5 Significant Reasons to Lose Weight and It Does Not Include Looking Good

Body weight is an important aspect of life. Your appearance and weight influence how you feel about yourself. It also affects the way other people view you. But besides these psychological aspects, body weight has great health implications too. In fact, for people who are overweight or obese, shedding extra kilos carries countless benefits beyond just simply looking good. Read through to know about reasons to lose weight and why being just the right weight is so important for life. 

Top 5 Reasons to Lose Weight

We all know that being the right weight adds to our personality quotient. But there is more to it than just looking fabulous. Listed below are the top 5 reasons to lose weight: 

1. Extra Weight Hinders with a Good Night’s Sleep

What we eat has a direct bearing on our sleep quality. It affects how easily we fall asleep and how rested and refreshed we are upon waking up. This happens because of the choice of foods we eat. Overweight people are more likely to have imbalanced diets. Their food intake is centred on foods that are high in sugar and fats. As they are digested quickly, they leave you hungry in the middle of the night. 

More body fat also translates to a higher risk of developing sleep apnea. This further affects your sleep quality. Also, failure to get a good night’s sleep affects the functioning of the whole body. As the metabolism slows down, it enhances the risk of adding a few more kilos. 

2. It’s Good for Your Knee Joints

One of the important reasons to lose weight is to protect your joints. Your body weight puts extra pressure on your joints, especially the knee joints. While the age-related wear and tear is normal, the process is quick and damaging for people who are overweight and obese. To make things worse, the inflammatory factors associated with high body weight gain begin to prove troublesome for other joints too. This increases the risk of osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease.

Unfortunately, osteoarthritis is a vicious cycle. As the joints hurt, you move them less. Less moving joints mean they don’t get properly loaded. This, in turn, leads to muscle weakness which affects the cushioning between the joints. This makes osteoarthritis more painful and debilitating. Thus, a low-fat, anti-inflammatory diet will prove to be a boon for the joints.

3. You’ll Feel Less Stressed

There is a category of foods that are linked to higher stress levels. Refined grains and added sugars trigger the production of the stress hormone, Cortisol. When consumed, these foods send your sugar levels soaring. The levels also fall very quickly. This fluctuation is perceived by the brain as low blood-glucose levels, which can turn into a life-threatening situation. The brain then signals to produce cortisol, which acts as a hunger hormone and sends the body into eating mode again. With the wrong choice of food, the rise and fall of sugar levels continue and the body continues to remain stressed with high levels of cortisol circulating in the body. Thus, foods for stress are also linked to obesity and weight gain. 

4. You’ll Experience Fewer Seasonal Allergies

Allergies are the body’s immune system response. It invariably leads to the inflammation of the airways. As increased body weight is also linked to inflammation, obese and overweight people are more likely to experience seasonal allergies. 

Furthermore, food sensitivity and seasonal allergies have a ripple effect on weight gain. As they make the body feel lethargic and slow, such allergic reactions trigger the body to add on a few extra kilos. The vicious circle thus becomes difficult to break. But shedding a few kilos is the key to staying away from seasonal allergies too.

5. You’ll Enjoy An Improved Sex Drive With Better Sexual Satisfaction

Did you know your BMI affects your bedroom performance too? Both men and women with high BMI may deal with a poor sex drive. Men with higher BMI have lower levels of testosterone, the hormone responsible for sex drive. Likewise, women with accumulated belly fat experience increased secretions of cortisol, the stress hormone. More cortisol interferes with sexual arousal.  

Other Reasons to Lose Weight

The body and mind enjoy a heap of benefits with weight loss. These include:

1. The food will begin to taste better
2. Memory and cognitive skills may improve
3. You may deal with lesser sweating
4. May lead to a better glow and clearer complexion
5. Helps you feel more energised and productive
6. Reduces dependence on medicines
7. May alleviate snoring
8. Aids in reducing the risk of developing certain types of cancers
9. May reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease
10. Helps eliminate the risk of type 2 diabetes
11. May lead to a healthier family
12. May increase lifespan

Benefits of Gradual Weight Loss

Maintaining a healthy BMI is important for overall health and well-being. It is natural for anyone trying to lose weight to want to lose it rather quickly. But this can do more harm than good. As you embark on your weight loss journey, make sure your achievements are gradual as sudden weight loss causes significant damage to the body. Listed below are the benefits of gradual weight loss:

1. Helps Sustain Weight Loss

Although sudden weight loss causes the body to shed a few kilos very quickly, it is difficult to sustain the results. Rapid weight loss affects the rate of metabolism. As the metabolism slows down, the body finds it difficult to shed the extra kilos thereafter. This leads to piling back of weight. On the other hand, gradual weight loss does not affect metabolism. This allows you to shed extra weight and also maintain it steadily throughout. Maintaining a healthy weight is more difficult than losing weight. 

2. Safer Way to Lose Weight

Sudden weight loss causes several health issues. To shed weight quickly, one may either resort to diet options or indulge in strenuous workouts. In either case, the health impact is glaring. A weight loss diet can result in nutritional deficiencies and dehydration, whereas strenuous workouts can leave the muscles drained and damaged. Thus, slow weight loss is the best as it allows the body to cope with diet and lifestyle changes more comfortably.

3. Reduces Risk of Muscle Loss

A strict diet to lose weight fast often results in a calorie deficiency. When the body does not have enough calories to burn, it shifts to muscle cells to generate the required energy to carry out daily activities. This results in muscle loss, a condition that can have serious consequences. On the other hand, gradual weight loss helps strengthen muscles. This results in a leaner and firmer body.

4. Prevents Sagging of Skin

Rapid weight loss causes the fat layer under the skin to burn quickly. This leads to loosening and sagging skin in the arm, thighs, stomach, and neck region. The face also shows fine lines and wrinkles. But when weight loss is gradual, the skin being an elastic organ, adjusts to the lean body mass more comfortably and easily. Also, the skin appears glowing and radiant when weight loss is powered by exercise and a healthy diet.

5. Promotes Healthier Hair

Rapid weight loss spurs hair problems. As the body is deprived of essential vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids, hair loss becomes common during the rapid weight loss process. The hair becomes drier and brittle. But gradual hair loss does not affect the quality and texture of the hair strands.

6. Eliminates Fatigue

Rapid weight loss diets are generally low in calories and protein. When the body does not get sufficient energy, it becomes sluggish and fatigued. On the other hand, slow weight loss ensures that more calories are burnt than what is consumed. This gives you the energy to perform daily chores efficiently. It also gives you the energy to follow an active lifestyle to maintain and sustain weight loss. 

Conclusion

Maintaining an ideal BMI goes beyond beautiful looks. Health benefits and reasons to lose weight are aplenty. Most importantly, it benefits the well-being of the body and mind. 

But weight loss is a slow rewarding process. However, people eager to see results quickly often resort to rapid weight loss programs. But sudden weight loss causes serious damage to the body.

So when you embark on your journey to weight loss, follow the stages of weight loss carefully. While most significant physical changes will appear during the first stage of weight loss, the second stage of weight loss leads to fat loss, resulting in fitter and leaner bodies.

Adopting a sustainable and healthy diet with good exercise habits is the key to healthy weight loss.