Weight Loss Motivation [Updated 12/18]

Are you aware that dropping a few pounds may just do more for you than make you look and feel better? If looking better is not enough to motivate you to lose weight, being healthy should.

“For some people, being overweight contributes to worsened asthma and allergies,” Dr. Michael Wald, MD (integrate medicine specialist in Mount Kisco, NY) says. “It puts a burden on the adrenal glands, which are involved in managing asthma and allergies. Being overweight is also a strain upon the respiratory system, and can exacerbate asthma symptoms.”

Dr. Wald also reveals less weight means less pressure on the part of your body that bears the most pressure: your feet. Studies find that some people who lost an average of 90 pounds have less foot pain. In some participants, foot pain dropped as much as 83 percent. If you have ever suffered from foot pain, that’s additional motivation for you to lose your excess weight.

Wald adds that being overweight can affect your skin in many ways.

“Skin elasticity and color are known to be altered by problems with nutrition, and diets high in carbohydrates and sugar can cause skin pallor and skin tags,” he says. Darkness around the eyes can be a sign of iron deficiency anemia, protein anemia, diabetes, or stress from a variety of sources.”

Weight loss and arthritis have a strong connection that’s tied to inflammation in the body. A number of studies have noted that weight loss improves arthritis pain. A recent study of 87 older adults with knee arthritis found that those in a weight-loss group reduced their pain and improved their function significantly over a control group that did not lose any weight. This includes the hormones that impact your mood.

When we’re overweight, our entire system is out of balance, and losing weight can increase our overall well-being and decrease the severity of depression.

“Many overweight people suffer from severe depression, and depression can also increase the chances of being overweight as it reduces the individual’s ability or desire to help their overweight situation, or to prevent it in the first place,” Wald notes. “PMS also can be helped by losing weight, as the loss of fat tissue can have a favorable effect upon hormonal balance.”

If you find that you are motivated to lose weight, but realize you have difficulty sticking to a plan, you can benefit from the help of the professional health care staff we have here at Weigh To Wellness. We will give you added reasons to want to lose your excess pounds to become a healthier person. Then we’ll give you the tools your need to reach your goals.