Weight loss - ahhh - weight loss, if only those pounds would drop away then life would be so much easier. Losing weight is not easy - and can be particularly hard for those who suffer from high blood pressure. But if you have high blood pressure then weight loss really is crucial to your chances of living a long, healthy and happy life.

But the choice of how to achieve weight loss is bewildering. Where should you start - what should you believe? Which weight loss product, weight loss program or even weight loss pill will contain the magic secret for you? You'll find some of the answers to these questions on this page. We've collated the most up to date evidence about weight loss and blood pressure. Recent studies have given valuable insight into how to begin to chose a weight loss diet or weight loss program that will really suit you as an individual

Why is weight loss important?

Body weight and blood pressure interact in a number of important ways. There is a direct link between how overweight you are and how high your blood pressure will be. Not all overweight people have high blood pressure but a large number of them do - particularly in men. Excellent recent research has shown that - no matter what your starting weight - a weight los of one kilogram will result in a drop in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure of one mmHg. Just think of it like this: if you are overweight, have high blood pressure and are fed up taking large numbers of tablets each day - then try taking some weight off. Losing ten kilograms will see your blood pressure drop by a significant amount. Weight loss of twenty kilograms could see you being able to stop taking many, or all, of your tablets. What a prize that would be!

If you are twenty percent overweight (body weight more than 160lb for an average woman or more than 205lb for an average man) then you are eight times more likely to have high blood pressure than someone of a normal weight.

Being overweight is also strongly linked to high blood cholesterol levels and to diabetes. These three - diabetes, high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol levels - are often called the deadly triad. Having one makes you more at risk of early death, two out of three and your are in real trouble and all three leaves you a sitting duck waiting for a stroke or heart attack to strike. All three are directly linked to being overweight and all three can be avoided or improved by weight loss.

But that's not all. If you have high blood pressure then weight loss can also reduce your risk of dying from all causes. Most overweight people carry their extra fat around their mid rift - this is particularly true in men. There is now overwhelmingly convincing evidence that measuring abdominal girth can predict life expectancy. It is also a direct pointer to your risk of having a stroke, a heart attack, or developing diabetes. Some specialists say that measuring your waist circumference is a better way to determine your risk of stroke, diabetes or heart attack than measuring your weight on the scales. For good health, men should not go above a waist circumference of 35 inches and women should stay below 33 inches. Any man with a waist circumference above 39 inches is in real and imminent danger and should act to achieve weight loss immediately.

Which weight loss plan, weight loss product or weight loss drug will work for me?
Until recently the field was wide open for all of the different weight loss diet companies and weight los product makers to claim that their diet or their weight loss product was the best thing around. Good quality studies have now thrown a lot more light on that subject. Choosing a weight loss program is now a more pragmatic activity than previously.

An article recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association compares some of the various weight loss program approaches to see whether any of them really are better than the others.
They looked at these weight loss programs: the Atkins Diet, the Zone Diet, the Weightwatchers Diet and the Ornish Diet.
160 overweight people started the study and 93 of them saw it through to the end of the 18 month study period.
All of the weight loss program diets resulted in a modest weight loss of between 4.8kg and 7.3kg over the period of the study but many patients found it hard to stick tightly to the diet suggested by the weight loss plan.
The researchers concluded that weight loss was much more closely related to how well the subject stuck to their chosen diet - the actual diet chosen did not seem to make much of a difference.
All of the weight loss program diet groups showed improvements in their cardiac risk factors but there was no one type of diet any better at this than the others. All of them saw improvement in their blood pressure levels and in their cholesterol counts.

What's the message from this?
Choose a weight loss diet or a weight loss program that you think you can follow and then stick to it as hard as you possibly can. A weight loss diet that suits your own lifestyle and preferences is the best one to go for. Stick to it - if you have high blood pressure then weight loss is crucial to your long term health and - more than that - crucial to your survival!

Should I aim for Fast weight loss, Rapid weight loss, Quick weight loss?
Trying for a rapid weight loss or a fast weight loss can be so tempting but it rarely works out well in the longer term. Quick weight loss is nearly always followed by equally quick weight gain within days or weeks of stopping the weight loss program or diet. You should see it as a marathon - not a sprint. Set a weight loss target over a period of about a year and work towards it slowly and methodically. Choose a diet or weight loss program that you think will suit you and your lifestyle and go with it as hard as you can for at least four months or so. If you get bored with it then take a break for a while and start again - well motivated with another weight loss program for another four months. Stick at it - your life is at stake remember!!

The best weigh loss tip
The one best weight loss tip I can give you is to stick at whatever weight loss program you have chose but be kind to yourself. You are in this for the long term - it's a marathon, not a sprint. There is no magic weight loss drug or instant result weight loss product - only grim determination to make sure that you survive into a healthy long old age. Be determined but be flexible and don't beat up on yourself. You can do it - but give it time.

How to choose a weight loss product, weight loss program or a weight loss plan - an independent review of what's available

What follow is an independent review of some of the weight loss programs that are available - you should take time to browse around between these links and see which of them appeals most to you. Which fits best with your lifestyle and your own food likes and dislikes. Be flexible but be determined to succeed.

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