It's natural for anyone trying to lose weight to want to lose it very quickly. But evidence shows that people who lose weight gradually and steadily (about 1 to 2 pounds per week) are more successful at keeping weight off. Healthy weight loss isn't just about a "diet" or "program". It's about an ongoing lifestyle that includes long-term changes in daily eating and exercise habits.

Main Topicsa:

• Obesity & Weight Control
• Understanding Adult Overweight & Obesity
• Healthy Weight as a Lifestyle
• Binge Eating & Bad Habits
• Preventing Weight Gain
• Imroving Your Eating HabitS
• Best Ways to Lose Weight & Keept it Of
• Safe & Successful Weightloss Programs
• Metabolism-Boosting Food
• Best Ways to Lose Weight

Obesity, Healthy Eating, & Weight Control

Introduction

Keeping a healthy weight is crucial. If you are underweight, overweight, or obese, you may have a higher risk of certain health problems.

About two thirds of adults in the U.S. are overweight or obese. Achieving a healthy weight can help you control your cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar. It might also help you prevent weight-related diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and some cancers.

Eating too much or not being physically active enough will make you overweight. To maintain your weight, the calories you eat must equal the energy you burn. To lose weight, you must use more calories than you eat. A weight-control strategy might include

• Choosing low-fat, low-calorie foods
• Eating smaller portions
• Drinking water instead of sugary drinks
• Being physically active

Eating extra calories within a well-balanced diet can help to add weight.

What Are Overweight and Obesity?

The terms "overweight" and "obesity" refer to body weight that’s greater than what is considered healthy for a certain height.

The most useful measure of overweight and obesity is body mass index (BMI). BMI is calculated from your height and weight. For more information about BMI, go to "How Are Overweight and Obesity Diagnosed?"

Overview

Millions of Americans and people worldwide are overweight or obese. Being overweight or obese puts you at risk for many health problems. The more body fat that you have and the more you weigh, the more likely you are to develop:

• Coronary heart disease
• High blood pressure
• Type 2 diabetes
• Gallstones
• Breathing problems
• Certain cancers

Your weight is the result of many factors. These factors include environment, family history and genetics, metabolism (the way your body changes food and oxygen into energy), behavior or habits, and more.

You can't change some factors, such as family history. However, you can change other factors, such as your lifestyle habits.

For example, follow a healthy eating plan and keep your calorie needs in mind. Be physically active and try to limit the amount of time that you're inactive.

Weight-loss medicines and surgery also are options for some people if lifestyle changes aren't enough.

Outlook

Reaching and staying at a healthy weight is a long-term challenge for people who are overweight or obese. But it also is a chance to lower your risk for other serious health problems. With the right treatment and motivation, it's possible to lose weight and lower your long-term disease risk.

What Causes Overweight and Obesity?

Lack of Energy Balance

A lack of energy balance most often causes overweight and obesity. Energy balance means that your energy IN equals your energy OUT.

Energy IN is the amount of energy or calories you get from food and drinks. Energy OUT is the amount of energy your body uses for things like breathing, digesting, and being physically active.

To maintain a healthy weight, your energy IN and OUT don't have to balance exactly every day. It's the balance over time that helps you maintain a healthy weight.

• The same amount of energy IN and energy OUT over time = weight stays the same
• More energy IN than energy OUT over time = weight gain
• More energy OUT than energy IN over time = weight loss

Overweight and obesity happen over time when you take in more calories than you use.

Other Causes

An Inactive Lifestyle

Many Americans aren't very physically active. One reason for this is that many people spend hours in front of TVs and computers doing work, schoolwork, and leisure activities. In fact, more than 2 hours a day of regular TV viewing time has been linked to overweight and obesity.

Other reasons for not being active include: relying on cars instead of walking, fewer physical demands at work or at home because of modern technology and conveniences, and lack of physical education classes in schools.

People who are inactive are more likely to gain weight because they don't burn the calories that they take in from food and drinks. An inactive lifestyle also raises your risk for coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, colon cancer, and other health problems.

Environment

Our environment doesn't support healthy lifestyle habits; in fact, it encourages obesity. Some reasons include:

• Lack of neighborhood sidewalks and safe places for recreation. Not having area parks, trails, sidewalks, and affordable gyms makes it hard for people to be physically active.
• Work schedules. People often say that they don't have time to be physically active because of long work hours and time spent commuting.
• Oversized food portions. Americans are exposed to huge food portions in restaurants, fast food places, gas stations, movie theaters, supermarkets, and even at home. Some of these meals and snacks can feed two or more people. Eating large portions means too much energy IN. Over time, this will cause weight gain if it isn't balanced with physical activity.
• Lack of access to healthy foods. Some people don't live in neighborhoods that have supermarkets that sell healthy foods, such as fresh fruits and vegetables. Or, for some people, these healthy foods are too costly.
• Food advertising. Americans are surrounded by ads from food companies. Often children are the targets of advertising for high-calorie, high-fat snacks and sugary drinks. The goal of these ads is to sway people to buy these high-calorie foods, and often they do.

Genes and Family History

Studies of identical twins who have been raised apart show that genes have a strong influence on a person's weight. Overweight and obesity tend to run in families. Your chances of being overweight are greater if one or both of your parents are overweight or obese.

Your genes also may affect the amount of fat you store in your body and where on your body you carry the extra fat. Because families also share food and physical activity habits, a link exists between genes and the environment.

Children adopt the habits of their parents. A child who has overweight parents who eat high-calorie foods and are inactive will likely become overweight too. However, if the family adopts healthy food and physical activity habits, the child's chance of being overweight or obese is reduced.

Health Conditions

Some hormone problems may cause overweight and obesity, such as underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism), Cushing's syndrome, and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).

Underactive thyroid is a condition in which the thyroid gland doesn't make enough thyroid hormone. Lack of thyroid hormone will slow down your metabolism and cause weight gain. You'll also feel tired and weak.

Cushing's syndrome is a condition in which the body's adrenal glands make too much of the hormone cortisol. Cushing's syndrome also can develop if a person takes high doses of certain medicines, such as prednisone, for long periods.

People who have Cushing's syndrome gain weight, have upper-body obesity, a rounded face, fat around the neck, and thin arms and legs.

PCOS is a condition that affects about 5–10 percent of women of childbearing age. Women who have PCOS often are obese, have excess hair growth, and have reproductive problems and other health issues. These problems are caused by high levels of hormones called androgens.

Medicines

Certain medicines may cause you to gain weight. These medicines include some corticosteroids, antidepressants, and seizure medicines.

These medicines can slow the rate at which your body burns calories, increase your appetite, or cause your body to hold on to extra water. All of these factors can lead to weight gain.

Emotional Factors

Some people eat more than usual when they're bored, angry, or stressed. Over time, overeating will lead to weight gain and may cause overweight or obesity.

Smoking

Some people gain weight when they stop smoking. One reason is that food often tastes and smells better after quitting smoking.

Another reason is because nicotine raises the rate at which your body burns calories, so you burn fewer calories when you stop smoking. However, smoking is a serious health risk, and quitting is more important than possible weight gain.

Age

As you get older, you tend to lose muscle, especially if you're less active. Muscle loss can slow down the rate at which your body burns calories. If you don't reduce your calorie intake as you get older, you may gain weight.

Midlife weight gain in women is mainly due to aging and lifestyle, but menopause also plays a role. Many women gain about 5 pounds during menopause and have more fat around the waist than they did before.

Pregnancy

During pregnancy, women gain weight to support their babies’ growth and development. After giving birth, some women find it hard to lose the weight. This may lead to overweight or obesity, especially after a few pregnancies.

Lack of Sleep

Research shows that lack of sleep increases the risk of obesity. For example, one study of teenagers showed that with each hour of sleep lost, the odds of becoming obese went up. Lack of sleep increases the risk of obesity in other age groups as well.

People who sleep fewer hours also seem to prefer eating foods that are higher in calories and carbohydrates, which can lead to overeating, weight gain, and obesity.

Sleep helps maintain a healthy balance of the hormones that make you feel hungry (ghrelin) or full (leptin). When you don't get enough sleep, your level of ghrelin goes up and your level of leptin goes down. This makes you feel hungrier than when you're well-rested.

Sleep also affects how your body reacts to insulin, the hormone that controls your blood glucose (sugar) level. Lack of sleep results in a higher than normal blood sugar level, which may increase your risk for diabetes.

For more information, go to the Health Topics Sleep Deprivation and Deficiency article.

Source: NIDDK, NIH

 What Are the Health Risks of Overweight and Obesity?

Being overweight or obese isn't a cosmetic problem. These conditions greatly raise your risk for other health problems.

Overweight and Obesity-Related Health Problems in Adults

Coronary Heart Disease

As your body mass index rises, so does your risk for coronary heart disease (CHD). CHD is a condition in which a waxy substance called plaque (plak) builds up inside the coronary arteries. These arteries supply oxygen-rich blood to your heart.

Plaque can narrow or block the coronary arteries and reduce blood flow to the heart muscle. This can cause angina (an-JI-nuh or AN-juh-nuh) or a heart attack. (Angina is chest pain or discomfort.)

Obesity also can lead to heart failure. This is a serious condition in which your heart can't pump enough blood to meet your body's needs.

High Blood Pressure

Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of the arteries as the heart pumps blood. If this pressure rises and stays high over time, it can damage the body in many ways.

Your chances of having high blood pressure are greater if you're overweight or obese.

Stroke

Being overweight or obese can lead to a buildup of plaque in your arteries. Eventually, an area of plaque can rupture, causing a blood clot to form.

If the clot is close to your brain, it can block the flow of blood and oxygen to your brain and cause a stroke. The risk of having a stroke rises as BMI increases.

Type 2 Diabetes

Diabetes is a disease in which the body's blood glucose, or blood sugar, level is too high. Normally, the body breaks down food into glucose and then carries it to cells throughout the body. The cells use a hormone called insulin to turn the glucose into energy.

In type 2 diabetes, the body's cells don't use insulin properly. At first, the body reacts by making more insulin. Over time, however, the body can't make enough insulin to control its blood sugar level.

Diabetes is a leading cause of early death, CHD, stroke, kidney disease, and blindness. Most people who have type 2 diabetes are overweight.

Abnormal Blood Fats

If you're overweight or obese, you're at increased risk of having abnormal levels of blood fats. These include high levels of triglycerides and LDL ("bad") cholesterol and low levels of HDL ("good") cholesterol.

Abnormal levels of these blood fats are a risk factor for CHD. For more information about triglycerides and LDL and HDL cholesterol, go to the Health Topics High Blood Cholesterol article.

Metabolic Syndrome

Metabolic syndrome is the name for a group of risk factors that raises your risk for heart disease and other health problems, such as diabetes and stroke.

You can develop any one of these risk factors by itself, but they tend to occur together. A diagnosis of metabolic syndrome is made if you have at least three of the following risk factors:

• A large waistline. This is called abdominal obesity or "having an apple shape." Having extra fat in the waist area is a greater risk factor for CHD than having extra fat in other parts of the body, such as on the hips.
• A higher than normal triglyceride level (or you're on medicine to treat high triglycerides).
• A lower than normal HDL cholesterol level (or you're on medicine to treat low HDL cholesterol).
• Higher than normal blood pressure (or you're on medicine to treat high blood pressure).
• Higher than normal fasting blood sugar (or you're on medicine to treat diabetes).

Cancer

Being overweight or obese raises your risk for colon, breast, endometrial, and gallbladder cancers.

Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is a common joint problem of the knees, hips, and lower back. The condition occurs if the tissue that protects the joints wears away. Extra weight can put more pressure and wear on joints, causing pain.

Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is a common disorder in which you have one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breaths while you sleep.

A person who has sleep apnea may have more fat stored around the neck. This can narrow the airway, making it hard to breathe.

Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome

Obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS) is a breathing disorder that affects some obese people. In OHS, poor breathing results in too much carbon dioxide (hypoventilation) and too little oxygen in the blood (hypoxemia).

OHS can lead to serious health problems and may even cause death.

Reproductive Problems

Obesity can cause menstrual issues and infertility in women.

Gallstones

Gallstones are hard pieces of stone-like material that form in the gallbladder. They're mostly made of cholesterol. Gallstones can cause stomach or back pain.

People who are overweight or obese are at increased risk of having gallstones. Also, being overweight may result in an enlarged gallbladder that doesn't work well.

Overweight and Obesity-Related Health Problems in Children and Teens

Overweight and obesity also increase the health risks for children and teens. Type 2 diabetes once was rare in American children, but an increasing number of children are developing the disease.

Also, overweight children are more likely to become overweight or obese as adults, with the same disease risks.

Who Is at Risk for Overweight and Obesity?

Overweight and obesity affect Americans of all ages, sexes, and racial/ethnic groups. This serious health problem has been growing over the last 30 years.

Adults

According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2009–2010, almost 70 percent of Americans are overweight or obese. The survey also shows differences in overweight and obesity among racial/ethnic groups.

• In women, overweight and obesity are highest among non-Hispanic Black women (about 82 percent), compared with about 76 percent for Hispanic women and 64 percent for non-Hispanic White women.
• In men, overweight and obesity are highest among Hispanic men (about 82 percent), compared with about 74 percent for non-Hispanic White men and about 70 percent for non-Hispanic Black men.

Children and Teens

Children also have become heavier. In the past 30 years, obesity has tripled among school-aged children and teens.

According to NHANES 2009–2010, about 1 in 6 American children ages 2–19 are obese. The survey also suggests that overweight and obesity are having a greater effect on minority groups, including Blacks and Hispanics.

What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Overweight and Obesity?

Weight gain usually happens over time. Most people know when they've gained weight. Some of the signs of overweight or obesity include:

• Clothes feeling tight and needing a larger size.
• The scale showing that you've gained weight.
• Having extra fat around the waist.
• A higher than normal body mass index and waist circumference. (For more information, go to "How Are Overweight and Obesity Diagnosed?")

How Are Overweight and Obesity Diagnosed?

The most common way to find out whether you're overweight or obese is to figure out your body mass index (BMI). BMI is an estimate of body fat, and it's a good gauge of your risk for diseases that occur with more body fat.

BMI is calculated from your height and weight. You can use the chart below or the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's (NHLBI's) online BMI calculator to figure out your BMI. Or, you health care provider can measure your BMI.

Body Mass Index for Adults

Use this table to learn your BMI. First, find your height on the far left column. Next, move across the row to find your weight. Weight is measured with underwear but no shoes.

Once you've found your weight, move to the very top of that column. This number is your BMI.

This table offers a sample of BMI measurements. If you don't see your height and/or weight listed on this table, go the NHLBI's complete Body Mass Index Table.

What Does Body Mass Index Mean?

Although BMI can be used for most men and women, it does have some limits. It may overestimate body fat in athletes and others who have a muscular build. BMI also may underestimate body fat in older people and others who have lost muscle.

Body Mass Index for Children and Teens

Overweight are obesity are defined differently for children and teens than for adults. Children are still growing, and boys and girls mature at different rates.

BMIs for children and teens compare their heights and weights against growth charts that take age and sex into account. This is called BMI-for-age percentile. A child or teen's BMI-for-age percentile shows how his or her BMI compares with other boys and girls of the same age.

For more information about BMI-for-age and growth charts for children, go to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's BMI-for-age calculator.

What Does the BMI-for-Age Percentile Mean?

Waist Circumference

Health care professionals also may take your waist measurement. This helps screen for the possible health risks related to overweight and obesity in adults.

If you have abdominal obesity and most of your fat is around your waist rather than at your hips, you're at increased risk for coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes. The risk goes up with a waist size that's greater than 35 inches for women or greater than 40 inches for men.

You also can measure your waist size. To do so correctly, stand and place a tape measure around your middle, just above your hipbones. Measure your waist just after you breathe out.

Specialists Involved

A primary care doctor (or pediatrician for children and teens) will assess your BMI, waist measurement, and overall health risk. If you're overweight or obese, or if you have a large waist size, your doctor should explain the health risks and find out whether you're interested and willing to lose weight.

If you are, you and your doctor can work together to create a treatment plan. The plan may include weight-loss goals and treatment options that are realistic for you.

Your doctor may send you to other health care specialists if you need expert care. These specialists may include:

• An endocrinologist if you need to be treated for type 2 diabetes or a hormone problem, such as an underactive thyroid.
• A registered dietitian or nutritionist to work with you on ways to change your eating habits.
• An exercise physiologist or trainer to figure out your level of fitness and show you how to do physical activities suitable for you.
• A bariatric surgeon if weight-loss surgery is an option for you.
• A psychiatrist, psychologist, or clinical social worker to help treat depression or stress.

How Are Overweight and Obesity Treated?

Successful weight-loss treatments include setting goals and making lifestyle changes, such as eating fewer calories and being physically active. Medicines and weight-loss surgery also are options for some people if lifestyle changes aren't enough.

Set Realistic Goals

Setting realistic weight-loss goals is an important first step to losing weight.

For Adults

• Try to lose 5 to 10 percent of your current weight over 6 months. This will lower your risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) and other conditions.
• The best way to lose weight is slowly. A weight loss of 1 to 2 pounds a week is do-able, safe, and will help you keep off the weight. It also will give you the time to make new, healthy lifestyle changes.
• If you've lost 10 percent of your body weight, have kept it off for 6 months, and are still overweight or obese, you may want to consider further weight loss.

