“A lot of people have been thinking about ways to shed weight , some have been doing it right while others have been facing challenges. An interview session with a physiotherapist provides more insight on the dos and don’ts of weight shedding.
Can we meet you?
My name is Owoeye Itunu Opeyemi. I am a physiotherapist and I sub-specialized in sports and orthopedic physiotherapy.
How long have you been practicing?
I have been practicing for over five years.
Based on your understanding, what is weight loss?
Weight loss is a decrease in body weight resulting from either voluntary (diet, exercise) or involuntary (illness) circumstances. Most instances of weight loss arise due to the loss of body fat.
What are the dangers associated with weight loss?
Weight loss has a lot of dangers which I will briefly talk about under the following points
- Lot of energy to get out and continue to do physical exercise. Your muscles perform best when carbohydrates (the main source of energy) are available.
- Inadequate vitamin, mineral and trace element intake which will leave you feeling run-down and tired. There is absolutely no way to get enough nutrients through food with any weight loss diets but the risks of deficiency are bigger when the diet is stricter.
- Impaired Immunity: Immunity is the body’s natural ability to fight infection, weight loss generally lowers the body’s immunity. The body becomes susceptible to cold, infections and also the body’s ability to easily recuperate after illnesses/injuries reduces. Loss of bone density can also occur which makes you prone to easy fracture in the long term.
- Loss of muscle mass even with continued good exercise due to an inadequate protein and essential (indispensable) amino acid intake. You need about 0.68 g pure protein per kg body weight.
Note: Do not confuse protein food with protein content when you are doing your protein calculations. Beef and egg are very good protein sources but … a beef steak weighing about 170 g only contains 54 g of protein. Two small eggs with a total weight of 100 g only contain 13 g protein. - Rapid drop in blood glucose levels and hypo events. Diabetic individuals must seek physicians advice before embarking on any weight loss program or the end result could be catastrophic.
- Risk of fall or light-headedness due to drop in blood pressure. One of the benefits of weight loss is often a drop in blood pressure levels. This improvement sometimes happens quite quickly. If your blood pressure is ‘good’ because you are taking anti-hypertensive drugs to control it then you need to speak with a physician before starting any weight loss plan. Unfortunately, not all high blood pressure is fixed with weight loss. It’s common to see fantastic improvements in blood pressure during the active weight loss phase but shortly after going into maintenance (no further weight loss), the blood pressure levels start to rise again.
- Strong likelihood that you will regain the lost weight plus more when you come off the plan. The simple explanation for this is that the body naturally restores glycogen in the muscles and liver. Glycogen is an ‘instant’ fuel source and it really makes a positive difference to muscle and brain performance. But in the longer-term, fat regain occurs when people go back to old habits and haven’t worked on a good eating plan to suit their lifestyle. And the list goes on and on.
Supplements for weight loss, what’s your say? Good or not?
Personally, I don’t advice supplements for weight loss. I prefer the natural method which has a milder and easily controlled side effect. So, I say NO to weight loss supplement.
Exercise for weight loss or Dieting?
Actually, the answer is BOTH. Simply put: energy input > energy output = weight gain, while energy input < energy output = weight loss. Both work together. Less calorie intake plus more physical activity is what leads to weight loss
How do you determine a treatment plan for your patients?
My treatment plan depends on: presentation, prognosis, family and social factors.
How do you manage an obese patient?
Let me say this: an obese patient is easy to manage when they are willing and ready to change their lifestyle
Advice for obese patients
Obesity predisposes an individual to a group of diseases called NCDs (Non-communicable diseases) e.g Type II diabetes, Hypertension, Cancer, Cerebrovascular accidents (CVA), Atherosclerosis and the list is endless.
Having this at back of your mind will help obese individuals in determination and setting appropriate goal for weight loss.
BURN SOME FAT.
Thanks.
