Weigh your health

I’M so worried! My weight keeps increasing, moans a female executive to her friend.

For women, any increase in weight is a very sensitive issue. And for men, a “spare tire” around the tummy and a chubby body shape can occasionally be a source of jokes among friends.

How important is controlling your weight? Is it just to look good?

The truth is, being overweight not only affects a person’s self-image, but also affects their health, and exposes them to the risk of diseases like diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.

The question is: is it easy to control your weight?

The truth is, it isn’t that hard to ensure that your weight remains at the ideal level. Follow these tips to ensure that your weight is ideal for your height.

Healthcare professionals use the BMI (Body Mass Index) to measure your ideal body weight. You can calculate your BMI using this formula: BMI = Weight (kg) ÷ [Height (m)]²

The ideal BMI is between 18.5 and 22.9. (See BMI levels)

Firstly, you should know your body’s caloric needs.

Each person’s caloric needs differ according to gender, age and daily activities.

If you are a woman who is not very physically active, and spends most of the day in the office, your daily caloric intake should be around 1,800 kilocalories (kcal). Whereas, on average, an adult male would need around 2,200 kcal.

Secondly, you should practise healthy cooking methods.

While you needn’t limit your methods of cooking or variety of food, the most important thing is that your cooking methods should involve less fat, less salt and less sugar, so that you can enjoy healthy meals. Below are some guidelines for preparing healthy meals:

·Remove the skin from poultry before cooking.

·Remove any visible fat from meats before cooking.

·Avoid refrying fried food.

·Use tissue paper or oil absorbent paper to absorb excess oil on fried foods.

·Use a non-stick pan to decrease the use of oil.

·Ensure that the oil is really hot before frying food, so that less oil is absorbed.

·Use healthier cooking methods like roasting, baking, boiling, braising or using the oven.

·Use diluted santan (coconut milk) or low-fat milk.

·Cool down soups or meat stock, and remove any visible surface fat.

·Remove any visible oily layers from food.

·Use low-fat salad dressings.

·Reduce the use of sugar while cooking.

·Avoid adding sugar while preparing food. Instead, sweeten your meal with fresh or dried fruits.

·Avoid layering your cake with sugar or icing.

·Avoid adding sugar into fruit juices.

·When preparing drinks, provide the sugar or milk separately.

·Replace condensed milk with low-fat or fresh milk.

·Use only a little salt in your cooking, and avoid sprinkling salt onto your food.

·Decrease the use of oyster sauce, chilli sauce and tomato ketchup, as well as flavouring while preparing meals. Replace them with suitable natural spices like black pepper, ginger, etc.

·Reduce consumption of preserved foods like salted fish, salted eggs, preserved vegetables, etc.

Are you a physically active person? For a person working in the office, and spending a lot of time in front of the computer, you may be a less active person.

I'm reading: Weigh your health

EntryBest Online

EntryBest Online gathers entries from all around the world through different websites and blogs. We are sorry that we are unable to state all the source of the entries. If you are the owner of the entries and not happy with it, please kindly contact us at jasonblake88@gmail.com. Thank you!