Dietary Guidelines: Balance Calories, Control Weight

People who are most successful at achieving and maintaining a healthy weight do so through two important steps:1) continued attention to consuming only enough calories from foods and beverages to meet their needs2) and by being physically active.Here are the goals for body weight:• Prevent and/or reduce overweight and obesity through improved eating and physical activity behaviors.• Control total calorie intake to manage body weight. For people who are overweight or obese, this will mean consuming fewer calories from foods and beverages.• Increase physical activity and reduce time spent in sedentary behaviors.• Maintain appropriate calorie balance during each stage of life—childhood, adolescence, adulthood, pregnancy and breastfeeding, and older age.Disease statistics are alarming:By controlling your weight, you lessen your chances for diet-related chronic diseases:• 81 million have cardiovascular disease• 74 million have hypertension while 36% of the population is headed in that direction with pre- hypertension!• 24 million have diabetes and 78 million have prediabetes• 41% of the population will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime• 1 in 2 women and 1 in 4 men will get an osteoporosis fracture in their lifetime.FMISee dietaryguidelines.gov Bottom line:There is never a better time than now to get your weight under control, bring back your health and avoid being a statistic!“To curb the obesity epidemic and improve their health, many Americans must decrease the calories they consume and increase the calories they spend through activity.”