The impact of obesity on healthy lifespan and an overview of 24 weight loss techniques.
**IV.** Obesity affects health and longevity.
Generally speaking, mild obesity only means that people look slightly overweight, and there are usually no symptoms, so there is no need to worry too much about it.
Moderate to severe obesity can cause mild symptoms such as palpitations, shortness of breath, weakness in the limbs, and fatigue during exertion. Some may also experience frequent headaches and dizziness. Severe cases can lead to mobility issues and difficulty in daily living. Male patients are also highly susceptible to decreased libido. Female patients are also prone to gynecological diseases such as oligomenorrhea, amenorrhea, and infertility.
Obese individuals are also prone to various chronic diseases such as hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes, which cause significant inconvenience to their lives and work.
Statistics show that among people with coronary heart disease, obese individuals are **2.03** times more likely to be affected than thin individuals; the incidence of appendicitis is twice that of obese individuals; and the incidence of diabetes is **6.05** times higher in obese individuals than in thin individuals, and **9.78** times higher in obese individuals than in those of normal weight.
Obesity often leads to slower reaction times compared to normal people, making them more susceptible to various injuries, car accidents, fractures, and sprains.
Obesity can affect one's appearance, which is a disadvantage in dating and marriage, causing distress. Many of the young men and women who come to me for Qigong acupressure massage and weight loss treatment are obese and have encountered difficulties in finding a partner, forcing them to lose weight.
Obesity not only affects health but also lifespan. Studies have shown that being overweight and premature mortality rates are almost directly proportional. For example, obese patients aged 50-55 who are 20% overweight have a mortality rate 20% higher than the average. Obese patients who are 35% overweight have a mortality rate 40% or more higher than the average. Very few obese patients live to be over 70 years old.
Today, people are increasingly aware of the dangers of obesity, and in order to lose weight, they have adopted a variety of weight loss measures.
**Twenty-four Weight Loss Techniques**
Among the many weight loss methods, the following twenty-four are common:
**Part One: Exercise for Weight Loss**
This is currently the most common weight loss method used by obese patients. Obese individuals participate in a certain amount of physical exercise, which helps them burn fat, promotes fat metabolism, and produces a weight loss effect. Generally speaking, the greater the amount of exercise and the longer the exercise time, the more fat and sugar are burned, and the better the weight loss effect.
Studies have found that in obese individuals, fat cells can weigh up to **1.5** micrograms. Dieting can only reduce this to 0.7 micrograms, while regular physical activity can reduce fat cells to **0.3–0.5** micrograms. Furthermore, exercise, especially high-intensity exercise, can suppress appetite.
There are many suitable exercises for weight loss. When choosing, it's important to consider your physical condition. For obese individuals with good physical condition, mild obesity, and relatively young age, higher-intensity exercises can be chosen initially, such as long-distance running, gymnastics, martial arts, basketball, volleyball, badminton, hiking, and fast cycling. If you have poor physical condition and are significantly obese, start with lower-intensity exercises such as jogging, slow cycling, table tennis, swimming, rope skipping, Tai Chi, and aerobics. After practicing for a period and improving your physical condition, you can then choose higher-intensity exercises. For obese individuals with particularly poor physical condition and significant obesity, start with the lightest exercises, such as walking or Qigong. Once your health improves, you can then choose other exercises; don't rush the process.
The key to weight loss through exercise is consistency; inconsistent effort will not lead to results. Only persistent hard work will yield the desired weight loss outcomes.
In 1980, Swede Rüdiranteper weighed 216 kg, making her one of the world's heaviest women at the time. To lose weight, she walked across Europe, and after three years of relentless effort, achieved tremendous success, transforming herself from a "giant" into a slender woman. She thus set a world record for weight loss and earned the title of "Queen of Weight Loss."
Regular participation in sports can help you lose weight, improve your health, and prolong your life, all without any side effects. Therefore, exercise is a very good way to lose weight.
**II. Yoga for Weight Loss**
Practicing yoga is a natural and effective way to lose weight. This method doesn't require dietary restrictions and is not limited by time or place; it can be practiced anytime, anywhere, addressing both the symptoms and the root cause. Yoga can enhance digestion and excretion, promote blood circulation, strengthen nerve function, and maintain the body's natural balance.
