Women with a waist circumference greater than 89 cm or 35 inches and men with a waist circumference greater than 102 cm or 40 inches tend to have a higher risk of obesity-related diseases, including prediabetes and type 2 diabetes.
Body fat, particularly abdominal fat that is predominantly “visceral”, surrounding the internal organs, contributes to increased inches more than any other factor.
Excess body fat is linked to many health problems, including pre-diabetes, diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis and certain cancers. This excess increases the risk of high cholesterol, hyperglycemia, high triglycerides, hypertension and heart disease. Weight loss can improve blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar and overall health.
Abdominal exercises can strengthen the muscles of the abdominal wall, improving posture and waistline, even without abdominal fat loss.
However, for those who are significantly overweight, better results will be achieved with a broader diet and exercise program.
Many experts believe that too many people focus on diet rather than exercise.
A kilogram of fat contains around 7,700 calories, and the amount of calories needed to lose a kilogram varies between individuals and their lifestyles. Generally speaking, it's considered necessary to burn just over 3,500 calories to lose 500 grams of fat.
A pound of fat stores 3,500 calories. So the amount of calories to burn 1 lb of fat is generally thought to be 3500.
To maintain weight loss over the long term, you should lose no more than 1 kg per week. Losing more weight per week is often temporary.
Men have more lean muscle mass and a higher resting metabolic rate, which facilitates weight loss.
Women store fat differently, particularly in the thighs, buttocks and hips, where it's harder to lose.
Female hormones encourage the storage of calories in the form of fat, which takes up more space than muscle.
Lifestyle habits are crucial. Some people have more body fat because of their genes or their microbiota (intestinal flora) and its metabolites. Whatever their lifestyle choices, they may never be as slim as others.
The significantly overweight and most inactive people can achieve the most impressive results and benefit most from a weight loss program.
Whatever your weight, good nutrition and regular exercise are important for your overall health.