If you are overweight then your weight is negatively affecting your health. Physically and mentally you are suffering, every day!
Unless you can reduce the excess weight that you are carrying around with you all day, then there’s a high chance that your weight will destroy your health.
The first part of you being able to turn this around and reach a healthy weight is fully understanding and appreciating what you have at stake here. You can then have more motivation to move forwards with your life and take control of your weight.
To help you do this, here are 10 ways that your weight can destroy your health:
1. Death from any illness
The massive overall downside of being overweight is that it’s proven to give people a higher risk of dying from ANY illness.
People who are overweight carry around needless and unhealthy excess fat. This includes the fat that you can see from the outside, plus the fat that you can’t see inside which is known as “visceral fat”.
This visceral fat wraps around your organs and is the most dangerous type of fat. So, by having more of this dangerous fat on your body, and having a body that is struggling to function effectively due to excess weight, this leads to a higher chance of death.
It doesn’t get any worse than death, but these next 9 ways that your weight can destroy your health, comes pretty close!
2. Suffering from heart disease and heart attacks
Heart disease is often caused by a build-up of fatty deposits on the walls of your arteries around your heart, which causes plaque. These arteries are what carry blood around your body.
The more build-up, the narrower the arteries become which restricts blood flow to your heart muscle. A heart attack then occurs when an artery that carries blood to the heart is blocked. This can easily be done if some plaque breaks off causing a blood clot which blocks the arteries.
Many people who are overweight have a diet that is high in fat, salt, sugar, and cholesterol, and these have been linked to heart disease. This means that if your diet has caused you to gain weight, then you have a higher risk of suffering from heart disease and heart attacks.
3. Having a stroke
A stroke is when someone has an interruption of blood flow to their brain which causes immediate mental dysfunction or loss of consciousness. Similar to having a heart attack, a clot can occur which blocks the blood flow. Or there could be a bursting of a blood vessel.
Being overweight and having a poor diet affects your arteries all around your body, including the ones that supply blood to your brain.
Having a stroke can really destroy your health and result in very limited function, both physically and mentally. Reducing your weight, developing a healthy diet, and exercising, all reduce this risk.
4. Having high blood pressure
High blood pressure, or hypertension, is the biggest cause of strokes. You could also suffer with chest pain, shortness of breath, headaches, nosebleeds, dizziness, and blurred vision.
Again, being overweight and having a poor diet are big factors that contribute towards you having high blood pressure. A diet high in fat, salt, and cholesterol all increase your risk.
The good news is that high blood pressure can often be reversed by developing a healthy diet and doing regular exercise, which both have a massive effect on improving your health and fitness.
5. Suffering from diabetes
Diabetes occurs when too much sugar builds up in the bloodstream because the pancreas isn’t producing enough insulin.
This disease means that you could feel more hungry and thirsty, urinate more, have fatigue, blurred vision, cuts or wounds that take longer to heal, and tingling or numbness in your hands or feet.
Studies have shown that the more overweight you are and the more inactive you are, the greater your risk of diabetes. This shows why it’s not only important to lose weight and reach a healthy weight, but also to include exercise along the way.
6. Getting cancers
By being overweight you have a higher risk of suffering from various cancers. For example, breast, ovarian, prostate, and colon cancers.
We all know someone who has had, cancer and the devastating effect it can have on their life. Cancer can ruin your quality of life and can lead to a very quick decline in your health and an early death.
Being overweight causes changes in your body that can lead to getting cancer, such as more inflammation and higher levels of insulin. The more overweight you are, and the longer you are overweight, the higher your risk.
Getting your weight back under control and moving towards a healthy weight, by having a healthy diet and exercising, reduces your risk.
7. Having osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a health problem where your bones become weaker and more fragile, making them more likely to break. It can also result in reduced height over time, poor posture, and back pain.
It’s thought that being overweight may lead to an increase in bone density due to the extra weight load on your bones, and could therefore protect your bones. This could be seen as a positive.
However, studies have shown that some overweight people have hidden fat inside their bones that could increase risk of osteoporosis and make your bones weaker and more prone to fractures.
The best option is to reduce your weight and body fat to help protect your bones, as well as doing weight bearing exercises such as running, weight training, or circuit training to help keep your bones stronger.
8. Having arthritis
Arthritis is a condition that causes pain, inflammation, and stiffness in the joints. This can also mean restricted movement of the joints and losing muscle which means a weaker body.
The more weight and fat you are carrying around with you all day, the higher your risk or arthritis. You have more load on certain joints, such as in your spine, hips and knees, and this makes them especially vulnerable to arthritis.
Reducing this load by losing weight and body fat, reduces your risk of suffering from arthritis, and the sooner you can do this the lower your risk will be.
9. Suffering from depression
People with depression tend to feel unhappy or hopeless, have a continuous low mood or sadness, have low self-esteem, have less motivation, and struggle to find pleasure in things they usually enjoy.
Studies show that a greater percentage of people who are overweight have depression, compared to people who are a healthy weight.
One factor is that many people who are overweight have more inflammation in their body which can impact how their brain functions and put them at a higher risk of depression.
However, the biggest factors are most likely related to how the person feels about themselves. If you are unhappy with your weight and how your body looks, have little energy and feel tired, don’t sleep as well, and suffer with all the other physical, mental, and social drawbacks of being overweight – Then this can have a huge, negative effect on you and can lead to depression.
These can all be improved when you lose weight and reach a healthy weight, and especially when you combine this with exercise and a healthy diet. Having professional counselling can also be a great help if you are suffering from depression.
10. Feeling anxiety and stressed
Studies show that being overweight is linked to anxiety and mood disorders. This can lead to feeling worried or stressed, feeling nervous or tense, struggling to concentrate, finding it difficult to sleep properly, feeling dizzy, breathing quicker, sweating, shaking, and having an increased heart rate or heart palpitations.
You may also feel more irritable and intolerant of other people, and find it harder to make decisions.
One way this anxiety could happen is because an unhealthy weight can disturb your hormones, which can then lead to changes in behaviours that produce more anxiety and stress.
However, the biggest factors are most likely related to how the person lives their life. If you are overweight and are struggling with your weight, your energy levels, how you look, how you perceive others see you, poor sleep, and generally feeling well below your best – Then this can greatly contribute to making you feel more anxious and stressed.
Getting in control of your weight and losing weight, making positive improvements with your exercise, and feeling the benefits of a healthy diet, are all a great help.
Don’t let your weight destroy your health
By learning about these 10 ways that your weight can destroy your health, it’s easy to see that it’s really important for you to get in control of your weight and reach a healthy weight. Otherwise, it’s proven that you have a higher risk of suffering from serious health problems.
These health problems can be devastating, and the longer you are overweight, the more likely they are to happen to you. I encourage you to do everything that you can to lose weight and reach a healthy weight!
Get the help you need to turn this around and get in control of your weight, with our expert help to lose weight. Start today with the BoostMyLife Online Program.
James Porter
BoostMyLife Founder