For Children and Teens

• If your child is overweight or at risk for overweight or obesity, the goal is to maintain his or her current weight and to focus on eating healthy and being physically active. This should be part of a family effort to make lifestyle changes.
• If your child is overweight or obese and has a health condition related to overweight or obesity, your doctor may refer you to a pediatric obesity treatment center.

Lifestyle Changes

Lifestyle changes can help you and your family achieve long-term weight-loss success. Example of lifestyle changes include:

• Focusing on balancing energy IN (calories from food and drinks) with energy OUT (physical activity)
• Following a healthy eating plan
• Learning how to adopt healthy lifestyle habits

Over time, these changes will become part of your everyday life.

Calories

Cutting back on calories (energy IN) will help you lose weight. To lose 1 to 2 pounds a week, adults should cut back their calorie intake by 500 to 1,000 calories a day.

• In general, having 1,000 to 1,200 calories a day will help most women lose weight safely.
• In general, having 1,200 to 1,600 calories a day will help most men lose weight safely. This calorie range also is suitable for women who weigh 165 pounds or more or who exercise routinely.

These calorie levels are a guide and may need to be adjusted. If you eat 1,600 calories a day but don't lose weight, then you may want to cut back to 1,200 calories. If you're hungry on either diet, then you may want to add 100 to 200 calories a day.

Very low-calorie diets with fewer than 800 calories a day shouldn't be used unless your doctor is monitoring you.

For overweight children and teens, it's important to slow the rate of weight gain. However, reduced-calorie diets aren't advised unless you talk with a health care provider.

Healthy Eating Plan

A healthy eating plan gives your body the nutrients it needs every day. It has enough calories for good health, but not so many that you gain weight.

A healthy eating plan is low in saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium (salt), and added sugar. Following a healthy eating plan will lower your risk for heart disease and other conditions.

Healthy foods include:

• Fat-free and low-fat dairy products, such as low-fat yogurt, cheese, and milk.
• Protein foods, such as lean meat, fish, poultry without skin, beans, and peas.
• Whole-grain foods, such as whole-wheat bread, oatmeal, and brown rice. Other grain foods include pasta, cereal, bagels, bread, tortillas, couscous, and crackers.
• Fruits, which can be fresh, canned, frozen, or dried.
• Vegetables, which can be fresh, canned (without salt), frozen, or dried.

Canola and olive oils, and soft margarines made from these oils, are heart healthy. However, you should use them in small amounts because they're high in calories.

You also can include unsalted nuts, like walnuts and almonds, in your diet as long as you limit the amount you eat (nuts also are high in calories).

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's "Aim for a Healthy Weight" patient booklet provides more information about following a healthy eating plan.

Foods to limit. Foods that are high in saturated and trans fats and cholesterol raise blood cholesterol levels and also might be high in calories. Fats and cholesterol raise your risk for heart disease, so they should be limited.

Saturated fat is found mainly in:

• Fatty cuts of meat, such as ground beef, sausage, and processed meats (for example, bologna, hot dogs, and deli meats)
• Poultry with the skin
• High-fat dairy products like whole-milk cheeses, whole milk, cream, butter, and ice cream
• Lard, coconut, and palm oils, which are found in many processed foods

Trans fat is found mainly in:

• Foods with partially hydrogenated oils, such as many hard margarines and shortening
• Baked products and snack foods, such as crackers, cookies, doughnuts, and breads
• Foods fried in hydrogenated shortening, such as french fries and chicken

Cholesterol mainly is found in:

• Egg yolks
• Organ meats, such as liver
• Shrimp
• Whole milk or whole-milk products, such as butter, cream, and cheese

Limiting foods and drinks with added sugars, like high-fructose corn syrup, is important. Added sugars will give you extra calories without nutrients like vitamins and minerals. Added sugars are found in many desserts, canned fruit packed in syrup, fruit drinks, and nondiet drinks.

Check the list of ingredients on food packages for added sugars like high-fructose corn syrup. Drinks that contain alcohol also will add calories, so it's a good idea to limit your alcohol intake.

Portion size. A portion is the amount of food that you choose to eat for a meal or snack. It's different from a serving, which is a measured amount of food and is noted on the Nutrition Facts label on food packages.

Anyone who has eaten out lately is likely to notice how big the portions are. In fact, over the past 40 years, portion sizes have grown significantly. These growing portion sizes have changed what we think of as a normal portion.

Cutting back on portion size is a good way to eat fewer calories and balance your energy IN. Learn how today's portions compare with those from 20 years ago at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Portion Distortion Web pages (link is external).

Food weight. Studies have shown that we all tend to eat a constant "weight" of food. Ounce for ounce, our food intake is fairly consistent. Knowing this, you can lose weight if you eat foods that are lower in calories and fat for a given amount of food.

For example, replacing a full-fat food product that weighs 2 ounces with a low-fat product that weighs the same helps you cut back on calories. Another helpful practice is to eat foods that contain a lot of water, such as vegetables, fruits, and soups.

Physical Activity

Being physically active and eating fewer calories will help you lose weight and keep weight off over time. Physical activity also will benefit you in other ways. It will:

• Lower your risk for heart disease, heart attack, diabetes, and cancers (such as breast, uterine, and colon cancers)
• Strengthen your heart and help your lungs work better
• Strengthen your muscles and keep your joints in good condition
• Slow bone loss
• Give you more energy
• Help you relax and better cope with stress
• Allow you to fall asleep more quickly and sleep more soundly
• Give you an enjoyable way to share time with friends and family

The four main types of physical activity are aerobic, muscle-strengthening, bone strengthening, and stretching. You can do physical activity with light, moderate, or vigorous intensity. The level of intensity depends on how hard you have to work to do the activity.

People vary in the amount of physical activity they need to control their weight. Many people can maintain their weight by doing 150 to 300 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes to 5 hours) of moderate-intensity activity per week, such as brisk walking.

People who want to lose a large amount of weight (more than 5 percent of their body weight) may need to do more than 300 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week. This also may be true for people who want to keep off weight that they've lost.

You don't have to do the activity all at once. You can break it up into short periods of at least 10 minutes each.

If you have a heart problem or chronic disease, such as heart disease, diabetes, or high blood pressure, talk with your doctor about what types of physical activity are safe for you. You also should talk with your doctor about safe physical activities if you have symptoms such as chest pain or dizziness.

Children should get at least 60 minutes or more of physical activity every day. Most physical activity should be moderate-intensity aerobic activity. Activity should vary and be a good fit for the child's age and physical development.

Many people lead inactive lives and might not be motivated to do more physical activity. When starting a physical activity program, some people may need help and supervision to avoid injury.

If you're obese, or if you haven't been active in the past, start physical activity slowly and build up the intensity a little at a time.

When starting out, one way to be active is to do more everyday activities, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator and doing household chores and yard work. The next step is to start walking, biking, or swimming at a slow pace, and then build up the amount of time you exercise or the intensity level of the activity.

To lose weight and gain better health, it's important to get moderate-intensity physical activity. Choose activities that you enjoy and that fit into your daily life.

A daily, brisk walk is an easy way to be more active and improve your health. Use a pedometer to count your daily steps and keep track of how much you're walking. Try to increase the number of steps you take each day. Other examples of moderate-intensity physical activity include dancing, gardening, and water aerobics.

For greater health benefits, try to step up your level of activity or the length of time you're active. For example, start walking for 10 to 15 minutes three times a week, and then build up to brisk walking for 60 minutes, 5 days a week.

Behavioral Changes

Changing your behaviors or habits related to food and physical activity is important for losing weight. The first step is to understand which habits lead you to overeat or have an inactive lifestyle. The next step is to change these habits.

Below are some simple tips to help you adopt healthier habits.

Change your surroundings. You might be more likely to overeat when watching TV, when treats are available at work, or when you're with a certain friend. You also might find it hard to motivate yourself to be physically active. However, you can change these habits.

• Instead of watching TV, dance to music in your living room or go for a walk.
• Leave the office break room right after you get a cup of coffee.
• Bring a change of clothes to work. Head straight to an exercise class on the way home from work.
• Put a note on your calendar to remind yourself to take a walk or go to your exercise class.

Keep a record. A record of your food intake and the amount of physical activity that you do each day will help inspire you. You also can keep track of your weight. For example, when the record shows that you've been meeting your physical activity goals, you'll want to keep it up. A record also is an easy way to track how you're doing, especially if you're working with a registered dietitian or nutritionist.

Seek support. Ask for help or encouragement from your friends, family, and health care provider. You can get support in person, through e-mail, or by talking on the phone. You also can join a support group.

Reward success. Reward your success for meeting your weight-loss goals or other achievements with something you would like to do, not with food. Choose rewards that you'll enjoy, such as a movie, music CD, an afternoon off from work, a massage, or personal time.

Weight-Loss Medicines

Weight-loss medicines approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) might be an option for some people.

If you're not successful at losing 1 pound a week after 6 months of using lifestyle changes, medicines may help. You should only use medicines as part of a program that includes diet, physical activity, and behavioral changes.

Weight-loss medicines might be suitable for adults who are obese (a BMI of 30 or greater). People who have BMIs of 27 or greater, and who are at risk for heart disease and other health conditions, also may benefit from weight-loss medicines.

Sibutramine (Meridia^®)

As of October 2010, the weight-loss medicine sibutramine (Meridia^®) was taken off the market in the United States. Research showed that the medicine may raise the risk of heart attack and stroke.    

Orlistat (Xenical^® and Alli^®)

Orlistat (Xenical^®) causes a weight loss between 5 and 10 pounds, although some people lose more weight. Most of the weight loss occurs within the first 6 months of taking the medicine.

People taking Xenical need regular checkups with their doctors, especially during the first year of taking the medicine. During checkups, your doctor will check your weight, blood pressure, and pulse and may recommend other tests. He or she also will talk with you about any medicine side effects and answer your questions.

The FDA also has approved Alli^®, an over-the-counter (OTC) weight-loss aid for adults. Alli is the lower dose form of orlistat. Alli is meant to be used along with a reduced-calorie, low-fat diet and physical activity. In studies, most people taking Alli lost 5 to 10 pounds over 6 months.

Both Xenical and Alli reduce the absorption of fats, fat calories, and vitamins A, D, E, and K to promote weight loss. Both medicines also can cause mild side effects, such as oily and loose stools.

Although rare, some reports of liver disease have occurred with the use of orlistat. More research is needed to find out whether the medicine plays a role in causing liver disease. Talk with your doctor if you’re considering using Xenical or Alli to lose weight. He or she can discuss the risks and benefits with you.

You also should talk with your doctor before starting orlistat if you’re taking blood-thinning medicines or being treated for diabetes or thyroid disease. Also, ask your doctor whether you should take a multivitamin due to the possible loss of some vitamins.

Lorcaserin Hydrochloride (Belviq^®) and Qsymia™

In July 2012, the FDA approved two new medicines for chronic (ongoing) weight management. Lorcaserin hydrochloride (Belviq^®) and Qsymia™ are approved for adults who have a BMI of 30 or greater. (Qsymia is a combination of two FDA-approved medicines: phentermine and topiramate.)

These medicines also are approved for adults with a BMI of 27 or greater who have at least one weight-related condition, such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, or high blood cholesterol.

Both medicines are meant to be used along with a reduced-calorie diet and physical activity.

Other Medicines

Some prescription medicines are used for weight loss, but aren't FDA-approved for treating obesity. They include:

• Medicines to treat depression. Some medicines for depression cause an initial weight loss and then a regain of weight while taking the medicine.
• Medicines to treat seizures. Two medicines used for seizures, topiramate and zonisamide, have been shown to cause weight loss. These medicines are being studied to see whether they will be useful in treating obesity.
• Medicines to treat diabetes. Metformin may cause small amounts of weight loss in people who have obesity and diabetes. It's not known how this medicine causes weight loss, but it has been shown to reduce hunger and food intake.

Over-the-Counter Products

Some OTC products claim to promote weight loss. The FDA doesn't regulate these products because they're considered dietary supplements, not medicines.

However, many of these products have serious side effects and generally aren't recommended. Some of these OTC products include:

• Ephedra (also called ma huang). Ephedra comes from plants and has been sold as a dietary supplement. The active ingredient in the plant is called ephedrine. Ephedra can cause short-term weight loss, but it also has serious side effects. It causes high blood pressure and stresses the heart. In 2004, the FDA banned the sale of dietary supplements containing ephedra in the United States.
• Chromium. This is a mineral that's sold as a dietary supplement to reduce body fat. While studies haven't found any weight-loss benefit from chromium, there are few serious side effects from taking it.
• Diuretics and herbal laxatives. These products cause you to lose water weight, not fat. They also can lower your body's potassium levels, which may cause heart and muscle problems.
• Hoodia. Hoodia is a cactus that's native to Africa. It's sold in pill form as an appetite suppressant. However, no firm evidence shows that hoodia works. No large-scale research has been done on humans to show whether hoodia is effective or safe.

Weight-Loss Surgery

Weight-loss surgery might be an option for people who have extreme obesity (BMI of 40 or more) when other treatments have failed.

Weight-loss surgery also is an option for people who have a BMI of 35 or more and life-threatening conditions, such as:

• Severe sleep apnea (a condition in which you have one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breaths while you sleep)
• Obesity-related cardiomyopathy (KAR-de-o-mi-OP-ah-thee; diseases of the heart muscle)
• Severe type 2 diabetes

Types of Weight-Loss Surgery

Two common weight-loss surgeries include banded gastroplasty and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. For gastroplasty, a band or staples are used to create a small pouch at the top of your stomach. This surgery limits the amount of food and liquids the stomach can hold.

For gastric bypass, a small stomach pouch is created with a bypass around part of the small intestine where most of the calories you eat are absorbed. This surgery limits food intake and reduces the calories your body absorbs.

Weight-loss surgery can improve your health and weight. However, the surgery can be risky, depending on your overall health. Gastroplasty has few long-term side effects, but you must limit your food intake dramatically.

Gastric bypass has more side effects. They include nausea (feeling sick to your stomach), bloating, diarrhea, and faintness. These side effects are all part of a condition called dumping syndrome. After gastric bypass, you may need multivitamins and minerals to prevent nutrient deficiencies.

Lifelong medical followup is needed after both surgeries. Your doctor also may recommend a program both before and after surgery to help you with diet, physical activity, and coping skills.

If you think you would benefit from weight-loss surgery, talk with your doctor. Ask whether you're a candidate for the surgery and discuss the risks, benefits, and what to expect.

Weight-Loss Maintenance

Maintaining your weight loss over time can be a challenge. For adults, weight loss is a success if you lose at least 10 percent of your initial weight and you don't regain more than 6 or 7 pounds in 2 years. You also must keep a lower waist circumference (at least 2 inches lower than your waist circumference before you lost weight).

After 6 months of keeping off the weight, you can think about losing more if:

• You've already lost 5 to 10 percent of your body weight
• You're still overweight or obese

The key to losing more weight or maintaining your weight loss is to continue with lifestyle changes. Adopt these changes as a new way of life.

If you want to lose more weight, you may need to eat fewer calories and increase your activity level. For example, if you eat 1,600 calories a day but don't lose weight, you may want to cut back to 1,200 calories. It's also important to make physical activity part of your normal daily routine.

How Can Overweight and Obesity Be Prevented?

Following a healthy lifestyle can help you prevent overweight and obesity. Many lifestyle habits begin during childhood. Thus, parents and families should encourage their children to make healthy choices, such as following a healthy diet and being physically active.

 Make following a healthy lifestyle a family goal. For example:

• Follow a healthy eating plan. Make healthy food choices, keep your calorie needs and your family's calorie needs in mind, and focus on the balance of energy IN and energy OUT.
• Focus on portion size. Watch the portion sizes in fast food and other restaurants. The portions served often are enough for two or three people. Children's portion sizes should be smaller than those for adults. Cutting back on portion size will help you balance energy IN and energy OUT.
• Be active. Make personal and family time active. Find activities that everyone will enjoy. For example, go for a brisk walk, bike or rollerblade, or train together for a walk or run.
• Reduce screen time. Limit the use of TVs, computers, DVDs, and videogames because they limit time for physical activity. Health experts recommend 2 hours or less a day of screen time that's not work- or homework-related.
• Keep track of your weight, body mass index, and waist circumference. Also, keep track of your children's growth.

Led by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, four Institutes from the National Institutes of Health have come together to promote We Can!®—Ways to Enhance Children's Activity & Nutrition.

We Can! is a national education program designed for parents and caregivers to help children 8 to 13 years old maintain a healthy weight. The evidence-based program offers parents and families tips and fun activities to encourage healthy eating, increase physical activity, and reduce time spent being inactive.

Currently, more than 140 community groups around the country are participating in We Can! programs for parents and youth. These community groups include hospitals, health departments, clinics, faith-based organizations, YMCAs, schools, and more.

Source: NIDDK, NIH

Weight-loss and Nutrition Myths

• Weight-loss and Diet Myths
• Meal Myths
• Physical Activity Myths
• Food Myths

"Lose 30 pounds in 30 days!"

"Eat as much as you want and still lose weight!"

"Try the thigh buster and lose inches fast!"

Have you heard these claims before? A large number of diets and tools are available, but their quality may vary. It can be hard to know what to believe.

This fact sheet may help. Here, we discuss myths and provide facts and tips about weight loss, nutrition, and physical activity. This information may help you make healthy changes in your daily habits. You can also talk to your health care provider. She or he can help you if you have other questions or you want to lose weight. A registered dietitian may also give you advice on a healthy eating plan and safe ways to lose weight and keep it off.

Weight-loss and Diet Myths

Myth: Fad diets will help me lose weight and keep it off.

