Today, everyone seems obsessed with maintaining the ideal body weight in order to look good and keep up with the competitive world.  But maintaining your ideal weight goes far beyond looking good.  It has several important health benefits that you need to take into serious consideration.  Obesity or excessive weight is one of the leading factors that are indirectly attributed to death.  Of course, perhaps no one has ever died from being fat alone but excess weight can cause a horde of other ailments that can be life threatening.

Getting in shape and fighting obesity is a wise and good move you can make now to lead better and higher quality of life.  If you still feel that losing weight is too much of a hassle, let’s look at seven reasons why you should start losing weight now.

Reason #1:  Diabetes
Almost ninety percent of those suffering from Type II diabetes are overweight.  Diabetes is a real danger and currently ranks as the third killer of women and men in the United States.  It also causes adult blindness.  Diabetes can be the result of eating the wrong types of food.  Foods that possesses high glycemic index such as cakes, processed flour and cookies will cause your body to increase the level of glucose in the body.  This causes the body to be in high glucose states which makes losing weight very difficult to achieve.

Reason #2: Stroke
Being in an obese state can cause arteriosclerosis to occur, which is the result of fatty deposits building in the arterial walls throughout your body.  This causes the path where the blood is flowing becomes small and increases blood clotting.  When the blood clots happen in the brain, it blocks the supply of blood to the tiny microscopic capillaries which can result in stroke.

Reason #3 Cancer
Obese people are more likely to get cancer.  Even though only 33% of people diagnosed with cancer are actually overweight, there is medical evidence that being obese do promote a condition that actually encourages cancerous cells to grow.  Physical inactivity and body fat promote a high level of insulin and excess estrogen.  Both of these elements actually promote accelerative cell division.  The faster those cells divide the higher the risk of getting cancer!

Reason #4: Respiratory problems
Obesity causes the lungs to appear “smaller’ and makes breathing difficult and laborious.  One condition that is common to overweight people is sleep apnea.  When sleep apnea occurs, an individual actually stops breathing for a few moments.  There is a soft tissue that collapses and prevents the airway from working normally.

Reason #5: Urinary Incontinence
This condition occurs when the body is incapable of controlling the release of urine.  Urinary incontinence is caused by a heavy abdomen exerting pressure on the valve of urinary bladder which causes one to lose control.  The extra weight then puts extra pressure on the urinary bladder thus causing more complications that will lead to the condition known as urinary incontinence.

Reason #7: High Blood Pressure
One third of the high blood pressure cases are linked to obesity.  Generally, Body Mass Index and the age are two important factors that cause high blood pressure to occur in a person.  Losing weight will go a long way to reduce there risk of developing one, or reduce the risk of a more dangerous condition or events such as stroke if you already have high blood pressure.

It is a good idea, no matter where you are in life, to start a food weight loss program if you are overweight.  Do not wait for a catastrophe to occur before you start taking action.
If you are few pounds overweight or if you are very overweight, then please take action right now and start losing that excess weight before catastrophe strikes.  Losing weight may not such a difficult task after all, if you have access to the right information and doing it the right way.  You can talk to your doctor to find out the best way to lose weight safely and effectively without jeopardizing your health.  It can be fun, motivating and provides tremendous benefits in terms of a renewed sense of self confidence and better health and quality of life.

Filed under: Weight Loss