'Just cause she fat 'part 2

Dr. Charlene Reid

YOUR DENTIST AND YOU

I really put my foot in it a few weeks ago. I got so many responses to that article that I had to address it. One person even approached me about my size. "Doc. ain't you fat." Well like the many other Bahamians I consider myself pleasantly plump, and deliciously fluffy, so I told him just that.

I started to think about my pleasantly plump stature and I realized that I was preaching but not practicing. So another dentist and I came up with a month long health challenge.

Well this weight loss challenge is currently between Dr. Danette Holmes and I. We hope to eat healthy, exercise smart and lose weight responsibly. Some of you may ask what does this have to do with dentistry. Well everything, obesity has been linked to heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, and gum disease.

What will we eat during this month long challenge? A balanced diet means getting the right types and amounts of foods and drinks to supply nutrition and energy for maintaining body cells, tissues, and organs, and for supporting normal growth and development.

The energy stored in food is measured in terms of calories. Technically, one calorie is the amount of energy req-uired to raise the temperature of one gram of water one degree Centigrade. The calorie mea-sure used commonly to discuss the energy content of food is actually a kilocalorie or 1,000 real calories. This is the amount of energy required to raise one kilogram of water (about 2.2 pounds) one degree Centigrade.

Different foods contain different amounts of energy - which is why a small piece of chocolate can have many more calories than a similarly sized piece of lettuce.

However, since calories are a measure of energy, there cannot be, as some diet books claim, different types of calories. A fat calorie has the same amount of energy as a protein or carbohydrate calorie.

A person's caloric need is determined using a variety of mathematical equations. Age, height, current weight, desir-ed weight, and height are taken into account. Diet is what you eat. Dieting usually refers to eating fewer calories to lose weight.

We will be dieting (eating healthy) and exercising. The key to weight control is keeping energy intake (food) and energy output (physical activity) in balance. To lose weight, you must burn more calories than you eat.

Exercise is the best way to do this. When you exercise regularly, you build stronger muscles, even if you do not work out with weights. Muscles use more calories than fat throughout the day, even while you are resting. This helps boost your metabolism.

How much exercise you need to make a difference in your weight depends on how much you eat and what activity you are doing. A medium-sized adult would have to walk more than 30 miles to burn up 3,500 calories, the equivalent of one pound of fat. Although that may seem like a lot, you don't have to walk the 30 miles all at once.

Walking a mile a day for 30 days will achieve the same result, as long as you don't eat more than usual.

Wish us luck, pray for us. More importantly, why not join us in our month long challenge.

Dr. Charlene E. Reid is a graduate of the University of Havana's Dental Faulty. She currently works at the Grand Bahama Health Service Dental Department and in private practice at Easy Dental Care in the Pioneer's Professional Plaza. Should you have any questions about this or any previous articles please feel free to contact her at 3527844 or at drcharle-nereid@aol.com

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