Heavy Burden

Being overweight is not only a social and professional albatross, it's becoming America's number one killer.

June 26, 2002

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Carol Taylor once weighed over 265 pounds

Taking It Off

Experts say that being as little as 10 to 20 pounds overweight increases the risk of premature death. The risks become far greater when one is obese, a condition that is defined as being more than 30 percent above your ideal weight based on height. The most accurate way to assess your weight and determine whether you fall into the overweight or obese category is called the body mass index (BMI). It works like this:

1. Write down your weight in pounds.

2. Multiply that number by 703.

3. Multiply your height in inches by itself.

4. Divide the answer to No. 2 by the answer to No. 3

BMI categories are as follows:Under 25 -- normal weight

25 to 29 -- overweight

30 and above -- obese.

Now that you know where you stand, what can you do to lose weight? The only way to effectively lose weight hasn't changed -- cut down on fatty foods and exercise regularly. Until modern science creates a magic weight loss pill, that simple and hard truth will remain.

If your main goal is just to lose weight, your exercise regimen will be different from someone training for an athletic event or readying for a bikini contest. From a fat-burning standpoint, slow and steady is the most effective approach. Namely, any aerobic activity you can do comfortably -- walking, bike riding, swimming, etc. -- a minimum of three times a week for 30 minutes. If possible, try to make some form of weight or resistance training part of your exercise routine.

As for your diet, you know the drill -- eat smaller portions, eat more fruits and vegetables, cut down on fatty foods, and drink lots of water. Also, instead of the usual three-meal routine of breakfast, lunch and dinner, try breaking up your diet into five or six smaller meals stretched throughout the day. This helps maintain energy and the body can process the food more efficiently. As for any kind of wacky diets, forget them. Even Dr. Atkin's wildly popular high protein, ultra-low carb diet is being debunked. Experts will tell you it's all about balance, and adopting a realistic diet you can live with. If you just have to have a doughnut, go ahead, just don't eat the whole box. And try to balance out the additional calories by cutting back elsewhere.

A realistic weight-loss goal is two pounds a week. There's 3500 calories in one pound of fat. So if you lose 500 calories a day from eating less, and burn 500 calories a day from exercise, that's 1,000 calories a day, or 7,000 calories a week. Voila, goodbye two pounds. Repeat as necessary.

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At 25 Taylor decided to head south and moved to Charlotte. Today, she works at The Center for Nutrition and Preventive Medicine, which specializes in treating obesity. Forty-two years old and married, Taylor has successfully maintained her weight since losing 100 pounds some 19 years ago. Unfortunately, obesity has had a devastating impact on her family, where heart disease runs rampant. Her mother and two of her brothers -- one was 56, the other 52 -- have died of heart attacks. Taylor said she's the only one in her family with a healthy heart and normal blood pressure.

"Living healthy became a habit for me," she said. "But no amount of encouragement will make you lose you weight. You have to decide for yourself that you want to do it. And for me, it truly is about eating to live, not living to eat."

A ton of reasonsSo why are we getting fatter? For the same reason we've always gotten fat: by consuming more calories than we burn. But never has the problem been so bad. Is it because of our lifestyle? Our genes? The ubiquitous Golden Arches? The answer: Yes, yes and yes.

"It's becoming fairly obvious that obesity is a multi-factorial disease," said Dr. Donald Schumacher of The Center for Nutrition and Preventive Medicine. Schumacher has developed the "What I Need" (WIN) program, a weight management strategy that focuses on nutrition, physical activity, personal awareness, thought and behavior strategies. "It's becoming the number one killer in this country, and it's the biggest health care cost because of all its associated complications. The real problem is that we're more educated now than we've ever been about low-fat, low-calorie, portion size and exercise, but we're not doing anything about it. We lack the discipline and the structure."

Just look at typical week in your life. How many times do you eat out? More specifically, what are you eating, and how much? Do the words "fries with that" and "super-size it" sound familiar? How often do you exercise? Is the most strenuous part of your day walking from the parking lot to your desk? Or is it lifting the couch cushions to look for the TV remote? If you have kids, are they eating a nutritious lunch at school? Once they get home, are they active, or do they become zombie-like slaves to their PlayStation? If you're able to brush off all these questions confident in the knowledge that you're consistently eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly, then you're lucky -- and growing increasingly rare.

First, let's take a look at what we eat. According to Eric Schlosser's book Fast Food Nation, one in four adults eat fast food at least once a day. It is estimated that kids get up to 40 percent of their meals from fast-food chains, convenience stores and restaurants. Moreover, there are fast-food franchise outlets in 13 percent of the nation's schools. Americans shelled out more than $110 billion on fast food in 2000, compared with $6 billion in 1970. That's more than what we spent on movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos, and records combined. But it's not just what we eat, it's also how much.

Consider this: Diet and nutrition experts indicate that one serving of meat is supposed to be the about size of a deck of cards. A serving of cheese should be no bigger than a golfball. And a single serving of pasta should be no bigger than a tennis ball. Now compare that to what you're typically served at a restaurant. Or more to the point -- compare it to what you expect to be served.

"America's serving size is appalling," said Schumacher. "A big mistake all of us make is that when we're hungry, we pick a restaurant where we know they serve a lot of food. And if we pay for it, we're going to eat it. This makes you lose perspective of what a portion size is."

Schumacher and other experts say that given typical restaurant serving sizes, when dining out you should either share one meal with a friend, or take half of it home in a doggie bag.

"Typically, when you order just the main course in a restaurant, if it doesn't have a bunch of sauces and gravies and it's not fried, you've still got at least 1000 calories sitting in front of you," Schumacher said. "And that's only one meal out of the day. That's simply too much food."

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Creative Loafing Charlotte

Heavy Burden

Being overweight is not only a social and professional albatross, it's becoming America's number one killer.

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