Ideal Weight
Reaching your ideal weight is so important because being overweight causes so many problems most people simply do not realize. Most individuals connect excess weight with their appearance, but extra body weight is a billboard calling attention to the fact that other problems are likely going on: high cholesterol, high blood pressure, physical inactivity, and diabetes. Many studies in the medical literature also show a direct correlation between body weight and mortality. The rate of mortality increases with the more weight added. If you are not obese but are overweight, don’t pat yourself on the back, because the damage progresses one pound at a time.
Body mass index is a measurement utilizing a person’s weight and height. A BMI of 20 to 25 is considered normal, 25 to 30 is considered overweight, and over 30 is considered obese. An article published in the medical journal Obesity provides scary numbers for anyone who is overweight.
Obesity in midlife is associated with approximately double the risk of late-life dementia.
Being overweight in midlife is associated with approximately a one-third increased risk of late-life dementia.
A report in the journal Neurology provided even worse numbers: “Obesity in midlife is associated with a 3.08 times increased risk of Alzheimer’s for women and a 2.45 times increased risk for men.”
Medical professionals have long known that being overweight has a negative effect on the arteries to the heart and the brain. We are now learning about the role weight gain plays in contributing to the problems in the brain that lead to Alzheimer’s. A profound statement appeared in Current Alzheimer Research. Study results were “consistent with prior reports that midlife obesity at 40–55 years increases the risk of developing clinical dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in later life.”
An article in Archives of Neurology reached a similar conclusion. Researchers studied 2,047 adults without dementia and followed them with MRI studies to evaluate their brains. BMI was used to determine obesity. Researchers found that those who were obese in midlife developed Alzheimer’s in later life more often than those who were not obese. Another article in Archives of Neurology had the same conclusion: “Obesity at midlife is associated with an increased risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease later in life.”
Have I convinced you yet? These studies all compared individuals who were at their ideal weight with those who were overweight. My mother always told me, “Nothing good ever happens after midnight.” I would like to say, “Nothing good ever happens from being overweight.” I strongly encourage you to get to your ideal weight.
Being obese increases the risk of a person developing Alzheimer’s because so many other health risks are directly associated with being overweight. As an individual’s weight increases, so do their cholesterol level, their blood pressure, and their blood sugar, resulting in diabetes. All of these risk factors, individually and combined, lead to the development and progression of Alzheimer’s.
The three questions to ask yourself are:
What Should You Weigh?
There are several ways to determine your ideal weight. Most medical advice goes by BMI, body mass index. As mentioned, 20 to 25 is considered normal, 25 to 30 is considered overweight, and above 30 is considered obese. Those fairly nonspecific numbers are determined by your height and how much you should weigh on average. You can find free BMI calculators online that will automatically determine your BMI. The problem with BMI is that you can be twenty to thirty pounds over your ideal weight and still be considered within the normal range or the overweight range.
There is a formula I like that is more specific than BMI. It shoots pretty lean but may give you a good number to aim for. You may add five to ten pounds to this number depending on your body build and bone density.
For men, use 105 pounds as a baseline for the first five feet of your height, then add five pounds to that baseline for every inch over five feet. For women, use 95 pounds as a baseline for the first five feet, then add four pounds for every inch over five feet. Again, this gives you an approximate ideal weight, but you will have to fine-tune it for your body build.
If you are overweight, it’s important you start losing those excess pounds, but even more important is that you lose them in a way that enables you to sustain that weight loss for the rest of your life. Unless you develop the proper eating habits, your chance of keeping the lost weight off is only 2 to 20 percent. If you develop proper eating habits from the beginning, you can continue them forever.
How Do You Lose Excess Weight?
Write down the weight you want to reach. Make a commitment to reach it. Put it on a sticky note and place it on your mirror or carry it in your purse or wallet. Your ideal weight is achievable. You can reach it!
Three Secrets
Here are three weight-loss secrets you can use as soon as you read them.
