Ten Reasons You Should Lose Weight
If you’ve been repeatedly told by your doctor that it is imperative that you lose weight, you might wonder why it’s necessary. In addition to avoiding weight loss surgery, like the lap-band surgery in the future, losing weight can also help prevent a myriad of diseases. Read on to learn more about how to avoid medical weight loss intervention and please your local Michigan physician at the same time.
Losing weight lowers your risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes and stroke. In the U.S., heart disease kills more people than any other disease. Being overweight or obese means you’re at risk for developing heart disease. Further, carrying too much weight also puts you at risk for having a stroke; the third top killer in the United States. Diabetes comes in at number five, and is affected by excess weight as well.
If you lose weight now, you have a decreased risk for developing osteoarthritis, hypertension and cancer. Researchers indicate that women who are overweight are four times more likely than their peers to develop osteoarthritis in their knees, and men are five times more likely. To decrease the chance of developing osteoarthritis, lower your BMI (body mass index) by losing weight. In doing so, you can also lower your blood pressure and avoid hypertension, or high blood pressure. Many experts refer to hypertension as the silent killer because most people don’t experience any symptoms. However, obesity is a strong risk factor that is linked to hypertension. Obesity is also a risk factor for developing cancer, which is another really good reason to start your weight loss regime soon.
When you weigh less, you have more energy and it’s easier to move about. A good illustration is to imagine yourself carrying around weights all day. Obviously this would be a difficult task, but if you were to remove the weights, you would find that your energy would increase and you would find it easier to go about your daily tasks. That’s exactly what would happen if you were to lose those excess pounds you’re holding onto.
If you need more reasons to lose weight, consider the final two reasons: better quality of life and improved attitude. Research indicates that people who lose weight and manage to keep it off have better self-confidence, an improved mood and an overall higher quality of life. Even losing a small amount of weight can increase your outlook and propel you forward to lose more weight.