To achieve weight loss results from practicing yoga, one must be persistent, persevering, patient, and dedicated. If you don't practice diligently, or if you practice one day and rest three days without consistent effort, you will not achieve your weight loss goals.
Women can achieve a slim figure by practicing yoga regularly, and overweight children can have their body shape changed from horizontal to vertical.
**Part Three:** Hypnotic Weight Loss
French doctors use hypnotic suggestion techniques to help obese patients lose weight. This can stabilize the emotions of obese individuals, reduce their appetite, change their eating habits, and thus achieve the goal of weight loss.
The method of hypnotherapy for weight loss is as follows: First, the patient performs breathing exercises to relax the whole body. When the body is in a state of deep relaxation (similar to the state of stillness in traditional Chinese Qigong), the doctor begins to give suggestions to the obese person. These suggestions can also be recorded and played back to the patient. The suggestions mostly aim to boost confidence in weight loss, promote the possibility of dieting, etc. Suggestions may include phrases like "Your weight is decreasing" or "Your weight is decreasing every day," which, after repeated repetition, form a belief. By consistently using hypnosis once a day for 30 minutes each time, after several weeks, food intake will decrease, and weight will follow.
**IV.** Dancing for Weight Loss
Dancing is an active, full-body exercise; dancing together with music is a refined form of entertainment. Regularly participating in dancing activities is not only an artistic enjoyment and mental relaxation, but also a good way to lose weight.
Among currently popular dance styles, disco is considered the most effective for weight loss. When dancing disco, the hips twist dramatically, and the gluteal muscles contract continuously, effectively reducing fat in the hips and thighs. According to research by foreign experts, the intensity of disco is equivalent to running 8-9 kilometers per hour, swimming 45-50 meters per minute, or cycling 20-25 kilometers per hour. Furthermore, dancers experience a pleasant mood and don't feel very tired while dancing, making it easy to stick to. This effective method of weight loss through dance is becoming increasingly popular.
It's worth mentioning that some middle-aged and elderly people who used to dislike young people dancing disco have now enthusiastically started dancing "middle-aged and elderly disco" to the accompaniment of music, in order to exercise and lose weight.
**5.** Dieting for weight loss
This is also one of the more common weight loss methods used by obese people, and it is more common among women than men. Most of them try to avoid or reduce their intake of high-fat foods such as fatty meat in order to achieve their weight loss goals.
Some obese individuals combine dieting and exercise for weight loss. This comprehensive approach helps them reduce food intake and increase energy expenditure, resulting in more effective weight loss.
However, some obese patients, in pursuit of a "slim figure," go against their own appetite, never eating their fill-this is the so-called "starvation diet." The result is that while they lose weight, their health is damaged. In March 1987, the Wenhui Daily reported on a young woman who, in order to lose weight, reduced her usual three-ounce meal to only one ounce. She eventually developed "anorexia nervosa," unable to eat or absorb food. The woman, who was 1.65 meters tall and originally weighed over 50 kilograms, became skin and bones, weighing less than 35 kilograms, and ultimately died prematurely.
Dieting is especially unsuitable for obese children and adolescents. Children and adolescents are in a period of rapid growth, and if they diet in order to "lose weight," it will lead to an empty stomach, insufficient nutrient intake, and symptoms such as dizziness, blurred vision, and general weakness. This will not only affect their healthy growth but also their academic performance due to decreased physical condition and lack of energy.
**Six, Food-Based Weight Loss**
Some foods, such as cucumbers, scallions, winter melons, red beans, and seaweed, are excellent for weight loss. Long-term consumption can lead to weight loss.
Cucumbers contain malonic acid, which can inhibit the conversion of carbohydrates into fat and reduce the accumulation of body fat when it enters the human body.
In addition to its pungent, irritating smell, the organic sulfur in scallions can also stimulate the secretion of certain hormones in the human body. These hormones can promote the breakdown of fat.
Obese people often have excess water in their bodies, and winter melon can promote urination, helping to eliminate water from the body and thus aiding in weight loss.
Some obese people eat little or no fatty foods and often eat weight-loss foods, which is said to be quite effective for weight loss.
