This article discusses the definition of obesity, its health risks, the concept of nutrient density, and how breathing optimally can help you fight obesity.

Worried about being overweight or obese? 

You’re not alone. 

According to WHO statistics, around 650 million adults worldwide are obese, and this number is still increasing. Don’t lose hope. Let’s fight with fat!

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines obesity as “the weight that is higher than what is considered healthy for a given height.”

Simply stated, obesity is the condition in which excessive fat accumulates in your body. Many of us don’t consider obesity as an illness but rather as a moral failure.

But in fact, obesity is a preventable, complicated, systemic disorder that can lead to increased disease prevalence and reduced life expectancy.

Worrying about your body weight? 

Assessing weight status is a sobering task. Body Mass Index (BMI) is the screening tool for estimating obesity and overweight. BMI is determined by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by the square of height in meters. Note that the parameter BMI does not diagnose body fatness or health. Here’s the BMI Category Chart [2] that shows BMI and corresponding weight status:

Obesity is further subdivided into three classes:

Want to determine your optimal weight range? Use CDC’s Adult BMI calculator. For children and teens (ages between 2 and 19 years), use BMI Calculator for Children and Teens.

Note that the parameter BMI does not diagnose body fatness or health status.

You might have come across the concept of calories consumed vs. calories out if you’ve ever tried to shed your excess pounds. Know that obesity is beyond the simple equation of energy balance, i.e., calories ingested/calories expended.

The calories in vs. calories out model is based on the notion that the calorie intake should match the calorie expenditure. However, this model doesn’t take nutrient density into account.

Nutrient density means the nutrient concentration or caloric contribution of that food. Research suggests the typical American diet is energy-dense and nutrient-poor. And the word energy-dense means rich in calories! Start adding nutrient-dense foods into your eating plan to get the beneficial nutrients your body needs without taking in excess calories.

Persons with obesity or overweight are at increased risk for many clinical problems. Obesity can eventually lead to a broad spectrum of co-morbidities, including hypertension, type-II diabetes, stroke, gallbladder disease, dyslipidemia, coronary heart disease, psychosocial issues, and certain types of cancer (Figure 1).

Well, one size does not fit all - simply put, there are no simple solutions for this multifactorial problem. Obesity needs a multipronged approach that involves incorporating a healthy eating plan, regular physical activity, and lifestyle modifications into your daily routine. To work on curbing your obesity, it is important to cut out harmful habits and follow up with healthy habits.

Want to tackle obesity and hit your fitness goals? 

We got you.

Healthy weight loss is about how you feel inside, not the number on the scale. Crash-diet plans, quick-fix diets, and weight-loss goals that merely consider inches and pounds can make your body weak and illness-prone.

The best tool to fight obesity is the right mindset- and there’s no better way to calm your mind than taking deep breaths.

You have probably overlooked the weight loss/weight management tool under your nose- your own breath. Yes, you read it right! The way you breathe directly influences your body’s fat-burning ability and can affect your food cravings and hunger.

Focusing on your inhale and exhale that you constantly do 24/7 may help you get some significant weight loss benefits.

Did you know that persons with obesity tend to over-breathe? Over-breathing is characterized by regularly breathing a greater amount of air than the body requires and usually involves breathing through the mouth, regular sighing, and upper-chest breathing.

Instead of these, practicing Optimal Breathing techniques can help you transform this constant act of breathing into slower, fuller, and more healthy diaphragmatic breathing, which calms the nervous system and leads to a host of benefits that eventually will help normalize your weight.

It’s not that you burn the body fat quickly, but you will undoubtedly have more energy, a sense of clarity, cardiac health, and low levels of the stress hormone, and in the long term, you are probably going to melt off the pounds as well.

So when you couple optimal breathing techniques with mindful eating, nutrition, proper physical regime, hydration, stress management, and better sleep, you’re set to win over the long haul of obesity.