Shedding the right amount of weight

Mar 30 2015

Shedding the right amount of weight

Diet and Nutrition, Exercise and Fitness

For most people, there are body types and weights that are considered ideal. It is quite an irony that most people’s interpretations of “ideal” vary as much as cold water differs from hot. In consideration of this rather interesting topic, we will refer to “body types” in which we considered the three main body types which are: Ectomorphs, Endomorphs and Mesomorphs.

Body Types

We shared that Ectomorphs are those who rarely add weight and have lean muscles; endomorphs are those who can’t seem to shed weight despite their best efforts and their food intake may not be the only indicator for their weight. We then talked about the Mesomorphs who gain more muscles with less exercise and are somewhere between the “Ecto” and the “Endo”.

Considering these body types, for an Endomorph for example, her ideal weight may be shedding as much as 20 kg from his/her current body weight. An Ectomorph may just require a shed of 1 kilogram while a mesomorph may need to shed 4-5 kilograms to stay on his/her ideal weight. Even among the different body types, weight differentials still vary widely.

It is imperative that in shedding weight, you do not do one of these: starve yourself, follow fad diets, and/or start weight management with no plan in place for continuity. What this does in the short-term is help you get your weight down. In the long run, you could injure yourself if the plans you followed are not beneficial to your health or you could become even bigger than the initial body weight you started with.

After having said all these, it is wise decision to know your BMI (Body Mass Index), consider if you really need to shed weight when the Index states that you are beyond your ideal. People like Sylvester Stallone (Rambo), Arnold Schwarzenegger (Commando) and the average professional body builder are not in their ideal weight range. Also, do not compare yourself to any other person who may have won the battle of weight management. Rather, use such person(s) as motivators to getting to your own Uhuru (Paradise). Remember, it is not about starting; it is about finishing well and achieving your goal.

Note: No one person is a body type; we all are at least two body types with one being dominant and the other regressive.

Author Info

Dr Nagi Safa

Dr Nagi Safa is a Metabolic and Bariatric Surgeon (Weight-Loss Surgeon) at the Advanced BMI in Lebanon and at the Sacred Heart Hospital of Montreal, and holds an academic appointment at the University of Montreal. Furthermore, he is involved in the training of residents and surgical fellows on how to perform advanced laparoscopic obesity surgery. In 2010, he launched the Advanced Bariatric and Metabolic Institute (Advanced BMI) in Lebanon, and has been helping hundreds of patients from all over the Middle-East through his expertise in obesity surgery. Education: Dr Safa completed his residency training at the University of Montreal General Surgery Program. He then performed a fellowship in Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, and Minimal Invasive Surgery (Laparoscopic and Robotic Surgery), at the Sacred Heart Hospital of Montreal, which is the largest Weight Loss Surgery center in the Montreal area, and one of the busiest in Canada. Experience: During his training, and throughout his practice, Dr Safa performed more than one thousand laparoscopic procedures, including Roux en Y gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy, gastric banding, gastric plication and many other abdominal surgery procedures. He has a particular interest in LaparoscopicRevisional Surgery including banding, bypass and sleeve. With a keen interest in the advancement of obesity surgery and newer minimally invasive surgical techniques, Dr Safa gained experience in the single incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS), and offers Single Incision gastric banding and Sleeve Gastrectomy Surgery. Research: His current research interests include clinical outcomes from various bariatric surgery procedures and investigations on the impact of bariatric surgery on Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome X. Memberships: Dr Safa holds professional memberships with the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, Canadian Association of Bariatric Physicians and Surgeons, Canadian Association of General Surgeons, Canadian Medical Association, Canadian Association for Surgical Oncology, Quebec Medical Association, Trauma Association of Canada, Association Quebecoise de Chirurgie, International College of Surgeon, and the College des Medecins du Quebec.