Healthy habits may help you lose weight.

• Make healthy food choices. Half of your plate should be fruits and veggies.
• Eat small portions. Use a smaller plate, weigh portions on a scale, or check the Nutrition Facts label for details about serving sizes.
• Build exercise into your daily life. Garden, go for family walks, play a pickup game of sports, start a dance club with your friends, swim, take the stairs, or walk to the grocery store or work.

Combined, these habits may be a safe, healthy way to lose weight and keep it off.

Fact: Fad diets are not the best way to lose weight and keep it off. These diets often promise quick weight loss if you strictly reduce what you eat or avoid some types of foods. Some of these diets may help you lose weight at first. But these diets are hard to follow. Most people quickly get tired of them and regain any lost weight.

Fad diets may be unhealthy. They may not provide all of the nutrients your body needs. Also, losing more than 3 pounds a week after the first few weeks may increase your chances of developing gallstones (solid matter in the gallbladder that can cause pain). Being on a diet of fewer than 800 calories a day for a long time may lead to serious heart problems.

TIP: Research suggests that safe weight loss involves combining a reduced-calorie diet with physical activity to lose 1/2 to 2 pounds a week (after the first few weeks of weight loss). Make healthy food choices. Eat small portions. Build exercise into your daily life. Combined, these habits may be a healthy way to lose weight and keep it off. These habits may also lower your chances of developing heart disease, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes.

Myth: Grain products such as bread, pasta, and rice are fattening. I should avoid them when trying to lose weight.

Fact: A grain product is any food made from wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal, barley, or another cereal grain. Grains are divided into two subgroups, whole grains and refined grains. Whole grains contain the entire grain kernel—the bran, germ, and endosperm. Examples include brown rice and whole-wheat bread, cereal, and pasta. Refined grains have been milled, a process that removes the bran and germ. This is done to give grains a finer texture and improve their shelf life, but it also removes dietary fiber, iron, and many B vitamins.

People who eat whole grains as part of a healthy diet may lower their chances of developing some chronic diseases. Government dietary guidelines advise making half your grains whole grains. For example, choose 100 percent whole-wheat bread instead of white bread, and brown rice instead of white rice. The Resources section at the end of this fact sheet offers helpful links to these guidelines and the ChooseMyPlate website, which provides information, tips, and tools on healthy eating.

TIP: To lose weight, reduce the number of calories you take in and increase the amount of physical activity you do each day. Create and follow a healthy eating plan that replaces less healthy options with a mix of fruits, veggies, whole grains, protein foods, and low-fat dairy:

• Eat a mix of fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products, fruits, veggies, and whole grains.
• Limit added sugars, cholesterol, salt (sodium), and saturated fat.
• Eat low-fat protein: beans, eggs, fish, lean meats, nuts, and poultry.

Meal Myths

Myth: Some people can eat whatever they want and still lose weight.

Fact: To lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you eat and drink. Some people may seem to get away with eating any kind of food they want and still lose weight. But those people, like everyone, must use more energy than they take in through food and drink to lose weight.

A number of factors such as your age, genes, medicines, and lifestyle habits may affect your weight. If you would like to lose weight, speak with your health care provider about factors that may affect your weight. Together, you may be able to create a plan to help you reach your weight and health goals.

Eat the rainbow!

When making half of your plate fruits and veggies, choose foods with vibrant colors that are packed with fiber, minerals, and vitamins.

• Red: bell peppers, cherries, cranberries, onions, red beets, strawberries, tomatoes, watermelon

• Green: avocado, broccoli, cabbage, cucumber, dark lettuce, grapes, honeydew, kale, kiwi, spinach, zucchini

• Orange and yellow: apricots, bananas, carrots, mangoes, oranges, peaches, squash, sweet potatoes

• Blue and purple: blackberries, blueberries, grapes, plums, purple cabbage, purple carrots, purple potatoes

For more tips on healthy eating, see the Resources section for helpful links to federally approved dietary guidelines and ChooseMyPlate.

TIP: When trying to lose weight, you can still eat your favorite foods as part of a healthy eating plan. But you must watch the total number of calories that you eat. Reduce your portion sizes. Find ways to limit the calories in your favorite foods. For example, you can bake foods rather than frying them. Use low-fat milk in place of cream. Make half of your plate fruits and veggies.

Myth: "Low-fat" or "fat-free" means no calories.

Fact: A serving of low-fat or fat-free food may be lower in calories than a serving of the full-fat product. But many processed low-fat or fat-free foods have just as many calories as the full-fat versions of the same foods—or even more calories. These foods may contain added flour, salt, starch, or sugar to improve flavor and texture after fat is removed. These items add calories.

What is the difference between a serving and a portion?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Nutrition Facts label appears on most packaged foods (see Figure 1). It tells you how many calories and servings are in a box or can. The serving size varies from product to product.

A portion is how much food you choose to eat at one time, whether in a restaurant, from a package, or at home. Sometimes the serving size and portion size match; sometimes they do not.

You can use the Nutrition Facts label

• to track your calorie intake and number of servings
• to make healthy food choices by serving smaller portions and selecting items lower in fats, salt, and sugar and higher in fiber and vitamins

Myth: Fast foods are always an unhealthy choice. You should not eat them when dieting.

Fact: Many fast foods are unhealthy and may affect weight gain. However, if you do eat fast food, choose menu options with care. Both at home and away, choose healthy foods that are nutrient rich, low in calories, and small in portion size.

TIP: To choose healthy, low-calorie options, check the nutrition facts. These are often offered on the menu or on restaurant websites. And know that the nutrition facts often do not include sauces and extras. Try these tips:

• Avoid "value" combo meals, which tend to have more calories than you need in one meal.
• Choose fresh fruit items or nonfat yogurt for dessert.
• Limit your use of toppings that are high in fat and calories, such as bacon, cheese, regular mayonnaise, salad dressings, and tartar sauce.
• Pick steamed or baked items over fried ones.
• Sip on water or fat-free milk instead of soda.

Myth: If I skip meals, I can lose weight.

Fact: Skipping meals may make you feel hungrier and lead you to eat more than you normally would at your next meal. In particular, studies show a link between skipping breakfast and obesity. People who skip breakfast tend to be heavier than people who eat a healthy breakfast.

TIP: Choose meals and snacks that include a variety of healthy foods. Try these examples:

• For a quick breakfast, make oatmeal with low-fat milk, topped with fresh berries. Or eat a slice of whole-wheat toast with fruit spread.
• Pack a healthy lunch each night, so you won't be tempted to rush out of the house in the morning without one.
• For healthy nibbles, pack a small low-fat yogurt, a couple of whole-wheat crackers with peanut butter, or veggies with hummus.

For more on healthy eating, read our brochure Better Health and You: Tips for Adults.

Myth: Eating healthy food costs too much.

Fact: Eating better does not have to cost a lot of money. Many people think that fresh foods are healthier than canned or frozen ones. For example, some people think that spinach is better for you raw than frozen or canned. However, canned or frozen fruits and veggies provide as many nutrients as fresh ones, at a lower cost. Healthy options include low-salt canned veggies and fruit canned in its own juice or water-packed. Remember to rinse canned veggies to remove excess salt. Also, some canned seafood, like tuna, is easy to keep on the shelf, healthy, and low-cost. And canned, dried, or frozen beans, lentils, and peas are also healthy sources of protein that are easy on the wallet.

TIP: Check the nutrition facts on canned, dried, and frozen items. Look for items that are high in calcium, fiber, potassium, protein, and vitamin D. Also check for items that are low in added sugars, saturated fat, and sodium. For more tips, see Smart Shopping for Veggies and Fruits and Healthy Eating on a Budget, both on the ChooseMyPlate website.

Physical Activity Myths

Don't just sit there!

Americans spend a lot of time sitting in front of computers, desks, hand-held devices, and TVs. Break up your day by moving around more and getting regular aerobic activity that makes you sweat and breathe faster.

• Get 150 to 300 minutes of moderately intense or vigorous physical activity each week. Basketball, brisk walks, hikes, hula hoops, runs, soccer, tennis—choose whatever you enjoy best! Even 10 minutes of activity at a time can add up over the week.
• Strengthen your muscles at least twice a week. Do push-ups or pull-ups, lift weights, do heavy gardening, or work with rubber resistance bands.

Myth: Lifting weights is not a good way to lose weight because it will make me "bulk up."

Fact: Lifting weights or doing activities like push-ups and crunches on a regular basis can help you build strong muscles, which can help you burn more calories. To strengthen muscles, you can lift weights, use large rubber bands (resistance bands), do push-ups or sit-ups, or do household or yard tasks that make you lift or dig. Doing strengthening activities 2 or 3 days a week will not "bulk you up." Only intense strength training, along with certain genetics, can build large muscles.

TIP: Government guidelines for physical activity recommend that adults should do activities at least two times a week to strengthen muscles. The guidelines also suggest that adults should get 150 to 300 minutes of moderately intense or vigorous aerobic activity each week—like brisk walking or biking. Aerobic activity makes you sweat and breathe faster.

For more on the benefits of physical activity and tips on how to be more active, check out the Government's guidelines for physical activity.

Myth: Physical activity only counts if I can do it for long periods of time.

Fact: You do not need to be active for long periods to achieve your 150 to 300 minutes of activity each week. Experts advise doing aerobic activity for periods of 10 minutes or longer at a time. You can spread these sessions out over the week.

TIP: Plan to do at least 10 minutes of physical activity three times a day on 5 or more days a week. This will help you meet the 150-minute goal. While at work, take a brief walking break. Use the stairs. Get off the bus one stop early. Go dancing with friends. Whether for a short or long period, bursts of activity may add up to the total amount of physical activity you need each week.

Food Myths

Myth: Eating meat is bad for my health and makes it harder to lose weight.

Fact: Eating lean meat in small amounts can be part of a healthy plan to lose weight. Chicken, fish, pork, and red meat contain some cholesterol and saturated fat. But they also contain healthy nutrients like iron, protein, and zinc.

TIP: Choose cuts of meat that are lower in fat, and trim off all the fat you can see. Meats that are lower in fat include chicken breast, pork loin and beef round steak, flank steak, and extra lean ground beef. Also, watch portion size. Try to eat meat or poultry in portions of 3 ounces or less. Three ounces is about the size of a deck of cards.

Myth: Dairy products are fattening and unhealthy.

Fact: Fat-free and low-fat cheese, milk, and yogurt are just as healthy as whole-milk dairy products, and they are lower in fat and calories. Dairy products offer protein to build muscles and help organs work well, and calcium to strengthen bones. Most milk and some yogurts have extra vitamin D added to help your body use calcium. Most Americans don't get enough calcium and vitamin D. Dairy is an easy way to get more of these nutrients.

TIP: Based on Government guidelines, you should try to have 3 cups a day of fat-free or low-fat milk or milk products. This can include soy beverages fortified with vitamins. If you can't digest lactose (the sugar found in dairy products), choose lactose-free or low-lactose dairy products or other foods and beverages that have calcium and vitamin D:

• calcium: soy-based beverages or tofu made with calcium sulfate; canned salmon; dark leafy greens like collards or kale
• vitamin D: cereals or soy-based beverages

Myth: "Going vegetarian" will help me lose weight and be healthier.

More questions?

If you do not know whether or not to believe a weight-loss or nutrition claim, check it out! The Federal Trade Commission has information on false weight-loss claims in ads.

You can also find out more about nutrition and weight loss by talking with a registered dietitian through the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Fact: Research shows that people who follow a vegetarian eating plan, on average, eat fewer calories and less fat than non-vegetarians. Some research has found that vegetarian-style eating patterns are associated with lower levels of obesity, lower blood pressure, and a reduced risk of heart disease.

Vegetarians also tend to have lower body mass index (BMI) scores than people with other eating plans. (The BMI measures body fat based on a person's height in relation to weight). But vegetarians—like others—can make food choices that impact weight gain, like eating large amounts of foods that are high in fat or calories or low in nutrients.

The types of vegetarian diets eaten in the United States can vary widely. Vegans do not consume any animal products, while lacto-ovo vegetarians eat milk and eggs along with plant foods. Some people have eating patterns that are mainly vegetarian but may include small amounts of meat, poultry, or seafood.

TIP: If you choose to follow a vegetarian eating plan, be sure you get enough of the nutrients that others usually take in from animal products such as cheese, eggs, meat, and milk. Nutrients that may be lacking in a vegetarian diet are listed in the sidebar, along with foods and beverages that may help you meet your body's needs for these nutrients.

Source: NIDDK, NIH

Celebrate the Beauty of Youth

Understanding Adult Overweight and Obesity

• How can I tell if I am at a normal weight? 
• ?Why do people gain weight?
• What other factors are involved?
• What problems are linked to excess weight?
• Who should lose weight?
• How are overweight and obesity treated?
• How can I improve my health?
• Resources

When we eat more calories than we burn, our bodies store this extra energy as fat. While a few extra pounds may not seem like a big deal, they can increase your chances of having high blood pressure and high blood sugar. These conditions may lead to serious health problems, including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers.

Today, more than two-thirds of adults in the United States are considered to be overweight or obese. More than one-third of adults have obesity. This fact sheet will help you find out if you may be at risk of developing weight-related health problems. It will also explain how overweight and obesity are treated and give you ideas for improving your health at any weight.

How can I tell if I am at a normal weight?

Body mass index (BMI) is one way to tell whether you are at a normal weight, overweight, or obese. The BMI measures your weight in relation to your height.

The BMI table below will help you to find your BMI score. Find your height in inches in the left column labeled "Height." Move across the row to your weight. The number at the top of the column is the BMI for that height and weight. Pounds are rounded off. You may also go to the Resources section at the end of this page for a link to an online tool for measuring BMI.

A BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is in the normal range. A person with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight, and someone with a BMI of 30 or greater is considered obese.

However, because BMI doesn't measure actual body fat, a person who is very muscular, like a bodybuilder, may have a high BMI without having a lot of body fat. Please review your findings with your health care provider if your BMI is outside of the normal range.

Table 1. Body Mass Index Table

Select the PDF version for better printing

Why do people gain weight?

Our bodies need calories (energy) to keep us alive and active. But to maintain weight we need to balance the energy we take in with the energy we use. When a person eats and drinks more calories than he or she burns, the energy balance tips toward weight gain, overweight, and obesity. The tipping point at which the calories coming in and the calories going out become out of balance and lead to weight gain may differ from one person to another.?

What other factors are involved?

Your genes, the world around you, and other factors may all affect weight gain. Learn how to address these factors in the section "How can I improve my health?"

Family

Research shows that obesity tends to run in families, suggesting that genes may contribute to obesity. Families also share diet and lifestyle habits that may affect weight. However, it is possible to manage your weight even if obesity is common in your family.

The World around You

Where people live, play, and work may also strongly affect their weight. Consider the fact that obesity rates were lower 30 years ago. Since that time, our genetic make-up hasn't changed, but our world has.

The world around us affects access to healthy foods and places to walk and be active in many ways:

• Many people drive rather than walk.
• Living in areas without sidewalks or safe places to exercise may make it tough to be more active.
• Many people eat out or get takeout instead of cooking, which may lead to eating more calories.
• Most vending machines do not offer low-calorie, low-fat snacks.

Overweight and obesity affect people in all income ranges. But people who live in low-income areas may face even greater barriers to eating healthy foods and being active than other people. High-calorie processed foods often cost less than healthier options, such as fruits and vegetables. There also may be few safe, free, or low-cost places nearby to be active on a regular basis. These factors may contribute to weight gain.

Does my body shape matter?

Health care providers are concerned not only with how much body fat a person has, but where the fat is located on the body.

• Women tend to collect fat in their hips and buttocks, giving them a "pear" shape.
• Men usually build up fat around their bellies, giving them more of an "apple" shape.
• Of course, some men are pear-shaped and some women are apple-shaped, especially after menopause.

Extra fat around your midsection may put you at greater risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other health problems—even if you have a normal weight. Your provider can help you assess your risk.

Culture

A person's culture may also affect weight:

• Some cultures have foods with a lot of fat or sugar, making it hard to manage weight.
• Family events at which people eat large amounts of food may make it tough to control portions.

Sleep

Research suggests that lack of sleep is linked to overweight and obesity. Recent studies have found that sleeping less may make it harder to lose weight. In these studies, adults who were trying to lose weight and who slept less ate more calories and snacked more.

For more on how obesity and sleep are related, see the Resources section at the end of this fact sheet for a link to the WIN fact sheet Do You Know Some of the Health Risks of Being Overweight?

Medicine

Certain drugs may cause weight gain. Steroids and some drugs to treat depression or other mental health problems may make you burn calories more slowly or feel hungry. Be sure your health care provider knows all the medicines you are taking (including over-the-counter drugs and dietary supplements). He or she may suggest another medicine that has less effect on weight.

What problems are linked to excess weight?

Weighing too much may increase the risk for several health problems. It also may contribute to emotional and social problems.

Health Risks

Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, kidney disease, and certain cancers are some of the diseases linked to excess weight. Obese men are more likely than other men to develop cancer of the colon, rectum, or prostate. Obese women are more likely than other women to develop cancer of the breast (after menopause), gallbladder, uterus, or cervix. Cancer of the esophagus (the tube that carries food and liquids to the stomach) may also be linked to obesity.

