Top 10 Health Hazards of Obesity- Part 3

By now you should see a pattern, or a link between not taking care of your health and maintaining healthy weight, and the potential for illness. If #1-7 were not enough to get you off the couch and into the gym (We started our countdown with the heavies, and you're probably thinking, "really, what are the odds?), here are a few more common and avoidable ailments that can make your life difficult and painful. Not deadly, but still very serious.

8.) Joint Problems- Pain in your knees? Hips? Elbows? Well, that could be excess weight putting extreme pressure on your joints, sometimes causing inflammation-aka arthritis. And the obesity-arthritis link is even stronger for females.

9.) Osteoarthritis- primarily affects the weight- bearing joints of the knees, back. hips, spine, and ankles. This common joint disorder causes the joint bone and cartilage (tissue that protects joints) to wear away. How are these linked to being overweight? Extra weight may place extra pressure on your weight bearing joints and cartilage, like in your knees, causing them to wear away, and hurt when you walk, jog, or jump. Also, if you store more body fat, you may have higher blood levels of substances that cause inflammation. Inflammation at the joints may raise the risk for osteoarthritis. Now, losing just 5% of your body weight may decrease this excessive stress on your knees, hips, and lower back, and lessen overall inflammation in your body. And if you already have osteoarthritis, losing weight may help improve your symptoms.

10.) Back Pain: Excess weight, especially in the abdominal area, can eventually put strain on one of your body's most vulnerable parts- the spine. And of course, ladies, lower back pain is especially common for you if you're overweight. Constant or recurring back pain adversely affects your quality of life. Left unchecked over time, can be very debilitating. And the best treatment for this lower back pain? Yep, you guessed it-weight loss and exercises! As little as 20 lbs (especially around your mid-section) can make a big difference in reducing the heavy load borne by your spine! So the sooner you take off the extra pounds with a slow, sensible weight loss program, the better for your health.

The consensus? You can avoid or eliminate many health ailments by keeping fit and eating right! This is something people think most about at New Year's Resolution time, but taking care of your body is not something you should put off for once per year-or a big event, like a wedding-the quality of your entire life depends on your getting up, getting off that couch, into the gym! Why? Because if you're currently overweight and inactive, you probably don't have the self-motivation to keep you moving. You need an environment that motivates you-pushes you to dig deep and release your inner warrior-think Normandy Gym. And exercising out around other people who are striving towards similar goals can be inspiring- remember the buddy system works! And once you've committed to a regular gym fitness routine, it will be easier then to add on additional activities you might enjoy outside of the gym, like jogging the beach, team sports-whatever you like. Not only will you look amazing in your skinny clothes again, but the most important part of your body (the inside, folks) will thank you.

Top 10 Health Hazards of Being Overweight-Part 2

Okay, yesterday we went over the top 4 health hazards related to obesity, and believe me, my intention is not to frighten you. But obesity is a serious problem in this country, and as much information that's out there about healthy living, the staggering numbers of people suffering from obesity-related illnesses are NOT going down. So let's continue to the next three on our list...

Type 2 Diabetes: When your blood sugar levels are higher than normal-that's diabetes. And high blood sugar is a major cause of coronary artery heart disease, kidney disease, and stroke, amputation, and blindness. On it's own, it's the 6th Leading Cause of death in the U.S. This most common form of diabetes is often linked to obesity because more than 85% of the population with Type 2 Diabetes are overweight. Why? It could be that being overweight causes your cells to change, making them insulin resistant. Because insulin is responsible for carrying sugar to the blood from cells, where it is used for energy, when you are insulin-resistant, your blood sugar can not be taken up by the cells (high blood sugar) . So your cells that produce insulin must work extra hard to try to keep blood sugar levels normal.

The good news? You may lower your risk for developing Type 2 Diabetes by losing as little as 5 to 10 lbs, and increasing your physical activity. And if you already have Type 2 Diabetes, you can help control those blood sugar levels and prevent or delay complications, and may even allow you reduce the amount of diabetes medications you take (ask your doctor)!

Fatty Liver Disease: Did you know that a healthy liver regulates fat metabolism and is the #1 fat-burning organ in the body? And yes, you can do damage to your liver even if you drink little or no alcohol-it's called"non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis" or fatty liver disease. This occurs when fat builds up in the liver cells causing injury and inflammation in the liver. And people who have diabetes are "pre-diabetes" are more likely to have fatty liver disease. Are you starting to see a pattern? Now, losing weight and increasing physical activity can help you control sugar levels and fat deposits, possibly giving your liver a break. And did you know if you have fatty liver disease, you should avoid drinking alcohol?