The first and most important secret in your weight-loss diet is no snacks—period. Nothing between meals or after dinner. Controlling snacks is one of the most significant aspects of weight loss. If you don’t eliminate between-meal calories, it will take you a lot longer to lose the excess weight. Here’s why. Your body’s fuel is glucose. Whether you eat carbohydrates, fat, or protein, your body eventually converts it to glucose. If you feel hungry between meals, it is likely your body’s blood glucose level has fallen to a lower level. Your body will get the needed glucose one of two ways. It will break down some of your body fat into glucose, or you will furnish the extra calories through food. Think about that just a minute because it’s pretty simple physiology. If you don’t supply the need with extra snack food, your body is going to supply the need by burning excess fat.
The second secret is to fill up on fruits and vegetables at mealtimes. These two food groups have lots of fiber that fill you up with the fewest calories. To emphasize the importance of eating fruits and vegetables, some studies encourage five servings of fruits and five of vegetables a day. I encourage at least three fruits and two vegetables a day, but the more, the better.
The third secret is smaller portions. If you’re eating at home, this is simple—just put less on your plate and never take seconds. Eating out is a little more challenging. You can split a meal with your spouse or friend. If you order a meal, you don’t have to eat everything on your plate. Order light meals. A salad with grilled fish or grilled chicken is filling. Don’t eat until you are completely full. Stop and talk for the last ten minutes while you sip on your noncaloric drink. The full feeling will come, but it may take ten minutes or so for you to feel satisfied. Or you can order from the appetizer menu if it offers small portions of (non-fried) fish or chicken and then add a vegetable on the side. An appetizer plus a salad or a non-cream-based soup is even better. There are many ways to decrease portions while on the weight-losing part of the plan. You may even come up with some secrets of your own.
You would be surprised how many people stop me and ask if I would go over some specifics on losing weight. Recently, I did so with one person, and when we finished, he said, “Are you actually saying that I have to cut the amount of food on my plate, eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, and on top of that not eat a single bite of anything between meals?”
Because he was overweight, I wanted to say something positive. So instead of answering him with a simple yes, I smiled, placed my hand on his shoulder, and responded, “I must commend you on your hearing acuity.”
The Rules on Losing Weight
Here are a few additional rules to follow when you are attempting to lose weight.
The Ten-Minute Factor
Let me tell you one more secret for losing weight. I learned this from a gentleman in Alaska who in his younger years had three addictions: drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes. He quit them all and shared with me how he did it. He called it the ten-minute factor. I have used it with my patients who needed to lose weight or quit smoking. Here’s how it works.
My friend said that anyone can control an addiction for about ten minutes. When he quit smoking and wanted a cigarette, he would tell himself that he wasn’t going to smoke for the next ten minutes. Then he would get busy doing something else, like watching TV, working in the yard, calling someone, or reading a book. After a while, the desire for a cigarette would come back, and he would repeat his ten-minute factor.
The key to beating an addiction is to beat the desire. Food is an addiction. Try the ten-minute factor and quit eating the wrong foods. Use it to lose excess weight. Make the rule of no food whatsoever between meals or before bedtime. If you crave a snack while attempting to get to your ideal weight, decide not to eat the snack for ten minutes. Pour yourself a glass of noncaloric liquid and do something to take your mind off the snack. After about two months of applying this marvelous secret, your desire for certain foods or your desire to snack before bed will be gone. I promise that once you have beaten the desire, you have beaten the addiction.
How Do You Stay at Your Ideal Weight for the Rest of Your Life?
One morning you will step on the scale and realize you reached your ideal weight. You may even do a victory dance. Your eating habits will not change. That is the key to not regaining the weight you lost. You learned what foods lower your chances of developing Alzheimer’s. You changed your desire concerning what you eat. If you decide to eat a snack, you choose fruits or nuts, not the sugary snacks you once desired.
Here is the most important key to maintaining your ideal weight once you have lost the excess: your weight-loss eating habits must remain as weight-maintaining habits.
Your goal is not simply to get to your ideal weight. Your goal is to maintain that ideal weight for the rest of your life. If you don’t, the plan has been a failure. A report in the National Weight Control Registry stated that only 2 to 20 percent of people who lose weight are able to keep it off. Would you buy a stock that gave you only a 20 percent chance of making a profit? Would you take a medication prescribed by your doctor if they told you it worked only 2 percent of the time?
Quick-fix fad diets are even worse. On such diets, 95 percent of the people who lose weight not only regain it but also add more pounds to it within a three-year period.
One more lifestyle habit will help you reach and maintain your ideal weight: exercise.