obesity is dangerous for your health

Obesity is one of society’s prevailing problems. The World Health Organization projected in that in 2005 at least 400 million adults in the world were obese. Obesity is a medical condition where fat has excessively accumulated in the body. To determine obesity, a measurement called Body Mass Index (BMI) is used. BMI compares how much a person weighs in relation to height. Those with a BMI greater than 30 kg/m2 are considered obese while those with BMI between 25 kg/m2 and 30 kg/m2 are considered slightly obese or commonly referred as overweight. Those who are significantly obese were estimated to number 1.6 billion worldwide in 2005.

photo courtesy of www.clinicasanjuandedios.org

Obesity leads to unfavorable effects in health such as coronary heart disease which originated from the accumulated fat in the body that strained the heart and surrounding organs and body systems necessary for body support. The fats hindered the proper flow of blood and resulted to inadequate blood circulation. The occurrence of coronary heart disease in a person together with high blood cholesterol and high blood pressure greatly increases the chance of having a stroke. Stroke is a hemorrhagic condition due to an obstructed blood vessel in the brain or leading to the brain. Stroke can either cause paralysis or death. Estimates reveal that cardiovascular diseases claim an annual number of 18 million lives worldwide.

There are complications that arise in the reproductive and endocrine systems of the body because of obesity. Some of these include diabetes, menstrual disorders, pregnancy difficulties, birth defects and infertility. Being obese also results in poor mobility, back pains, and osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is the consequence of the heavy pressure on joints that wore away its protective cartilages. Physical discomfort is common to obese individuals because the accumulated fat crowded the spaces occupied by body organs and resulted to difficulty in sitting, walking or even breathing.

Probably one of the serious illnesses due to obesity, aside from heart diseases, is cancer. Some forms of cancer observed in people who are obese include breast, ovarian, colon, endometrial, pancreatic, liver and gallbladder. It is estimated that around 7.6 million people across the globe die annually because of cancer.

Obesity causes emotional pain and suffering to an individual. They are often ridiculed or being laughed at whether in their presence or behind their back. Others face discrimination in the access to important life opportunities like getting a job since obese individuals are usually viewed as lazy and unproductive people. Due to these emotional challenges they face every day, they often succumb to depression and feel sorry for themselves, their look, and plunge into self-doubt and isolation. There are many other complications due to obesity that point out its negative effects to the individual and make it clear that there is nothing good that can be derived from being obese.

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Even with many problems due to obesity, it is not without a cure. Because obesity is gaining in weight and accumulating fats, the obvious remedy is to lose weight. There are a number of ways to lose weight – proper exercise, diet and healthy lifestyle. Appropriate physical workout sheds stored fats and helps restore it to its normal beneficial state of providing thermal isolation to the body and protection of internal organs. Right diet and a healthy lifestyle help the individual limit the intake of food that hastens weight gain and excessive accumulation of fats.

However, losing weight is easier said than done. An individual must develop commitment and discipline to diligently and consistently undergo through the necessary process to lose weight. The only obstacle to losing weight is the individual’s resolve to lose weight but, when an obese person is determined, he can successfully lose weight.

a passion for travel

The exploration of new places and taking time to pause and marvel at the magnificence of nature has always fascinated me while I was growing up. Most of my hours were spent in going around farms close to our home, climbing trees, collecting bugs from bushes, catching sleeping birds at night, and catching fish from rivers in our small village.

While I was in my elementary years of schooling, my parents gave me a bicycle. I was overjoyed and would spend a lot of time with it to be more skilled in biking. When I was able, I would spend my free time and weekends biking and venturing to the villages close by. I discovered more amazing sights to see – rivers, farms, watersheds, hanging bridges, and many more.

When I entered high school, I began learning how to drive a motorcycle. After I got my license, I explored the towns next to our city and visited their unique highlights – colorful reefs, historic sites and churches, and the awesome and beautiful landscapes. With other opportunities to travel, such as visit to relatives, I was able to visit all the coastal towns and cities in the two provinces of our big island plus a number of major cities and towns in nearby islands of our region.  

While I was pursuing a degree in college, my passion to seeing new places was not put on hold. The university I was enrolled in was located on a different island more than a hundred miles away from home. I was on a new place. There were new sights to discover and new adventures to be pursued. The school was located in a remote town. It was far from the urban centers so visit to malls were not that frequent. Instead, I spent it visiting far-flung barangays situated a few mountains away and were only accessible by motorcycle plus a few hours walk. My other escapades gave me a chance to swim in the middle of the sea (during nighttime) with a depth I dare not measure. I was also able to enjoy a spectacular sunset in one of the world’s superb white sand beaches. In the nearby province, I had the opportunity to trek a rugged trail then hiked through a dried river bed and concluded it with a bath in a cold pool near a marvelous waterfall.

There are many more wonderful and memorable adventures I have been to. Even as a working professional, I am glad to have not been confined to a cubicle in an air-conditioned office. My work has allowed me to travel to a number of destinations and see new places. I never cease to be excited and look forward to every trip because it has always been my passion to travel.

tough times

It is a fact that challenges are to be expected in our lives - whether we like it or not. Knowing that it will eventually come is the easy part but being in the middle of it is a different story.

There are challenges we have been facing over and over (e.g. financial difficulty, relational conflicts, health problems, and many more) but in different levels of difficulty. However, some of these situations have become "easy" for us; though i wouldn't want to call it a challenge if it has become "easy". But, there are "easy" challenges that we have learned to deal with - weather phenomena, quarrels, and the like - and have dealt with "reflex". We have developed a system of automatic reactions because the situations have become familiar. Typhoons are an example. Those who are always exposed to these weather phenomena go about their usual daily activities even if there is a broadcast for a super typhoon while those who are new to our country stay indoors for fear of calamities brought about by these weather disturbances. We have learned to adapt.

There are, however, challenges that takes up your whole being and challenges you to the point where you want to give up and retreat. These are times where people experience stress, develop insomnia, feel their joints or even bones shake and even their emotions crumble.

We might try hard to avoid it but we cannot. It is part of life's design. We discover that without it, life will cease to be exciting. Life will be boring without it.

I realized the great importance of these challenges that muster every aspect of our being human. It is in the course of these challenges where we become men and women - character is fortified, principles are developed, and even emotions are tamed. A skill or talent can never be at its greatest without going through challenging times. A piece of metal can never become a sword unless it is heated and hammered. There needs to be a tough time to bring out the best within. I believe it holds true for each of us - the greatest potential within each one of us can never come out unless we go through "heating" and "hammering".

The great inventors who made a difference in our history were never spared from difficulties - they failed a number of times before they made their greatest invention.

We are being molded to become greater than who we are today.

Note: This blog is an abridged version of my original blog entitled "these tough times" on 8 May 2007 which was posted in Friendster.