If you are a bit heavy and need to lose weight, here is where you can begin the weight loss journey. Any successful journey needs proper planning and execution and a journey for losing weight is no different.

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The Weight Loss Journey Begins Here!

1. Understand and calculate your body mass index or BMI so you know what your starting weight is and how much you need to lose weight. The BMI Categories are:
   • • Underweight: BMI is less than 18.5.
   • • Normal weight: BMI is 18.5 to 24.9.
   • • Overweight: BMI is 25 to 29.9.
   • Obese: BMI is 30 or more.
2. Get a tape and measure your waist circumference as the risk from weight varies based on where the weight is distributed. For example, a person who has excess weight in their tummy is at higher health risk compared another person with similar body mass index but has lower body distribution. Any waist size that is greater than 35 inches for women or greater than 40 inches for men.
3. To correctly measure your waist, stand and place a tape measure around your middle, just above your hipbones. Measure your waist just after you breathe out. For Asians, take out 5 points from the above, ie Asian men should have a waist of 35 inches and women, waist of 30 inches.
4. Check if you might have underlying hidden metabolic factors that may not show up in the early stages in the blood work such as insulin resistance or metabolic syndrome. Insulin resistance is when cells in your muscles, fat, and liver don’t respond well to insulin and can’t easily take up glucose from your blood. As a result, your pancreas makes more insulin to help glucose enter your cells. As long as your pancreas can make enough insulin to overcome your cells’ weak response to insulin, your blood glucose levels will stay in the healthy range. Use this free insulin resistance calculator to see whether you could be insulin resistant.
5. Find a weight loss program that works with you and accepts your health insurance so you can find out what might be making you gain weight so they can devise customized weight loss plan that fits your unique situation.

   Obese man NYC

Weight Loss Journey – tips for losing weight.

• Read labels to see how much fat a food has.
• And try to cut back on fried foods and on meats that are high in fat, such as burgers.
• Eat fewer sweets and unhealthy snacks. Candy, cookies, and cakes often have a lot of sugar and fat and not many nutrients
• Avoid sugary drinks. Try not to drink a lot of sugary sodas, energy drinks, and sports drinks. They can add a lot of calories.
• Get enough sleep at night – most people need about 7 hours of sleep for not only for proper rest but also to help with many things such as being able to lose weight.
• Limit fast food meals. Studies show that the more fast food you eat each week, the greater the risk of gaining extra weight. So try to limit fast food meals to once a week or less.
• Get moving. One great way to lose weight is by being physically active. You should aim for a total of 60 minutes of moderate or vigorous physical activity each day. If you haven’t been active in a while, start slowly.
• Remember that losing weight is about making healthy changes in your life that you can stick with — and not just a one-time diet.
• Avoid fad diets. Fad diets often allow only a few types of food. That means you are not getting all the nutrients you need. And these diets may cause you to lose weight for a short time, but then you likely will gain it back quickly.
• Most weight loss pills, drinks, supplements, and other products you can buy without a prescription have not been shown to work. And they can actually be very dangerous.
• Don’t expect to lose weight quickly. Losing about one to two pounds a week is a healthy rate of weight loss.

How can W8MD’s insurance weight loss, sleep and medical aesthetics program help you in your weight loss journey?