If one could view a map that would symbolize the true challenges and barricades associated with losing weight, they would find that it's quite vast.

Encompassed within are many twists, sharp turns, steep hills, challenging plateaus, cliffs, ravines, mountains and mazes. It also contains secret passageways that often lead the dieter astray.

Only one thing is for certain - the map is huge.

Studying the Size, Weight & Shapes of Body to Detect State of Health

Dieting-itself has been studied since the beginning of man and woman-kind. Scientists and other health geniuses have been on a mission - studying the body, eating habits and trying to determine which foods are best for the body.

Even in this advanced day and age, the one thing that we place the most trust in where adequate nutrition is concerned in the Official Food Pyramid - and even it keeps revolving.

Food Pyramid Evolved to Food Plate

Within this decade alone, Food Group recommendations have been updated and adjusted. And now, the Pyramid has revolved into a plate. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the Pyramid and frankly, it better-depicted nutritional needs.

The Shape of Your Body & State of Health

Along with eating habits, the shape of the body has been part of health studies.

In some, it was determined that the shape could indicate a higher risk for heart attack. Those who were lucky pear-shaped tended to suffer less from heart ailments than those whose abdomens resembled apples - nice and round.

Gene Pool Influence on Body Weight & Shape

With all these extensive, time-consuming and expensive studies, many simply verify what was known from the beginning. The shape of our bodies is due to our mix of genes. If our parents suffer from a particular disease, then it places the descendent at a higher risk for getting the disease.

My own family has a history of heart disease; my aunt died in her early forties and her brother - my dear uncle experienced a massive heart attack at the age of 45.

The doctors didn't expect him to live through it - or for very long following the attack but he lived until he was almost 80 years old.

Both my aunt and uncle had two different shapes; she was a pear and he was an apple yet he lived almost two times longer. If my aunt would have survived her attack, she may have also lived to a ripe-old age.

Genes Dominate Health But We Still Can Control it To Some Degree

While our genes command much of our future ills as play a huge roll in what we weigh, we can control our future to a degree. Our daily diet and activity level are the two most influencing factors that can fight health risks associated with our gene pool.

So if you become lost in the maze of dieting, keep in mind that while things may appear so complicated at times - so many rules to be followed, foods that can't be eaten, calories to be counted, certain fats to be watched - strive to keep your plan simplified.

While losing weight is key, simply eating healthier foods can go a long way towards living a longer life. My uncle wasn't the thinnest thing in the world at the end of his life, while my aunt was quite thin at the time of her passing.

Perhaps it's not so much what we weigh, but how we eat and the activity we pursue. And when combined with a healthy weight - we can indeed move mountains. Continue

 

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