Obesity is a serious health condition, but losing even a modest amount of weight can make a big difference. Losing 5-10 percent of your total body weight can result in almost immediate health benefits and reduce your risk for a wide variety of health conditions and diseases. This article explores the multitude of benefits that can arise from losing 17 pounds, encompassing everything from improved heart health and reduced cancer risk to enhanced mood and a better sex life.
Heart Health Improvements
Obesity is one of the biggest risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks, strokes, and high blood pressure. Carrying extra weight puts added strain on the heart, making it harder to pump blood. Losing even a small percentage of body weight can make a big difference.
Excess weight is a key risk factor for coronary artery disease and stroke. Every pound of fatty (adipose) tissue in our body contains hundreds of feet of blood vessels that require oxygen and nutrients. So, the more fat you carry, the harder your heart has to work to pump blood to all the blood vessels in your body. Excess weight is also associated with clogged or narrowed arteries due to a buildup of plaque made up of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and other fatty substances. Narrowed arteries combined with hypertension greatly increases your risk for heart attack, heart failure and stroke.
According to Dr., patients often see cardiovascular improvements quickly. “With metabolic surgeries, the effect is immediate, with continued benefits over the first year. With sleeve gastrectomy, improvements typically appear within three months,” says Dr. Maintaining a healthy weight after weight loss surgery is key to long-term heart health. Dr. If you're struggling with obesity and concerned about your heart health, know that you have options. To learn more about weight loss options and how they can benefit your heart, visit Intermountain Health’s Weight Loss Services.
Reduced Cancer Risk
Losing weight lowers the risk of specific cancers. One study showed that older women who lost at least 5% of their body weight lowered their chances of breast cancer by 12%. There’s no such clear proof that losing weight protects you from other types, but some changes that happen when you shed pounds hint that it might. For example, overweight people who slim down have lower levels of some hormones linked to cancer, like estrogens, insulin, and androgens.
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People who have more body fat are more likely to get many types of cancer. Weight loss can lower your risk for breast, endometrial, colon, prostate, and other cancers. Even if you do get cancer, you’ll have better odds if you fight the disease at a healthier weight.
Improved Management of Type 2 Diabetes
Excess body fat causes inflammation and interferes with the function of insulin, a hormone that helps regulate blood sugar levels. Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease in which insulin function is affected to the extent that blood sugar levels are consistently elevated. Over time, this can lead to serious damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys and nerves. People with type 2 diabetes who take action to start losing weight typically experience improved insulin sensitivity.
If you’re more likely to get the condition, weight loss is one of two ways to prevent or delay it. The other is moderate exercise -- 30 minutes on 5 days a week. If you weigh 160 pounds, you could lose just 8-12 of them to get the benefit. If you already have diabetes, losing that weight can help you take less medication, keep control of your blood sugar, and lower the odds that the condition will cause other health problems. Even minimal weight reduction can help improve your blood sugar levels.
Alleviation of Joint Pain
The stress of additional weight can accelerate how quickly knees and other joints wear down. As the smooth surface (cartilage) at the end of the bones wears away, it causes the joint to become stressed and inflamed, causing pain and stiffness. Losing weight benefits your knees and other joints. Even minimal weight reduction reduces joint pain and makes it easier to move around.
Just 10 extra pounds add 40 pounds of pressure on your knees and other lower body joints. That can wear them out quicker. Extra fat can also cause inflammation -- when chemicals in your body damage your own tissues over time, including your joints. Losing even a little weight can ease these effects. If you keep it off, you’re much less likely to get arthritis later in life.
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Enhanced Sleep Quality
Carrying extra weight can increase fat deposits in the neck and lead to obstructive sleep apnea - a condition in which breathing is interrupted during sleep. Losing weight improves sleep and boosts energy. People who are overweight frequently suffer from sleep apnea. It’s a condition where fat deposits in the neck make it harder to breathe, which results in frequent awakenings throughout the night. Losing weight may not eliminate the problem, but it can significantly improve sleep quality.
