Everyone should lose weight, not just the overly obese American stereotype who eats ten burgers per day. Everyone who wants to live a longer, healthier life should check for their body weight, and ask himself “am I really going to be a chubby potato for the rest of my life?”.
No society has ever been so much obsessed with food than the Western one. We eat till we become obese, and we waste our food while the rest of the world is plagued by starvation. We eat so much that we compromise our health, as excessive body weight is associated with several medical conditions. Do we really need a reminder of how important it is to lose weight? Well, let’s see some of the most important reasons why people should lose weight.
1. Overweight and obesity are risk factors for several medical conditions
Overweight and obesity are considered by modern science as medical conditions by themselves. An inordinate amount of researches and publications demonstrated how excess body weight increases the risk of several health problems. Sometimes, a diet can improve our lives and health by a significant margin. We’re almost assured that our lives will be shorter due to the increased risk of death caused by stroke and cancer. We will suffer from several debilitating conditions that will definitely lower the quality of our lives like gallbladder stones, sleep apnea, or breathing disorders. Finally, we will have to deal with more serious permanent diseases such as type 2 diabetes and osteoarthritis. Here is a list of most medical conditions associated with overweight and obesity:
Coronary Heart Disease
Stroke
Atherosclerosis
Colon, Breast, Endometrial, and Gallbladder Cancer
High Blood Pressure
Hyperlipidemia
Type 2 Diabetes
Osteoarthritis
Metabolic Syndrome
Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome
Sleep Apnea
Infertility
Gallstones
2. Being overweight will make you feel bad, look bad, and live worse
No matter how much the media can stress the dreamy idea that “everyone should accept oneself as it is” or that “you’re still beautiful even if you’re fat as a hippo,” well here’s the truth: these are all blatant lies. We live in a slim-oriented society, our ideals of beauty privilege tall, athletic, thin people, not overweight, chubby ones. There’s nothing sexy in a flabby tummy, and every time you will look at yourself in the mirror you will be remembered of this harsh reality. Overweight people are often targets of derision, discrimination, and most of the time they will be thoroughly stigmatized. Recent studies found that obese people have fewer chances to find employment, and when they do, they are often offered lower wages. If you want to “love yourself” or appreciated your self-image… start losing your weight and doing physical exercise. This a much more honest approach to reality compared to every other advertisement or social marketing lie.
3. Losing weight will vastly improve the quality of your life
There’s little debate on how annoying being fat can be. Not only you need to eat more, spend more money, look out for special-sized clothes and endure the never-ending pain of feeling constantly hungry. Those are minor annoyances, indeed. If you’re overweight, you will be much more prone to anxiety, social stress, and low self-esteem. It’s not just about society and perception. There are several physiological mechanisms that will make overweight and obese people feel worse than slim and athletic ones. And what about that constant horrible feeling of sluggishness? The fact that even the smallest physical endeavor will let you feel fatigued, drained, and debilitated? What about that constant urge to eat something after you just finished your meal, that oppressive feeling of shame and guilt every time you eat too much, and the economic and social burden of coping with one of the many diseases associated with overweight? Recent studies even demonstrated that people that live a healthier lifestyle and engage in regular physical exercises would suffer from less pre-menstrual syndrome effects, suffer from fewer anxiety symptoms, are more able to cope with stressful situations, and have a better overall mood.
4. People around you will appreciate and love you more
People that love you will keep loving you no matter what. But what about giving them reasons to love you a little more? Being fat usually means also being uglier, and being overweight often means that you do not give much effort to looking better than you are. Be a better person, spend more time taking care of your appearance and health. Other people will love you more and in turn, you will also love yourself a little bit more.
