The Importance Of Weight Loss

Weight loss can be defined in so many ways. But if we take the context of health, physical fitness and medicine, we can define weight loss as the reduction of the total body weight. This could be in the form of loss of body fluid, the loss of body fat or lean body mass.

Most of us wanted to lose weight if only to improve our fitness and health. Losing weight can actually prevent serious health problems like diabetes, stroke, osteoarthritis, some cancer and heart disease--especially for a previously overweight or obese person. Weight loss occurs when a person achieves a negative energy balance: the human body spends more energy (from physical activities) than it is gaining from the intake of food. In this case, stored fats in our bodies are burned to produce the energy we need.

Not all weight loss techniques are considered safe and healthy. To maintain good health, our weight loss routine should aim at losing fat in our bodies while at the same time conserving the muscle and body fluids. This is why long term fasting is not good because you are also losing lean muscles and body fluid, making your bodies weak and more vulnerable to diseases. Crash dieting has the same effect as fasting. This is done by restricting yourself from all nourishments except water for 12 hours. The purpose of this diet is to burn as many fat as possible in a short period of time. The only problem is that you are also losing body fluid in the process. This is a short-term weight loss technique (the weight you lost will eventually return the moment you resumed your regular eating habits).

Medical experts recommend an adjustment in our eating habits, as well as increasing our physical activities (like regular exercises, jogging, walking or playing sports like basketball or badminton). A more specific solution would require us to lessen the caloric content of our diet while increasing the bodies' physical activities. To enhance the effect of weight loss routines, some people take dietary supplements. These could either decrease our appetite, increase the rate of the body's metabolism, blocks fat absorption or reduce stomach volume. For more serious cases, bariatric surgery may be used. This involves the surgical reduction of the stomach size or the reconstruction of the gastro-intestinal tract.

Weight loss also has positive effects on our emotional well-being. People who are overweight tend to have lower self-esteem/self worth. Their confidence is so low that it sometimes affects their performance in sports, in school, in the office or even at home. Those who have undergone successful weight loss programs say that they seemed to have regained their life back. They are much more confident in performing their tasks. They look much more attractive than before. And they now have higher self-esteem.

There is no doubt that losing weight has a lot of benefits. However, pushing our bodies to the limit is not a good practice at all. If you have a medically acceptable weight, then there is no need for you to lose some more weight. More than the physical benefits, it is health issues that should be considered first and foremost.