The pandemic has made us stay at home for more than a year now. Most of us have gained some weight during this time and just can’t seem to get motivated enough to get in shape again. If you don’t know, there are a lot of benefits of losing weight.
Getting a perfectly lean body or to fit in clothes is a secondary reason to lose weight. Staying healthy is the most important factor to losing weight, and surprisingly, you can actually save money by losing weight if you look at it as a long-term investment. Take a look at this calculator by Ideal You to get the figures. If you are trying to get motivated to lose weight, then you are at the right place. Here are some benefits of losing weight.
1. Physical advantages
No, we are not talking about how you will look more attractive than you look now. By physical advantages, we mean the extra energy that you will have. Carrying extra weight consumes a lot of energy from your body, and when you lose weight, you will have all of this energy to use somewhere important.
When the body is supplied with nutritious food, it can perform a lot better. A healthy body can easily fend off bacteria and diseases. You can also see the symptoms of headaches and migraines vanish as you lose weight. If you have any of these diseases, losing weight can prove a lot more beneficial.
2. Improves mental health
Foods with a high value of fat, sugar, and salt content, basically junk foods, can trigger high levels of cortisol. Foods which have processed carbs are specifically bad for your health. Cortisol, also known as the stress hormone, can degrade your mental health and can cause a lot of uninvited stress and other mental health diseases.
When you lose weight, you don’t have to worry about triggering cortisol. You will experience a much more balanced mood than before. Exercise also encourages the brain to release chemicals like endorphins which are also known as feel-good hormones resulting in a good mood and a positive attitude.
3. Better social life
You will be encouraged to go out more when you lose weight. You got do something about that left-up energy. You will actually feel like trying out new activities and meeting new people rather than wasting time at home.
You will feel a lot more confident as losing weight can not only help you look good but also help with clearing your skin. When our kidneys and liver are relieved of the stress that high sugar foods put on them, the filtration system can work properly, resulting in clearer skin and healthier hair.
You may also be looking at a promotion or at least praise from your boss as reducing weight can actually help you work better as well. When your body receives the nutrition that it’s supposed to, it helps improve cognitive function, which makes work seem a lot easier.
4. Improves self-confidence
When you start your journey of losing weight, it will not be easy. However, once you are through it, you will start to respect yourself and your decision more. You will be able to try out outfits that you were not comfortable wearing. Your doctors will have one less reason to scold you about. People will start noticing you, and your confidence will increase a lot.
Eating healthy is a big part of losing weight. Unhealthy amounts of salt and sugar can mess with your brain’s chemistry deteriorating your mental clarity. However, all of this vanishes as soon as you lose weight. You will feel your decisions becoming more impactful. Consequently, it will boost your confidence in laying down your opinions.
5. Improves sugar in the blood
Losing weight will increase the insulin sensitivity of your body with regard to type 2 diabetes. Almost 500 million people are suffering from some kind of diabetes. The disease is a major cause of kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke, and lower limb amputation. You will have very low chances of getting diabetes after losing weight.
Your body will be able to regulate blood sugar levels fairly well. Weight loss reduces adipose tissues and allows the body to manage blood sugar much more efficiently. These kinds of improvements can make your body active and effective. The changes that we mentioned don’t even require a big difference in your weight; only a 5% reduction in body weight can improve blood sugar levels as well.
6. Decreased joint pain
When you grow older, your joints are what will give you the most problems. Part of the problem is if you were obese as an adult, your weight was causing your joints to become stressed, damaged, and inflamed. Losing weight can relieve all the tension from your joints. Losing weight will not only help you in old age, but if you suffer from joint pain in adulthood, you will see good results.
Joints quickly wear down when under stress, and excess weight provides additional stress, which makes the process even faster. A study showed that losing about 10% to 20% of body weight was giving people results. They were experiencing less pain and improved joint function. However, losing about 5% weight was not very effective.
7. Boosts sex drive
Weight loss improves sleep, and hence, you will feel more energized during day time. Your respiratory functions are also improved. Not only are you getting higher energy for your daily tasks, but weight loss can also improve sex drive.
While the correlation between your body weight and sex drive is still under research. Some studies have shown that weight gain increases the SHBG, short for sex hormone-binding globulin, levels in your blood. This hormone lowers testosterone levels and negatively affects your libido.
Losing just 5% of your body weight will start showing you some of the benefits that we mentioned. If you feel a lot more motivated to lose weight than before, then we have done our job. If not, these were some of the basic advantages that losing weight can provide. In addition to this, a better sleep schedule, a better immune system, and a lot of things together are able to improve your lifestyle.
