The Health Benefits Of Weight Loss

The cosmetic and emotional benefits of losing weight are pretty straightforward. When you lose weight, you feel better about yourself because you feel you look better. There is a simple call and response dynamic between the image you see in the mirror and how you feel inside. While this leads to many other benefits like increased confidence, a greater sense of fulfillment and personal contentment, there are also substantial health benefits to losing weight. Keep the following in mind as you try to make a decision regarding your weight loss plan and when to start it.

Lower diabetes risks

Study after study show that obesity leads to increased diabetes risk. Your obese body's metabolism impacts your body's sugar processing system and this can lead to diabetes. Indeed, you might eat too much sugar and fat and this can lead to insulin overload and, ultimately, insulin resistance-a key ingredient to Type 2 diabetes.

Make no mistakes about it, diabetes is bad news. Not only can you lose your eyesight, the vascular constriction it produces leads to damage to your kidneys and nerve damage. In fact, diabetes-related nerve damage can be so bad that you no longer feel cuts on your feet and this can lead to amputation due to gangrene. If that isn't enough bad news, diabetes also leads to heart problems. By deciding to shed some pounds, you may well be sparing yourself from the unnecessary drama of diabetes.

Lower cardiovascular disease risks

For decades now, obesity has been linked to increased incidence of heart disease like heart failure, heart attacks, angina, enlarged heart, hypertension, among a long list of other heart-related problems. The sad reality of obesity is that your body is storing all the extra calories you are not burning in the form of fat. This fat impacts most parts of your circulatory system.

If you decide to go on a diet to lose weight now, you can dramatically reduce your cardiovascular risks. Reducing fat levels leads to a less-stressed circulatory system which leads to a healthier heart.

Lower cancer risks

Obesity has been linked to certain cancers, especially if your diet consists of heavy portions of animal protein. Colon and rectal cancer, among others, have been linked to obesity. While there has been a lot of progress made in helping cancer patients live longer, few people, if given the choice would consciously go through such treatments as cancer therapy-radiation, chemotherapy, nausea, hair loss, and others.

By simply deciding to eat healthier food and hit the gym more frequently or add a few miles of walking to your routine, you can start shedding weight. It may seem like a hassle and it might seem like it takes a lot of effort, but it is nothing compared to the trauma, pain, and stress of cancer therapy. Also, it is not just you who would be impacted but your loved ones as well.

The good news about weight loss is that you only need to select a plan and get started. That's all there is to it. The key is to start. Once you start, you can fine tune and make adjustments. What's important is you stopped thinking about losing weight and started doing it instead. Are you ready to make the choice today?