Going on a diet can be one of the best decisions you may make, because of the benefits of weight loss. This article will discuss how a weight loss diet can make you happier and healthier in the long run. Weight loss does not just make you look better, it also has many health benefits as a side effect.
General Benefits
These benefits aren’t strictly related to healthy, but they sure will brighten up your life as you drop pounds!
- Better Sleep
Research shows that losing up to 5% of your body weight can help you catch more sleep at night! Prepare to be well-rested on your journey for weight loss in 2017!
- Better Mood
Exercise releases chemicals called endorphins, that help to lift your mood. When you are committed to losing weight in 2017, including exercise in your diet regimen is a great way to boost your mood while you gain confidence in your body!
- Better Skin
When you cut unhealthy foods out of your diet and focus on getting more nutrients from fruits and veggies, your skin will thank you for it! Clear skin is linked strongly to a healthy diet, so losing weight isn’t the only way you’ll be improving your looks on your weight loss journey.
- More Money
When you’re committed to a losing weight you won’t be spending that extra money on food delivery fees or expensive bar tabs. Your money will be more efficiently spent cooking in your own home, because it is cheaper to do so. This way you have more money to spend on things you really want — like new clothes to match your new body!
- Being A Better Cook
With practice cooking healthy meals for yourself and your family, you will over time become a much better cook than before! You will likely eat out less, and enjoy your own food more.
Health Benefits
- Lower Cholesterol
Being overweight is linked to an excess of LDL, which is the bad type of cholesterol. LDL can block your major arteries, leading to a possible heart attack or stroke. By choosing a weight loss diet, you can lower the amount of LDL in your body and make yourself have more good cholesterol that will not harm your body.
- Lower Blood Pressure
Blood pressure is the amount of pressure present on your artery walls. High blood pressure can also put you at risk for a heart attack or stroke. By choosing exercise and a weight loss diet, you can lower your blood pressure and feel better while you look better! Lowering your blood pressure helps to protect both your heart and kidneys.
- Lower Risk of Heart Attack
When your arteries develop an excessive amount of plaque from high cholesterol and high blood pressure, you are at a high risk of a heart attack. This is because your arteries are more likely to become blocked, and because your heart muscles become stiffer. Plaque in the arteries cuts off airflow to the heart, which can be fatal. By choosing weight loss in 2017, you are on your way to lowering your risk of heart attack.
- Lower Risk of Developing Dementia
Almost 50% of Americans have too much abdominal fat. This fat can release chemicals that are inflammatory, which can cause memory loss and increase your chances of developing dementia. High blood pressure and high cholesterol are also linked to Alzheimer’s disease. Through diet, you can reduce the amount of fat in your abdomen and thus decrease your risk of dementia.
- Lower Risk of Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea occurs when there is a breathing blockage in your sleep, which often causes you to wake up in the middle of the night, disrupting sleep cycles. This can make you feel more drowsy during the day, and put you at risk of oversleeping, which comes with its own array of risk factors.
Overweight people develop thicker tissue in your windpipe, which can cause sleep apnea. Through diet and exercise, you can decrease this risk.
- Less Joint Pain
When you’re overweight, it puts a lot of stress on your joints. This pressure can cause a lot of joint pain, even at a young age where arthritis isn’t the problem. Each extra pound adds three pounds of pressure to your knees, for example. By losing just ten pounds, you can reduce the pressure on your knees by thirty pounds!
- Lower Risk of Cancer
Fat cells encourage the release of chemicals such as estrogen and insulin, which can be linked to cancer-causing hormones. Cancer is when your cells won’t stop multiplying, causing a tumor. These hormones can indicate to your cells that they must continue growing, even when there isn’t room for them, causing a tumor. By choosing weight loss in 2017, you can reduce your risk for cancer as well!
- Lower Risk of Diabetes
When you have excess fat on your body, your cells become less sensitive to insulin. Insulin is the chemical that manages sugar levels in your blood. Low insulin sensitivity can lead to diabetes. By committing to weight loss in 2017, you lower your risk of high insulin sensitivity, and thus diabetes.
- Less Medications
When you’re overweight, it’s likely that you have high blood pressure and high cholesterol. These are often treated with a plethora of medications, which can be expensive and come with side effects that are hard on your body. When you weigh less, you can live a healthier life without the need for pricey medications!
- Get Sick Less Often
When you’re focusing on your health, that means your immune system is in tip-top shape to fight off illness! Nothing makes you healthier than making the right lifestyle changes, one of the best benefits of weight loss.
Why not start now?
Weight loss will improve not just your looks, but your entire life. Your health will be better, you’ll feel better both physically and mentally, and you’ll look better than you have possibly since high school! With all these benefits in mind, ask yourself, why not start a weight loss diet now?