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Obesity has been in the news a lot lately due to concerns that there is an ‘obesity epidemic’ in North America. Most people are overweight at the time that they are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes . Keeping your weight under control brings many health benefits, including lowering joint and muscle pain, reducing stress and preventing chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease. People who have limited mobility due to paralysis, fatigue, vision loss or chronic illness tend to be overweight because of physical inactivity. For people with a spinal cord injury, changes to the body following the injury (for example, lower metabolism and loss of muscle) along with a lower activity level can lead to obesity. Eating a healthy diet and being physically active are the best ways of maintaining a healthy weight. Dietitians, recreation leaders and exercise specialists can help you develop a plan that will help you control your weight.
It is better to eat healthy on a regular basis than to try dieting. Eating healthy will lower the amount of calories you take in day by day and will help your body process foods. Dieting can lead to rapid loss of weight that easily comes back. Tips for keeping your weight down include:
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