Fat Shaming May Harm Obese People: 5 Important Tips to Lose Weight

Fat shaming has become a common phenomenon. While some may feel that it may help in encouraging the person to lose weight and get in shape, experts believe that it may do more harm than good. In some cases, it has been seen that doctors or health experts may often subject their patients to frequent episodes of fat shaming, unknowingly perhaps. However, a new study, presented at the 125th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in Washington D.C, shows that fat shaming done by health providers may have a serious negative impact on overweight people including their physical health and mental well-being. 

The findings indicate that obese people often fall victims to medical discrimination by doctors in the form of disrespectful treatment, lectures about weight loss, embarrassing comments, and a less thorough examination. "Disrespectful treatment and medical fat shaming, in an attempt to motivate people to change their behaviour, is stressful and can cause patients to delay health care seeking or avoid interacting with providers," said Joan Chrisler, professor at the Connecticut College, US.

The study also notes that overweight people often get excluded from medical research based on assumptions about their health status which means that the standard dosage for drugs may not be appropriate for larger body sizes. In some cases, doctors also do not take their complaints seriously or assume that their weight is the cause of any of the symptoms that they experience, the study notes. "Thus, they jump to conclusions or fail to run appropriate tests, which results in misdiagnosis," Chrisler rued. Further, it has been seen that weight stigma often leads to psychological stress which can adversely affect their physical health. 

"Implicit attitudes might be experienced by patients as micro-aggressions - or example, a provider's apparent reluctance to touch a fat patient, or a headshake, wince or 'tsk' while noting the patient's weight in the chart," Chrisler said. The researchers conclude that treatment should focus on mental and physical health as desired outcomes of the therapy and not just weight loss.

If you're looking to lose weight, start here. Here are five important things regarding your diet to always bear in mind and lose weight the healthy way.

1. Don't cut your calories drastically: You may have to reduce your daily calorie intake but you don't need to starve yourself. Have a scientific approach which means that know how much weight you need to lose in how much time and devise your daily calorie intake accordingly. 

2. Eat protein with every meal: Proteins take longer to digest which means that they keep you full for longer and also help in reducing the total body fat. Having protein-rich foods like amaranth, sprouts, peas, and eggs helps in accelerating weight loss. 

3. Give up refined carbs and processed food: Refined carbohydrates provide such as white sugar, white rice and maida provide no nutrition. Switch to health sources of carbs like whole grains. The same goes with processed food. They may be full of excess sodium and sugar and have very few nutrients. 

4. Keep yourself hydrated: Water has some amazing healing powers. The journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism published a study on the thermogenic effect of water which shows that drinking enough water regularly leads to a 30 percent increase in metabolism. Water also acts as a natural appetite suppressant aiding weight loss.

5. Keep a track on your meal timings: Have an early breakfast so that you refuel on time and prevent binge eating for lunch. Similarly, try having an early dinner, so that your body has time to digest it well and avoid storing it as fat.  According to Macrobiotic Nutritionist Shilpa Arora, "Foods eaten earlier in the day generate more energy than food eaten later in the day. Your metabolic rate is actually higher earlier in the day, which helps you to burn off the calories as energy, whereas these same calories consumed at night can be easily stored as fat."

Pair these easy tips with a good workout plan and you'll be able to get in shape in no time. Persistence is the key to weight loss.

Inputs from IANS