Understanding weight and calorie needs are important for good health and disease prevention, but remember that this e-course is not about "being on a diet." It is about making dietary changes that will help keep you healthy, youthful and looking great throughout your whole life. Chances are, that if your diet is unhealthy, your weight isn't what you want it to be.
If you're overweight, obese or even underweight, you need to take a few measurements before changing your diet so that you can keep track of your progress over the next six weeks. If you are happy with your weight, but you know your diet is bad, you don't need to worry too much about numbers on the scale, but you will need to get into the habit of tracking the foods you eat for a while.
Setting goals and tracking your progress. I can't stress this enough. You will have more success with your dietary changes if you have a little something to measure and track as you go along. You should also set a few goals along the way to keep yourself motivated.
Most people decide to measure their weight and body mass index and set goals to lose or gain weight. Health-related goals could also include changing your body fat percentage, lowering high cholesterol levels, decreasing high blood pressure or improving blood sugar control.
If weight change or a lower number on a lab test is your goal, you need to think about it realistically. You didn't gain all of those pounds overnight, so don't plan on losing more than a pound or so each week. Actually, choosing a magic number such as "I am going to lose 25 pounds" or "I am going to get my cholesterol down to 190" aren't really useful goals. You may want to lose 25 pounds, or need to lower your cholesterol, but your goals should be actions, not wishes.
For example, think of those 25 pounds as a target, instead. Pick a goal that allows you to take action, like "I will stay within my daily calorie target at least three times this week," or "I will take my lunch to work three times this week instead of eating fast food." Keep these goals realistic. Vowing to stay under your daily calorie target every single day for a year is an unrealistic goal. Take it a week at a time, or even one day at a time.
Taking your baseline measurements. Why is your weight and body composition important? Being overweight or obese is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and certain cancers. In addition, when you eat healthy foods and your body is at the right weight, you feel better and have more energy.
You will start changing your diet with the next lesson, but first, take some time to assess your body. You can choose one or more body composition measurements. Your weight, body mass index, waist circumference and body fat percentage are all good methods to help you determine how close you are to a healthy weight.
You will also need to know your weight and height to determine how many calories you need. Whether you need to lose, gain or maintain your weight, you need the right number of calories each day.
