Obesity has severe effects on your health. Too much food and little to no regular exercise can lead to unhealthy weight gain and life-threatening problems.
Some negative effects of obesity include:
- Putting strain on your heart
- Raising the risk for diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cancer
- Raising blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels
- Lowers good cholesterol levels
- Leads to sleep apnea, resulting in pulmonary hypertension
- Increases risk of pulmonary embolisms and blood clots
Become healthier
Check your body mass index (BMI) to see if you’re at a healthy weight.
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute provides an easy-to-use BMI Calculator.
Some benefits of lowering your weight include:
- Fewer muscle and joints pains
- Regulated blood pressure
- Reduced burden on the heart and circulatory system
- Better sleep
Even dropping as few as 10 pounds can lower heart disease risk.
Become physically active
When you first start losing weight, the focus will probably be on eating less and eating healthier.
Exercise is helpful to maintain an overall healthy lifestyle and to keep your weight at a healthy level.
Here are some tips for people who have not exercised in a while (or ever):
- Clean your house (instead of hiring a maid)
- Clean your yard and mow the grass (avoid riding mowers)
- Go out for short walks (5-10 minutes to start and move on to 30 minutes)
- Walk or bike instead of driving whenever possible
- When walking, switch from a leisure to a brisk pace
- Use the stationary bike when watching TV
- Walk your dog
- Purposefully park your car farther away so you can walk the extra distance
- Use exercise equipment at home
No matter at what point you are in the scale, start eating healthier and becoming more physically active now to avoid health problems in the future.