Other diseases and health problems linked to excess weight include

• breathing problems, including sleep apnea
• fatty liver disease (also called nonalcoholic steatohepatitis or NASH)
• gallbladder disease and gallstones
• pregnancy problems, such as gestational diabetes (high blood sugar during pregnancy), high blood pressure, and increased risk for cesarean section (C-section)

Emotional and Social Effects

Excess weight may also contribute to emotional suffering. Physical beauty and how a person looks are highly valued in society. People who may not fit society's view of beauty because of their weight may be seen as less attractive.

Also, because some people in our culture may view a person with obesity as lacking willpower, people with obesity may face limited options in the job market, at school, and in social situations. They may feel rejected, ashamed, or depressed.

Who should lose weight?

Health care providers generally agree that people who are considered to be obese (have a BMI of 30 or greater) may improve their health by losing weight.

If you are overweight (BMI between 25 and 29.9), experts recommend that you avoid gaining any extra weight. If you are overweight and have other risk factors (see below), losing weight may reduce these risks. Experts recommend you try to lose weight if you have two or more of the following:

• Family history of certain chronic diseases. If you have close relatives who have had diseases such as heart disease or diabetes, you may be more likely to develop these problems.
• Pre-existing medical problems. High blood pressure, high LDL (bad) cholesterol levels, low HDL (good) cholesterol levels, high triglycerides, and high blood sugar (prediabetes or diabetes) are all warning signs of some diseases linked to obesity.
• Large waist size. Men who have waist sizes greater than 40 inches and women who have waist sizes greater than 35 inches are at higher risk of diabetes, unhealthy blood fats (high cholesterol and triglycerides), high blood pressure, and heart disease.

Fortunately, losing even a small amount of weight can help improve your health. This weight loss may lower your blood pressure and improve other risk factors.

For example, research shows that people at high risk for type 2 diabetes who lose a modest amount of weight and increase their physical activity may prevent or delay type 2 diabetes. For more information, see the listing in the Resources section for the National Diabetes Education Program.

How are overweight and obesity treated?

The best way to control your weight may depend on how much excess weight you have, your overall health, and how ready you are to change your eating and physical activity habits. In some cases, if lifestyle changes do not lead to enough weight loss to improve your health, doctors may recommend additional treatment, including weight-loss drugs.

In some cases of extreme obesity, doctors may recommend bariatric surgery. For more information on bariatric surgery, see the WIN fact sheet Bariatric Surgery for Severe Obesity.

How can I improve my health?

Although you cannot change your genes, you can work on changing your eating habits, levels of physical activity, and other factors. Try the ideas below.

Research

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) conducts and supports a broad range of basic and clinical obesity research. More information about obesity research is available at http://www.obesityresearch.nih.govExternal NIH Link.

Clinical trials are research studies involving people. Clinical trials look at safe and effective new ways to prevent, detect, or treat disease. Researchers also use clinical trials to look at other aspects of care, such as improving the quality of life for people with chronic illnesses. To learn more about clinical trials, why they matter, and how to participate, visit the NIH Clinical Research Trials and You website at http://www.nih.gov/health/clinicaltrialsExternal NIH Link.  For information about current studies, visit http://www.ClinicalTrials.govExternal Link Disclaimer. 

Get regular physical activity

Try these tips for starting or maintaining an exercise program:

• Get at least 150 minutes (2 ½ hours) of moderately intense aerobic activity each week that raises your heart rate and makes you sweat. Brisk walking, biking (with a helmet), swimming, and playing tennis or basketball are fun choices that you can do with others for support.
• You can spread the 150 minutes out in short spurts over the week. Do house or yard chores briskly, walk the dog at a quick pace, or dance to your favorite music for at least 10 minutes at a time.
• Aim for 300 minutes (5 hours) of aerobic activity a week to prevent gradual weight gain in adulthood. If you are at a healthy weight now but used to be overweight or obese, experts encourage 60 to 90 minutes of exercise a day to keep the weight off.

Most adults don't need to see their doctor before starting a physical activity program. However, those who should see a doctor include men older than 40 and women older than 50 who plan a vigorous program or who have either a serious health condition or risk factors for a serious health condition.

Eat better

Eating healthy foods has vital health benefits, too, including weight loss. To start eating better, try these tips:

• Eat the rainbow. Make half of what's on your plate fruit and vegetables.
• Replace refined grains with whole grains, like oatmeal, whole wheat bread, and brown rice.
• Get your protein from healthy sources, like seafood, lean meats, poultry, eggs, beans, unsalted nuts, and seeds.
• Instead of sugary drinks, choose unsweetened tea, low-fat milk, or water.

Remember, weight control is a lifelong effort. Starting now with small steps may improve your health. A healthy eating plan and regular physical activity can be steps to a healthier you.

Resources

Additional Reading Active at Any Size! Contains information designed to encourage black women to move more and eat better. Bariatric Surgery for Severe Obesity Describes  types of bariatric surgery, best youth and adult candidates for surgery and side effects of these surgeries.  Do You Know Some of the Health Risks of Being Overweight? Discusses the links between excess weight and many health conditions and explains how reaching and maintaining a normal weight may help with staying healthy later in life.

Additional Resources

2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans
http://www.health.gov/paguidelines/guidelines/default.aspxExternal Link Disclaimer  

 

Body Mass Index Online Calculator
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htmExternal NIH Link  

 

Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010
http://health.gov/dietaryguidelinesExternal Link Disclaimer  

¹ For more information on NASH, see the listing in the Resources section for the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse. ????????????

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The Weight-control Information Network (WIN) is a national information service of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). WIN provides the general public, health professionals, and the media with science-based, up-to-date, culturally relevant materials and tips. Topics include healthy eating, barriers to physical activity, portion control, and eating and physical activity myths.

Publications produced by WIN are carefully reviewed by both NIDDK scientists and outside experts. This fact sheet was also reviewed by Delia Smith West, Ph.D., Professor, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Inclusion of resources is for information only and does not imply endorsement by NIDDK or WIN.

This publication is not copyrighted. WIN encourages you to copy and share as many copies as desired.

You may also find additional information about this topic by visiting MedlinePlus at http://www.medlineplus.govExternal Link Disclaimer. 

NIH Publication No. 06–3680
Updated December 2012

Source: NIDDK, NIH

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Binge Eating Disorder

• How common is binge eating disorder????
• How do I know if I have binge eating disorder?
• What causes binge eating disorder?
• What are the health risks of binge eating disorder?
• Should people with binge eating disorder try to lose weight?
• How is binge eating disorder treated?

Binge eating means eating a large amount of food in a short period of time. Most of us may overeat during a special occasion, like a holiday. But people who have this disorder binge eat on a regular basis and feel a lack of control over their eating.

People with binge eating disorder are usually very upset by their binge eating and may experience stress, trouble sleeping, and depression. Binge eating disorder may lead to weight gain and to related health problems, such as heart disease and diabetes.

Most people who binge eat feel ashamed and try to hide their problem. Often they become so good at hiding it that even close friends and family members may not know that their loved one binge eats.

Binge eating disorder can be successfully treated. If you are concerned that you or someone close to you may have binge eating disorder, talking to a health care provider may be an important first step. This fact sheet will tell you more about the disorder and how to get help.

How common is binge eating disorder? What is obesity? Obesity is usually defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater. The BMI is a measure of your weight in relation to your height. For a link to an online tool that will calculate your BMI, see the Resources section at the end of this fact sheet. Binge eating disorder is the most common eating disorder in the United States.1?  Among adults, about 3.5 percent of women and 2 percent of men are estimated to have binge eating disorder. About 1.6 percent of adolescents may also be affected.2 Among women, binge eating disorder is most common in early adulthood, while among men it is most common in midlife. Binge eating disorder affects blacks as often as whites, but it is not known how often it affects people in other racial and ethnic groups.    People with obesity are at a higher risk for developing the disorder than people of normal weight. Although most people with obesity do not have binge eating disorder, about 2 in 3 people who have the disorder are obese. People of normal weight can also have binge eating disorder.

How do I know if I have binge eating disorder? How is binge eating disorder different from bulimia nervosa? People who have the eating disorder bulimia nervosa also binge eat on a regular basis. However, they try to make up for the binge eating by using unhealthy behaviors, such as vomiting, using laxatives or diuretics (water pills), fasting, and/or doing too much exercise. Most of us overeat from time to time, and some of us often feel we have eaten more than we should have. Eating a lot of food does not necessarily mean that you have binge eating disorder. People who have binge eating disorder4 eat a large amount of food in a short period of time (for example, within 2 hours). feel a lack of control over their eating. For example, they may feel that they cannot stop eating or control what or how much they are eating. People who have binge eating disorder may also eat much more quickly than usual eat until uncomfortably full eat large amounts of food even when not really hungry eat alone feel disgusted, depressed, or guilty after overeating If you think that you or someone close to you may have binge eating disorder, share your concerns with a health care provider. He or she can connect you to helpful sources of care.

What causes binge eating disorder?

No one knows for sure what causes binge eating disorder. Like other eating disorders, binge eating disorder may result from a mix of genetic, psychological, emotional, social, and other factors. Binge eating disorder has been linked to depression and anxiety. Painful childhood experiences—such as family problems and critical comments about shape, weight, or eating—may also make some people more likely to develop the disorder.

Although binge eating is related to dieting, it is not clear if dieting causes binge eating disorder. Among some people, trying to diet in unhealthy ways—such as by skipping meals, not eating enough food each day, or avoiding certain kinds of food—may lead to binge eating. Studies suggest that changes to eating habits that are made as part of obesity treatment are not harmful to people with binge eating disorder and may promote weight loss.?

What are the health risks of binge eating disorder?

People with binge eating disorder are usually very upset by their binge eating and may become depressed. They may also miss school, social activities, or work to binge eat.

 

Research suggests that people with binge eating disorder report more health problems, stress, trouble sleeping, and suicidal thoughts than do people without an eating disorder. Other problems that may result from binge eating disorder could include digestive problems, headaches, joint pains, menstrual problems, and muscle pains. In addition, binge eating disorder may lead to weight gain and to health problems related to obesity.?

 

Should people with binge eating disorder try to lose weight?   What health risks are linked to excess weight? Excess weight may increase the risk for many health problems, including type 2 diabetes high blood pressure heart disease and strokes certain types of cancer sleep apnea (pauses in breathing during sleep) osteoarthritis (a disease where the joints wear down, causing stiffness and pain) fatty liver disease kidney disease irregular periods and infertility in women pregnancy problems, such as high blood sugar during pregnancy, high blood pressure, and increased risk for cesarean delivery (C-section) Many people with binge eating disorder have excess weight and related health problems. Losing weight may help prevent or reduce some of these problems. However, binge eating may make it difficult to lose weight and keep it off. People with binge eating disorder who are obese may benefit from a weight-loss program that also offers treatment for eating disorders. However, some people with binge eating disorder may do just as well in a standard weight-loss program as people who do not binge eat.

How is binge eating disorder treated?

People with binge eating disorder should get help from a specialist in eating disorders, such as a psychiatrist or a psychologist. Treatment may include the use of behavior change therapy, counseling on eating patterns, and/or drugs. The goal is to change the thoughts and beliefs that lead to binge eating and promote healthy eating and physical activity habits.

In addition to treatment from specialists, self-help books and DVDs have been found to help some people control their binge eating. Support groups may also be a good source of encouragement, hope, and advice on coping with the disorder. 

If you have any symptoms of binge eating disorder, talk to your health care provider about the type of help that may be best for you. Ask for a referral to a specialist or a support group in your area. 
The good news is that most people do well in treatment and can overcome binge eating.

 Research

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) conducts and supports a broad range of basic and clinical obesity research. More information about obesity research is available at http://www.obesityresearch.nih.govExternal NIH Link.

 

Clinical trials are research studies involving people. Clinical trials look at safe and effective new ways to prevent, detect, or treat disease. Researchers also use clinical trials to look at other aspects of care, such as improving the quality of life for people with chronic illnesses. To learn more about clinical trials, why they matter, and how to participate, visit the NIH Clinical Research Trials and You website at http://www.nih.gov/health/clinicaltrials?External NIH Link. For information about current studies, visit http://www.ClinicalTrials.govExternal Link Disclaimer?.?

Resources?

Additional Reading

• Better Health and You: Tips for Adults

  Provides tips for adults on how to eat better and be more active.?

• Do You Know Some of the Health Risks of Being Overweight?

  Discusses the links between excess weight and many health conditions and explains how reaching and maintaining a normal weight may help with staying healthy later in life.

Source: NIDDK, NIH

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Healthy Weight - it's not a diet, it's a lifestyle!

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Better Health and You: Tips for Adults

• Introduction
• How can I use this publication?
• Healthy Weight
• What is a healthy weight?
• What are the health risks of being overweight or obese?
• Why do people become overweight?
• Healthy Eating
• What kinds of foods should I eat?
• How can I follow a healthy eating plan?
• What if I need to lose weight?
• Physical Activity
• How much physical activity do I need??
• How do I get started?
• Being Good To Yourself
• Lifespan Tip Sheet For Adults

Introduction

This publication is part of the Healthy Eating & Physical Activity Across Your Lifespan Series from the Weight-control Information Network (WIN). The series offers health tips for readers at various life stages, including adulthood, pregnancy, parenthood, and later life. The entire series is also available in Spanish.

How can I use this publication?

This publication is one of many handy guides from WIN that can help you and your family. This publication gives you tips on how to eat better and be more active. Eating healthy foods and doing physical activity on a regular basis may help you reach and maintain a healthy weight. They may also help prevent some health problems. Start taking steps now to move more and eat better—for yourself and your family!

Healthy Weight

More than two-thirds of American adults are considered overweight or obese. Excess weight may lead to heart disease and diabetes. Creating and following plans for healthy eating and physical activity may help you improve your health.

What is a healthy weight?

Body mass index (BMI) is one way to tell whether you are at a healthy weight, overweight, or obese. It measures your weight in relation to your height. A BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is in the healthy range. A person with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight, and someone with a BMI of 30 or greater is considered obese. Go to the tip sheet to find a BMI table you can use to find your BMI score. You may also check the Resources section for a link to an online tool for measuring BMI. Another way to find out if you are at risk for health problems caused by overweight and obesity is to measure your waist. If you are a woman and your waist is more than 35 inches, or if you are a man and your waist is more than 40 inches, your risk of disease may be higher.

Health Risks Of Being Overweight Or Obese During Pregnancy

Extra weight can cause these health problems with pregnancy:

• gestational diabetes (high blood sugar during pregnancy)
• high blood pressure
• increased risk for cesarean section (C-section)

Talk to your health care provider if you have concerns. You may also want to see the WIN brochure Fit for Two: Tips for Pregnancy.

What are the health risks of being overweight or obese?

Extra weight may increase your risk for

• type 2 diabetes
• heart disease and stroke
• high blood cholesterol
• high blood pressure
• kidney disease
• non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (a fat buildup in the livers of people who drink little or no alcohol)
• problems with pregnancy (see box)
• certain cancers

Why do people become overweight?

Over time, if you eat and drink more calories than your body uses or "burns off," your body may store the extra energy, leading to weight gain. Many factors may play a part in weight gain.

The World around You

Communities, homes, and workplaces can all affect people's health decisions. Foods high in fat, added sugar, and calories are easy to find. They also often cost less than healthier choices like fruits and vegetables. Also, many people lack access to safe places where they can be physically active. On top of that, many tools and devices, like remote controls and drive-in banks, make it easy to be inactive.

Families

Overweight and obesity tend to run in families. Research shows that genes can play a role in obesity. Families also share eating habits that can affect how, when, and what we eat.

Medicine

Some medicines, such as steroids (drugs used to reduce swelling) and some drugs for depression and other psychiatric disorders, may lead to weight gain. Ask your health care provider or pharmacist about the side effects of any medicines you are taking.

Emotions

Many people eat when they are bored, sad, angry, or stressed, even when they are not hungry. Although you may not be able to control all the factors that lead to overweight, making small changes to your eating and physical activity habits may improve your health.

Healthy Eating

Paying attention to what, when, how often, and how much you eat can be the first step to helping you eat better.

What kinds of foods should I eat?

Every 5 years the Government releases dietary guidelines that recommend what kinds of food to eat and to limit so you can have a healthy eating plan.

Eat more of these nutrient-rich foods

Nutrients—like vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber—nourish our bodies by giving them what they need to be healthy. The guidelines advise adults to eat the following foods because they are rich in nutrients:

• fruits and vegetables
• whole grains, like oatmeal, whole-wheat bread, and brown rice
• seafood, lean meats, poultry, and eggs
• fat-free or low-fat milk and cheese, or substitutes (like soy or rice milk) that are high in vitamin D and calcium
• beans, nuts, and seeds

Easy Snack Ideas

• low-fat or fat-free yogurt
• fresh, canned, or dried fruit
• sliced vegetables or baby carrots

Quick Breakfast Ideas

• oatmeal with low-fat or fat-free milk or a soy-based drink, topped with walnuts and fresh or dried fruit
• a slice of whole-wheat toast with a thin piece of low-fat cheese
• fruit smoothie made with frozen fruit and low-fat yogurt
• high-fiber, low-sugar cereal with a soy-based beverage or fat-free milk

Eat less of these foods

Some foods have many calories but few of the vitamins, minerals, or fiber your body needs. Added sugars, solid fats, and refined grains pack a lot of calories into food but do not add nutrients. The Government's dietary guidelines recommend that you limit foods such as these:

• sugar-sweetened drinks and desserts
• foods with butter, shortening, or other fats that are solid at room temperature
• white bread, rice, and pasta that are made from refined grains

How can I follow a healthy eating plan?

