The First 20 Pounds

Pounds have more good news to share guys - I've lost a little over 20lbs and I'm super close to my first goal (losing 10% of my body weight)!

I found a great article online on the health benefits of losing weight and I thought I'd share the benefits I'm experiencing (you can read the original article here). 

0 lbs - even without weight loss, if you're active, you will benefit! To quote the above linked article, "A study published in an American Heart Association journal found that getting physically active - even without losing weight - is associated with a longer life span". 

2 lbs - your blood pressure drops! In fact, it drops 1 mmHg for every 2.2 lbs you lose.

10 lbs - you might live longer! A study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology showed that people who lost 10 lbs reduced their risk of dying from hear disease by up to 30%. And a different study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, showed that losing 10 lbs (or 5% of your body weight if under 200 lbs), can reduce your risk of developing the most common types of breast cancer by up to 50%. 

14 lbs - say goodbye to diabetes! The Diabetes Prevention Program's research found that after people lost around 14 lbs, Those at risk for Type 2 diabetes reduced their chance of developing it by 58%.

18 lbs - your heart is healthier! According to a study by the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, mildly obese people with Hypertension who lost around 18 lbs had reductions in their heart-wall thickness (which is caused by strain on the heart and can lead to heart failure).

20 lbs - you can breathe better! Researchers in Ottawa studied obese women and found that a 10% loss in body weight improves lung capacity by 5%.

It's one thing to lose the weight (which is hard enough!) and quite another to maintain it. According to this article, "'We don't know exactly why, but when you lose weight, the various hormones that control your hunger and desire to eat seem to kick in more, encouraging you back to your own set point.' In other words, Dr. March says, if you want to maintain your new weight of, say, 140 pounds, you will probably need to eat fewer calories than somebody who is already 140 poinds and just wants to maintain her weight."

In case you didn't get that - if I lost 10 lbs and now weighed 140 lbs (I wish!) and I wanted to maintain that weight, and I had a friend who has always weighed 140 lbs (she has not had to lose weight to get to her current weight) and wants to maintain as well, I would probably have to eat less calories than her. Completely unfair, right? Unfortunately, studies are showing this to be true. People who is have lost weight and want to maintain need to eat less than people who just want to maintain at their current weight. So, it's still a long and tough road ahead, both losing and maintaining. But I'm determined and I will succeed!