When is it called obesity? Are you obesity or are you overweight? Keep that in mind obesity occurs when your body can not consume the energy that you take from foods. If a great amount of energy accumulates in the body, problems begin. It is related with metabolism and physical activities.

Causes of Obesity
Excessive calorie consumption and not consuming these calories are said to be the major reason of obesity. Diet is an important factor. Human being needs energy to live. However, if s/he takes more than s/he needs and does not spend it, the energy accumulates and problems begin. There are three main food sources. These are protein, carbohydrate and fat. If you take more from these sources, they are conserved in the body. The fat is accumulated more and it leads to obesity.

The energy is spent via metabolic activities and physical activities. Metabolic activities are the ones that our body does without any effort. For instance, our heart beats, digestion system works, all these are metabolic activities. Physical activities are different from metabolic ones. Physical activities are the ones that we do through all the day. Walking, running, sitting, biking, all of them are classified as physical activities. All these ones make our body spend energy. If you do not move much, you do not spend much energy. How much metabolic and physical activity there is, more energy is spent. If there is imbalance between your energy income and the one you spent, obesity shows itself.

Genetics is another cause of obesity. If your family experience obesity problem, you are bound to experience it, too. In addition to this, environmental factors also cause obesity. Social circumstances, life style, eating habits and personal habits cause obesity problem.

Treatment Ways of Obesity
There are four main obesity treatment ways. These are surgical treatment, diet, medicine treatment and exercise. According to the severeness of the problem, treatment way changes. Surgical treatment is the last way of obesity treatment. If diet, exercise and medicine treatment do not respond, surgical one is necessary. With surgical way, a long lasting solution of obesity is provided. You can lose %50-80 of total weight after surgical treatment. However it is a very serious operation and it is not suitable for everyone.

Medicine treatment is a common obesity treatment way. There are many medicine types claiming to make you lose weight. But these generally have side effects. So the medicine should be taken under the control of a doctor. Balanced diet and regular exercise should be a part of our daily lives. These are obesity treatment ways. For diet treatment way, the total calorie intake and the calorie you take are calculated. Generally a diet list consisting healthy food is given to the patient. If the patient leads the diet and suggestions of the doctor, obesity problem can be solved. Exercise is a way of life. It helps you to spend calorie and it is one of the way preventing obesity.

Effects of Obesity
Researchers show that obesity affects our life more and more. It is like a communicable disease. Woman and man, young and old, everybody is under the risk of obesity. Obesity is a disease that affects the entire life of people. First of all, it affects heart and vascular system. It also affects digestive system, respiratory system and hormones. It is the main reason of many major diseases. Some of the illnesses that obesity based are heart related ones, high tension, barrenness, cancer types and joint related diseases. Briefly, obesity is the disorder making your life worse and short.

From young ages, regular skin care and usage of cosmetics is very important. These two elements prevent the possible problems of coming ages and your skin is pure and fresh. There are just some key points you should follow.

Tips for Young People
Cleaning is necessary for skin. However, excessive soap usage affects your skin negatively. Your skin becomes drier and it is open to microbes. Instead of soap, cleaning tonics should be preferred. It is ideal for your young skin. Tonic prepares your skin for other skin care steps. After applying tonic, your skin is ready for moistening.

Keeping the oil balance of skin is difficult. Dry skin or oily skin is common problem especially for adolescents. Whether your skin is dry or oily, you should moisture it. There are cosmetics productions suitable for different skin types. Choose a suitable one for you. Then, moisture your skin in the morning and at night.

If your skin has tendency to form blackheads, you should use pore tighter. Do not try to remove blackhead by yourself. Instead of solving the problem, this causes more and more problem.

In addition to daily care, regular weekly care is necessary. Deep cleaning and peeling are weekly activities for skin care. After deep cleaning and peeling, on the surface of the skin there are not dead cells no more. The skin becomes fresh and healthy. If your skin is oily, it is recommended to do these twice a week.

If your skin is problematic, medical treatment may be necessary. Acne is a common problem among adolescents. If the case is severe, consult to doctor. The treatment can take a long time. However, for good results, you should follow the instructions. First of all, the main reason of acne problem is found out. Unbalanced diet, hormonal changes, lack of some certain vitamins, microbes and bacteria are the major causes of acne. Having such a problem means extra care of skin. If you want to read more about acne problem read also Causes of Acne – Acne Treatment.

