Losing weight can seem like a daunting task, especially when you have tried dieting and exercise in the past and couldn’t achieve lasting results.
Fortunately, you don’t have to lose a huge percentage of weight to improve your overall health. Even losing as little as ten pounds can reduce your risk for health problems, boost your mood, and improve your quality of life.
In this article, we explore the top 8 health benefits of losing 5% of your overall body weight, as well as practical ways you can cut down on those extra pounds without feeling overwhelmed or stressed.
8 Health Benefits You’ll Notice When You Lose 5% Of Your Body Weight
1. Decreased Visceral Fat
Visceral fat, known as hidden fat, is typically found deep inside the belly and wrapped around organs such as the liver and intestines. While it makes up only around one-tenth of all fat stored in the body, it’s more dangerous to your health than other forms of fat.
Too much visceral fat can have serious effects on your body, including raising your risks for:
- Heart disease
- Alzheimer’s
- Type 2 diabetes
- Stroke
- High cholesterol
Fortunately, when you lose a small percentage of your body weight, you also lose a percentage of your body fat. This includes visceral fat.
2. Lower Blood Pressure
Hypertension is linked with a number of health problems, from heart disease to blood clots. It’s also strongly related to your body weight. Excess body weight accounts for as much as 30% of high blood pressure cases, and the more weight you gain, the higher your blood pressure becomes.
Losing just 5% of your body weight reduces both systolic and diastolic blood pressure by 5 mmHg on average. This can reduce frustrating symptoms of hypertension like:
- Severe headaches
- Chest pain and difficulty breathing
- Dizziness
- Nausea and vomiting
- Anxiety
If you’re able to lose even more, you’ll notice a more drastic reduction in these symptoms and further drops in blood pressure levels.
3. Reversed Insulin Resistance
Insulin resistance is a hallmark predictor for pre-diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes. With this condition, body tissues begin to become resistant to normal insulin levels. As a result, the pancreas has to produce larger amounts of insulin and blood sugar levels spike.
Insulin resistance can create a dangerous cycle of weight gain. As you gain weight, your body becomes more resistant to insulin. Then, as your body produces higher levels of insulin, your body gains more weight.
Even modest weight loss amounts can significantly decrease your body’s insulin levels and reverse insulin resistance, stopping weight gain before it happens and allowing your body to adjust to normal insulin levels. Low, steady weight loss is the best method for keeping your blood sugar levels steady.
4. Improved Mood & Self-Esteem
Body weight is strongly related to self-esteem and happiness. Those who are overweight tend to suffer from more pain, discomfort, insecurities, and health concerns that can take a toll on their mood. As many as 43% of people suffering from depression are also obese. Depression can also increase your risk of gaining weight.
The good news is that losing body weight can improve your mood and reduce both depression and anxiety. This boost to your mental health not only improves your overall quality of life but can also make it easier to keep up your weight loss plan.
DISCOVER 3 REASONS YOU CAN’T LOSE WEIGHT
5. Reduced Inflammation
Fat cells, particularly visceral fat, are known to release irritating chemicals that inflame tissues throughout the body. This inflammation can cause significant pain and worsen a number of health problems, including:
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Autoimmune diseases
- Cardiovascular diseases
- Gastrointestinal disorders
- Asthma
- Dementia and mental health
Fortunately, inflammation can be reduced by even mild weight loss, such as 5% of your body weight. If you can achieve weight loss of 10%, your inflammation levels drop significantly, and your risk of vascular damage is reduced.
6. Less Joint Pain
Inflammation is one of the leading causes of joint pain, but your overall weight can play a role in how much your knees, feet, and hands ache throughout the day. Weight puts extra pressure and strain on your joints.
For those who are overweight, each pound you lose can reduce the weight on your knee joints by as much as 4 pounds. So if you lose 10 pounds, you’ll have 40 fewer pounds of pressure on your joints.
According to the American College of Rheumatology/Arthritis Foundation, losing 5% of your body weight can improve both joint function and the effectiveness of arthritis treatments such as medication or steroid injections.
