Calorie Control, Weight Control, Weight Management and Weight Loss

Weight control means the same as weight management. Both refer to the ability of a person to be able to achieve a desired weight level by a combination of eating the right food and engaging in a program of physical exercise.

Weight control is much more than weight loss; control means finding a desired weight level and keeping to it - it means increasing weight as well as reducing it; weight loss means only reducing weight.

It's estimated that in the western world over 50% of adults are overweight; in some countries, the figure is well above that. Most of these people would not know the difference between weight control and weight loss, a situation that's compounded by the fact that both are achieved by the same method.

Lets take the case of say a young woman who weighs say 57kgs ( 125 lbs ) She is a  housewife, spends the afternoon working on a PC at home and takes no extra exercise whatsoever. She watches what she eats and keeps an eye on her weight which has remained steady since she got married.

For her birthday, her husband bought her a small dog, and dogs need a regular daily walk.
So early in the afternoon she takes her new friend for an hours walk - every day. This would cause the loss of 250 calories a day from her body and unless she replaces this 250 calories she will start to lose weight - about 1lb a week at this rate. She therefore has to increase her calorie intake to compensate for the loss occurred on her daily walk. This may be achieved by having a small glass of milk, a small biscuit or cookie, and a small tub of yoghurt after each walk. By doing this her weight will remain constant.

What she is doing is practicing calorie control - she's controlling the number of calories consumed and expended each day.

What our lady is in effect doing is managing her weight. She's decided on her optimum weight, the weight that makes her look her best, the weight she feels happiest to be. And she wants to stick to it.

If she finds that the milk, biscuit and yoghurt after each walk is causing her weight to increase, then she should do without the biscuit and/or the yoghurt until her normal weight returns. What she is doing now is fine-tuning her diet to control her weight.

A lady such as this will never experience being overweight, and as long as her general health is good she'll feel that she has the perfect life-style from the point of view of food she eats and exercise she takes.

This lady knows and understands the basic concept of effective weight management. If physical activity increases, then the intake of calories - food - has to increase. Should the amount of exercises be reduced, then she'll have to reduce the amount of food eaten.

Weight control or weight management is easy to understand and should be practiced by all who desire to have the ideal weight.