Soap, lotions, briefly simulative cosmetics should not be used. Instead of these, use cleaning gel and creams. When a problem occurs on your skin, immediately take the necessary precautions. If the problem is very severe, consult to dermatologist. Do not try to solve it by yourself. For instance, if you irritate acnes, the problem becomes worse. For treatment, take professional help.

Diet is a key factor for skin care. Young people should take required vitamins, protein, minerals and other things. If you can not take it with foods, you can take them externally. Consume fresh fruit and vegetable, fish and chicken, cereals. Balanced diet makes your skin strong.

Brain
Fish builds new brain tissues and cells. It consists of main ingredients that brain needs. Scientists approve that fish consumption helps to slow brain damage of old people. Additionally, it reduces depression risk and the possibility of Alzheimer illness.

Heart
Against heart related disorders, fish is very beneficial. There are many benefits over heart. First of all, it reduces heart attack risk. In order to protect heart against attack and sudden death, eating fish regularly is recommended. It has a slight effect on reducing the blood pressure. While it increases good cholesterol, it reduces blood fat level. For body circulation fish is a good source.

Skin
The beneficial ingredients of fish protect your skin against aging and the harmful rays of sun. It is also effective for the treatment of eczema.

Eyes
Diet ingredients have impact on our eyes. It is a wide known thing that if you eat carrot, your eyes would be stronger. About that subject, fish should also be mentioned. It has great effect on eyes. Regular fish consuming develops your vision.  It also nerves the retina growth. Reducing dry eye syndrome is another benefit of fish.

Lungs
Asthma and bronchitis are widespread lung problems. Along with treatment, eating fish is found useful. It reduces symptoms of asthma and bronchitis.

Muscles and Joints
For building muscles and new tissues, consuming fish is recommended. It is also beneficial for joints. It reduces symptoms and inflammation caused by joint disorders. Don’t you notice bodybuilding or regularly sporting people consume fish? It should be a part of your diet for a more sportive and healthy life.

Digestion
Eating fish is delicious and digesting it is easy. Even if you have problem with your stomach, generally eating fish does not disturb anyone. It also reduces symptoms of ulcer.

Providing, cooking and serving fish is easy. If you want to cook it in more delicious and nutritious way, cooking in the oven or grilling it is the best way. Frying it increases cholesterol and fat amount in it. It is recommended by doctors to consume fish at least twice in a week.

You can not lose weight with liposuction. It is not as easy as diet or exercise. Liposuction is a serious operation. If you accept the operation, generally not all the fat is removed, removing too much is risky. You can have more than one operation if it is required.

The main aim of liposuction operation is taking fat cells rather than fat itself.  The fat cell of a human does not change after adolescence. While gaining weight, the fat accumulates where these cells are. For instance, if you have fatty belly, and have liposuction operation, if you gain weight again, the fat does not appear here. The cells were taken and there is no place for fat production any more.

For Whom Liposuction is Suitable
Liposuction is applied for the problematic parts of body. These parts are problematic because diet or exercises do not solve the problem.  People who are overweight do not lose weight with liposuction. It is a fact. Some amount of fat can be removed. However, losing weight is something different.

Liposuction affects the skin. After operation, skin repairs itself. If it was in bad condition before surgery, it can look worse after liposuction. Briefly, liposuction is suitable for people whose skin is tense. The best results are taken if the operation takes place early. After having damaged skin, having fatty areas, liposuction has nothing to do.

Where Liposuction is Applied
From every part of body, fat can be removed. However some parts are more suitable for the operation. For women, belly, waist, thighs, inner sides of knees, foot wrists, and back; for men, waist, belly, and jowl are suitable.

Possible Problems of Liposuction
The major problems that can occur during operation are bleeding and infection. Bleeding is not expected to be much, but there is possibility. If there is infection problem, fever, swollen points are the signs. Skin loss is another risk of liposuction. This problem generally occurs when liposuction is applied more than twice to the same area.

The medicine used in the operation is important. Surgeon should be careful about the amount of medicine. The liquid medicine consists of local anesthetics. Excessive usage can cause neurological problems.