But you CAN reverse the damage, if you're willing to dedicate yourself to your health! When the liver has become a fat storage organ rather than a fat burning organ - this situation must be reversed gradually before actual weight loss can occur. You have to detox your liver to allow it to work normally again-drink plenty of water and raw vegetable juices. It may take weeks or a month or two. Don't be discouraged at this time - the fat loss is occurring - but is going from within your liver so you may not see any visible fat loss from the body - stick with it! It took years to develop the fatty liver, just can't be reversed in a couple weeks. Exercise! Exercise! (Again, at Normandy Gym, you've got that covered) and proper nutrition (go back and read my blogs) and your body will bounce back!

Gallbladder Disease: Ever had gallstones? The Gallbladder sits right below the liver, and is the storage tank for bile- a substance that breaks down fats from the food you eat for use by the body. This bile can be made up of cholesterol, lecithin, calcium, bile salts, acids and waste materials among other things. When the bile salts and cholesterol get out of balance with each other gall stones can form. They cause lots of pain, especially after consuming fatty foods. If you're overweight you may be consuming and producing more cholesterol, and have an enlarged gallstone that doesn't work properly, or in other words, can not break down the fats you're eating-very bad. What can you do? MODERATE, SLOW weight loss can of about 1/2 to 2 lbs per week is less likely to cause gallstones, and achieving a healthy weight may lower your risk for developing gallstones.

Again, heredity may play an important role in whether or not you develop gallstones. But it's incredible to note that so many of the health risks our bodies suffer from are related to the foods we eat, and our level of activity-two things that are 100% within our control!

Top 10 Health Hazards of Being Overweight- Part I

So you can't fit into your "skinny" clothes-that's the least of your troubles if you are overweight. Forget fitting into those jeans, you've got bigger fish to fry (strictly metaphorically speaking, of course-do not eat ANYTHING fried!) Seriously, do you know there are 10 serious health risks for you if you are overweight? Some are manageable- others deadly. And that you can greatly reduce those risks by losing as little as 10 lbs!? So what are you waiting for to get into the gym? Here's a scared straight, Top 10 List you need to stay OFF!

1.) Heart Disease and Stroke-when your arties become clogged or narrowed, your risk for heart attacks and strokes increases greatly. Heart disease and strokes are the #1 and #3 leading causes of death, respectively. And even if you survive a heart attack or stroke, irreparable damage is done to your heart muscle, motor and cognitive skills. If you're overweight, you're more likely to develop high blood pressure, high levels of triglycerides blood fats, LDL cholesterol “bad cholesterol”, and low levels of HDL cholesterol “good cholesterol”. These are all risk factors for heart disease and stroke. In addition, excess body fat—especially belly fat—may produce substances that cause inflammation. Inflammation in blood vessels and throughout the body may raise your risk for heart disease.

2.) Cancer: Your risk of developing this #2 Leading Cause of death may be greater if you're overweight. Why? It may be that fat cells release hormones that adversley affect cell growth, leading to certain types of cancer like those of the colon, esophagus, kidney, and perhaps uterine and post-menopausal breast cancer in women. And poor eating and non-physical activity habits that lead to obesity, may also be contibutors in cancer risk. Remember yesterday's blog about your body being your temple-how do you honor your temple?

Now of course, heredity , genetics, and outright lousy habits such as smoking-the devil that deserves its very own blog entry- play a huge part in whether or not you are at risk for cancer- But the tremendous rewards earned by maintaining a healthy lifestyle are far too many to ignore by maintaining obesity and these poor habits.

3.) Sleep Apnea: Some people who are overweight stop breathing for short periods throughout the night while they sleep. During the day, they are often sleepy and have difficulty concentrating. Why? It's sleep apnea, the risk for which is higher if you're overweight, because more fat is stored around your neck, making your airway smaller, making it hard to breathe, and causing you to snore or stop breathing altogether. And did you know fat stored in your neck and body produces harmful substances that cause inflammation? This inflammation in your neck causes sleep apnea. And excessive snoring can be a tremendous burden on your partner, especially if a light sleeper. So if not for your own health and saftey, consider the one you love!

Please internalize that you owe it to yourself and the people who love and depend on you to protect your health! Stay tuned tomorrow for #4 through 6...