People who are overweight gain extra tissue in the back of their throats. When your body relaxes when you sleep, that tissue can drop down and block your airway. It makes you stop breathing over and over all night, which causes all kinds of health problems, especially for your heart. Slimming down a little can often help with sleep apnea -- sometimes enough that you can stop using the bulky breathing devices that treat it.
Improved Sexual Function
Some research shows that excess weight may affect certain sex hormones in the blood and lower sex drive. Shedding pounds can increase your sex drive.
People who are obese often report low interest in sex or that they just don’t enjoy it very much. Overweight men may struggle with erectile dysfunction. The good news is that losing the extra weight can help. A review of 16 weight-loss studies showed that when people lose weight, the quality of their sex life improves.
When you’re overweight, you typically have less sex. It might be because you just don’t feel good about your body. But it also may be that you have less desire and that even when you’re in the mood, your body doesn’t respond as well. Shed a few pounds and you’ll not only feel better about yourself, you may be in the mood more often, too.
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Psychological and Emotional Benefits
Weight loss may help chase your blues away. Scientists are still trying to work out why, but better body image and improved sleep may be part of the reason. In one study, depressed people who were very overweight felt better after they lost an average of 8% of their body weight. Other research shows you’ll continue to feel better, even after 2 years -- as long as you keep the weight off. People whose moods were better dropped more pounds. Keeping a healthy weight lowers risk for depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems. A good mood and a healthy weight go together.
Not all the benefits of weight loss are physical. We’re all familiar with the idea of a downward spiral, where things go from bad to worse. Losing a few pounds gives you a little more energy, a little less joint point, and a healthy dose of confidence. Those benefits can then lead to increasing your exercise regimen and making additional improvements to your diet. Then, with your heart and circulatory system beginning to function more effectively, you may feel encouraged to take on even bigger challenges. Making progress can improve your self-esteem.
Impact on Taste
Too much excess weight can dull your sense of taste. One reason for this might be that you've actually lost taste buds. Studies show that people who lose a lot of weight, especially after weight loss surgery, don't taste things the same way afterward. Sweet and fatty meals might not taste as good to you. So, you’ll naturally start to eat more healthy food and take in fewer calories. Losing weight can improve your sense of taste. It’s not clear why, but people who lose weight often report that it sharpens their sense of taste.
Other Health Improvements
Weight loss can reduce your blood pressure and cholesterol. It can also slash risk for diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and osteoarthritis. Losing weight improves mobility.
You can lower your LDL or “bad” cholesterol with healthier food and medications. But it’s harder to raise levels of the “good” kind of cholesterol, HDL. That’s the type that clears bad LDL from your blood, so the more you have, the better. Exercise and losing body fat can get you into the ideal HDL range: above 60 mg/dl, which lowers your odds of having heart disease.
Extra body weight makes your blood push harder against your artery walls. That makes your heart work harder, too. You can lower the pressure by about 5 points if you trim 5% from that number on the scale. Cut your salt and eat plenty of vegetables, fruits, and low-fat dairy, and you may lower it even more.
Body fat, especially in your belly area, gives off chemicals that make your body stop reacting to the effects of insulin, a hormone that keeps the level of sugar in your blood normal. Even though your pancreas works harder to make more insulin, your blood sugar can get too high. A little bit of weight loss can help reverse this effect.
Fat cells, especially those around the belly, can release chemicals that irritate and inflame tissues all over the body. This is linked to health problems like arthritis, heart disease, heart attack, and stroke. Work toward a 10% weight loss goal, and you can lower the amount of these substances and cut your chances of having a serious illness.
Face changes
For a weight change to show up on your face, you’d need to change your BMI by 1.33 points, the study found. That means a woman and man of average height would need to gain or lose eight pounds and nine pounds, respectively. For this study, the average woman was 5 feet 4 inches tall; the average man 5 feet 10 inches.
To make your face look more attractive, you’d need to lower your BMI by about 2.5 points. That means a woman and man of average height would need to lose about 14 pounds and 18 pounds, respectively, the study found.
Potential Downsides
If you've shed quite a few pounds, your skin can’t just bounce back to where it was before. You may have extra folds or flaps on your belly, thighs, arms, chin, or your breasts. You might not like the way they look. This excess skin can also be uncomfortable and even get irritated or infected. A plastic surgeon can perform an operation to get rid of the extra tissue.