These tips may help you stay on track with your plan to eat better:

• Have low-fat, low-sugar snacks on hand. Whether you are at home, at work, or on the go, healthy snacks may help to combat hunger and prevent overeating.
• Select a mix of colorful vegetables each day. Choose dark leafy greens, such as spinach, kale, collards, and mustard greens, and reds and oranges such as carrots, sweet potatoes, red peppers, and tomatoes.
• Eat breakfast every day. People who eat breakfast are less likely to overeat later in the day.
• Choose whole grains more often. Try whole-grain breads and pastas, oatmeal, brown rice, or bulgur.
• Choose fresh fruit more often than fruit juice. Fruit juice has little or no fiber, the calories may be high, and many juices have added sugar.
• Use fats and oils sparingly. Olive, canola, and peanut oils; avocados; nuts and seeds; olives; and fish provide heart-healthy fat as well as vitamins and minerals.
• Limit foods and beverages that are high in sugar.

How much should I eat?

How much you should eat depends on your genes, sex, age, and how active you are. In general, men need more calories than women do, and younger adults need more calor?ies than adults in midlife and older. At all ages, adults who are more physically active need to eat more calories than those who are less active.

What if I need to lose weight?

What defines a healthy weight varies from person to person. Ask your health care provider about what a healthy weight is for you. If you are overweight or are experiencing health problems linked to overweight or obesity, ask your health care provider if a modest weight loss would be helpful. A weight loss of 5 to 7 percent of your body weight over 6 months or longer has been shown to improve health.

Use a food diary to track what you eat

To keep a food diary, write down all the food you eat in a day. Also write down the time you eat and your feelings at the time. Writing down your feelings may help you identify your eating triggers. For example, you may notice that you sometimes overeat when you are in a big group, simply because everyone around you is eating. The next time you are eating with a big group, be mindful of that trigger and try to limit how much you eat.

Ideas To Support Your Weight-Loss Efforts

Eating

• Keep a food diary. To get started, see the sample food diary.
• Make a shopping list and stick to it. Don't shop when you're hungry.
• Don't keep many foods high in fat or sugar in your home.
• Dish up smaller servings. At restaurants, eat only half your meal and take the rest home.
• Eat at the table. Turn off the TV so you don't overeat.

Behavior

• Be realistic about weight-loss goals. Aim for a slow, modest weight loss.
• Seek support from family and friends.
• Expect setbacks and forgive yourself if you regain a few pounds.
• Add moderately intense or vigorous physical activity to your weight-loss plan. This kind of activity increases your heart rate and makes you break a sweat. Examples are brisk walking, swimming, and dancing.?

Sample Food Diary??
Time	Food	Feelings	How I Can Improve
8 a.m.	Coffee with sugar and cream, o??atmeal with low-fat milk and banana	Hungry. Ate my usual breakfast.
11 a.m.	Low-fat yogurt	Stomach starting to rumble.	Adding fresh fruit or whole grains will help keep me from overeating later.
12:30 p.m.	Roast beef and cheese sandwich on whole-wheat bread, potato chips, can of soda	Probably ate more than I was hungry for because of the "lunch deal" the deli offered me.	If I pack my lunch, I won't be tempted in the lunch line.
2:30 p.m.	1/2 chocolate bar from coworker, large coffee with sugar and cream	Feeling bored, not truly hungry.	A snack like veggie slices with salsa is more nutritious.
7:30 p.m.	Caesar salad, dinner roll, ravioli (didn't finish the whole serving), 1/2 slice of chocolate cake	Out to dinner with friends, so we all ate big portions! We split dessert, which made me feel healthy.	Next time, I'll have a salad with low-fat dressing. Sweet, fresh fruit is good as a light dessert.
10:30 p.m.	Decaf herbal tea	Had trouble falling asleep.

Physical Activity

How much physical activity do I need?

According to the Government's physical activity guidelines, healthy adults should regularly do aerobic and strengthening activities. See the Resources section for more information on how to find these guidelines.

Benefits Of Aerobic Activity

Regular aerobic activity may help you …

• Control weight. Aerobic activity burns calories, which may help you manage your weight.
• Prevent heart disease and stroke. Regular aerobic activity can strengthen your heart muscle and lower your blood
  pressure. It may also help lower "bad" cholesterol and raise "good" cholesterol.
• Maintain strong bones. Weight-bearing aerobic activities that involve lifting or pushing your own body weight, such as walking, jogging, or dancing, help to maintain strong bones.

Aerobic Activity

Aerobic activity uses your large muscle groups (chest, legs, and back) to increase your heart rate. This activity may cause you to breathe harder. You should be able to speak several words in a row while doing aerobic exercises, but you should not be able to have a long chat. Aim for at least 150 minutes (2 1/2 hours) each week. Studies suggest that being fit at midlife may help prevent heart disease and stroke as you get older. To get more health benefits or to lose weight, you may need to do more activity. Aim for 300 minutes (5 hours) a week of moderate activity like walking at a pace of about 4 miles an hour. Choose aerobic activities that are fun. People are more likely to be active if they like what they are doing. Getting support from a friend or a family member may also help. Try one of these activities or others you enjoy:

• brisk walking or jogging
• bicycling (with a helmet)
• swimming
• playing basketball or soccer

Activity to Strengthen Muscles

These activities make you push or pull against something, such as gravity, weights, or exercise bands.

Benefits Of Activity To Strengthen Muscles

Doing regular activities to strengthen your muscles may help you …

• Use more calories. Not only do strengthening exercises burn calories, but having more muscle means you will burn slightly more calories throughout the day—even when you are sitting still.
• Reduce injury. Stronger muscles improve balance and support your joints, lowering the risk of injury.
• Maintain strong bones. Doing strengthening exercises regularly helps build bone and may prevent bone loss as you age.

?Aim for at least 2 days a week.Strengthening exercises should focus on working the major muscle groups of the body, such as the chest, back, abdominals, legs, and arms. Allow at least 1 day of rest for your muscles to recover and rebuild before working the same muscle groups.Try these options:

• Lift weights.
• Use canned food or books as weights.
• Do push-ups or pull-ups.
• Work with resistance bands (large rubber bands).
• Do heavy gardening (digging, lifting, carrying).

How do I get started?

You don't have to be an athlete to benefit from regular physical activity. Even modest amounts of physical activity can improve your health. If you have been inactive for a while, you may want to start with easier activities, such as walking at a gentle pace. This lets you build up to more intense activity without getting hurt. Start with small, specific goals, like walking briskly 10 minutes a day, 3 days a week, and build up slowly from there. Keep an activity log to track your progress. You can refer to the sample activity log. As you become more fit, slowly increase your pace, the length of time you are active, and how often you are active.

Sample ??Activity Log
Date	Activity	Total Time	How I Felt
Mon., Mar. 1	Walking	2 x 15 minutes	I kept a good pace.
	Free weights at home	20 minutes
Tues., Mar. 2	Walking	30 minutes
	Stretching	15 minutes	Stretching felt great.
Wed., Mar. 3	Extra walking at work—used the stairs 3 times	About 20 minutes total	I was busy, so I just tried to move more all day.
	Yoga video at home	20-minute video	Yoga helped me relax.
Thurs., Mar. 4	Walking	15 minutes at lunch and 15 minutes after work	Walking with my coworker was fun and relaxing.
Fri., Mar. 5	Walking	30 minutes at lunch	My coworker and I picked up the pace today!
	Free weights at home	20 minutes
Sat., Mar. 6	Water aerobics class	45 minute class	This class is fun but exhausting.
	Stretching	15 minutes
Sun., Mar. 7	Gardening	60 minutes	A surprisingly good workout.

Try these activities to add more movement to your daily life:

• Choose parking spots that are farther away from where you are going and walk the last few blocks. (Make sure the places you park and walk are well lit.)
• Walk around the inside of a mall in bad weather.
• Rake the leaves, wash the car, or do brisk housecleaning.
• Visit museums or the zoo. Many of these places are free. You and your family can walk for hours and not realize it.
• Take a break from sitting at the computer or TV. Go for a short walk or stretch.
• If your time is limited, do 10 minutes of exercise at a time. Spread these bursts of activity out throughout the day. Every little bit counts!

Being Good To Yourself

Many people feel stress in their daily lives. Stress can cause you to overeat, feel tired, and not want to do anything. Healthy eating and regular physical activity may help offset the effects of stress. Try some of these other ideas to help relieve stress and stay on track with improving your health:

• Get plenty of sleep.
• Practice deep breathing while relaxing your muscles one at a time.
• Take a break and go for a walk.
• Add short stretch breaks to your day.
• Try a new hobby or any activity that sparks your interest.
• Surround yourself with people whose company you enjoy.

A balanced eating plan, regular physical activity, and stress relief may help you stay healthy for life.

Lifespan Tip Sheet For Adults

• Eat breakfast every day. People who eat breakfast are less likely to overeat later in the day.
• Choose whole grains more often. Try whole-wheat breads and pastas, oatmeal, or brown rice.
• Select a mix of colorful vegetables each day. Vegetables of different colors provide different nutrients. Try collards, kale, spinach, squash, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes.
• Have low-fat, low-sugar snacks on hand at home, at work, or on the go to combat hunger and prevent overeating.
• At restaurants, eat only half your meal and take the rest home.
• Visit museums, the zoo, or an aquarium. You and your family can walk for hours and not realize it.
• Take a walk after dinner instead of watching TV.
• Get plenty of sleep.

Body Mass Index Table?

Select the PDF version for better printing

Why should I participate in clinical trials?

Clinical trials are research studies involving people. Clinical trials look at safe and effective new ways to prevent, detect, or treat disease. Researchers also use clinical trials to look at other aspects of care, such as improving the quality of life for people with chronic illnesses. To learn more about clinical trials, why they matter, and how to participate, visit the NIH Clinical Research Trials and You website at http://www.nih.gov/health/clinicaltrialsExternal NIH Link.? For information about current studies, visit http://www.ClinicalTrials.govExternal Link Disclaimer.

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Healthy Weight - it's not a diet, it's a lifestyle!

Introduction

When it comes to weight loss, there's no lack of fad diets promising fast results. But such diets limit your nutritional intake, can be unhealthy, and tend to fail in the long run.

The key to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight isn't about short-term dietary changes. It's about a lifestyle that includes healthy eating, regular physical activity, and balancing the number of calories you consume with the number of calories your body uses.

Staying in control of your weight contributes to good health now and as you age.

Assessing Your Weight

Adult BMI Calculator

A high amount of body fat can lead to weight-related diseases and other health issues and being underweight can also put one at risk for health issues. BMI and waist circumference are two measures that can be used as screening tools to estimate weight status in relation to potential disease risk. However, BMI and waist circumference are not diagnostic tools for disease risks. A trained healthcare provider should perform other health assessments in order to evaluate disease risk and diagnose disease status.

How to Measure and Interpret Weight Status

Adult Body Mass Index or BMI

Body Mass Index (BMI) is a person's weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters. A high BMI can be an indicator of high body fatness and having a low BMI can be an indicator of having too low body fatness. BMI can be used as a screening tool but is not diagnostic of the body fatness or health of an individual.

To calculate BMI, see the BMI Calculator or determine your BMI by finding your height and weight in this BMI Index Chart¹.

• If your BMI is less than 18.5, it falls within the underweight range.
• If your BMI is 18.5 to 24.9, it falls within the normal or Healthy Weight range.
• If your BMI is 25.0 to 29.9, it falls within the overweight range.
• If your BMI is 30.0 or higher, it falls within the obese range.

Weight that is higher than what is considered as a healthy weight for a given height is described as overweight or obese. Weight that is lower than what is considered as healthy for a given height is described as underweight.

To see if your weight puts you at risk for type 2 diabetes, find your height in the Body Mass Index (BMI) charts below. If your weight is equal to or more than the weight listed, you have a greater chance of developing the disease.

If you are not Asian American or Pacific Islander		If you are Asian American		If you are Pacific Islander
At-risk BMI ≥ 25		At-risk BMI ≥ 23		At-risk BMI ≥ 26
Height	Weight	Height	Weight	Height	Weight
4'10"	119	4'10"	110	4'10"	124
4'11"	124	4'11"	114	4'11"	128
5'0"	128	5'0"	118	5'0"	133
5'1"	132	5'1"	122	5'1"	137
5'2"	136	5'2"	126	5'2"	142
5'3"	141	5'3"	130	5'3"	146
5'4"	145	5'4"	134	5'4"	151
5'5"	150	5'5"	138	5'5"	156
5'6"	155	5'6"	142	5'6"	161
5'7"	159	5'7"	146	5'7"	166
5'8"	164	5'8"	151	5'8"	171
5'9"	169	5'9"	155	5'9"	176
5'10"	174	5'10"	160	5'10"	181
5'11"	179	5'11"	165	5'11"	186
6'0"	184	6'0"	169	6'0"	191
6'1"	189	6'1"	174	6'1"	197
6'2"	194	6'2"	179	6'2"	202
6'3"	200	6'3"	184	6'3"	208
6'4"	205	6'4"	189	6'4"	213

At an individual level, BMI can be used as a screening tool but is not diagnostic of the body fatness or health of an individual. A trained healthcare provider should perform appropriate health assessments in order to evaluate an individual's health status and risks.

How to Measure Height and Weight for BMI

Height and weight must be measured in order to calculate BMI. It is most accurate to measure height in meters and weight in kilograms. However, the BMI formula has been adapted for height measured in inches and weight measured in pounds. These measurements can be taken in a healthcare provider’s office, or at home using a tape measure and scale.

Waist Circumference

Another way to estimate your potential disease risk is to measure your waist circumference. Excessive abdominal fat may be serious because it places you at greater risk for developing obesity-related conditions, such as Type 2 Diabetes, high blood pressure, and coronary artery disease. Your waistline may be telling you that you have a higher risk of developing obesity-related conditions if you are¹:

• A man whose waist circumference is more than 40 inches
• A non-pregnant woman whose waist circumference is more than 35 inches

Waist circumference can be used as a screening tool but is not diagnostic of the body fatness or health of an individual. A trained healthcare provider should perform appropriate health assessments in order to evaluate an individual's health status and risks.

How To Measure Your Waist Circumference

To correctly measure waist circumference:

• Stand and place a tape measure around your middle, just above your hipbones
• Make sure tape is horizontal around the waist
• Keep the tape snug around the waist, but not compressing the skin
• Measure your waist just after you breathe out

Note: The information on these pages is intended for adult men and non-pregnant women only. To assess the weight of children or teenagers, see the Child and Teen BMI Calculator.

Want to learn more?

Preventing Weight Gain
Choosing a lifestyle that includes good eating habits and daily physical activity can help you maintain a healthy weight and prevent weight gain.

The Possible Health Effects from Having Obesity Having obesity can increase your chances of developing certain diseases and health conditions.

Losing Weight
If you are overweight or have obesity and have decided to lose weight, even modest weight loss can mean big health benefits.

Underweight
If you are concerned about being underweight, please seek a trained healthcare provider. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Healthy Weight Gain webpage provides some information and advice on how to gain weight and remain healthy.

References

NBHLI. The Practical Guide for Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults. 2000. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/files/docs/guidelines/prctgd_c.pdf ²DHHS. A Healthier You. 2005. http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/healthieryou/html/chapter4.html

Balancing Calories

There's a lot of talk about the different components of food. Whether you're consuming carbohydrates, fats, or proteins all of them contain calories. If your diet focus is on any one of these alone, you're missing the bigger picture.

• The Caloric Balance Equation
• Am I in Caloric Balance?
• Recommended Physical Activity Levels
• Questions and Answers About Calories

The Caloric Balance Equation

When it comes to maintaining a healthy weight for a lifetime, the bottom line is – calories count! Weight management is all about balance—balancing the number of calories you consume with the number of calories your body uses or "burns off."

• A calorie is defined as a unit of energy supplied by food. A calorie is a calorie regardless of its source. Whether you're eating carbohydrates, fats, sugars, or proteins, all of them contain calories.
• Caloric balance is like a scale. To remain in balance and maintain your body weight, the calories consumed (from foods) must be balanced by the calories used (in normal body functions, daily activities, and exercise).

If you are...	Your caloric balance status is...
Maintaining your weight	"in balance." You are eating roughly the same number of calories that your body is using. Your weight will remain stable.
Gaining weight	"in caloric excess." You are eating more calories than your body is using. You will store these extra calories as fat and you'll gain weight.
Losing weight	"in caloric deficit." You are eating fewer calories than you are using. Your body is pulling from its fat storage cells for energy, so your weight is decreasing.

 

Am I in Caloric Balance?

If you are maintaining your current body weight, you are in caloric balance. If you need to gain weight or to lose weight, you'll need to tip the balance scale in one direction or another to achieve your goal.

If you need to tip the balance scale in the direction of losing weight, keep in mind that it takes approximately 3,500 calories below your calorie needs to lose a pound of body fat.¹ To lose about 1 to 2 pounds per week, you'll need to reduce your caloric intake by 500—1000 calories per day.²

To learn how many calories you are currently eating, begin writing down the foods you eat and the beverages you drink each day. By writing down what you eat and drink, you become more aware of everything you are putting in your mouth. Also, begin writing down the physical activity you do each day and the length of time you do it. Here are simple paper and pencil tools to assist you:

• Food Diary  (PDF-33k)
• Physical Activity Diary  (PDF-42k)

Want to try an interactive approach evaluate your food intake and physical activity? Go to the SuperTracker. The site will give you a detailed assessment and analysis of your current eating and physical activity habits.