Aesthetic is one of the major problems. On the surface of skin, there can be asymmetric lines. If these are very serious, a cosmetic surgery is necessary. If the surface is not equal, the process is harder. Patient may want another operation for equality. This means taking fat and giving fat to some parts. After operation, you can not feel anything on the operated parts. This is normal until a certain time. However, it can take long time. Even after 9 months, not feeling is not extraordinary. Permanent feeling loss is very rare.

Symptoms of Anorexia Nervosa

Physical Symptoms 
• Dramatic weight loss in a short period of time
• Distorted body image
• Low blood pressure ( hypotension)
• Yellowed and dry skin
• Hypothermia
• Extra sensitive to cold
• Loss of nail and hair quality
• Frequent sore throats
• Scanty or Absent Menstrual Periods in post puberty women and girls
• Weakness ( thin appearance)
• Excessive Exercise
• Cold hands or feet
• Abnormal hearth rhythms
• Hormonal changes
• Bone loss
• Cracked lips

Psychological & Emotional Signs
• Having perfectionist personality
• Low-self esteem.
• Obsession with counting calories
• Complaining about weight problems
• Loss of sexual desire and potency
• Depression
• Intense fear of gaining weight
• Extreme concern with physical appearance( especially with body weight and shape)
• Poor judgement
• Confused thinking
• Lack of appetite
• Anxiety
• Mood swings

Behavioural Symptoms
• Wearing big or baggy clothes
• Insomnia
• Frequent dieting
• Dieting despite being thin
• Eating very little
• Becoming obsessive about exercise
• Starving themselves
• Skipping meals
• Make yourself vomit after eating
• Restricting food
• Denies being too thin
• Dizziness or fainting

What are the treatments for Anorexia Nervosa?
If the patient denies his illness, the treatment of anorexia is very difficult. Unfortunately patients accept to enter a treatment when the illness fairly advanced. Getting back to normal weight takes time.

Treatment aims to:
• restore body weight
• save the person’s life
• improve psychological functioning

Medical Treatment: There are not any specific medications for anorexia. Some drugs are effective the treatment of the disease. There are some medicines that increase body weight. The other group drugs are psychiatric prescription drugs such as Sedatives, Tranquilizers, Benzodiazepines that are approved for Anorexia Nervosa. You should avoid alcohol while you are taking these drugs.

Nutritional Therapy: In this treatment, a dietician or nutritionist teaches healthy eating methods to the patients. The aim of this therapy is to help the patient create healthier eating behaviours.

Psychotherapy: It is frequently used for the treatment of the illness. It aims to change your attitude towards eating. Generally a course of the therapy lasts six months. There are 4 types of therapy for anorexia nervosa treatment.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy: This type of therapy helps you change your wrong eating habits. It is aimed at normalizing eating behaviour of the patient.

Interpersonal Therapy: Interpersonal problems can cause eating disorders. This therapy works on relationship problems. It is a short term treatment.

Group Therapy: People with anorexia come together and share their problems with each other. People focus on exploring the roots and influences of eating disorders.

Family Therapy: Family members play an important role in anorexia. This therapy focuses on conflicts, roles, alliances within the family that are related to the anorexia.

Also read What is Anorexia Nervosa?

Health during Pregnancy

What to Eat during Pregnancy
You do not have to change your diet, your taste and your choices; however a balanced diet is essential. You should eat fresh vegetables and fruit; this is the main rule.

Calcium intake is important especially for the few weeks; development of bones and teeth depends on calcium. Cheese, yoghurt, milk and green leaf vegetables are rich in calcium; these should be the basic things of your diet during pregnancy.

Protein consuming is a major part of the diet. Your need for protein increases during this special period. Fish, meat, cereal and milk based foods are good protein sources. Along with these, meat free from fat is rich with protein.

Vitamins, especially taking vitamin C, are good for you and for your baby. It protects you against illnesses, but it is not conserved in the body, so vitamin C should be taken daily. Fresh fruit and vegetables are consumed for C vitamin; orange, strawberry, potato and tomato are just some of the fruit and vegetable types rich in vitamin C.

Folic acid develops the nervous system of the baby. It should be taken daily and fresh green vegetables are rich in folic acid. Cooking vegetables reduces the amount of acid, so they should be consumed without cooking. From spinach, cauliflower and nuts, you can take folic acid.

Fibrous foods make digestion easier and fibrous is found in fruit and vegetables, additionally it is found in bran products. Rice, leek, green pea and bran bread are some fibrous foods.

