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Diet for Obesity

When you're obese, your weight begins to negatively affect your health. Going on a special diet for obesity can help you to lose weight and reduce your health risks. Choosing the right diet can be important for your success. If you are not happy with the chosen way of eating, you are more likely to revert back to your old ways. An obese person should consult with a doctor to determine the best way for him to lose weight. Look at the following information about diets for obesity to get started.

  1. Doctor Visit

    • Before you attempt to go on a diet or start an exercise program, consult with your doctor. She will want to run tests to check your current level of health. She may even be able to tell you your basic metabolic rate, or the number of calories that you burn at rest. Knowing this number can help you determine how many calories you should be eating to lose weight. Your doctor will also probably want to monitor your health throughout the process.

    Low-fat Diets

    • To follow a low-fat diet, you simply eliminate foods that are high in fat. This automatically reduces your overall caloric intake, causing you to lose weight. In many cases, the automatic reduction in calories from following the low-fat diet means that you don't have to spend time counting calories, something that you may find time consuming and tedious. Those on low-fat diets have a proven track record of long-term success.

    Reduced-calorie Diets

    • In a reduced-calorie diet, you must count calories and stay within a certain range. Your doctor will help you determine what your range should be, but it's usually about 500 calories below your basal metabolic rate. This allows you to lose weight at a healthy, steady rate of about 1 to 2 pounds per week. Weight Watchers and the DASH diet are common reduced-calorie diets.

    Very Low-calorie Diets

    • Very low-calorie diets are those that allow you to eat between 200 and 800 calories a day. You should only follow this type of diet on the advice of your doctor, who will actively monitor your progress. Should your doctor recommend this type of diet, you will be required to drastically reduce the amount of food that you eat, in most cases eating nothing except prepared shakes or bars that have all the macronutrients that you need. Some studies have shown that people who have lost weight on a very low-calorie diet often regain the weight, as the diet does not teach proper healthy eating habits.

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