Physical activities (both daily activities and exercise) help tip the balance scale by increasing the calories you expend each day.

Recommended Physical Activity Levels

• 2 hours and 30 minutes (150 minutes) of moderate-intensity aerobic activity (i.e., brisk walking) every week and muscle-strengthening activities on 2 or more days a week that work all major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms).

• Increasing the intensity or the amount of time that you are physically active can have even greater health benefits and may be needed to control body weight.
• Encourage children and teenagers to be physically active for at least 60 minutes each day, or almost every day.
• For more detail, see How much physical activity do you need?

The bottom line is… each person's body is unique and may have different caloric needs. A healthy lifestyle requires balance, in the foods you eat, in the beverages you consume, in the way you carry out your daily activities, and in the amount of physical activity or exercise you include in your daily routine. While counting calories is not necessary, it may help you in the beginning to gain an awareness of your eating habits as you strive to achieve energy balance. The ultimate test of balance is whether or not you are gaining, maintaining, or losing weight.

Questions and Answers About Calories

Q: Are fat-free and low-fat foods low in calories?
A: Not always. Some fat-free and low-fat foods have extra sugars, which push the calorie amount right back up. The following list of foods and their reduced fat varieties will show you that just because a product is fat-free, it doesn't mean that it is "calorie-free." And, calories do count! See FAT-Free Versus Calorie Comparison for more information.

Always read the Nutrition Facts food label to find out the calorie content. Remember, this is the calorie content for one serving of the food item, so be sure and check the serving size. If you eat more than one serving, you'll be eating more calories than is listed on the food label. For more information about the Nutrition Facts food label, visit How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Food Label.

Q: If I eat late at night, will these calories automatically turn into body fat?
A: The time of day isn't what affects how your body uses calories. It's the overall number of calories you eat and the calories you burn over the course of 24 hours that affects your weight.

Q: I've heard it is more important to worry about carbohydrates than calories. Is this true?
A: By focusing only on carbohydrates, you can still eat too many calories. Also, if you drastically reduce the variety of foods in your diet, you could end up sacrificing vital nutrients and not be able to sustain the diet over time.

Q: Does it matter how many calories I eat as long as I'm maintaining an active lifestyle
A: While physical activity is a vital part of weight control, so is controlling the number of calories you eat. If you consume more calories than you use through normal daily activities and physical activity, you will still gain weight.

Q. What other factors contribute to overweight and obesity?
A: Besides diet and behavior, environment, and genetic factors may also have an effect in causing people to be overweight and obese. For more, see Other Factors in Weight Gain.

Want to learn more?

Cutting Calories at Every Meal
You can cut calories by eating foods high in fiber, making better drink choices, avoiding portion size pitfalls, and adding more fruits and vegetables to your eating plan.

Losing Weight
Even a modest weight loss, such as 5 to 10 percent of your total body weight, can produce health benefits.

Physical Activity for a Healthy Weight
Physical activity can increase the number of calories your body uses for energy or "burns off." The burning of calories through physical activity, combined with reducing the number of calories you eat, creates a "calorie deficit" that can help with weight loss.

References

¹DHHS, A Healthier You, page 19. Available online:
http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/healthieryou/html/chapter5.html

²DHHS, AIM for a Healthy Weight, page 5. Available online:
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/aim_hwt.pdf  (PDF-2.17Mb)

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Preventing Weight Gain

If you're currently at a healthy weight, you're already one step ahead of the game. To stay at a healthy weight, it's worth doing a little planning now.

Or maybe you are overweight but aren't ready to lose weight yet. If this is the case, preventing further weight gain is a worthy goal.

As people age, their body composition gradually shifts — the proportion of muscle decreases and the proportion of fat increases. This shift slows their metabolism, making it easier to gain weight. In addition, some people become less physically active as they get older, increasing the risk of weight gain.

The good news is that weight gain can be prevented by choosing a lifestyle that includes good eating habits and daily physical activity. By avoiding weight gain, you avoid higher risks of many chronic diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, and some forms of cancer.

Choosing an Eating Plan to Prevent Weight Gain

So, how do you choose a healthful eating plan that will enable you to maintain your current weight? The goal is to make a habit out of choosing foods that are nutritious and healthful. To learn more, visit Healthy Eating for a Healthy Weight.

If your goal is to prevent weight gain, then you'll want to choose foods that supply you with the appropriate number of calories to maintain your weight. This number varies from person to person. It depends on many factors, including your height, weight, age, sex, and activity level. For more, see Balancing Calories.

Get Moving!

In addition to a healthy eating plan, an active lifestyle will help you maintain your weight. By choosing to add more physical activity to your day, you'll increase the amount of calories your body burns. This makes it more likely you'll maintain your weight.

Although physical activity is an integral part of weight management, it's also a vital part of health in general. Regular physical activity can reduce your risk for many chronic diseases and it can help keep your body healthy and strong. To learn more about how physical activity can help you maintain a healthy weight, visit Physical Activity for Healthy Weight.

Self-monitoring

You may also find it helpful to weigh yourself on a regular basis. If you see a few pounds creeping on, take the time to examine your lifestyle. With these strategies, you make it more likely that you'll catch small weight gains more quickly.

Ask yourself—

• Has my activity level changed?
• Am I eating more than usual? You may find it helpful to keep a food diary for a few days to make you more aware of your eating choices.

If you ask yourself these questions and find that you've decreased your activity level or made some poor food choices, make a commitment to yourself to get back on track. Set some reasonable goals to help you get more physical activity and make better food choices.

Want to learn more?

Keeping the Weight Off
Losing weight is the first step. Once you've lost weight, you'll want to learn how to keep it off.

Source: CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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 Losing Weight

What is healthy weight loss?

It's natural for anyone trying to lose weight to want to lose it very quickly. But evidence shows that people who lose weight gradually and steadily (about 1 to 2 pounds per week) are more successful at keeping weight off. Healthy weight loss isn't just about a "diet" or "program". It's about an ongoing lifestyle that includes long-term changes in daily eating and exercise habits.

To lose weight, you must use up more calories than you take in. Since one pound equals 3,500 calories, you need to reduce your caloric intake by 500—1000 calories per day to lose about 1 to 2 pounds per week.¹

Once you've achieved a healthy weight, by relying on healthful eating and physical activity most days of the week (about 60—90 minutes, moderate intensity), you are more likely to be successful at keeping the weight off over the long term.

Losing weight is not easy, and it takes commitment. But if you're ready to get started, we've got a step-by-step guide to help get you on the road to weight loss and better health.

Even Modest Weight Loss Can Mean Big Benefits

The good news is that no matter what your weight loss goal is, even a modest weight loss, such as 5 to 10 percent of your total body weight, is likely to produce health benefits, such as improvements in blood pressure, blood cholesterol, and blood sugars.²

For example, if you weigh 200 pounds, a 5 percent weight loss equals 10 pounds, bringing your weight down to 190 pounds. While this weight may still be in the "overweight" or "obese" range, this modest weight loss can decrease your risk factors for chronic diseases related to obesity.

So even if the overall goal seems large, see it as a journey rather than just a final destination. You'll learn new eating and physical activity habits that will help you live a healthier lifestyle. These habits may help you maintain your weight loss over time.

In addition to improving your health, maintaining a weight loss is likely to improve your life in other ways. For example, a study of participants in the National Weight Control Registry* found that those who had maintained a significant weight loss reported improvements in not only their physical health, but also their energy levels, physical mobility, general mood, and self-confidence.

Want to learn more?

Getting Started
Check out our step-by-step guide to help you get on the road to weight loss and better health.

Improving Your Eating Habits
Your eating habits may be leading to weight gain; for example, eating too fast, always clearing your plate, eating when you not hungry and skipping meals (or maybe just breakfast).

Keeping the Weight Off
Losing weight is the first step. Once you've lost weight, you'll want to learn how to keep it off.

CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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 Getting Started

Losing weight takes more than desire. It takes commitment and a well-thought-out plan. Here's a step-by-step guide to getting started.

• Step 1: Make a commitment.
• Step 2: Take stock of where you are.
• Step 3: Set realistic goals.
• Step 4: Identify resources for information and support.
• Step 5: Continually "check in" with yourself to monitor your progress.

Step 1: Make a commitment.

Making the decision to lose weight, change your lifestyle, and become healthier is a big step to take. Start simply by making a commitment to yourself. Many people find it helpful to sign a written contract committing to the process. This contract may include things like the amount of weight you want to lose, the date you'd like to lose the weight by, the dietary changes you'll make to establish healthy eating habits, and a plan for getting regular physical activity.

Writing down the reasons why you want to lose weight can also help. It might be because you have a family history of heart disease, or because you want to see your kids get married, or simply because you want to feel better in your clothes. Post these reasons where they serve as a daily reminder of why you want to make this change.

Step 2: Take stock of where you are.

Consider talking to your health care provider. He or she can evaluate your height, weight, and explore other weight-related risk factors you may have. Ask for a follow-up appointment to monitor changes in your weight or any related health conditions.

Keep a "food diary" for a few days, in which you write down everything you eat. By doing this, you become more aware of what you are eating and when you are eating. This awareness can help you avoid mindless eating.

Next, examine your current lifestyle. Identify things that might pose challenges to your weight loss efforts. For example, does your work or travel schedule make it difficult to get enough physical activity? Do you find yourself eating sugary foods because that's what you buy for your kids? Do your coworkers frequently bring high-calorie items, such as doughnuts, to the workplace to share with everyone? Think through things you can do to help overcome these challenges.

Finally, think about aspects of your lifestyle that can help you lose weight. For example, is there an area near your workplace where you and some coworkers can take a walk at lunchtime? Is there a place in your community, such as a YMCA, with exercise facilities for you and child care for your kids?

Step 3: Set realistic goals.

Set some short-term goals and reward your efforts along the way. If your long-term goal is to lose 40 pounds and to control your high blood pressure, some short-term eating and physical activity goals might be to start eating breakfast, taking a 15 minute walk in the evenings, or having a salad or vegetable with supper.

Focus on two or three goals at a time. Great, effective goals are —

• Specific
• Realistic
• Forgiving (less than perfect)

For example, "Exercise More" is not a specific goal. But if you say, "I will walk 15 minutes, 3 days a week for the first week," you are setting a specific and realistic goal for the first week.

Remember, small changes every day can lead to big results in the long run. Also remember that realistic goals are achievable goals. By achieving your short-term goals day-by-day, you'll feel good about your progress and be motivated to continue. Setting unrealistic goals, such as losing 20 pounds in 2 weeks, can leave you feeling defeated and frustrated.

Being realistic also means expecting occasional setbacks. Setbacks happen when you get away from your plan for whatever reason – maybe the holidays, longer work hours, or another life change. When setbacks happen, get back on track as quickly as possible. Also take some time to think about what you would do differently if a similar situation happens, to prevent setbacks.

Keep in mind everyone is different – what works for someone else might not be right for you. Just because your neighbor lost weight by taking up running, doesn't mean running is the best option for you. Try a variety of activities – walking, swimming, tennis, or group exercise classes to see what you enjoy most and can fit into your life. These activities will be easier to stick with over the long term.

Step 4: Identify resources for information and support.

Find family members or friends who will support your weight loss efforts. Making lifestyle changes can feel easier when you have others you can talk to and rely on for support. You might have coworkers or neighbors with similar goals, and together you can share healthful recipes and plan group exercise.

Joining a weight loss group or visiting a health care professional such as a registered dietitian, can help.

Step 5: Continually "check in" with yourself to monitor your progress.

Revisit the goals you set for yourself (in Step 3) and evaluate your progress regularly. If you set a goal to walk each morning but are having trouble fitting it in before work, see if you can shift your work hours or if you can get your walk in at lunchtime or after work. Evaluate which parts of your plan are working well and which ones need tweaking. Then rewrite your goals and plan accordingly.

If you are consistently achieving a particular goal, add a new goal to help you continue on your pathway to success.

Reward yourself for your successes! Recognize when you're meeting your goals and be proud of your progress. Use non-food rewards, such as a bouquet of freshly picked flowers, a sports outing with friends, or a relaxing bath. Rewards help keep you motivated on the path to better health.

Want to learn more?

Losing Weight
What is healthy weight loss and why should you bother?

Improving Your Eating Habits
Your eating habits may be leading to weight gain; for example, eating too fast, always clearing your plate, eating when you're not hungry and skipping meals (or maybe just breakfast).

Keeping the Weight Off
Losing weight is the first step. Once you've lost weight, you'll want to learn how to keep it off.

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 Improving Your Eating Habits

When it comes to eating, we have strong habits. Some are good ("I always eat breakfast"), and some are not so good ("I always clean my plate"). Although many of our eating habits were established during childhood, it doesn't mean it's too late to change them.

Making sudden, radical changes to eating habits such as eating nothing but cabbage soup, can lead to short term weight loss. However, such radical changes are neither healthy nor a good idea, and won't be successful in the long run. Permanently improving your eating habits requires a thoughtful approach in which you Reflect, Replace, and Reinforce.

• REFLECT on all of your specific eating habits, both bad and good; and, your common triggers for unhealthy eating.
• REPLACE your unhealthy eating habits with healthier ones.
• REINFORCE your new, healthier eating habits.

Reflect, Replace, Reinforce: A process for improving your eating habits

1. Create a list of your eating habits. Keeping a food diary for a few days, in which you write down everything you eat and the time of day you ate it, will help you uncover your habits. For example, you might discover that you always seek a sweet snack to get you through the mid-afternoon energy slump. Use this diary  (PDF-36k) to help. It's good to note how you were feeling when you decided to eat, especially if you were eating when not hungry. Were you tired? Stressed out?
2. Highlight the habits on your list that may be leading you to overeat. Common eating habits that can lead to weight gain are:

• Eating too fast
• Always cleaning your plate
• Eating when not hungry
• Eating while standing up (may lead to eating mindlessly or too quickly)
• Always eating dessert
• Skipping meals (or maybe just breakfast)

3. Look at the unhealthy eating habits you've highlighted. Be sure you've identified all the triggers that cause you to engage in those habits. Identify a few you'd like to work on improving first. Don't forget to pat yourself on the back for the things you're doing right. Maybe you almost always eat fruit for dessert, or you drink low-fat or fat-free milk. These are good habits! Recognizing your successes will help encourage you to make more changes.
4. Create a list of "cues" by reviewing your food diary to become more aware of when and where you're "triggered" to eat for reasons other than hunger. Note how you are typically feeling at those times. Often an environmental "cue", or a particular emotional state, is what encourages eating for non-hunger reasons.

   Common triggers for eating when not hungry are:

• Opening up the cabinet and seeing your favorite snack food.
• Sitting at home watching television.
• Before or after a stressful meeting or situation at work.
• Coming home after work and having no idea what's for dinner.
• Having someone offer you a dish they made "just for you!"
• Walking past a candy dish on the counter.
• Sitting in the break room beside the vending machine.
• Seeing a plate of doughnuts at the morning staff meeting.
• Swinging through your favorite drive-through every morning.
• Feeling bored or tired and thinking food might offer a pick-me-up.

5. Circle the "cues" on your list that you face on a daily or weekly basis. Going home for the Thanksgiving holiday may be a trigger for you to overeat, and eventually, you want to have a plan for as many eating cues as you can. But for now, focus on the ones you face more often.
6. Ask yourself these questions for each "cue" you've circled:

• Is there anything I can do to avoid the cue or situation? This option works best for cues that don't involve others. For example, could you choose a different route to work to avoid stopping at a fast food restaurant on the way? Is there another place in the break room where you can sit so you're not next to the vending machine?
• For things I can't avoid, can I do something differently that would be healthier? Obviously, you can't avoid all situations that trigger your unhealthy eating habits, like staff meetings at work. In these situations, evaluate your options. Could you suggest or bring healthier snacks or beverages? Could you offer to take notes to distract your attention? Could you sit farther away from the food so it won't be as easy to grab something? Could you plan ahead and eat a healthy snack before the meeting?

7. Replace unhealthy habits with new, healthy ones. For example, in reflecting upon your eating habits, you may realize that you eat too fast when you eat alone. So, make a commitment to share a lunch each week with a colleague, or have a neighbor over for dinner one night a week. Other strategies might include putting your fork down between bites or minimizing other distractions (i.e. watching the news during dinner) that might keep you from paying attention to how quickly — and how much — you're eating.
   Here are more ideas to help you replace unhealthy habits:

• Eat more slowly. If you eat too quickly, you may "clean your plate" instead of paying attention to whether your hunger is satisfied.
• Eat only when you're truly hungry instead of when you are tired, anxious, or feeling an emotion besides hunger. If you find yourself eating when you are experiencing an emotion besides hunger, such as boredom or anxiety, try to find a non-eating activity to do instead. You may find a quick walk or phone call with a friend helps you feel better.
• Plan meals ahead of time to ensure that you eat a healthy well-balanced meal.

8. Reinforce your new, healthy habits and be patient with yourself. Habits take time to develop. It doesn't happen overnight. When you do find yourself engaging in an unhealthy habit, stop as quickly as possible and ask yourself: Why do I do this? When did I start doing this? What changes do I need to make? Be careful not to berate yourself or think that one mistake "blows" a whole day's worth of healthy habits. You can do it! It just takes one day at a time!

Want to learn more?

Losing Weight
What is healthy weight loss and why should you bother?

Getting Started
Check out some steps you can take to begin!

Keeping the Weight Off
Losing weight is the first step. Once you've lost weight, you'll want to learn how to keep it off.

