DOH official tells those aiming to lose weight: Establish your goals

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MANILA — For an effective way to lose weight, it is vital to create a clear goal and also understand the probable reasons why one may fail to achieve it with flying colors, according to a Department of Health (DOH) official.

“The path to success is to know how you will fail,” DOH National Epidemiology Center (NEC) Director IV Enrique “Eric” Tayag said during the launching of the “Belly Gud for Health 2015 Challenge in DOH-MIMAROPA Region” on Monday.

The health challenge for weight loss and maintaining a more desirable waist circumference was launched as an activity to ensure the promotion of healthy lifestyle practices and proper diet among the MIMAROPA health personnel.

The DOH-MIMAROPA Region is composed of the provinces of Mindoro Occidental/Oriental, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan.

Speaking at the launching of the six-month program at the DOH-MIMAROPA regional office at the Quirino Memorial Medical Center in Project 4, Quezon City, Dr. Tayag said that while exercise helps in keeping the body feel good, the nutritional intake should also be given a very strict vigilance.

He cited that a 30-minute exercise a day will help in keeping the body healthy, feeling good as it releases energy.

However, he warned that moderate to heavy exercises often result to “overeating” as the body will crave for more food to eat which will result to failure on the goal of achieving weight loss.

“If you really want to lose weight or achieve the ideal weight you want, you should put a focus on your food intake. Be aware of the number of calories per serving of the food that you buy or eat and do not depend on the exercise alone,” Dr. Tayag said.

He added that people must learn to count the nutritional value of what they eat and do the necessary discipline in stopping from taking such food which they found to be in excessive amounts needed by the body.

He explained that people must also learn that starchy foods, sweets, pizza, rice, pasta and other fast foods can be converted into glucose which turns into fats.

“Anything in excess can turn to fats,” he pointed out.

He said that in achieving the ideal weight, one must be clear with his goal and be sure to know how that can be best achieved — by ensuring that the calories that they take are really not too much so that any excess will not be converted to accumulated fats.

He also said that in preventing weight gain, it is important to shun away from drinking beverages that are very rich in sugar which can be converted into fats.