SUNDAY, Jan. 18, 2004 (HealthDayNews) -- When overweight clients ask Los Angeles dietitian Cindy Wong what a healthy weight is, she tells them it's not necessarily as low as they might think.
In light of the obesity epidemic that has spread across America in recent years, that news might make a sizable difference to the two-thirds of people who are overweight and the one-third who are obese.
Some experts define healthy weight as a body mass index under 25 (a person 5-foot-5 who weighs 150 pounds has a BMI of 25). Others say a person is allowed 100 pounds for the first five feet of height and five pounds for every additional inch.
Wong advises people to take those formulas as guidelines and to think about healthy weight a little differently.
If someone's weight is close to those guidelines and the person doesn't have blood pressure problems, cholesterol problems, aches and pains and other health concerns, they're probably at a fairly healthy weight, she says.
And with January 18 to 24 declared Healthy Weight Week, experts hope more Americans will try to shed pounds and get to a healthier weight, if not a healthy one.
Currently, many Americans put on a pound or two a year as they move from early adulthood to middle age. So when their 40th or 50th birthday rolls around, they're officially overweight or even obese.
"Exercise is one key," Wong says. She tells her patients to exercise at least 30 minutes a day.
Buying a pedometer can help you keep track, especially if you've been sedentary and need some extra motivation. Most experts suggest starting by trying to get in 2,000 extra steps a day. That's the equivalent of about a mile and will burn an extra 100 calories.
When it comes to food, pay attention to portion control, as well as calories. For weight loss, figure you need to eat 500 fewer calories a day to achieve a slow, reasonable weight loss of a pound a week; maybe less of a calorie deficit if you are increasing your exercise.
While slow and steady can be frustrating if you need to lose a lot of weight, experts say cutting back even just 50 calories a day and expending an extra 50 in activity will at least keep you from getting heavier.
Diet and exercise aren't the whole story, says another expert, Anne M. Fletcher, a Minnesota dietitian who has written several books, including one in which she interviewed people who shed pounds and kept them off.
"If you lose weight by diet and exercise alone, and you don't change anything else in your life, you are probably going to gain it back," she says.
What's missing from that equation? "It's the whole head thing," she says.
"Look at why you overeat, and what is your motivation to change, which is where I think the real solution lies," she says.
Instead of considering your new eating plan a diet, look at it as a healthier approach to eating that you will probably follow the rest of your life if you want to keep off the pounds.
And, a final question worth asking, Fletcher says, is: "How can you get pleasure from life from stuff other than food?"
Curling up with a good book, catching a flick (without the popcorn) and even shopping can be very satisfying, she notes.
"Learn how to get more out of life so food isn't your only reward that you have for yourself," Fletcher says.
More information
For information on staying physically active, see America on the Move. For healthy eating tips, visit the American Dietetic Association.