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 Keeping It Off

If you've recently lost excess weight, congratulations! It's an accomplishment that will likely benefit your health now and in the future. Now that you've lost weight, let's talk about some ways to maintain that success.

The following tips are some of the common characteristics among people who have successfully lost weight and maintained that loss over time.

• Watch Your Diet
• Be Active
• Stay on Course

Watch Your Diet

• 
• Follow a healthy and realistic eating pattern. You have embarked on a healthier lifestyle, now the challenge is maintaining the positive eating habits you've developed along the way. In studies of people who have lost weight and kept it off for at least a year, most continued to eat a diet lower in calories as compared to their pre-weight loss diet.² For more suggestions regarding a healthful diet, visit Healthy Eating for a Healthy Weight.
• Keep your eating patterns consistent. Follow a healthy eating pattern regardless of changes in your routine. Plan ahead for weekends, vacations, and special occasions. By making a plan, it is more likely you'll have healthy foods on hand for when your routine changes.
• Eat breakfast every day. Eating breakfast is a common trait among people who have lost weight and kept it off. Eating a healthful breakfast may help you avoid getting "over-hungry" and then overeating later in the day.

Be Active

• Get daily physical activity. People who have lost weight and kept it off typically engage in 60—90 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity most days of the week while not exceeding calorie needs. This doesn't necessarily mean 60—90 minutes at one time. It might mean 20—30 minutes of physical activity three times a day. For example, a brisk walk in the morning, at lunch time, and in the evening. Some people may need to talk to their healthcare provider before participating in this level of physical activity.

Stay on Course

• Monitor your diet and activity. Keeping a food and physical activity journal can help you track your progress and spot trends. For example, you might notice that your weight creeps up during periods when you have a lot of business travel or when you have to work overtime. Recognizing this tendency can be a signal to try different behaviors, such as packing your own healthful food for the plane and making time to use your hotel's exercise facility when you are traveling. Or if working overtime, maybe you can use your breaks for quick walks around the building.
• Monitor your weight. Check your weight regularly. When managing your weight loss, it's a good idea to keep track of your weight so you can plan accordingly and adjust your diet and exercise plan as necessary. If you have gained a few pounds, get back on track quickly.
• 
• Get support from family, friends, and others. People who have successfully lost weight and kept it off often rely on support from others to help them stay on course and get over any "bumps." Sometimes having a friend or partner who is also losing weight or maintaining a weight loss can help you stay motivated.

Want to learn more?

Improving Your Eating Habits
Your eating habits may be leading to weight gain; for example, eating too fast, always clearing your plate, eating when you not hungry and skipping meals (or maybe just breakfast).

Physical Activity for a Healthy Weight
Regular physical activity is important for good health, and it's especially important if you're trying to lose weight or to maintain a healthy weight.

References

¹National Weight Control Registry* The National Weight Control Registry (NWCR) was developed to identify and investigate the characteristics of individuals who have succeeded at long-term weight loss. The NWCR is tracking over 5,000 individuals who have lost significant amounts of weight and kept it off for long periods of time.

²Wing RR, Phelan S. Long-term weight loss maintenance. Am J Clin Nutr 2005;82(suppl):222S-5S.

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Healthy Eating for a Healthy Weight

A healthy lifestyle involves many choices. Among them, choosing a balanced diet or healthy eating plan. So how do you choose a healthy eating plan? Let's begin by defining what a healthy eating plan is.

According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010, a healthy eating plan:

• Emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products
• Includes lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts
• Is low in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt (sodium), and added sugars
• Stays within your daily calorie needs

Eat Healthfully and Enjoy It!

A healthy eating plan that helps you manage your weight includes a variety of foods you may not have considered. If "healthy eating" makes you think about the foods you can't have, try refocusing on all the new foods you can eat—

• 
• Fresh fruits ? don't think just apples or bananas. All fresh fruits are great choices. Be sure to try some "exotic" fruits, too. How about a mango? Or a juicy pineapple or kiwi fruit! When your favorite fresh fruits aren't in season, try a frozen, canned, or dried variety of a fresh fruit you enjoy. One caution about canned fruits is that they may contain added sugars or syrups. Be sure and choose canned varieties of fruit packed in water or in their own juice.
• Fresh vegetables ? try something new. You may find that you love grilled vegetables or steamed vegetables with an herb you haven't tried like rosemary. You can sauté (panfry) vegetables in a non-stick pan with a small amount of cooking spray. Or try frozen or canned vegetables for a quick side dish — just microwave and serve. When trying canned vegetables, look for vegetables without added salt, butter, or cream sauces. Commit to going to the produce department and trying a new vegetable each week.
• Calcium-rich foods ? you may automatically think of a glass of low-fat or fat-free milk when someone says "eat more dairy products." But what about low-fat and fat-free yogurts without added sugars? These come in a wide variety of flavors and can be a great dessert substitute for those with a sweet tooth.
• A new twist on an old favorite ? if your favorite recipe calls for frying fish or breaded chicken, try healthier variations using baking or grilling. Maybe even try a recipe that uses dry beans in place of higher-fat meats. Ask around or search the internet and magazines for recipes with fewer calories ? you might be surprised to find you have a new favorite dish!

Do I have to give up my favorite comfort food?

No! Healthy eating is all about balance. You can enjoy your favorite foods even if they are high in calories, fat or added sugars. The key is eating them only once in a while, and balancing them out with healthier foods and more physical activity.

Some general tips for comfort foods:

• Eat them less often. If you normally eat these foods every day, cut back to once a week or once a month. You'll be cutting your calories because you're not having the food as often.
• Eat smaller amounts. If your favorite higher-calorie food is a chocolate bar, have a smaller size or only half a bar.
• Try a lower-calorie version. Use lower-calorie ingredients or prepare food differently. For example, if your macaroni and cheese recipe uses whole milk, butter, and full-fat cheese, try remaking it with non-fat milk, less butter, light cream cheese, fresh spinach and tomatoes. Just remember to not increase your portion size. For more ideas on how to cut back on calories, see Eat More Weigh Less.

The point is, you can figure out how to include almost any food in your healthy eating plan in a way that still helps you lose weight or maintain a healthy weight.

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 Planning Meals

You eat in a variety of places - your home, work, restaurants, maybe even your car. For some of these places, you have more control over what choices are available than others. Since high-calorie foods are everywhere, it's important to take the time to plan ahead to make sure you have healthy options available.

• Meals at Home
• Meals on the Go

Meals at Home

Whether you are cooking for just yourself, one to two people, or a larger group, planning meals is a good place to start improving your food choices. Taking the time to plan a healthy evening meal can help you avoid a less healthful "drive-through" dinner.

To start, grab a pencil and paper and list your favorite meals. It may help to talk to your family or thumb through a favorite cook book. Some of the meals will be healthier than others, but for now, just write them all down.

You might want to try MyPryamid's interactive meal planner which gives you the approximate calories in your meals and shows whether your meals are balanced for the day. It can help you plan your upcoming meals to meet your weight goals and suggest ways to improve choices.

Once you've planned your meals, make a grocery list. Take some time on your visit to the grocery store to choose lower-calorie ingredients. Here are some ideas that may help:

• Many casseroles and meat sauces use cream soups as a base. Use a low-fat cream soup.
• Substitute a low-fat cheese in casseroles and vegetable sauces. When using sharply flavored cheese, such as cheddar and parmesan, you can usually reduce the amount in a recipe to save calories without sacrificing flavor.
• Try a non-stick cooking spray or a small amount of cooking oil for sautéing instead of frying with solid fat.
• If you're using ground beef for tacos or meat sauce for spaghetti, look for a lower-fat variety such as ground round or ground sirloin or try using skinless ground turkey breast. Once you've browned the meat, drain to remove excess fat.
• Instead of full-fat versions of mayonnaises, butter, and salad dressings, try those that are lower in calories, total fat, saturated fat, and trans fat.
• Check out the frozen food aisles for quick, low-calorie vegetable side dishes. You can find cut green beans, sliced carrots, and other chopped vegetables in the frozen food section. Avoid the ones with added cream, butter, or cheese sauces as these ingredients can add calories. You can steam these vegetables quickly in the microwave.
• In some soups and entrees, you may also be able to add dry beans to extend the recipe and improve the nutritional value. This is easy to do in vegetable-based soups and chili. You can just add a cup of canned white beans, kidney beans, or pinto beans to the recipe. As another example, if you are making enchiladas, rinse a can of black beans and add these to the ground meat.

Research shows that people get full by the amount of food they eat, not the number of calories they take in. You can cut calories in your favorite foods by lowering the amount of fat and or increasing the amount of fiber-rich ingredients, such as vegetables or fruit. Eating fewer calories doesn't necessarily mean eating less food. To learn more, visit Eat More, Weigh Less? And see How to Use Fruits and Vegetables to Help Manage Your Weight for more information.

At first, you may find you only get a lower calorie meal planned for one or two nights a week. Don't criticize yourself; you're making steps in the right direction. Over time, you'll figure out meal-preparation short-cuts and it will become easier to make healthy family meals a regular occurrence.

Meals on the Go

For the places where you might grab a snack or have a meal on the go (such as the car or at your desk), make sure you have nutritious snacks available or at home that you can take with you. For example:

• "Grab-and-go" fruits: apples, oranges, bananas, canned fruit without added sugars, and raisins
• Washed and chopped fresh vegetables: celery, carrots, and cucumbers
• Low-fat and fat-free milk products: yogurt without added sugars, milk, and low-fat cheeses
• Whole-grain crackers and breads
• Protein choices such as low-fat deli turkey slices or almonds and other nuts and seeds

Take the time to make a shopping list and re-stock your cabinets and fridge with healthy options. It's also a good idea to think about stocking your office cabinet or car glove box with healthy shelf-stable treats if these are places where you snack. You'll find it's easier to make better choices when you have a good variety of nutritious foods available in the places where you eat.

Cutting Calories

Once you start looking, you can find ways to cut calories for your meals, snacks, and even beverages. Here are some examples to get you started.

Eat More, Weigh Less?
Eating fewer calories doesn't necessarily mean eating less food. To be able to cut calories without eating less and feeling hungry, you need to replace some higher calorie foods with foods that are lower in calories and fill you up. In general, these foods contain a lot of water and are high in fiber.

Rethink Your Drink
Most people try to reduce their calorie intake by focusing on food, but another way to cut calories may be to change what you drink. You may find that you're consuming quite a few calories just in the beverages you have each day. Visit Rethink Your Drink for more information about the calories in beverages and how you can make better drink choices to reduce your calorie intake.

How to Avoid Portion Size Pitfalls to Help Manage Your Weight
You may find that your portion sizes are leading you to eat more calories than you realize. Research shows that people unintentionally consume more calories when faced with larger portions. This can mean excessive calorie intake, especially when eating high-calorie foods.

How to Use Fruits and Vegetables to Help Manage Your Weight
Learn about fruits and vegetables and their role in your weight management plan. Tips to cut calories by substituting fruits and vegetables are included with meal-by-meal examples. You will also find snack ideas that are 100 calories or less. With these helpful tips, you will soon be on your way to adding more fruits and vegetables into your healthy eating plan.

Ideas for Every Meal¹

Breakfast	Substitution	Calories Reduced by
Top your cereal with low fat or fat-free milk instead of 2% or whole milk.	1 cup of fat-free milk instead of 1 cup of whole milk	63
Use a non-stick pan and cooking spray (rather than butter) to scramble or fry eggs	1 spray of cooking spray instead of 1 pat of butter	34
Choose reduced-calorie margarine spread for toast rather than butter or stick margarine.	2 pats of reduced calorie margarine instead of 2 pats of butter	36
Lunch	Substitution	Calories Reduced by
Add more vegetables such as cucumbers, lettuce, tomato, and onions to a sandwich instead of extra meat or cheese.	2 slices of tomatoes, ¼ cup of sliced cucumbers, and 2 slices of onions instead of an extra slice (3/4 ounce) of cheese and 2 slices (1 ounce) of ham	154
Accompany a sandwich with salad or fruit instead of chips or French fries.	½ cup diced raw pineapple instead of 1 ounce bag of potato chips	118
Choose vegetable-based broth soups rather than cream- or meat-based soups.	1 cup of vegetable soup instead of 1 cup cream of chicken soup	45
When eating a salad, dip your fork into dressing instead of pouring lots of dressing on the salad.	½ TBSP of regular ranch salad dressing instead of 2 TBSP of regular ranch dressing	109
When eating out, substitute a broth-based soup or a green lettuce salad for French fries or chips as a side dish	A side salad with a packet of low-fat vinaigrette dressing instead of a medium order of French fries	270
Dinner	Substitution	Calories Reduced by
Have steamed or grilled vegetables rather than those sautéed in butter or oil. Try lemon juice and herbs to flavor the vegetables. You can also sauté with non-stick cooking spray.	½ cup steamed broccoli instead of ½ cup broccoli sautéed in 1/2 TBSP of vegetable oil.	62
Modify recipes to reduce the amount of fat and calories. For example, when making lasagna, use part-skim ricotta cheese instead of whole-milk ricotta cheese. Substitute shredded vegetables, such as carrots, zucchini, and spinach for some of the ground meat in lasagna.	1 cup of part-skim ricotta cheese instead of 1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese	89
When eating out, have a cocktail or dessert instead of both during the same eating occasion.	Choosing one or the other saves you calories. A 12-ounce beer has about 153 calories. A slice of apple pie (1/6 of a 8" pie) has 277 calories.	153 if you have the apple pie without the drink 277 if you have a drink and no pie.
When having pizza, choose vegetables as toppings and just a light sprinkling of cheese instead of fatty meats.	One slice of a cheese pizza instead of one slice of a meat and cheese pizza	60
Snacks	Substitution	Calories Reduced by
Choose air-popped popcorn instead of oil-popped popcorn and dry-roasted instead of oil-roasted nuts.	3 cups of air-popped popcorn instead of 3 cups of oil-popped popcorn	73
Avoid the vending machine by packing your own healthful snacks to bring to work. For example, consider vegetable sticks, fresh fruit, low fat or nonfat yogurt without added sugars, or a small handful of dry-roasted nuts.	An eight-ounce container of no sugar added nonfat yogurt instead of a package of 6 peanut butter crackers	82
Choose sparkling water instead of sweetened drinks or alcoholic beverages.	A bottle of carbonated water instead of a 12-ounce can of soda with sugar	136
Instead of cookies or other sweet snacks, have some fruit for a snack.	One large orange instead of 3 chocolate sandwich cookies	54

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Eat More, Weigh Less?

This is also available as a brochure (PDF-605k). This is part of our Weight Management Research to Practice Series.

How to manage your weight without being hungry.

Have you tried to lose weight by cutting down the amount of food you eat? Do you still feel hungry and not satisfied after eating? Or have you avoided trying to lose weight because you're afraid of feeling hungry all the time? If so, you are not alone. Many people throw in the towel on weight loss because they feel deprived and hungry when they eat less. But there is another way. Aim for a slow, steady weight loss by decreasing calorie intake while maintaining an adequate nutrient intake and increasing physical activity. You can cut calories without eating less nutritious food. The key is to eat foods that will fill you up without eating a large amount of calories.

If I cut calories, won't I be hungry?

Research shows that people get full by the amount of food they eat, not the number of calories they take in. You can cut calories in your favorite foods by lowering the amount of fat and or increasing the amount of fiber-rich ingredients, such as vegetables or fruit.

Let's take macaroni and cheese as an example. The original recipe uses whole milk, butter, and full-fat cheese. This recipe has about 540 calories in one serving (1 cup).

Here's how to remake this recipe with fewer calories and less fat:

• Use 2 cups non-fat milk instead of 2 cups whole milk.
• Use 8 ounces light cream cheese instead of 21⁄4 cups full-fat cheddar cheese.
• Use 1 tablespoon butter instead of 2 or use 2 tablespoons of soft trans-fat free margarine.
• Add about 2 cups of fresh spinach and 1 cup diced tomatoes (or any other veggie you like).

Your redesigned mac and cheese now has 315 calories in one serving (1 cup). You can eat the same amount of mac and cheese with 225 fewer calories.

What foods will fill me up?

To be able to cut calories without eating less and feeling hungry, you need to replace some higher calorie foods with foods that are lower in calories and fat and will fill you up. In general, this means foods with lots of water and fiber in them. The chart below will help you make smart food choices that are part of a healthy eating plan.

These foods will fill you up with less calories. Choose them more often…	These foods can pack more calories into each bite. Choose them less often…
Fruits and Vegetables (prepared without added fat)	Fried foods
Spinach, broccoli, tomato, carrots, watermelon, berries, apples	Eggs fried in butter, fried vegetables, French fries
Low-fat and fat-free milk products	Full-fat milk products
Low- or fat-free milk, low or fat-free yogurt, low- or fat-free cottage cheese	Full-fat cheese, full-fat ice cream, whole and 2% milk
Broth-based soup	Dry snack foods
Vegetable-based soups, soups with chicken or beef broth, tomato soups (without cream)	Crackers or pretzels, cookies, chips, dried fruits
Whole grains	Higher-fat and higher-sugar foods
Brown rice, whole wheat bread, whole wheat pastas, popcorn	Croissants,margarine, shortening and butter, doughnuts, candy bars, cakes and pastries
Lean meat, poultry and fish	Fatty cuts of meat
Grilled salmon, chicken breast without skin, ground beef (lean or extra lean)	Bacon, brisket, ground beef (regular)
Legumes (beans and peas)
Black, red kidney and pinto beans (without added fat), green peas, black-eyed peas

A healthy eating plan is one that —

• Emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat free or low-fat milk and milk products.
• Includes lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts.
• Is low in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt (sodium), and added sugars.
• Stays within your calorie needs.

