If you are reading this section, then you probably realize you need to lose weight, so let’s skip the small talk. Losing excess weight can improve your health in numerous ways, and one of those benefits is a lowering of your blood pressure. If you are more than 10 percent over your ideal weight, then you can likely significantly lower your blood pressure once you drop those excess pounds. In fact, research noted that individuals can reduce their systolic blood pressure by 1 mmHg for every two pounds they lose. That sounds like an impressive benefit from losing weight! For those unfamiliar with the JNC 7, it was released in 2003 and provides practice guidelines for clinicians and patients when making decisions about the most appropriate health care.
What is your ideal weight? You can go to your doctor and have him or her help you make that determination, or you can do it yourself, using the accompanying chart as a guide. Find your height in the far-left column of the chart and then move your finger across the row until you come to the column that shows your current weight. At the top of that column is a number your body mass index (BMI) number. What does it mean?
Which Fad Diet Is Best?
Okay, I got your attention. The answer is “none.” To lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you take in. You can reduce your caloric intake, boost your exercise (and thus calorie-burning power), include a natural weight loss aid, or do all three.
Diet and exercise are a must for several reasons. One, it gives you two ways to achieve success. If you choose to do just one approach, you will need to dedicate a lot of effort into that one activity and your chances of failure increase. Two, it’s better to go for a balanced approach and dividing your efforts between reduced calories and extra activity provides that balance. Three, a healthier diet and regular exercise are super for heart health and overall health as well, so you will be accomplishing a great deal with your joint efforts. And four, it’s always better to have some flexibility and tackling weight loss from two angles gives you some latitude. Did you enjoy too much chocolate cake yesterday? Then boost your brisk walking time by twenty minutes.
You can give your weight loss efforts a boost if you add a natural dietary aid, which are discussed in ‘“‘Natural Weight Loss Aids.” These are not magic bullets they are substances shown to assist in weight loss efforts when used along with diet and exercise. Prescription weight loss drugs, which included Xenical and Belvig as of this writing, also require you to follow a healthy diet and to exercise if you want to experience any weight loss. In addition, these drugs are associated with significant side effects and have been shown to provide only modest assistance in weight loss. Therefore, your best bet is to go the natural route diet, exercise, and supplements.