7. Lower Cholesterol
Poor cholesterol levels are one of the biggest health problems our country faces. While medications can help lower your LDL (bad) cholesterol levels, there aren’t many options available to raise your HDL (good) cholesterol levels. This can put you at a higher risk of heart disease, even if you’re taking cholesterol medication regularly.
Fortunately, a 5-10% body weight loss can raise your good cholesterol levels by 5 points. Mild weight loss levels can also decrease your triglycerides by an average of 40 mg/dl, which further reduces your risk for heart attacks and strokes.
8. Better Sleep
Sleep plays a significant role in our energy levels, mood, and overall health. It’s also something most Americans struggle with on a regular basis.
One of the most common causes of sleep problems is sleep apnea. In this condition, a narrowed or blocked airway causes disrupted breathing at night, waking you up frequently and reducing the quality of your sleep. Patients with obstructive sleep apnea can have as many as 30 episodes of disrupted breathing in a single night.
Those who are overweight or obese have a higher risk of sleep apnea because fat deposits on the neck, known as pharyngeal fat, can block your airway while you sleep. Weight loss can reduce fatty deposits on the neck, tongue, and abdomen.
If you manage to lose 10% of your body weight, you can reduce the severity of obstructive sleep apnea by 50%.
How To Lose Weight And Keep It Off
Losing weight can be a struggle for many individuals. But for those with specific health problems or over 40 years of age, weight loss becomes a significant challenge. Simple strategies can help you reach your 5% weight loss goal and maintain it without experiencing yo-yo weight loss.
Intermittent Fasting
While most diets focus on what you eat, intermittent fasting prioritizes when you eat. It’s about only eating foods at certain times of the day or the week based on what works best for you.
When you don’t fast, your body relies on the calories from your meals and snacks to provide energy to your cells. You don’t burn calories or fat this way. But with intermittent fasting, your body uses up its sugar storage and begins to burn fat during the times when you don’t eat.
There are a number of intermittent fasting plans, from daily plans to weekly plans.
- 16/8 fasting: This plan involves eating for 8 hours and fasting for 16 every day.
- 5/2 fasting: This plan involves eating regular meals 5 days a week. Then, for the other two days, you restrict your diet to one 500-600 calorie meal. The fasting days should be spread out, such as on Monday and Thursday.
It can take several weeks to a month before you notice an improvement with intermittent fasting, so it’s important to stick to your plan.
Low-Intensity Interval Training
As you age, your joints become more susceptible to damage with exercise. This can make working out harder and more uncomfortable, especially if you’re someone who doesn’t love exercise to begin with.
Low-intensity interval training (LIIT) helps you get into shape without pushing yourself too hard. It consists of low-impact exercises performed in intervals followed by a slower-paced recovery period. Low-impact exercises can include:
- Walking
- Swimming
- Cycling
- Yoga
- Pilates
- Spinning
LIIT is often easier to maintain than high-intensity workouts, particularly for those who aren’t already in shape. It helps increase your aerobic capacity, breaks down fat, and provides oxygen to muscles as they need it.
Trim & Fit Weight Loss Program
Sometimes, diet and exercise alone aren’t enough to achieve or maintain weight loss. Maybe you struggle to stick with your program. Or perhaps you do stick with it, but you don’t have the results to prove your hard work.
The Resurge Clinic’s Trim & Fit Weight Loss Program helps you uncover and treat the root cause of your weight gain, so you can take back control of your health and stay fit as you age. Based on your bloodwork, we’ll create a personalized weight loss program combining supplements, peptide treatments, hormone therapy, diet, and exercise to help you lose weight and keep it off for good.
Get The Support And Resources You Need To Lose Weight
Your weight can impact not only how you see yourself but also your overall physical health. But by losing as little as 5% of your overall body weight, you can achieve significant health benefits while improving your self-esteem and mental health.
If you’re struggling to shed those extra pounds, the team at The Resurge Clinic is here to help. With our Trim & Fit Program, we’ll help you treat the root cause of your weight gain and learn simple, practical ways to maintain your results.
Click the button below to schedule a meeting with The Resurge Clinic.
