Obesity and overweight are terms often used interchangeably. However, technically they refer to two different states.
Being overweight technically means excess body mass. This includes all the body tissues. Obesity on the other hand refers explicitly to excess body fat e.g. a professional heavy weight body builder is overweight because of excess muscles but is not obese.
Being Obese at age 53, is what really concerned me. Losing weight was no longer an issue that I could afford to procrastinate with, and probably a good health scare was in order, had I not finally taken action.
I decided to list several reasons why losing weight was important, and why I needed to get moving. I wanted to list reasons besides family, and love ones.
Although wanting to lose weight, not only for yourself, but those you love as well is huge, and normally ranks at the top of everyone's list.
I wanted to use reasons, that would cause me to most likely not be around much longer for those I loved because of complications, that may be caused by other issues due to being obese. Yes I wanted to scare myself into losing weight, by finally facing reality square in the face. The thought of not attending my kids graduations, or giving away my daughters hand in marriage really scared me.
Honestly, and truthfully the whole thought of death from being overweight scared me, and I became driven by the fact that I had a reason to exist, and more importantly, a reason to live a long healthier life.
Reason #1 to lose weight
Diabetes: It is well known that 80 -90% of type-two-diabetes patients are overweight. Diabetes is the third leading cause of death in the U.S., as well as the leading cause of adult blindness in the world. One of the direct causes of obesity is eating wrong foods. Some of these wrong foods include high glycemic foods. High glycemic foods are energy dense foods that quickly increase the level of blood glucose in your body after been eaten. This results to the body reserving the unnecessarily high glucose/energy into fat. This makes losing weight very difficult.
Releasing a hormone called insulin does this. Type-Two-diabetes occurs because the body cannot produce enough insulin to remove the excess blood glucose and store it as body fat. This will occur after straining insulin production for some time. And that is how you end up being fat and diabetic.
Reason #2 to lose weight
Stroke: Obesity is associated with arteriosclerosis, the build up of fatty deposits in the arteries through out your body. This makes them narrow slowing blood flow and among other things increases risk of the blood clotting.
Arteries at risk include those supplying blood to the brain. If clotting occurs due to narrowed artery, it blocks blood supply to an area of the brain resulting in a possible stroke. Losing weight reduces this risk.
Reason #3 to lose weight
Cancer: The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates between 25% - 33% of cancer patients world wide are overweight and suffers from physical inactivity. Body fat evidently promotes higher levels of insulin production and excess estrogen, a hormone. Both insulin and estrogen accelerate cell division.
As research has indicated, the faster cells duplicate the more they increase chances of a cancerous cell developing. The situation is further complicated as the rapid cell division caused by the excess hormones lead also to rapid cell reproduction of the one cancerous cell, hence cancer starts to develop actively.
In addition fat cells tend to keep carcinogenic, cancer-causing agents, trapped in the body which increases the chances of developing cancer.
Types of cancers you might be at high risk for due to obesity include:
- Breast cancer- affecting the breast possibly in both men and women.
- Colorectal cancer- affecting colon and rectum.
- Prostrate cancer- affecting the prostrate gland in men.
- Endometrial cancer- affecting the uterus.
- Esophageal cancer- affecting the esophagus.
- Renal cell cancer, the cancer of the kidney, etc.
Reason #4 to lose weight
Respiratory problems: Obesity causes lungs to become smaller in size and chest walls to become heavier to lift during the process of breathing in. The most common respiratory problem is sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a condition where by an individual stops breathing for some time while asleep. A soft tissue in the throat collapses around the air way probably due to weight, blocking it.
For the severely obese sleep apnea may get more complicated with hypoventilation. Hypoventilation is accumulation of toxic levels of carbon dioxide (the gas we breathe out) in the blood, due to inadequate breathing. Losing weight would be the only permanent safe and healthy solution to sleep apnea.
Reason #5 to lose weight
Urinary Incontinence: This is involuntary release of urine. Being overweight can contribute to urinary incontinence. A heavy abdomen due to body fat deposit may cause valve of urinary bladder to be weakened. The weight also exerts pressure on the urinary bladder, trying to push urine out.
This results to leakage of urine when coughing, sneezing or laughing. This is because of a slight relaxation of the bladder valve that normally will not result to leakage. It can even result to bed wetting at night. This particular problem can be a very effective motivator to lose weight.
Reason #6 to lose weight
Varicose veins: Also known as Venous Stratis Disease. The leg and thigh muscles assist the heart in blood circulation just like most large muscles in the body. They are involved in pumping blood against gravity back to the heart with the help of valves that close to avoid a backward flow.
Pressure as a result of a large abdomen may increase the work load on the valves eventually causing damage. Damaged valves then allow for blood to back up, due to gravity, causing high pressure in these veins leading to swelling, thickening of skin and skin ulcers.
Reason #7 to lose weight
High Blood Pressure: The BMI (Body Mass Index) and age together are the strongest indicator of risk of hypertension or high blood pressure. At least a third of hypertension is related to obesity.
Reason #8 to lose weight
Other Diseases: Other diseases which MAY occur as a result of being overweight include;
- Gout
- Coronary heart disease
- Lower back pains
- Osteoarthritis
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Gall stones
- Neural tube defect,
- Prenatal mortality,
- Maternal hypertension,
- Gestational diabetes etc.
- Impaired immune response
- Liver disease
- Pancreatitis
- Bad body smell
- Depression
Research shows that even modest weight loss of even 10 pound for the overweight significantly reduces the risk of developing these diseases. Weight loss is in fact a challenge taken by many every year.
Unfortunately many fail in this healthy endeavor. And all because of one thing; they lack proper information on effective weight loss, which is what we at 1st N Weight Loss hope to provide.
This article is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is not to be used in place of, or in conjunction with, professional medical advice or any doctors recommendation. Prior to beginning any weight loss program, individuals must consult a physician for proper diagnosis and/or treatment.
