8. Being overweight may have an effect on your self-esteem that, in turn, will have a negative effect on your overall health.

Assessing Your Risk

Body Mass Index or BMI is an estimate of your total body fat. You can see a charts for calculating BMI here: http://www.nutricounter.com/articles/bmi.htm

Weight loss is recommended if your BMI is over 30.

Weight loss is recommended if your BMI is 25 – 30 and you also have two or more of following risk factors:

1. If you’re a man, a waist circumference of over 40 inches. 2. If you’re a woman, a waist circumference of over 35 inches. 3. High blood pressure 4. High cholesterol 5. High triglycerides 6. High blood glucose 7. Family history of premature heart disease 8. Physical inactivity 9. Cigarette smoking

By above standards, if you think you need to lose weight, you should see your health care provider for a more accurate assessment.

Need help losing weight? Come and visit NutriCounter web site and learn how you can lose weight and keep it off: http://www.nutricounter.com

5. When you get close to your goal weight you may have to do more than just cut out calories. You may need to increase exercise. You may need to increase your percentage of protein and decrease your percentage of carbohydrates.

For help on making sure you're in mood to diet read: Why Diets Make You Crabby by Pauline Wallin, Ph.D http://www.nutricounter.com/articles/wallin.htm

The Nutricounter can help you establish your set point and help you monitor your daily intake of calories, carbs, protein and fat. http://www.nutricounter.com