If you lost a lot of weight, it’s because you’re eating less. When you make a major change in the amount of food you take in each day, your body begins to process it more slowly. This can make it harder to keep losing weight after you've already lost some. You can give your metabolisma little help with more exercise, including strength training to build muscle mass.
Fixed meal times can help regulate the internal clock that keeps your body running on a 24-hour day. If you've changed when you eat to help you lose weight, you may also see changes in when you sleep and wake. If you want to keep losing, studies show that when you eat matters.
Scientists have tied body temperature to obesity in men and post-menopausal women. (Menstrual cycles might help regulate body temperature in other women.) Data suggest that a higher body mass index is connected to higher body temperature.
Strategies for Successful Weight Loss
Losing weight can feel daunting, and requires planning and commitment. Starvation and gimmick diets are not effective over the long-term and can actually harm your health. Instead, take small steps towards improving your diet, increasing your exercise (walking is great), and taking an “everything in moderation” approach to your lifestyle in general. “Weigh yourself once a week, track your progress and remember: you didn’t gain the weight overnight and you won’t lose it overnight. Be patient with yourself and give it time. You’re on a journey, not a sprint, toward a healthier life and reducing your risk for a wide range of health problems,” adds Dr. University Hospitals is here to support your weight loss journey with nutrition counseling services, medically supervised non-surgical weight loss programs, and, for certain patients, weight loss surgery options through our bariatric surgery program.
A lifestyle with good nutrition, regular physical activity, stress management, and enough sleep supports a healthy weight. Factors, such as medicines, medical conditions, stress, genes, hormones, environment, and age can also affect weight management. If you're concerned about your weight or have questions about your medications, talk with your health care provider. Consider why you want to lose weight, whether it's because heart disease runs in your family or you want to be more physically active. Writing down your reasons will help you stay focused on your goal.
Tracking where you are now helps to identify how you want to improve your health. You can start by tracking your nutrition, physical activity, and sleep. Nutrition: Include everything you consume for a few days in a food and beverage diary. Sleep: Include the hours of sleep you get. Other wellness factors you can track include how you are feeling when you eat and drink and are active, and lifestyle challenges.
Set short-term goals and reward your efforts along the way. Focus on two or three goals at a time. Effective goals are specific and realistic. Remember, occasional setbacks happen. This is expected. When they happen, get back on track as quickly as possible. Everyone is different. What works for someone else might not be right for you. For example, to help you be more active, try a variety of physical activities, such as walking, swimming, tennis, or group exercise classes. See what you enjoy most and can fit into your life.
Identify family members or friends who will support your weight loss efforts. Coworkers or neighbors with similar goals might share healthy recipes and plan group physical activities. It may help to join a weight-loss program or visit a health care professional, such as a nutrition or weight-loss specialist. You can also ask your health care provider for resources to support a healthy weight.
Establish healthy habits are very difficult when healthy choices are limited. Consider looking up your local community resources, such as food pantries, farmers markets, parks and recreation, and trails. Resources for food assistance in everyday situations, as well as before, during, and after emergencies and disasters.
Evaluate your progress regularly by revisiting your goals. Decide which parts of your plan are working well and which parts need to be changed. Reward yourself for your achievements! Recognize when you're meeting your goals and be proud of your progress. Use non-food rewards, such as a bouquet of fresh flowers, a sports outing with friends, or a relaxing bath.
There’s no one perfect diet to help you slim down, but there are some basic rules. Make half your plate fruits and vegetables. Keep your protein lean and unprocessed: Choose meats trimmed of fat, and eat seafood, beans, nuts, and seeds. Replace refined grains like white bread and white rice with whole grains like multigrain bread, brown rice, and oatmeal. Special weight loss surgery may be an option if you are seriously overweight.
You should be getting 30 minutes of moderate activity -- a bike ride or brisk walk -- on at least 5 days a week simply to stay in good health. To lose weight and keep it off, you may need more than that. Also include moves to strengthen your muscles, like pushups or light weight training.