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Many people who exercise to lose weight express their desire to have more confidence in life. CFP
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About 40 years of age, Mr. Xu is a legendary figure in the eyes of his female colleagues, for he successfully shed 22 kg of body fat in just three months. And his method for losing those pounds is the tried and true of self discipline: eat less and exercise more.
"I was actually skinny when I was a kid, but at about 15 I developed bad eating habits. I always ate very fast, and especially loved desserts and high-calorie stuff. From then on, my weight climbed along with my age,"says Xu.
After graduating from university and entering the workforce, Xu did not lose weight due to his busy schedule, as others may have. Instead he gained pounds. By July 2004, Xu was already 95 kg. "Sometimes I got frustrated with my weight,"says Xu. Then Xu's girlfriend gave him a fitness club membership card. So, on a pleasantly cool autumn afternoon, Xu drove to the club. "I feel absolutely relaxed and comfortable after working out,"recalls Xu. Thus, on the next day, after devouring his last huge meal, Xu decided to say farewell to his bad eating habits and to begin a program of exercise and weight loss.
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White collar workers work out in a gym. CFP
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The following story may sound familiar to many people. "For nearly six months, I didn't touch any carbohydrates. I usually had a healthy breakfast, and a very light lunch and dinner. When I had to eat out, I'd choose beef or steamed fish. I bought protein powder and vitamins for fear of lacking nutrition due to large amount of exercise every day. " Xu's weight dropped. In only three months, he lost 22 kg. By the end of six months, he managed to cut down 26.5 kg. "My waistline dropped nearly eight inches,"says Xu.
These days, Xu's story is not so unusual in China. In February 2007, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a research report on the proportion of obese and overweight people in various countries and regions in the world. It states that there are 1.6 billion overweight people among the 6.5-billion global population. Although China ranks 148th on the list, the speed with which the Chinese people are gaining weight is remarkable. The nation's overweight population has increased three fold since 1992. In less than three decades since China's reform and opening-up to the outside world, the Chinese people, once regarded as one of the slimmest populations in the world, have plumped out rapidly. Differing from developed nations, China is undergoing what many nutritionists describe as "nutrition transformation"period, which is marked by battling obesity, rather than overcoming malnutrition and focusing on developing the economy. Thus, numerous stories of weight loss and fitness have been told in the nation.
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Among the overweight segment of the population in China, a large proportion is made up of youths and children. Parents hope that their children's health, both mental and physical, may be enhanced by losing weight.CFP
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Dong Liang, 30, works in an enterprise in Beijing. Recently, on weekends he began to regularly attend a training class on nutrition held by China Health Care Association. Dong says that his classmates include both grey-haired elders and 20-year-old youths. Jia Nengfang, who has attended the class a dozen times, tells this reporter that her purpose of going to the class is to learn something about nutrition so as to give herself and her family a more balanced diet. She says that due to too much intake of meat and too little exercise - for she does most of her work sitting in the office before a computer - she gained six kg in just three years. Now she consciously limits her intake of meat, and eats more vegetables and dairy. And she has already succeeded in losing a few kilograms. The tuition fee for the short-term class is 3,900 yuan, which equals a one-month salary of the average white collar worker in larger cities. However, Jia believes that it is worthwhile, for she has learned how to maintain a healthy diet.
According to the staff of China Health Care Association, when they first began to hold the training class two years ago, there were only one or two sparsely attended classes each term. Now, there are more than 10 classes each term, with each class attended by more than 100 people. To date, more than 10,000 people have received the training.
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A healthy lunch may not be so delicious, but it is definitely nutritious. newsphoto
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According to the operators of some gyms and fitness clubs in China's larger cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, they each have an average of 500 customers who swim, jog, and body-build each day. Many Chinese customers choose to purchase a monthly card, or even an annual card for a fitness club, for it costs much less. While some people choose a more economical way, such as walking and climbing, to work out and lose weight, customers who have benefited from sports have their views: If one can shift 100 or 200 yuan from one's budget for clothes to exercise every month, he or she may not only fit better into their garments, but also have a healthier body.
For those who cannot bear the hardship of physical fitness to lose weight, they might choose herbal tea or diet pill to achieve their goals. At present, various kinds of medicines, tea and food with the effect of reducing weight can be found in China. They mainly fall into two categories. One is to help control the appetite. And the other is to expel fat already in the body. However, this reporter found in her research that most people working on weight loss prefer not to take medications.
At present, with China's urbanization and the expanding middle class, Chinese people are more than ever likely to gain weight due to increased capacity to buy more food. Besides that, the diet of Chinese people has witnessed great changes in recent years. The traditional Chinese dinner is built around grain and vegetables, with meat being primarily a supplement. But this low-fat diet structure is being replaced by high-fat dinners. With obesity comes bad health, marked by cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, high blood pressure, and apoplexy. "The proportion of overweight people and obesity in China is three to one at present. And those overweight people have a very good chance of becoming obese. And in some developed countries, the proportion is one to one,"says Chen Junshi, director of ChineseCenter for Disease Control and Prevention. Luckily, increasingly Chinese people have realized this problem and have adopted healthy methods of weight control. For many of these overweight people, losing weight is not only a means to a nice body and confidence, but also crucial for their health.