Technically speaking…
The number of calories in a particular amount or weight of food is called "calorie density" or "energy density." Low-calorie-dense foods are ones that don't pack a lot of calories into each bite.   Foods that have a lot of water or fiber and little fat are usually low in calorie density. They will help you feel full without an unnecessary amount of calories.

Here are some more ideas for cutting back on calories without eating less and being hungry:

Instead of...	Try...
Fried chicken sandwich with 1 tbsp. mayonnaise = 599 calories	Grilled chicken salad with low-fat dressing 2 cups lettuce, 2 oz. grilled chicken breast, 2 tbsp. light balsamic vinaigrette dressing = 178 calories
Cream-based soup 1 cup mushroom bisque = 400 calories	Broth-based soup 1 cup minestrone = 112 calories
Chips or pretzels 1.5 oz. pretzels = 162 calories	Baby carrots with hummus 16 baby carrots with 1 tbsp. hummus = 75 calories

Good things can come in big packages!

People eat more than they realize when faced with large portion sizes. This usually means eating too many calories. But, not all large portions are created equal. Larger portions of water- and fiber-rich foods, like fruits, vegetables, and broth-based soups, can fill you up with less calories. Start with an appetizer. Research shows that if you eat a low-calorie appetizer before a meal, you will eat fewer total calories during the meal. Start your meals with a broth-based soup or a green salad without a large amount of cheese, or croutons.

For more on portion sizes, see How to Avoid Portion Size Pitfalls to Help Manage Your Weight.

Fruits and veggies: keep it simple!

Most fruits and veggies are low-calorie and will fill you up, but the way you prepare them can change that. Breading and frying, and using high-fat creams or butter with vegetables and fruit will add extra calories. Try steaming vegetables and using spices and low-fat sauces for flavor. And enjoy the natural sweetness of raw fruit.

For more on fruits and vegetables, see How to Use Fruits and Vegetables to Help Manage Your Weight .

What about beverages?

While drinking beverages is important to good health, they don't help you feel full and satisfied the way food does. Choose drinks without calories, like water, sparkling water, or unsweetened iced tea. Drink fat-free or low-fat milk instead of 2% or whole milk.

For more on drinks, see Rethink Your Drink .

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 How to Use Fruits and Vegetables to Help Manage Your Weight

This is also available as a brochure (PDF-244k). This is part of our Weight Management Research to Practice Series.

Fruits and vegetables are part of a well-balanced and healthy eating plan. There are many different ways to lose or maintain a healthy weight. Using more fruits and vegetables along with whole grains and lean meats, nuts, and beans is a safe and healthy one. Helping control your weight is not the only benefit of eating more fruits and vegetables. Diets rich in fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk of some types of cancer and other chronic diseases. Fruits and vegetables also provide essential vitamins and minerals, fiber, and other substances that are important for good health.

To lose weight, you must eat fewer calories than your body uses.

This doesn't necessarily mean that you have to eat less food. You can create lower-calorie versions of some of your favorite dishes by substituting low-calorie fruits and vegetables in place of higher-calorie ingredients. The water and fiber in fruits and vegetables will add volume to your dishes, so you can eat the same amount of food with fewer calories. Most fruits and vegetables are naturally low in fat and calories and are filling.

Here are some simple ways to cut calories and eat fruits and vegetables throughout your day:

Breakfast: Start the Day Right

• Substitute some spinach, onions, or mushrooms for one of the eggs or half of the cheese in your morning omelet. The vegetables will add volume and flavor to the dish with fewer calories than the egg or cheese.
• Cut back on the amount of cereal in your bowl to make room for some cut-up bananas, peaches, or strawberries. You can still eat a full bowl, but with fewer calories.

Lighten Up Your Lunch

• Substitute vegetables such as lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, or onions for 2 ounces of the cheese and 2 ounces of the meat in your sandwich, wrap, or burrito. The new version will fill you up with fewer calories than the original.
• Add a cup of chopped vegetables, such as broccoli, carrots, beans, or red peppers, in place of 2 ounces of the meat or 1 cup of noodles in your favorite broth-based soup. The vegetables will help fill you up, so you won't miss those extra calories.

Dinner

• Add in 1 cup of chopped vegetables such as broccoli, tomatoes, squash, onions, or peppers, while removing 1 cup of the rice or pasta in your favorite dish. The dish with the vegetables will be just as satisfying but have fewer calories than the same amount of the original version.
• Take a good look at your dinner plate. Vegetables, fruit, and whole grains should take up the largest portion of your plate. If they do not, replace some of the meat, cheese, white pasta, or rice with legumes, steamed broccoli, asparagus, greens, or another favorite vegetable. This will reduce the total calories in your meal without reducing the amount of food you eat. BUT remember to use a normal- or small-size plate — not a platter. The total number of calories that you eat counts, even if a good proportion of them come from fruits and vegetables.

Smart Snacks

• Most healthy eating plans allow for one or two small snacks a day. Choosing most fruits and vegetables will allow you to eat a snack with only 100 calories.

About 100 Calories or Less
 

• a medium-size apple (72 calories)
• a medium-size banana (105 calories)
• 1 cup steamed green beans (44 calories)
• 1 cup blueberries (83 calories)
• 1 cup grapes (100 calories)
• 1 cup carrots (45 calories), broccoli (30 calories), or bell peppers (30 calories) with 2 tbsp. hummus (46 calories)

Learn more about What Counts as a Cup.

Instead of a high-calorie snack from a vending machine, bring some cut-up vegetables or fruit from home. One snack-sized bag of corn chips (1 ounce) has the same number of calories as a small apple, 1 cup of whole strawberries, AND 1 cup of carrots with 1/4 cup of low-calorie dip. Substitute one or two of these options for the chips, and you will have a satisfying snack with fewer calories.

Remember: Substitution is the key.
It's true that fruits and vegetables are lower in calories than many other foods, but they do contain some calories. If you start eating fruits and vegetables in addition to what you usually eat, you are adding calories and may gain weight. The key is substitution. Eat fruits and vegetables instead of some other higher-calorie food.

More Tips for Making Fruits and Vegetables Part of Your Weight Management Plan

Eat fruits and vegetables the way nature provided—or with fat-free or low-fat cooking techniques.
Try steaming your vegetables, using low-calorie or low-fat dressings, and using herbs and spices to add flavor. Some cooking techniques, such as breading
and frying, or using high-fat dressings or sauces will greatly increase the calories and fat in the dish. And eat your fruit raw to enjoy its natural sweetness.

Canned or frozen fruits and vegetables are good options when fresh produce is not available.
However, be careful to choose those without added sugar, syrup, cream sauces, or other ingredients that will add calories.

Choose whole fruit over fruit drinks and juices. Fruit juices have lost fiber from the fruit.
It is better to eat the whole fruit because it contains the added fiber that helps you feel full. One 6-ounce serving of orange juice has 85 calories, compared to just 65 calories in a medium orange.

Whole fruit gives you a bigger size snack than the same fruit dried—for the same number of calories.
A small box of raisins (1/4 cup) is about 100 calories. For the same number of calories, you can eat 1 cup of grapes.

 

Rethink Your Drink

This is also available as a brochure  (PDF-526k). This is part of our Weight Management Research to Practice Series.

When it comes to weight loss, there's no lack of diets promising fast results. There are low-carb diets, high-carb diets, low-fat diets, grapefruit diets, cabbage soup diets, and blood type diets, to name a few. But no matter what diet you may try, to lose weight, you must take in fewer calories than your body uses. Most people try to reduce their calorie intake by focusing on food, but another way to cut calories may be to think about what you drink.

What Do You Drink? It Makes More Difference Than You Think!

Calories in drinks are not hidden (they're listed right on the Nutrition Facts label), but many people don't realize just how many calories beverages can contribute to their daily intake. As you can see in the example below, calories from drinks can really add up. But there is good news: you have plenty of options for reducing the number of calories in what you drink.

Occasion	Instead of…	Calories	Try…	Calories
Morning coffee shop run	Medium café latte (16 ounces) made with whole milk	265	Small café latte (12 ounces) made with fat-free milk	125
Lunchtime combo meal	20-oz. bottle of nondiet cola with your lunch	227	Bottle of water or diet soda	0
Afternoon break	Sweetened lemon iced tea from the vending machine (16 ounces)	180	Sparkling water with natural lemon flavor (not sweetened)	0
Dinnertime	A glass of nondiet ginger ale with your meal (12 ounces)	124	Water with a slice of lemon or lime, or seltzer water with a splash of 100% fruit juice	0 calories for the water with fruit slice, or about 30 calories for seltzer water with 2 ounces of 100% orange juice.
Total beverage calories:		796		125-155
(USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference)

Substituting no- or low-calorie drinks for sugar-sweetened beverages cuts about 650 calories in the example above.

Of course, not everyone drinks the amount of sugar-sweetened beverages shown above. Check the list below to estimate how many calories you typically take in from beverages.

Type of Beverage	Calories in 12 ounces	Calories in 20 ounces
Fruit punch	192	320
100% apple juice	192	300
100% orange juice	168	280
Lemonade	168	280
Regular lemon/lime soda	148	247
Regular cola	136	227
Sweetened lemon iced tea (bottled, not homemade)	135	225
Tonic water	124	207
Regular ginger ale	124	207
Sports drink	99	165
Fitness water	18	36
Unsweetened iced tea	2	3
Diet soda (with aspartame)	0*	0*
Carbonated water (unsweetened)	0	0
Water	0	0
*Some diet soft drinks can contain a small number of calories that are not listed on the nutrition facts label. ( USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference)

Milk contains vitamins and other nutrients that contribute to good health, but it also contains calories. Choosing low-fat or fat-free milk is a good way to reduce your calorie intake and still get the nutrients that milk contains.

Type of Milk	Calories per cup (8 ounces)
Chocolate milk (whole)	208
Chocolate milk (2% reduced-fat)	190
Chocolate milk (1% low-fat)	158
Whole Milk (unflavored)	150
2% reduced-fat milk (unflavored)	120
1% low-fat milk (unflavored)	105
Fat-free milk (unflavored)	90
*Some diet soft drinks can contain a small number of calories that are not listed on the nutrition facts label. ( USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference)

Learn To Read Nutrition Facts Labels Carefully

Be aware that the Nutrition Facts label on beverage containers may give the calories for only part of the contents. The example below shows the label on a 20-oz. bottle. As you can see, it lists the number of calories in an 8-oz. serving (100) even though the bottle contains 20 oz. or 2.5 servings. To figure out how many calories are in the whole bottle, you need to multiply the number of calories in one serving by the number of servings in the bottle (100 x 2.5). You can see that the contents of the entire bottle actually contain 250 calories even though what the label calls a "serving" only contains 100. This shows that you need to look closely at the serving size when comparing the calorie content of different beverages.
 

NUTRITION FACTS LABEL
Serving Size 8 fl. oz. Servings Per Container 2.5
Amount per serving
Calories 100

Sugar by Any Other Name: How To Tell Whether Your Drink Is Sweetened

Sweeteners that add calories to a beverage go by many different names and are not always obvious to anyone looking at the ingredients list. Some common caloric sweeteners are listed below. If these appear in the ingredients list of your favorite beverage, you are drinking a sugar-sweetened beverage.

• High-fructose corn syrup

• Fructose

• Fruit juice concentrates

• Honey

• Sugar

• Syrup

• Corn syrup

• Sucrose

• Dextrose

High-Calorie Culprits in Unexpected Places

Coffee drinks and blended fruit smoothies sound innocent enough, but the calories in some of your favorite coffee-shop or smoothie-stand items may surprise you. Check the Web site or in-store nutrition information of your favorite coffee or smoothie shop to find out how many calories are in different menu items. And when a smoothie or coffee craving kicks in, here are some tips to help minimize the caloric damage:

At the coffee shop:

• Request that your drink be made with fat-free or low-fat milk instead of whole milk

• Order the smallest size available.

• Forgo the extra flavoring – the flavor syrups used in coffee shops, like vanilla or hazelnut, are sugar-sweetened and will add calories to your drink.

• Skip the Whip. The whipped cream on top of coffee drinks adds calories and fat.

• Get back to basics. Order a plain cup of coffee with fat-free milk and artificial sweetener, or drink it black.

At the smoothie stand:

• Order a child's size if available.

• Ask to see the nutrition information for each type of smoothie and pick the smoothie with the fewest calories.

• Hold the sugar. Many smoothies contain added sugar in addition to the sugar naturally in fruit, juice, or yogurt. Ask that your smoothie be prepared without added sugar: the fruit is naturally sweet.

Better Beverage Choices Made Easy

Now that you know how much difference a drink can make, here are some ways to make smart beverage choices:

• Choose water, diet, or low-calorie beverages instead of sugar-sweetened beverages.

• For a quick, easy, and inexpensive thirst-quencher, carry a water bottle and refill it throughout the day.

• Don't "stock the fridge" with sugar-sweetened beverages. Instead, keep a jug or bottles of cold water in the fridge.

• Serve water with meals.

• Make water more exciting by adding slices of lemon, lime, cucumber, or watermelon, or drink sparkling water.

• Add a splash of 100% juice to plain sparkling water for a refreshing, low-calorie drink.

• When you do opt for a sugar-sweetened beverage, go for the small size. Some companies are now selling 8-oz. cans and bottles of soda, which contain about 100 calories.

• Be a role model for your friends and family by choosing healthy, low-calorie beverages.

How to Avoid Portion Size Pitfalls to Help Manage Your Weight

This is also available as a Print-friendly game board brochure (PDF-816k). This is part of our Weight Management Research to Practice Series.

When eating at many restaurants, it's hard to miss that portion sizes have gotten larger in the last few years. The trend has also spilled over into the grocery store and vending machines, where a bagel has become a BAGEL and an "individual" bag of chips can easily feed more than one. Research shows that people unintentionally consume more calories when faced with larger portions. This can mean significant excess calorie intake, especially when eating high-calorie foods. Here are some tips to help you avoid some common portion-size pitfalls.

Portion control when eating out. Many restaurants serve more food than one person needs at one meal. Take control of the amount of food that ends up on your plate by splitting an entrée with a friend. Or, ask the wait person for a "to-go" box and wrap up half your meal as soon as it's brought to the table.

Portion control when eating in. To minimize the temptation of second and third helpings when eating at home, serve the food on individual plates, instead of putting the serving dishes on the table. Keeping the excess food out of reach may discourage overeating.   Portion control in front of the TV. When eating or snacking in front of the TV, put the amount that you plan to eat into a bowl or container instead of eating straight from the package. It's easy to overeat when your attention is focused on something else.

Go ahead, spoil your dinner. We learned as children not to snack before a meal for fear of "spoiling our dinner." Well, it's time to forget that old rule. If you feel hungry between meals, eat a healthy snack, like a piece of fruit or small salad, to avoid overeating during your next meal.   Be aware of large packages. For some reason, the larger the package, the more people consume from it without realizing it. To minimize this effect: Divide up the contents of one large package into several smaller containers to help avoid over-consumption. Don't eat straight from the package. Instead, serve the food in a small bowl or container.

Out of sight, out of mind. People tend to consume more when they have easy access to food. Make your home a "portion friendly zone."

• Replace the candy dish with a fruit bowl.
• Store especially tempting foods, like cookies, chips, or ice cream, out of immediate eyesight, like on a high shelf or at the back of the freezer. Move the healthier food to the front at eye level.
• When buying in bulk, store the excess in a place that's not convenient to get to, such as a high cabinet or at the back of the pantry.

Related Resources

Check out these Web sites for more portion size tips:

ChooseMyPlate is the federal government's nutrition education and guidance Web site and was developed as an effort to promote healthy eating and to encourage consumers to make healthy choices.

Want to know the amount of each food group you need daily? Find out and receive a customized Daily Food Plan.

The Portion Distortion Quiz from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute* (NHLBI) shows how portion sizes of some common foods have changed over the years.

Food labels can help you understand that portion sizes are often larger than you think. Click the links below to learn how to use the Nutrition Facts Label on food packages:

• How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label, Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition

• Nutrition Facts Label Programs and Materials, Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition

Do Increased Portion Sizes Affect How Much We Eat? Research to Practice Series No. 2  (PDF-245k)
CDC, Nutrition and Physical Activity
This research-to-practice review examines what science underlies the notion that large portion sizes have contributed to weight gain among Americans. This section also offers ideas to practitioners about how to counsel their patients or clients about portion size.

Healthy Recipes

Million Hearts® Healthy Eating & Lifestyle Resource Center
Browse and search hundreds of fresh and heart-healthy recipes for every meal. Download a calorie-controlled, 28-day heart-healthy meal plan with a printable shopping list.

Delicious Heart Healthy Recipes
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health Web-site features great recipes, family resources, healthy shopping and cooking tips, and videos. These recipes are limited in saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, and sodium, and they're  moderate in calories.

What’s Cooking USDA Mixing Bowl
Find healthy recipes, meal plans, cooking, and grocery shopping tips. The site features a searchable database of healthy recipes, options to save recipes to a cookbook, print recipe cards, and share recipes via social media.

A Healthier You
Here are almost 100 easy-to-make, fun, and delicious recipes based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. No advanced cooking skills required, and they taste great.