A 28 year old female, 5 feet 4 inches tall, 155 pounds, physically active 30 minutes a day should consume 2000 calorie food a day. 2000 calorie diet for a person with the above description is enough to facilitate gradual weight loss. This is because the above recommended calorie is 200 calorie lower than the recommended daily allowances (RDA). To achieve the 2000 calorie diet plan, an individual must consume 7 ounces of grains, 3 cups of vegetables, 2 cups of fruits, 3 cups of dairy products and 6 ounces of protein foods. Half of the grains should be whole grains and vegetables should be varied every day. Therefore, this individual should limit refined cereals and include whole grains like the whole wheat flour, whole cornmeal, brown rice, bulgur or cracked wheat and oatmeal. The vegetables must come from the five vegetable groups. For instance, 1.5 cups every week should be from dark green vegetables, 5.5 cups from orange vegetables, 1.5 cups from dry beans and peas, 5 cups from starchy vegetables and 4 cups from other vegetables.
This will ensure enable consumption of variety of vegetables. Indeed, it is essential to consume a wide range of vegetables because they provide different nutrients. For instance, dark green leafy vegetables like kale, broccoli, collard greens, spinach, turnip greens and watercress are rich in vitamin B group, whereas, red and orange vegetables like carrots, red peppers and pumpkin are rich in vitamin A. Other vegetables include avocado, onions, asparagus, artichokes, mushroom, celery, eggplants and zucchini. These are known for their nutraceutical benefits. To meet the above recommended 2000 calorie, this person should limit empty calories like extra fats and sugars to 260 calories. On the other hand, this person should consume only 6 teaspoons of oil per day. This diet plan, when coupled with moderate exercise like walking and jogging, performed for 45 minutes, will be sufficient for periodic weight loss (Strychar, 2006).
Fast foods and junk foods are not healthy. They are energy dense with lots of saturated fats and cholesterols. Therefore, an individual on fast and junk foods can easily add on weight. Worse still, when they are consumed with a less active person like the case above, they result to overweight and then obesity. Obesity is a lifestyle disease which is known to accelerate or predispose an individual to other lifestyle related diseases. This implies that the above person with 155 pounds and 5 feet and 4’inches must avoid junk foods to live healthy and avoid lifestyle related diseases. These findings are based on the persons calculated BMI. BMI is calculated by dividing the individual’s weight (in Kilograms) by the height (in square Meters). Thus, an individual of 155 pounds and 5’4’’ will weigh 70.3 Kilograms since 1 pound equals 0.4535 kg and 162.6 cm. This implies that the BMI of this individual is 26.79 Kg/m2. According to the BMI ranking, an individual with 26.79 is overweight, thus is at risk of developing obesity. Therefore, as discussed above, this person needs to exercise regularly and eat healthy diets to live healthy. This is because; such a diet is low in fats and empty calories; thus, limiting weight gain. Moderate exercise for 45 minutes is essential for ensuring that the extra fats resulting to overweight are burned down. Hence, after a period of consistent exercise and healthy eating, an individual with 155 pounds will be able to lose weight and be within the normal BMI range which must be lower than 25 Kg/m2.
If the above person fails to eat healthy and regularly exercise, she will develop obesity since she is already overweight. Obesity is likely to result when the excess body fat from eating junk foods accumulates. This can accumulates to levels that can results to adverse effects in the individual’s health. Since obesity predisposes a person to lifestyles diseases, this individual is at risk of developing diabetes, specifically type 2, heart diseases, osteoarthritis, certain types of cancer, and obstructive sleep apnea. According to Bleich (2008), being overweight at 28 is likely to results to short term and long term health problems like heart diseases and high blood pressure. Other studies have also indicated that being overweight at a young age, like 28 years and younger can results to increased problems like high cholesterol, high triglycerides and fasting insulin levels. These three alone are enough to contribute to type 2 diabetes. Malik et al. (2006) found out that there are other additional health problems that are caused by overweight. These include diseases of the liver, pulmonary diseases and gastroesophagoel reflux disease.
In summary, a healthy diet can help prevents short and long term health problems. Health diet when coupled with regular exercise can promote healthy weight and healthy living in overall. However, failure to watch on one’s weight can result to overweight. As discussed above, overweight if not controlled leads to obesity which is a predisposing factors to lifestyle diseases discussed above. Furthermore, overweight in itself can results to diseases of the liver and sleep apnea. However, the good news is that all these can be avoided by a healthy diet and regular exercise.
Reference
Bleich, S., Cutler, D., Murray, C., and Adams, A. (2008). Why is the developed world obese? Annu Rev Public Health 29: 273–95
Malik, V. S., Schulze, M. B., and Hu, F. B. (August 2006). Intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain: a systematic review. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 84 (2): 274–88.
Strychar, I. (January 2006). Diet in the management of weight loss. CMAJ 174 (1): 56–63.