What NOT to Eat during Pregnancy
Do not eat anything that you think can be harmful for you, especially for your baby. Before eating, be sure whether it is harmful or not. Keep in mind that food does not give any harm to you while you are not pregnant but pregnancy is a different process and being more careful is required.

Milk and milk based products are essential during pregnancy, but you should be selective. If the products are not fresh, they make an opposite effect, so pay attention to this. Caffeine consuming is a debatable subject, the moderate consuming is good, but excessive caffeine harms your baby. Do not drink coke, coffee and tea more than three cups in a day. If you want to drink herbal tea, know the side effects of herbal tea, it can cause undesired effects.

Diet of a normal person consists of oil intake. If you are pregnant, you should pay more attention to oil choice. Olive oil or corn oil is good for you. Excessive salt and sugar consumption can cause problems such as tension and gaining weight. Be more selective about what you eat while you are with your little baby inside yourself.

Causes of Anorexia
The exact cause is not known. But some researches think that a combination of factors contribute the illness. Here is a list of some possible causes of anorexia:

- Genetic and Biological Factors
Medical communities are examining both genetic and biological factors of anorexia by searching for genes and some gene candidates. The results of these studies have shown that genetic and biological factors may play a role in the developing an eating disorder. According to some researchers women whose biological mother or sisters have the disorder are 12 times more likely than others.

- Psychological factors
People with some personality disorders (panic, obsessive compulsive or sensitivity disorder) are more vulnerable to anorexia than others. They are not happy and always feel uncomfortable.
a. Perfectionism: It is a psychological disorder. It plays an important role in anorexia. People with anorexia (anorexic) criticize themselves excessively. These people do not like themselves. They want to have a perfect body. They think that being overweight is equated with ugliness. They see themselves inadequate, helpless and worthless. They starve themselves to lose weight.
b. Low self esteem: People with anorexia have low self esteem. Their low self esteem is closely tied with their physical appearance. Being thin becomes a means of overcoming the low self esteem for them.
c. Depression: Generally depression leads to eating disorders. Up to 80 percent of women with anorexia have depression.

- Social Influences
In some cultures people think that being thin is the most important part of beauty. Thinness is equated with success, money and beauty.
a. Media Factor: Most of the famous people are underweight. People with anorexia want to look like models, actresses or dancers. Researchers think that the media play a part in the development of the illness. Most of the TV network characters are very thin. Media emphasize thinness as part of the ideal appearance of an attractive woman.
b. Family Factor: Some parents criticize their children’s bodies and appearance. If the family members repeatedly diet, the development of an eating disorder in an adolescent is not a surprise.
c. Peer pressure: The other important factor is peer pressure. It affects especially pre-teens and adolescents. Generally eating disorders begins in adolescence with strict dieting and rapid weight loss. About 1 in 100 adolescent girls suffer from anorexia in the world.

BMW weight status categories
Below 18.5: Underweight
18.5-24.9: Normal
25-29.9: Overweight
Above 30: Obese

How to lose weight in a healthy way?
Weight management is about long term success. Do not forget that what you eat decides how you look. Do not lose too much weight too quickly. If you are not happy with your weight, you can follow a few of the simple suggestions listed below.

- Count how many calories you eat in a day.
- Determine your daily calorie intake and choose foods that you like.
- Use a smaller plate.
- Drink a glass of water before you eat.
- Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
- Set realistic goals. Imagine yourself how you will look like after losing weight.
- Do not go shopping when you are hungry.
- Eat vegetables before the main course.
- Drink plenty of water throughout the day.
- Have your dinner about 4-5 hours before going off to sleep.
- Do not eat when you feel bored. Keep yourself busy.
- Increase your physical activity.
- At the end of the each day, calculate the number of calories you ate and drink.
- Eat slowly. It takes 20 minutes for your stomach to send the message to the brain.
- Chew your food until it has turned to mush.
- Always use fork and knife when you eat.
- Believe in yourself. Always encourage yourself to achieve the goals that you have set.
- Eat your breakfast every morning.
- Eat little and often. It will speed up your metabolism.
- Drink 2 cups of green tea. It speeds up your metabolism. Since, green tea contains antioxidants.
- Eat spicy food. Spices, especially chilli raise the metabolic rate.
- Do not eat or drink to much sugar containing foods.
- Avoid alcohol, sugar, salt and fasting.
- Eat every 2-3 hours throughout the day.
- Do not try to starve yourself.
- Do not take any unhealthy drugs.
- Trick yourself with gum.
- Walk for one hour a day.
- Do not stock your refrigerator with high calorie foods.
- Brush your teeth after every meal.
- Eat fruit instead of foods.

