From driving up your blood pressure and cholesterol, to increasing your risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and more, there's no question that being overweight is more than just a cosmetic problem - it's a serious threat to your health.
At the same time, if you're like most folks, even the thought of embarking on a 20-, 40-, or even 100-pound weight-loss plan can seem like a mountain that's impossible to climb.
If this is the way you're feeling right now, take heart. Today, the most progressive weight-loss experts agree you don't have to climb the whole mountain, or even go halfway up, to improve your health. Indeed, taking even a few small steps toward your weight-loss goals can go a long way in reducing your health risks, even if you never reach the ideal number on your bathroom scale.
Even Small Steps Have Big Benefits
--------------------------
At the same time, Sondike tells WebMD that losing weight in an unhealthy manner, for example, by starving yourself or using diet aids like ephedra, can work against your overall health, sometimes leaving you in worse shape than before you attempted the weight loss.
"Depending on what you take or what you do, you could end up with higher blood pressure and a worse cardiovascular profile than when you weighed more," says Sondike.
Along these same lines, University of Utah nutrition expert Shawn Talbott, PhD, cautions that attempting too stringent a weight-loss plan can also backfire, and take its toll on your health.
"Both extreme calorie restriction and placing yourself under a great deal of mental stress about losing weight has been shown to increase cortisol levels, the hormone that is associated with high stress," says Talbott, the author of The Cortisol Connection.
When this happens, he says, it causes your appetite to soar, not only encouraging you to eat more, but also increasing the likelihood that whatever weight you do gain will be stored as abdominal fat.
"This can then increase your risk of heart disease and other significant health problems," says Talbott.
In the end, he says, it's the act of living more healthfully, and not just dieting, that matters most, even if you never reach your weight goals.
Anhalt agrees. "A little weight loss achieved in a healthy way is far more beneficial than a large weight loss that happens in an unhealthy way." If you lose even one pound through healthy living, he says, "You do an incredible service to your body and your health."
Better to Be 'Fat and Fit'
--------------------------
If you simply take some healthful steps in the direction of your weight-loss goals, you are likely to reap some healthy rewards, even if you never drop a single pound.
As remarkable as that sounds, in studies published in March 2003 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, CDC researchers found that those folks who simply tried to lose weight lived longer.
The finding does not surprise dietitian Samantha Heller, MS, RD, who believes effort does count.
"Very often, simply making the effort to lose weight, such as adding more fruits and vegetables to your diet, reducing your intake of sweets, junk foods, and saturated fats (found in foods like meat, cheese, and butter), and becoming more physically active can improve your overall health and reduce your risk of heart disease and diabetes, too," says Heller, a nutritionist at New York University Medical Center.
So, Heller tells WebMD, even if you never actually lose any weight, doing these things alone is bound to help you feel better and ultimately, impact your health in a positive way.
And many doctors now believe that even if you are unable to lose any weight at all, keeping yourself from gaining pounds as the years go by will also help you gain some important health benefits.
"If you can focus your efforts on achieving a more healthy lifestyle, if you increase your level of physical activity just a little bit, and maybe incorporate some healthful changes into your daily diet you will not only be successful at preventing weight gain, in the process you will be doing something positive for your health," says Sondike.
"In the end," says Anhalt," it's not about the pounds, it's all about the lifestyle changes, and about understanding that, in the long run, fat and fit is ultimately better than thin and unfit."
If you make the changes that lead to a healthier lifestyle, experts say you will definitely be healthier, and ironically, you'll probably weigh a lot less as well.
Source: WebMD
You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.
About The Author
------------
Michael Lewis has been collecting articles and information on Weight Loss and HGH (Human Growth Hormone) and related health benefits. He has created and edits numerous web sites about this subject. Michael is a staff writer for http://www.ageforce.com and several other websites. If you would like to contact Michael you can e-mail him at http://www.ageforce.com or if you would like to know more about Weight Loss, HGH (Human Growth Hormone) and related health topics please visit us at http://www.ageforce.com.
It is much safer to your long term health to... Read More
Surprisingly, hair loss is one of the reasons female pre-operative... Read More
I have tried many "diets" here in the USA and... Read More
How to Say No When You Don't Want the FoodA... Read More
Green tea has been highly valued in Asia for centuries... Read More
I know, I know. What a crazy question!Considering that we've... Read More
If you're serious about losing weight and getting fit, you... Read More
Every day you walk down the street it is becoming... Read More
Do you know what the words really mean on food... Read More
New gastric bypass patients say they miss food, they grieve... Read More
Two basic approaches to losing weight; one approach is correct... Read More
It's one thing to stick with your diet regimen when... Read More
Most Americans do not get enough calcium in their diets;... Read More
Fighting obesity has become one of the most important issues... Read More
As hoards of low-carb proponents invade the nutritional landscape, the... Read More
Finally - you are alone. No one else is around.... Read More
If you are trying to lose weight you may find... Read More
Summer is about to be in full swing, and it's... Read More
Negative thoughts, symbolic protection, being who we really are ........ Read More
There are lots of dieters, trying every sort of plan... Read More
From personal experience I have myself like all of you... Read More
Losing weight on hips and thighs has always been a... Read More
The answer to the title of this article is "none."... Read More
All weight loss diets make you FatThat's right, because on... Read More
One of the greatest tricks that I use to stick... Read More
top rated cleaning service Des Plaines ..Research from Harvard, recently published in the highly respected peer-reviewed... Read More
If you are like everyone else who has hit rock... Read More
The Atkins diet Plan breakfast can usually composed of eggs... Read More
For the past 20 years, the American public has been... Read More
In the medical community, "obesity" is generally said to be... Read More
In the early nineties doctors were beginning to see the... Read More
If you have been watching your weight all year, you... Read More
As an employee of famous fitness star Kathy Smith, personal... Read More
For some of us, food is warmth and love. We... Read More
Am I missing something here? If I am, someone please... Read More
Which diet pill are you currently taking for your weight... Read More
Taming the See Food Eat Food ResponseWhat happens when you're... Read More
Ever notice how your best friend can lose weight on... Read More
Your brain has this really interesting system that is kind... Read More
All of us that have had a love-hate relationship with... Read More
"The kind of thoughts that you plant in your mind,... Read More
We have such good weight loss intentions. We emotionally beat... Read More
Everywhere we look in the western world we are inundated... Read More
Sharing our bariatric stories is as personal decision as electing... Read More
Well, look at you go! You keep moving closer and... Read More
Twenty years ago, I did not expect to accomplish what... Read More
There are currently over 100 billion dollars sold in weight-loss... Read More
The Constant Quest for Restriction; Not enough vs. too muchRestriction.... Read More
Gastric bypass patients face a great task in the following... Read More
As parents who've had gastric bypass we face many challenges... Read More
Weight Loss |