Scientific weight loss principles: Define your goals, set clear limits, and undergo a health check.

Section 4: How to Lose Weight Healthily

I. Weight loss requires a scientific approach

Weight loss should be approached scientifically. The purpose of weight loss is to improve health; however, blindly pursuing weight loss using improper methods will not only fail to achieve the desired results but may also have the opposite effect, harming your health. So how can you lose weight correctly?

① Define your weight loss goals. There are two types of people trying to lose weight: those who want to shed excess fat and reduce related health problems (therapeutic weight loss), and those who want a more toned and slender physique (preventative weight loss). Since their goals differ, their weight loss plans should also differ. The former should develop a strict weight loss plan and diligently follow it. The latter shouldn't put unnecessary psychological pressure on themselves by not losing weight, especially teenage girls who should avoid strictly restricting their diet and abusing weight loss drugs, which can negatively impact their normal development and health. Weight loss should prioritize health, and only then consider aesthetics.

② Define the boundaries of obesity. Weight is one of the standards for measuring obesity. From a medical perspective, exceeding the standard weight is considered "pathological." However, weight alone cannot fully reflect whether someone is truly obese. Some young men may exceed the standard weight, but because they are active and muscular, they may not have much fat. Therefore, to determine if someone is obese, subcutaneous fat thickness or waist-to-hip ratio should also be measured for a comprehensive assessment. For example, some people may have loose skin and excess fat even if their weight is within the normal range; they should still lose weight. Weight loss is not entirely the same as simply losing weight; it involves increasing physical activity to increase muscle mass and decrease fat percentage. Some middle-aged and elderly people may be thin, but due to lack of exercise, they may have a large belly; they should also increase exercise to reduce abdominal fat.

③ Undergo a health check. Before starting any weight loss program, a comprehensive physical examination should be conducted at a hospital to ensure the safety of the program.

a. Being overweight is not always caused by obesity. Edema caused by some diseases can also lead to weight gain due to the retention of water in the body.

b. Obesity can be divided into simple obesity and secondary obesity. The latter is caused by a variety of diseases, and the cause of this type of obesity should be identified and treated actively.

c. Simple obesity is often accompanied by some chronic diseases. A physical examination should be conducted to determine whether other diseases are present at the same time, so that attention can be paid to this during weight loss.

If you ignore the above issues and blindly try to lose weight, it will not only be ineffective, but may also delay your treatment or cause accidents.

④ Identify the cause of obesity and determine your weight loss goals. Simple obesity mainly occurs when energy intake exceeds energy expenditure, with the excess being converted into fat. The causes of this imbalance vary from person to person. Some people eat a lot, some have unbalanced diets, some enjoy snacking, some eat too much or too rich food at night, and some are sedentary and lack physical activity. Some people are trying to lose weight because they are obese, while others simply want to maintain their current body shape. Therefore, each person trying to lose weight should develop a targeted weight loss plan based on their own goals and the factors contributing to their weight gain for it to be effective.

⑤ Lose weight scientifically and correctly.

a. Do not blindly restrict or abstain from food. Weight loss primarily involves reducing calorie intake through dieting and increasing calorie expenditure through physical activity. Weight loss through dieting is not simply about restricting or abstaining from food, but rather about adjusting dietary structure, changing eating habits, and appropriately controlling food intake.

b. Increasing physical activity does not mean blindly increasing the amount of exercise, but rather it should be tailored to the individual, adapted to local conditions, gradual, and persistent.

c. Do not blindly abuse weight-loss drugs. Weight-loss drugs should not be used lightly. Milder-acting lipid-lowering weight-loss drugs or slimming teas can be tried, but strong appetite suppressants, diuretics, and laxatives should be used under the guidance of a doctor to avoid accidents. Do not pin your hopes for weight loss on weight-loss drugs. Objectively speaking, to date, there is no weight-loss drug that is 100% effective for all types of obesity and has no side effects. A better weight-loss effect can only be achieved by organically combining diet regulation, increased exercise, and drug treatment.

In conclusion, obese individuals must adhere to the principles of "scientific and correct approach, comprehensive management, gradual progress, and perseverance" when trying to lose weight in order to achieve their goals of weight loss and fitness.

