Accepting yourself as you are and learning to love your body instead of bending to the fabricated ‘etalons of beauty’ is fantastic. However, there are many reasons to lose excess weight (if you have any) that have nothing to do with your appearance or self-esteem. In fact, millions of people could benefit from going on a weight loss diet for no other reason than it being healthy.
3 Reasons Why You Should Consider Going on a Weight Loss Diet
1. A well-balanced healthy diet + weight loss = lower risk of heart disease
Reducing your risk of heart disease is so important that this alone should be your main reason to go on a weight loss diet. This condition is the leading cause of death in the US. On average, every 40 seconds one person dies from cardiovascular heart disease. And every pound over the optimal weight increases your risk of developing it exponentially.
You can use a BMI (Body Mass Index) calculator to determine if you are in the ‘safe zone’. When studying the results, consider the following:
- BMI 18.5-24.9: normal weight.
- BMI 25-29.9: overweight, risk of heart disease increased by 32%.
- BMI 30+: obese, risk of heart disease increased by 81%.
Please note that if you are bordering on or outright obese, you’ll need to take extra steps to make your weight loss diet more efficient. This means including exercise and weight loss supplements into your program.
When choosing workouts, make sure you have a cardio session at least twice a week. It will not only help you lose weight faster, but also strengthen your cardiovascular system. As to supplements, research the products to find the one that will work best within your current diet. You also should buy only high-quality products from reliable sources. To be sure in their efficiency and your safety, you should go for all natural diet pills.
2. You go on a weight loss diet – you reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes
The incidence of type 2 diabetes has grown by 65% since 1996. This condition today can be considered an epidemic of sorts, and 90% of people who have it are either overweight or obese.
The connection between excess weight and metabolic disorders is extremely strong. Losing weight and going on a nutrient-rich and low-fat diet is advised to all people suffering from them. In the case of diabetes, this kind of diet is one of the necessary steps in the management of the condition.
Do not forget that while it’s true that millions of people live with type 2 diabetes, this condition can lead to a variety of extremely dangerous and often fatal problems. Kidney failure, blindness, and coma are the most common. People suffering from diabetes also have a high risk of amputations as even a small injury might lead to gangrene in these patients.
3. Being obese and overweight makes you depressed
The modern society pays more attention to mental health and recognizes the dangers of psychological disorders. Depression is the most common of these conditions with more than 300 million people globally suffering from it. Bear in mind that there are many others, who remain undiagnosed.
Numerous studies have proven that there’s a direct link between being overweight or obese and developing depression. You can see a systematic review of the main works on this subject in the Archives of General Psychology.
For a long time, scientists couldn’t determine whether being overweight causes depression or the other way round. However, research indicates that the connection goes both ways. People suffering from depression have a 58% risk of obesity, and those who are obese are 55% more likely to become depressed.
The conclusion is that going on a weight loss diet can give a big boost to your mental health. This can also reduce the amount of stress you have to face, both physical and psychological.