• REAL LIFE STORIES: YANI’S EXPERIENCE

• A couple of times over the last few years,

I tried to diet. It would usually start
during New Year’s Day when I would
make a resolution to lose the extra
weight I was carrying. For a few weeks, I
would try to cut out desserts, avoid
second servings, and eat lower fat food.
• At times when I would weigh myself, even
if I thought I had really followed my
routine well, the scale still wouldn’t show
any difference, which was really
discouraging. Sometimes when I lost a
few pounds, I would look in the mirror,
but I still look flabby.
• I didn’t consider adding any exercise to my
training routine because I hate to sweat a lot. I
hate being out of breath, and I hate feeling
bad because I’m not able to keep up with
other, more fit people. Besides, after a long
day of classes and homework, I would rather
spend my free time updating Facebook,
playing video games, or watching TV.
• But when I tried-out for my school’s varsity
team , I learned about how important exercise
was for proper weight management. I got
motivated when I started to get serious with
our basketball training. I started to lift
weights, walk and jogging in the gym. I tried
to ignore how my teammates could lift more
or run so much faster than me. Gradually my
fitness level improved.
• Now, several months later, my efforts have
really paid off. So far I have lost more than 30
pounds. And what’s more, getting regular
exercise has helped me to be more positive
and has made me feel stronger and more
energetic during basketball games. I am pretty
sure that exercise is going to be a lifetime
habit and I will never want to go back to my
couch potato ways.
 Act. 1
• 1. What can you say about the Yani’s
experience as a high school student?
• 2. Do you share the same experience on how
you would manage your ideal body weight?
• 3. Are you satisfied with your current body
composition (including body weight) and quality
of life? If not, are you willing to do something
about it to properly resolve your problem?
 Weight Loss Strategies
• Make a commitment to change.
• Incorporate exercise into the program.
• Avoid automatic eating.
• Stay busy.
• Try “junior size” instead of “super size”.
• Eat slowly and at the table only.
• Cut unnecessary items from your diet.
• Do not serve more food than you should eat.
• Think positive.
 Act. 2

• 1. How many among the strategies do you use to

help you maintain recommended body weight?
• 2. Do you feel that any of these strategies
specifically help you manage body weight more
effectively? If so, explain why.
• 3. What did you realize after knowing the
different weight loss strategies?
 Health Consequences of Excessive Body
Weight
• Being overweight or obese increases the risk for:
• high blood pressure
• type 2 diabetes
• congestive heart failure
• obstructive sleep apnea and respiratory
problems
• poor female reproductive health (menstrual
irregularities)
• psychological disorders (depression, eating
disorders, distorted body image,
discrimination, and low self-esteem}
• shortened life expectancy
• decreased quality of life
• gallbladder diseases
• stroke
• gout
 Eating disorders
• Illnesses that involve crucial disturbances in
eating behaviors thought to stem from
some environmental pressures. These
disorders are characterized by an intense
fear of becoming fat, which does not
disappear even when the person is losing
weight in extreme amounts.
• Anorexia nervosa – an eating disorder
characterized by self-imposed starvation to
lose and maintain very low body weight due to
a false/distorted perception of being fat.
• Bulimia nervosa – an eating disorder
characterized by a pattern of binge eating and
purging in an attempt to lose weight and/or
maintain low body weight.
• Binge-eating disorder – an eating disorder
characterized by uncontrollable episodes of
eating excessive amounts of food within a
relatively short time.
• Emotional eating – the consumption of large
quantities of food to suppress negative
emotions