II. International Weight Loss Principles

The dangers of obesity to human health have been recognized, leading to the emergence of various weight-loss methods, including medications, dietary supplements, surgery, and physical therapy. However, years of practice have revealed that many of these methods have caused significant side effects, harming health while achieving weight loss.

Therefore, international medical organizations have formulated three weight loss principles in response to the large influx of weight loss products on the market: no anorexia, no diarrhea, and no fatigue.

① No anorexia. Some weight-loss drugs, especially amphetamine-based ones, are appetite suppressants. They reduce energy intake by suppressing appetite, thus achieving weight loss. Although these drugs have been modified to minimize side effects, they are still not the first-line method for weight loss and should only be used under the guidance of a doctor when obesity is severe. Therefore, weight-loss products suitable for general weight loss should prevent anorexia.

② No diarrhea. Previous weight loss methods sometimes relied on laxatives and increased urination to achieve weight loss. Laxatives and diuretics primarily work by expelling large amounts of water from the body, leading to weight loss, but have minimal impact on fat tissue and do not contribute to the treatment of obesity. As is well known, the International Olympic Committee prohibits athletes from using diuretics to lose weight.

③ No fatigue. It's not just laxatives that cause fatigue in weight-loss drugs; there's also a class called energy-boosting drugs, such as thyroid hormones, growth hormones, and dinitrophenols. These drugs have significant side effects, including palpitations, shortness of breath, and fatigue. Therefore, these types of drugs should only be used under the guidance of a doctor for specific patients and should not be used for general weight loss.

III. Methods of Dietary Weight Loss

Dietary weight loss, also known as food therapy for weight loss, is an effective method for preventing and treating obesity. However, dietary weight loss is not simply about starving yourself, eating less, or not eating at all. Instead, it should be a combination of adjusting your diet, paying attention to your eating habits, and appropriately controlling your food intake.

① Adjust your diet. Reduce sugary foods, such as starchy grains like rice and noodles, and sweets, so that they only account for 50% of your daily total calories. Limit fat intake, especially fatty meats, animal fats, fatty goose, and cream, keeping them at 20%-25% of your daily total calories. Appropriately increase protein intake, making it 20% of your daily calorie needs. Eat more lean meat, fish, eggs, and soy products, as well as plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits to supplement vitamins, minerals, trace elements, and dietary fiber, and to satisfy hunger. Adjusting your diet aims to rationally allocate the ratio of protein, fat, and carbohydrates within the restricted calorie range, achieving nutritional balance, thus both losing weight and ensuring the body's normal needs are met.

② Improve your diet and distribute your three meals reasonably. Eat a substantial breakfast, a good lunch, and a light dinner. A rushed breakfast, a mediocre lunch, and a large dinner are the easiest ways to gain weight. The pancreas secretes various digestive enzymes that promote the conversion of food into sugar and fat. Pancreatic secretion is higher at night than during the day, meaning digestion and absorption are more efficient at night. If dinner is rich and excessive, coupled with less energy expenditure at night, it undoubtedly contributes to fat storage. Therefore, avoid overeating or having an overly rich dinner; dinner should be lighter. A normal daily calorie distribution should be 3:4:3. For obese individuals, breakfast can be larger, increasing calorie intake from 30% to 35%, lunch should maintain around 40%, and dinner should be smaller, reducing it from 30% to 25%. In addition, avoid eating before bed, correct the habit of snacking, avoid eating too quickly, reduce alcohol and coffee consumption, drink tea in moderation, reduce salt intake, improve cooking methods, reduce frying, stir-frying, boiling, and deep-frying, and increase poaching, mixing, braising, and boiling, and reduce the amount of oil used.

③ Appropriately control food intake and reduce the supply of high-fat and high-calorie foods to create a negative balance between calorie supply and demand. This means that the body takes in fewer calories than it needs, thus burning excess fat stored in the body. Controlling food intake does not mean fasting. If too little sugar and fat is consumed, the fat stored in the body will not be able to meet the body's normal energy needs in a short time, leading to hypoglycemia and symptoms such as dizziness, palpitations, and fatigue. Therefore, controlling diet should neither involve fasting nor rapid reduction; it should be done gradually. Food intake should be controlled to the point where there is no feeling of hunger while maintaining normal energy and physical strength. Generally, it should be gradually reduced to 60%–70% of normal calorie needs. Excessive weight loss is not beneficial to health.

