Health reasons to lose weight

F4Tdestroyer

What are the benefits thanks

estherdragonbat

It varies from person to person, but in my case:

1) Blood pressure has steadily improved.
2) More energy.
3) While my blood panels weren't sending up any red flags, yet, T2D runs in my family and some indicators were creeping into potentially dangerous areas. Everything is now normal. (I think! Just went for a check-up yesterday, so I guess I'll know for sure in a couple of days.)
4) My lymphedema hasn't flared up in over a year.
5) Google 'surgery complications obesity'. There are a lot. Everything from general anesthetic being riskier to longer recovery times to statistically lower survival rates and statistically higher likelihood of overall complications.
6) Some doctors have a tendency to initially chalk up many early warning signs as "well, when you're overweight, it can happen." Stuff like shortness of breath, aches and pains... Even scarier stuff like blood in your urine may be caused by overexercise (it's not uncommon when training for a marathon, for example), but a lousy doctor could chalk it up to an obese patient starting a moderate exercise program they aren't used to. Well. In my case, when I had that symptom, I wasn't obese anymore and while the doctor did caution me that overexercise could cause it, he also sent me for further tests. It turned out to be bladder cancer. Caught early, lesions have been removed, my surgery went without a hitch—they didn't even keep me overnight, and apart from the discomfort of a catheter bag for five days and the annoyance at being barred from lifting anything heavier than 3lbs for a couple of weeks, everything was great. But had I still been carrying the 85 extra lbs I'd had at my starting weight, I don't think it would have gone so smoothly.
7) Obesity is a risk factor for many conditions. That lymphedema I mentioned above? That got triggered when the veins in my legs collapsed under my extra weight. Heart issues, general aches and pains and wear and tear. I'm not sure whether my TOM cramps have decreased due to weight loss, due to exercise, or due to a combination, but they have decreased.

I should note that my weight loss has been achieved with a mix of diet and relatively non-strenuous exercise. (Mostly walking and strength training with dumbbells currently ranging from 5lbs to 20, but when I got started almost a year ago, I don't think I was lifting heavier than 8.) Some benefits are likely due, not only to my weight loss, but to my increased activity levels. BUT losing the weight gave me the energy to increase those levels, so it's interrelated!

iWishMyNameWasRebel

Oh goodness, too many to count. Many listed by estherdragon above. So many folks with excess weight have great bloodwork and no current health issues, which is wonderful. I was in that category in my 20s too.

Then, I was "blessed" with Postpartum Cardiomyopathy with Congestive Heart Failure at the age of 28. The docs say my weight was not a factor...it hits all health levels. However, my weight WAS a factor when I did not improve and had to be considered for the transplant list. Even though I was young and a mother of two with zero other issues, I would automatically get moved WAY down the list because I was also so obese. The risk factor was too high for me to be a top pick candidate. Fortunately, I improved on my own before needing to be added to the list.

Bad knees and joints run in my family. In my 20s I had no issues. But now, in my mid-40s, after decades of carrying far too much weight than they are designed for, my knees are a mess much sooner than they should have been.

My surgical procedures have been longer, harder, and with deeper scars because of the excess fat the surgeons have to cut through. My recoveries have thus been more difficult. At my higher weight, doctors could not use standard imaging equipment to get a good view of my organs because of too much fat. That caused delays.

Being overweight, I am uncomfortable doing moves that healthy-weight people have no problem with, just from having to maneuver the bulk of my body.

The lighter and stronger I get, the more energy I have because my system is using less just to sustain my mass.

I won't get too much into any of the benefits that are based on society's behavior.