Weight Loss Is About So Much More Than Looking Good
Getting slimmer brings a lot more benefits than just looking better. Here are 12 more weight loss benefits besides improving your look.
One of the main reasons people try to lose weight is because they think they will look better if they are slimmer.
True as this may be, there are many other benefits to getting rid of excess weight, especially for your health.
However, the changes to life for a new slimmer you can be even more than that. People view and react to people that are not carrying any excess weight differently, and you may find more changes in your life then you imagined.
This would be just one of the numerous weight loss benefits you’ll get after shredding a few pounds. Below you’ll find all of them!
Remember, it’s always worth consulting with your physician, a nutritionist, or a qualified personal trainer before starting a weight loss programme.
Weight Loss Benefits
Here are some more incredible weight loss benefits besides looking good:
1. Weight Loss Is Good For Your Heart
Excess weight can build up as fatty tissues around your heart. (1)
This means it has to work harder to keep going, which in turn increases your blood pressure and the risk of strokes and heart attacks.
Get rid of that fat and one of the first effects is a reduction in your blood pressure, and the risks of other heart related problems drops as well.
2. Keep Type 2 Diabetes Out Of Your Life
Many older people develop type 2 diabetes as their bodies become less efficient. An association has been found with the amount of ‘belly fat’ and the disease, the less you have, the less likely you are to develop it.
Diabetes can cause all sorts of horrible health issues such as affecting your sight and your extremities like fingers and toes.
When you lose weight, one of the first places the fat disappears from is your tummy, and this can be a huge help in avoiding type 2 diabetes.
3. Your Joints Will Have Less Stress
Excess weight can put a lot of strain on your joints, particularly your knees and ankles.
Weighing less reduces the stress on them and you will be able to walk further without them starting to ache.
4. Your Reduce The Risk Of Cancer
Obesity puts you at almost as much risk of getting cancer as smoking. The good news is that if you lose the rate, the risk drops accordingly.
A study of postmenopausal women showed that each 5% of body fat you lose, reduces that risk even more.
5. You May Need Less Medicines
Losing weight can not only help stave off heart problems and diabetes, it can help with these conditions if you already have them.
You may find you no longer need the blood pressure tablets or you can reduce the amount of insulin you need every day.
Some people are able to come off medications totally, but you should not do that without consulting with your physician first of all.
6. Sex Gets Better
This is a fact. The lighter you are the higher your testosterone levels become which means you are more easily aroused.
Research with overweight people has shown that once they have lost some of the excess, sex becomes more satisfying as well.
One study shows that all it needs is a 10% weight loss for your sex life to become even better.
7. Exercise Will Be More Appealing
When you are carrying too much weight it can be very difficult to exercise. You get sweaty and out of breathe very quickly, and often that makes people just give up.
As you trim down, this will not happen. If you start off with moderate exercise you will soon find that you are able to do much more.
This does not mean that you have to rush off and join a gym. There are ways of introducing exercise into your life without having to do that unless you want to, of course.
Take the stairs instead of the elevator, park a little further away than you normally would or play a game that is exercise based, such as tennis. Activities such as theme parks will be more fun as well.
8. You Will Have A Better Nights Sleep
Snoring and sleep apnea are mainly associated with people who have excess weight around the neck. (3)
Just a 5% weight loss can help with both of these, and the more weight you lose, the better your sleep will be.
An added bonus here is that research has shown that a good nights sleep promotes weight loss, so sleeping better will help you to achieve your aim.
9. Your Skin And Hair Will Improve
Many nutrients found in healthy food are good for our skin, nails and hair and a by-product of losing weight is that the condition of them all can improve.
10. People Will Treat You Differently
Unfair but true, people are not generally so pleasant to others that they consider to be fat. You may well find that as your weight goes down, other people treat you differently.
Some studies have shown that you are more likely to get promotion at work. These studies, carried out by the University of Oxford and the University of Surrey, show that the bigger you are the less likely you are to be treated fairly.
11. The Taste Of Food Will Improve
According to research at Stanford University, it seems that in overweight people the taste buds are dulled, but they become more active again once you lose weight.
Also, your hormones change during weight loss, which could mean a difference in the way taste receptors send messages to your brain.
Your stomach soon reduces in size and very quickly you will not feel hungry all the time.
This will mean that you naturally want less food, and if most of the time you ensure that what you do eat is healthy, your excess weight will not come back.
12. Buying New Clothes
Unless you are an extremely good seamstress that can alter all your old clothes, you will need to buy some new ones.
This can be a most gratifying experience when you are buying jeans that are 3 or 4 sizes smaller than before, or you can now buy that slinky dress you have always dreamed of.
Losing weight will give you more confidence because you will feel so much better about your appearance.
Once you achieve the weight loss you are after, even if that is just a few pounds, a new you may well emerge and usually you will be very pleased with the result.
Hopefully these 12 weight loss benefits will make you think of losing weight as a way to improve yourself and your lifestyle.