In addition to adjusting and controlling your diet, there are many low-calorie, low-fat, high-protein, and high-fiber weight loss nutritional foods available on the market. These foods ensure your nutritional needs are met without making you hungry, so you might want to give them a try.

While dieting to lose weight, it's essential to increase physical activity appropriately for better results. It's crucial to understand that dietary control for weight loss should not involve blindly restricting or fasting, as this can lead to malnutrition, anorexia nervosa, and other related illnesses, causing irreparable damage to the body. Dietary weight loss requires long-term commitment; intermittent dieting can actually stimulate appetite, leading to weight gain instead of weight loss.

IV. Behavioral Weight Loss Methods

Behavioral weight loss therapy is a psychotherapeutic approach that emerged in the 1960s. This method is based on the principles of classical conditioning to correct inappropriate behaviors caused by abnormal reactions in obese individuals.

Many obese individuals consume excessive amounts not due to physiological needs, but rather due to a variety of factors including psychological, environmental, and habitual factors. For example, they may overeat when faced with delicious food, eat more when dining with slower eaters, consume more food while drinking alcohol, or enjoy snacking. It's difficult for them to adjust and control their diet without changing their existing environment and habits. Behavioral therapy is designed to address these factors, using various methods to enhance the willpower of obese individuals to diet.

① Change the environmental and time factors that stimulate appetite, reduce the storage of high-calorie foods at home, do not store snacks, eat meals at regular times and in fixed quantities, do not eat before bed, do not eat at the same table with family members, and place stimuli that cause aversion (such as photos of fat people) on the dining table to make obese people feel disgusted, thereby suppressing their appetite.

② Change your eating habits and slow down your eating speed. At the beginning, you can eat three bites of food and force yourself to put down your bowl and chopsticks until you have finished chewing and swallowing the food in your mouth. Gradually increase the time you stop eating after putting down your bowl and chopsticks and increase the frequency of stopping eating. First, eat three bites, then two bites, and then put down your bowl and chopsticks after eating one bite.

Behavioral therapy is a form of self-control that corrects abnormal eating behaviors and habits. In a sense, it is a fundamental treatment method with no adverse effects. If consistently adhered to, its effects are long-lasting and effective. The therapeutic effect is even better when combined with dieting, exercise, physical therapy, and medication. This method is most suitable for those who want to moderately lose weight and maintain their body shape.

V. Principles for Overweight People Choosing Sweets

When there is excess sugar in the body, it can be converted into fat and stored. Therefore, weight loss principles advise overweight people to eat less sweets. In fact, not all sweeteners in sweets cause weight gain, so there is no need to avoid "sweet" foods altogether.

For example, to meet the needs of obese and diabetic individuals, many non-glucose sweeteners have been developed. Currently, some foods and beverages contain stevia as a sweetener. While stevia has a sweet taste, it is not a sugar at all; it is a stevia glycoside extracted from the stevia plant. It provides no calories, and its sweetness is 300 times that of sucrose. Therefore, obese people can consume it without worry.

Xylitol is a pentose sugar that resembles white sugar in appearance and sweetness, and can be used as a sugar substitute. There are also amino acid sugars, which are very sweet but provide negligible calories. These can all be used as sweeteners for obese individuals.

Sugars that taste sweet include sucrose, fructose, and glucose. Obese individuals can simply avoid or reduce their intake of foods rich in sucrose.

Because glucose has a mild sweetness and is generally only used in treatment and not in food, fructose, which is sweeter than sucrose, is less dependent on insulin for metabolism in the body than glucose. It can be directly absorbed by the small intestine wall, enters the bloodstream, and is stored in the liver. If used in appropriate amounts, fructose has less impact on blood sugar than sucrose and glucose, is less likely to raise blood lipids, and is less likely to be converted into fat for storage, thus making it less likely to cause obesity.

Therefore, obese people who want to enjoy a "sweet" taste can choose the above-mentioned sweeteners.