**VII. Losing Weight by Drinking Soup**
"Drink soup often, stay healthy," and "Drink soup before meals, no need for a doctor's prescription." These are common sayings among soup lovers, illustrating the health benefits of regularly drinking soup. It has also been discovered that soup is a good appetite suppressant. Based on this principle, some obese individuals use the "soup-drinking diet" to lose weight. They drink more soup with their meals to reduce their intake of staple foods and side dishes, thereby achieving their weight loss goals.
**8.** Vinegar for Weight Loss
Vinegar contains volatile substances, amino acids, and organic acids, which can stimulate the central nervous system and cause the digestive organs to secrete a large amount of digestive juices that facilitate the digestion and absorption of food, thereby improving the body's digestive function.
The amino acids in vinegar can also help burn body fat and facilitate the metabolism of sugars and proteins, thus aiding in weight loss.
In recent years, a vinegar-based weight-loss craze has swept the United States, with some obese individuals drinking vinegar to lose weight. Reports indicate that consuming **15-20** ml of vinegar daily can achieve some weight-loss effects.
Currently, in some European and American countries, vinegar is sold as a healthy weight-loss food.
To capitalize on the vinegar-based weight-loss craze, Japan has also recently developed a product called "Brown Rice Vinegar Essence." This is a solid granule product, convenient to carry and consume. Taking **20** granules daily can result in noticeable weight loss within a month.
**Nine** Tea for Weight Loss
Our ancestors discovered long ago that drinking tea can not only aid digestion, clear the mind and promote urination, but also remove body oils. Gu Yuanqing, in his "Tea Manual" written in the Ming Dynasty, said: "When people drink real tea, they can quench their thirst, aid digestion, eliminate phlegm, reduce sleep, promote urination, improve eyesight, enhance thinking, relieve irritability, and remove greasiness. People cannot go a day without tea."
The "removing grease" mentioned here refers to removing body fat, which means lowering blood lipids, or what people often call "scraping off the oil".
People often experience that after eating too much meat, drinking a cup of strong tea can make their stomach feel more comfortable.
Among my country's ethnic minorities, such as the Mongolians, Tibetans, and Uyghurs, although they eat a lot of meat, they also drink a lot of tea. Therefore, there are not many obese people among them.
In France, obese people often drink Pu'er tea from Yunnan, my country, in an effort to lose weight, calling it "oil-scraping tea."
The Japanese, on the other hand, prefer oolong tea from Fujian, my country. They consider oolong tea a prized variety of tea. They say that oolong tea is good for weight loss, helps prevent obesity, and tastes delicious, which suits Japanese palates, making it very popular in Japan.
In recent years, various slimming teas have been specially developed in China and have become quite popular among obese individuals after their market launch. Long-term consumption of slimming teas can help lower blood lipids and aid in weight loss.
**10.** Weight Loss Drugs
Currently, there are many weight-loss drugs on the domestic market, including both Western and traditional Chinese medicines. These drugs generally fall into four categories:
Category 1: Appetite suppressants. These mainly include amphetamines, benzylmorph, fenfluramine, and phenoxybenzamine.
The second category: Metabolic drugs. These are mainly suitable for obese patients with respiratory insufficiency. Examples include thyroid hormone tablets and progesterone.
The third category: drugs that reduce nutrient absorption, such as laxatives and cellulose preparations.
Category 4: Traditional Chinese medicine. Examples include Xiaopangmei (消胖美), Xuezhiling (血脂灵), and weight-loss granules.
Regardless of the type of weight loss drug, they all achieve weight loss through the following three pathways.
1. It inhibits the appetite center in the brain, reducing appetite and causing obese individuals to lose their desire to eat, thus reducing food intake. This reduces calorie intake.
2. Stimulates metabolism, increases the body's oxygen consumption and the oxidation of fat and sugar, thereby reducing the accumulation of fat in the body.
3. It stimulates the intestines, reducing nutrient absorption and increasing and accelerating excretion.
While weight-loss drugs can be effective, some have significant side effects. Therefore, obese individuals should not blindly take medication for weight loss. It is best to consult a doctor to determine the underlying cause of obesity before choosing weight-loss drugs or other methods.