Skip to main content

Weight Loss Is Not Just About Aesthetics

The world is tired of hearing doctors’ advice for weight management, even if it is true. Many know of its seriousness from within. Moments before stepping on the scale, the majority of us feel nervous, anxious, and even terrified to see the number it would display. We start recalling all the instances where we picked up an extra serving, didn’t plan our meals, and ordered takeout. Here is some tough love coming your way.

www.unsplash.com

It has been known for decades that being obese or overweight increases the risk of other diseases like diabetes, cancer, and coronary heart disease. It also alters biomechanics and increases the load on joints while even performing daily activities like walking and stair climbing, which in turn increases the chances of injuries like ligament sprains. It can even cause you to suffer from early osteoarthritis. Not surprising that patients with this degenerative joint disease are medically advised to manage their weight. It also takes a toll on respiration, by causing exertional dyspnoea, meaning feeling breathlessness on performing otherwise simple activities; and obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome, which is a scary but medically appropriate term for snoring. I will elaborate upon these limitations in other articles and for now, let’s focus on the bright side which is to manage obesity.

Now that we have given you enough reasons to understand how the consequences of obesity is not a desirable lifestyle and why you should take care of your body, I feel we need to discuss why do people become obese, despite many knowing the adverse effects. It’s certainly not something that is desired upon oneself. Most people suddenly realise what they have gotten into, whilst very few are truly aware of the accumulation while it is taking place.

One bad decision leads to another, and the rest is history. It might just have started with picking up an extra packet of chips on your way home, then binge-watching your favourite show on Netflix. You skip the gym for a day, a week perhaps. You start bringing work home with you, and you hardly have time for yourself anymore. You’re not interested in anything productive anymore. It’s just like going through the motions. Until one day you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror before going on a date, and now it hits. You feel miserable. As you can see, this is a vicious cycle. Compounding at its worst. It will run its course until you are determined to intervene and help yourself. Here’s the amazing part. There are people who will help those who need guidance, support, or professional advice. You will meet people along your path who can give you that push, but the only individual who can take the first step is you.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Toe vs Heel strike: Injury Risk in Runners

When we observe runners, there are just so many variations in running technique and patterns. The length of the stride, body lean, amount of bending at each joint, the first point of foot contact and the arm swing are just a few of the places where we can notice the differences. Heel striking is one of the most criticised biomechanical variations in running. It is said that a heel to toe pattern impedes the forward motion of the runner and wastes more energy than landing on the forefoot. The first thing to get out of the way is that it’s not necessary that everyone who lands on their heel places it ahead of the body and that everyone who lands on the forefoot does so right under the body, which makes it invalid to connect the two factors. Forefoot Strike Technically there are three types of foot strike patterns: forefoot, rearfoot, and midfoot strike. The mechanics of the midfoot strike have more common features to the rearfoot strike and hence both of them will be considered under the...

What Causes Muscle Cramps and How to Deal With Them?

Almost everyone involved in physical exercise has experienced muscle cramps at some point in time. It can be explained as a painful and involuntary muscle contraction that locks the joint in place. They occur mostly in longer muscles that span two or more joints. Once experienced, athletes may continue to cramp unless adequate rest is provided. There are many theories as to how muscle cramps occur and what can be the possible solutions to relieving them. They are sometimes inaccurately termed as heat cramps. Exercise-associated muscle cramps do not have a relation with body temperature and do not recover with an external cooling modality, like an ice pack. If the theories of muscle cramps do not interest you, skip to the last part where you can learn how to deal with muscle cramps. One of the oldest theories is based on dehydration and electrolyte imbalance that occurs during exercise. It states that sweating alters the chemical balance of the fluids present in the body, which affects...

Can You Lose Weight Through Diet Alone?

There are people who believe that exercise alone can help you lose weight as long as you don’t ‘overeat’. This view is evident by the sheer number of people who purchase gym memberships specifically for weight loss. Whilst physical activity is beneficial, there are a myriad of risks involved when people follow the advice of gurus who aren’t educated about the anatomy and physiology of the human body. At the other end of the spectrum, there are believers in nutrition who could swear by its effectiveness in weight loss. It’s easy to blame a particular macro, be it fats or carbohydrates. It’s much harder to back that claim with evidence. Does that mean we leave everything to chance and do whatever we feel is right? Absolutely not. Looking at the basics of nutrition content, a low carbohydrate diet has been shown to help with maintaining a low energy uptake, which in turn will reduce your weight (As carbohydrates and sugars are well known to be empty calories). Although fat was given a bad...