Does obesity cause stress, or stress cause obesity?
Are you overweight and feel that your health may be contributing to high levels of stress in your life? Obesity and stress go hand in hand with on another. However, obesity is never the real problem. It is generally the result of your problem. The real cause of obesity is usually hidden beneath the surface. It will generally turn out to be one or all of the following:
1. Stress
2. Boredom
3. Pressure
4. Poor Self Image
5. Tense Lifestyle
As much as 40 percent of the population in North American is obese. By obesity we mean that a person is more than ten percent above their ideal weight. Your “ideal” weight is one hundred pounds for the first five feet in height, and then five pounds per inch after that for women. For men, you should start at 115 pounds.
Thus a five-foot-six-inch woman should weigh approximately 130 pounds; a six foot man should weigh 175 pounds. Of course there may be wide fluctuations for build and frame, but you will know you are at your right weight if you feel your fittest and look your best in your bathing suit. Obesity is simply an imbalance in arithmetic. In order to be obese, you must take in more calories that you burn off. These excess calories are stored as fat. There is just no other way around that truth, it is fact.
One of the most common findings associated with obesity is denial. You may have heard of overweight people who say “I can gain weight just by looking at food.” This is generally denial. For example, I once had a good friend who was obese and always complained about how his coworkers could all eat large lunches and still stay thin, while he only had a small salad and water, yet gained weight. This fellow honestly believed that his problem was simply bad luck and a slow metabolism. But after a long and emotional conversation with my friend, he finally admitted that when he is out of the public eye (at home) he dives into donuts by the dozen, eats an entire pizza at one sitting, and all other food items are eaten double or even triple the amount a normal serving would be for you and I.
Obese people often deny that they are big eaters, and insist on remembering details of only the very modest of lunches, such as the occasional grapefruit and the few slices of meat that they consumed during their days. If you are on this train ride of stress due to being obese, and the stress of denial that ensues, then consider looking further into changing your lifestyle habits to that of a healthier, fitter, and less stressed person.
[This article was written by an outside contributor]