34 Steps to lose weight

Choice of breakfast to lose weight
1. You should drink semi skimmed milk instead of full-fat milk.
2. You should make your plate smaller for all meals.
3. You should sweeten your milk with fresh fruits instead of sugar.
4. You should eat light yogurt.
5. Instead of finishing your whole bread, you can keep it for another day.
6. Do not scramble your eggs. You can cook it with a pan-broil methods or you can add tomato instead of oil while cooking.
7. You should cook omelette with an onion, paper or spinach instead of cooking it with sausage or cheese.
8. Drink your tea, coffee or milk without sugar.
9. You should eat whole-wheat bread.
10. Do not consume any butter.
11. Do not consume a good deal of jam.

Choice of meal to lose weight
12. You can cook macaroni with vegetables such as mushrooms, papers or zucchini instead of meat.
13. Cook your meat without oil.
14. Prefer fish and meat with a fat-free.
15. If you really want to eat mayonnaise prefer the light one.
16. While cooking, use only one spoon of oil.
17. Do not forget to eat slowly because this will prevent you to eat more.
18. Instead of having an afternoon coke you should prefer drinking water.
19. Instead of cooking heavy meals prefer fruits and vegetables in season.
20. Eat salads in every meal time.
21. Do not consume fast-food.
22. While snacking prefer light tucks.
23. Do not use salt.
24. You should pay more attention to what you eat and you should cut back on fat.
25. You should avoid fried meat.
26. Consume much of your calories especially in the morning do not eat your meal after 8pm
27. Eat five or six small meals instead of eating the big one.
28. Avoid 3 white: Sugar, salt and flour.
29. Avoid any prepared foods especially with sugar.
30. While you are eating sip water frequently.

Choice of dessert to lose weight
31. You should prefer milk puddings if your blood sugar decreases.
32. While preparing a cake or brownie do not use a good deal of butter.
33. Prefer bitter chocolate if you really want to eat.
34. You should eat fruit instead of dessert.

Looking at these steps you should know that if you really want to loose weight, you need to burn more calories than you consume. Remember that being healthy is completely about the being right weight for you. You should stop eating when you are full and you should also eat less and more.  You should also be very active in your daily life and also do one hour of exercise every day. You should drink at least eight glasses of water in a day. Do not forget to trust yourself and to fix your goal.

What is Green Tea and is Green Tea healthy?

Its origin is China, and it spread to Japan, Asia, Middle East and West from there. After it became popular, many types of it emerged in different countries.

Preparation of Green Tea
In order to brew green tea, hot water and green tea leaves are needed, leaves are added to hot water and it is left for infusion. This is the common preparation method; however it may be prepared differently as there are different leaves types.

Health Benefits
Green tea is a great health source; it reduces cancer risk and makes the tumors smaller. It has antioxidant effect, green tea is useful for cholesterol and tension, and it also balances blood sugar. Green tea consists of caffeine, this is both good and bad, it is bad because caffeine causes insomnia but the case is not serious like coffee drinking, it is good as it is effective in diets to lose weight. Regular drinking prevents flu and it reduces stress. With green tea, blood veins are stronger. It prevents Alzheimer, kills bacteria that cause tooth decay, a woman drinking green tea give birth more easily.

Losing Weight with Green Tea, Healthy or Not?
Every summer many “miracle” diets are published by newspapers and magazines. They all claim to give secret formula of losing weight and some of them recommend green tea. To what extent it is effective is not verified scientifically; however it is a reality that green tea has a function like relieving kidneys and it is diuretic. It is not a way of losing all alone, it only helps it, while leading a diet green tea can be consumed moderately, do not drink more than 3 cups in a day!

Keep in Mind;
- Do not consume more than three cups daily.
- Drinking it in the morning and before going bed is better.
- Instead of sugar, honey is recommended in it; however herbal teas are more effective without sugar or any other additional thing.