After all the gloom and doom about the health implications of being overweight, you’re probably ready for some good news. If being overweight is bad for your health (and it is), then learning how to lose weight fast is the best cure.
According to the experts, a weight loss of as little as 5 to 10 per cent reduces an obese adult’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and arthritis. Overweight people already suffering from these conditions usually improve when they lose weight. Losing weight also reduces the incidence of a whole host of heart and lung disorders. If you’re wondering why you should start following some healthy weight loss tips, I can’t think of a better answer.
Other Problems Associated With Overweight
Even though health considerations are probably the strongest argument in favor of losing weight, being overweight can make your life difficult in many other ways. If staying healthy and preventing disease do not motivate you, maybe the aesthetic, social, emotional, and financial consequences of being overweight will give you the push you need.
Aesthetic
Especially in our society, an overweight image is not the “look we like”. The most attractive clothing is designed for slimmer folks. Even if you have given up on dressing in the latest fashion, it is hard to look your best when your clothes are either too tight or utterly shapeless to hide your form.
Social
Not looking your best has social consequences as well. First impressions count for a lot, and, like it or not, first impressions are usually visual ones. Whether you’re hoping for a date, a friend, a job offer, or just not to be the last one chosen for the Saturday football game, you’re at a disadvantage if you’re overweight. It may feel unfair, and it probably is, but that’s the way it’s been since primary school and the way it is now.
Plain and simple, there are strong social biases against fatties. Many people regard being overweight as a character flaw, a sign of slovenliness and lack of self-control.
Emotional
Many of the negative responses of others are shared by heavy people themselves.
Self-esteem and a positive self-image are harder to come by when you are overweight. Depression often accompanies weight problems, sometimes as cause and sometimes as a result. People who are depressed tend also to be physically inactive. It’s another one of those vicious circles.
Being more active can help lift depression just as it helps you to lose weight. Many of the body chemicals that influence mood are influenced in turn by physical exertion.
Doing some regular exercise can help boost your confidence when you are trying to lose weight. Exerting your body encourages the release of endorphins, or “happy hormones”, making you feel good about yourself.
Financial
Obesity makes a huge dent in the funds of the health service of more than $25 billion a year, or 6 to 8 per cent of the total health care budget, because of the many problems associated with being seriously overweight.
People who are overweight cost the health service more money for health care than people of normal weight. Overweight people suffer from higher rates of disease and more complications. They are also involved in more accidents that result in injury. They are hospitalized more often and tend to suffer more complications from surgery and other medical procedures. People who are overweight may also experience more difficulty in getting life insurance because of their high-risk status.
Those who are able to get insurance will often pay higher premiums.
If you are overweight you are more likely to have health replications that require treatment in hospital and suffer injuries m accidents. Recovery rates are also likely to be slower.
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