Why Should You Bother to Lose Weight?

For most people who visit this web site, there is no more convincing to do. Most who come here, for information and opinion, are probably already of the mind to at least to attempt to get their weight down to a healthier level.

If you are not already convinced, or need just that final shove to get started on a weight loss program, then it is perhaps worth summarizing the reasons why you may need to lose weight, and should do so. In the end, though, it is down to you. You are the one to get motivated to start on a diet or weight loss program, and you will be the one who needs to follow through to a successful end - a healthy weight you have achieved from your own endeavors and spirit, and then maintained forever after.

Here are some of the clear and obvious reasons you should first of all check if, and by how much, you are considered overweight by the medical profession, and then be determined to do something about it:

1. Can you recall how much better you felt when you were a "normal healthy weight"? It was good, wasn't it. You hardly noticed your body as you went about your day because it felt just right. Do you not want to feel like that again? If you cannot remember what it was like, and how much better you felt, then you have probably been overweight for years. That makes it more important still to act urgently, and start on a well planned diet and exercise routine.

2. Evidence increases every year that obesity and being overweight have a significant impact on health, including several chronic diseases, notably type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, gout and others.

3. Carrying all that extra weight around is no great fun is it? The more there is, the worse the problem. Your skeletal frame does not appreciate it either. All that extra weight on joints, especially hips, knees and ankles, is not going to be good for them. Even if you have no genetic predisposition to arthritis, that extra weight could just be enough to cause premature wear on key joints. That, I assure you, is no fun.

I spent most of my 20's being crippled by an arthritic disease called ankylosing spondylitis; you may have no such disease, but the severe pain, discomfort and inconvenience of a decaying joint can be a living hell. If you can avoid it by losing weight, then you need to.

4. Being fat can damage your self esteem, though I have met some great, jolly, lovable people who were grossly overweight. For most, though, obviously being overweight damages confidence and self esteem, even if not all will admit it. Getting back to a healthy weight can make you feel better mentally as well as physically. All those compliments as you regain your old weight and shape will work a treat on your self belief.

5. If you are lucky, as you glow with a new confidence and look more attractive at a lower weight, your existing relationships may improve, or if you are alone, prospects of a new special relationship could grow significantly.

There are, of course, lots of detailed medical reasons why you should achieve a healthy weight and keep it there; this summary was just a final reminder of what is at stake.