Over the last decade or so, there has been a growing trend in weight loss centers and seeking advice of dieticians. However, only you hold the success to effective weight management. Once we accept that weight control is self-control, and is management in its purest form, we can be in control. Control is the key to the problem of obesity. Eat regular, well-balanced meals with enough variety to assure good nutrition, and exercise regularly.

Obesity and/or excess weight results when there is an imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure. In other words, you consume more calories than you expend in normal daily activities. Obesity is an excess of body fat, frequently resulting in a significant impairment of health. Excess fat accumulation is associated with an increase in the size of the fat cells; and in individuals suffering from extreme obesity, the fat cell numbers also increase. In the last few decades there has been an increase in the prevalence of obesity. Obesity has become an important risk factor in the development of diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases.

Additionally, during the last few decades there has been an increase in the prevalence of obesity. Obesity has become an important risk factor in the development of diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. The development of obesity is a complex interaction between genetic, psychological, socio-economic and cultural factors. Each Individual has unique genetic and environmental factors which affect food absorption therefore; there are individual differences in susceptibility to obesity. Consequently, a number of subtypes of obese conditions exist. Obesity, like alcoholism, cannot be cured, it can only be controlled. Therefore, how you manage your health and weight depends completely on you.

There are some people who are 'naturally' thin - no matter what they eat, and how little they exercise. Their bodies' thermostats are set to burn calories at a very high rate; and their metabolic rate is likewise high. These people operate on a balanced energy budget that seems to require no management on their parts. Unfortunately, some of us are not so lucky. There are inherent differences among people, and several other external factors that contribute to people having different metabolisms: Some of these factors are:

Low Activity Levels

Activity diminishes appetite and increases metabolism. When increasing your activity through exercise or just going for a brisk walk, you increase your metabolism which in turn burns fat. Additionally exercise tones the body and turns the fat to muscle.

Age

Your metabolic rate slows down and you do not require as many calories to maintain your weight, as you grow older. If you eat the same amount of food at forty as you did when you were twenty, you would become overweight.

Body Weight

Lighter people require fewer calories to maintain their body weights as compared to heavier people. For example, a person weighing 250 lbs requires approximately 2700 calories to maintain his/her body. Reducing your calorie intake will result in weight loss.

Gender

Your gender also plays a role in weight loss. Men tend to have a higher metabolic rate than females, even at rest. Furthermore because of their higher metabolism they burn more calories as women even with the exertion are equal. . Consequently, women tend to gain weight easily, and find it more difficult to shed the extra kilos.

Heredity

If the biological parents are thin, then there is a 75 per cent chance that the children will be thin.

For several years there has been speculation that there is a genetic tendency for obesity. The gene that hampers the feeling of satiety is passed on to the children. There is also a speculation that the mitochondria of obese people could be different. The mitochondria are always inherited from the mother, and hence this may explain the high correlation of a child's weight to that of the biological mother. However, inheriting the tendency to gain weight does not mean that you cannot lose weight it just means that you have to work harder at it.