As we continue through this month of exploring how nutrition can help you live your healthiest life, Sweet Life Wellness lays out several key areas of health that can be positively impacted due to your weight loss and positive weight management! Join Maryland dietitian Kay Loughrey as she shares these key areas as well as helpful tips for weight loss and weight management.
Through the many studies of weight loss and weight management, researchers have discovered that there are several significant health benefits from losing even 5% of weight and maintaining that weight loss. Today Sweet Life wellness is going to walk through four of these areas to show how weight loss helps these areas in your health!
Heart Health
Heart health is significantly impacted by weight loss and healthy weight management, especially hypertension. Studies have shown that extra body weight has been the cause of up to 30% of hypertension cases.
Joint Health
Your body’s weight deeply impacts the health of your joints, as over time the build-up of weight causes strain on the cartilage around the joint. As weight increases, so does the impact of strain on the cartilage, weakening the joint! Since the majority of your body weight is carried by your lower joints, those are the most at risk for injury. One of the biggest ways to prevent joint injury is to have regular consistent exercise at any weight and make efforts towards weight loss.
Mental Health
Weight gain can cause struggles with several mental health concerns including depression, self-image, stress, and anxiety. With even a slight weight loss, studies have shown improved body image and self-esteem, and with both rising, a decrease in depression!
Insulin Resistance
Excess weight has been shown to be harmful to the body’s ability to balance blood sugar levels, yet with weight loss studies have shown that insulin sensitivity has improved! Any amount of weight loss that can be maintained (meaning not regained) has been shown to make a lasting difference on blood sugar balance and insulin sensitivity.
As Sweet Life Wellness has shown, there are several key areas of health that can benefit from weight loss. While this may seem daunting or impossible, we have a few suggestions for losing and maintaining weight loss!
Tips for Losing and Maintaining Weight
~ Make a priority to have regular consistent exercise every day!
~ Build a lifestyle of healthy eating choices and serving sizes!
~ Build a healthy sleep schedule!
~ Allow yourself to enjoy your favorite foods in moderation!
~ Choose something active as a new hobby!
~ Follow the buddy system… success comes with others!
~ Discover your hydration needs and follow them daily!
Learn more about weight loss and how to create your own weight loss goals here.
Resources
Ryan DH, Yockey SR. Weight Loss and Improvement in Comorbidity: Differences at 5%, 10%, 15%, and over. Curr Obes Rep. 2017;6(2):187-194. doi:10.1007/s13679-017-0262-y. Accessed October 15, 2023.
Clamp LD, Hume DJ, Lambert EV, Kroff J. Enhanced insulin sensitivity in successful, long-term weight loss maintainers compared with matched controls with no weight loss history. Nutr Diabetes. 2017;7(6): e282. Published 2017 Jun 19. doi:10.1038/nutd.2017.31
Johns Hopkins Medicine. “Maintaining Weight Loss.” HopkinsMedicine.org. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/maintaining-weight-loss. Accessed October 15, 2023.
Obesity Action Coalition. “Benefits of 5-10 Percent Weight-loss.” Obesity Action Coalition.org. https://www.obesityaction.org/resources/benefits-of-5-10-percent-weight-loss/. Published Fall 2013. Accessed October 15, 2023.
Cleveland Clinic. “Here’s Why Losing Weight Is the Key to Losing Joint Pain.” Cleveland Clinic.org. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/if-you-lose-weight-you-can-lose-joint-pain-too/#:~:text=The%20more%20weight%20on%20the,on%20those%20lower%20body%20joints. Published December 7, 2020. Accessed October 15, 2023.
National Council on Aging. “How Excess Weight Impacts Our Mental and Emotional Health.” https://www.ncoa.org/article/how-excess-weight-impacts-our-mental-and-emotional-health. Published April 21, 2021. Accessed October 15, 2023.
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. “Eating & Physical Activity to Lose or Maintain Weight.” https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/weight-management/adult-overweight-obesity/eating-physical-activity. Reviewed May 2023. Accessed October 19, 2023.
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Kay Loughrey, MPH, RDN, LDN
Transformational Speaker, Breakthrough Coach, Nutritionist-Dietitian
Karis N. Hicks
North Carolina Central University
M.S. – Nutrition Studies
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