food (and know that you have reduced the quantity) is to aim at reducing the quantity of what you eat by half. Both the cook as well as yourself will make sure that the food in your plate is half of what you used to eat. The second way of making sure that you are getting it right is that after eating, you should still be a bit hungry, then you stop! Drink more water and keep it that way each time. The third way of making sure that you are keeping an eye on yourself is anytime you feel full after eating, it means that you have overeaten again!
NO IN-BETWEEN MEAL.
After that normal time for eating, as outlined and agreed in ‘item number 3’ above, nothing should go into the mouth except water. That is what it must be till the next normal time for eating. No cola nut, no cake, no soft drink, no this no that. Everything that you consider good to eat like fruits, veggies, drinks, etc, should be kept ready as part of that your half-sized food as already agreed. Indeed a lot of over-weight in so many of our ladies is because of in-between meals. Also remember that the ladies often look after children as well. To check whether the food is hot, also to check if it has pepper, what of salt? Now you know. From today, you will be very conscious of when and what goes into the mouth, and know that your weight goes up with it. Any time you feel hungry in-between, drink more water. If you are on some medicines like those for treating Diabetes, discuss with your doctor, how to prevent hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).
EVENING MEAL.
Evening Meal deserves special mention again. This is the meal that tends to remain in the stomach when you are going to sleep. Try as much as possible to make it the smallest of all the meals of the day. Also try to make it mostly vegetables, nuts, proteins, fish, fruits, beans, egg, sips of which ever drink you cherish, etc. Reducing weight does not mean that you must die immediately please. However, in your mindset, you want to make sure that the total quantity of what you are taking is not more than half of what you used to eat.
PHYSICAL EXERCISES.
Increase your physical activities and even more importantly, exercises. Do things that can make you pant a bit and sweat for some times in the day. Even walking faster than you are used to, is good exercise. Jogging, running, cycling, swimming, and even getting up and down stair case many times in the day, are all helpful. Whether you have range of time to do it or just as you do day to day things, if you have exercise in your mind, you will do things faster to help your weight and your heart every day.

Remember that with the reduced quantity of food, coupled with physical exercises, you are bound to be hungry. Drink more water.
MEASUREMENTS/CHECKS/TESTS.
No matter how clever you are, you may think that you are doing very well, but you might actually be adding more weight, instead of reducing it. The sure way to know is by going back to your doctor to repeat your weight and height. Better if it is with the same machines. They will tell you your Ideal Body Weight again and they will tell you your BMI. You will see what you have achieved. Remember that even half a kg of weight reduced, is something. Keep it up. And remember that the regimen above should then become your habit and should continue. If you are in doubt, confirm with your doctor to know if you are in the right track. It is good to check about once in a month. It is good to repeat your blood tests after three months. You will see that your body fats like Cholesterol as well as your Sugar levels and Insulin levels will come down towards normal. And you will also feel very much younger and more alive/healthier/happier, compared to before. Anything you do without checking how you are going is dangerous. That is why check-up must be repeatedly done in the same hospital/clinic and Laboratory.
You have read enough, thank you, ha ha ha!. Go and start doing it from now, not tomorrow, please!

Remain blessed.

Dr Ndidi Victor Ikealumba.

Upper North Junction Hospital & Maternity

No 6 Dr Victor Ikealumba Street,

Upper North, Trans Ekulu,

Enugu, Nigeria.