Modern life can get quite hectic and a healthy diet with a regular workout routine becomes a luxury rather than a requirement. In fact, we can consider ourselves lucky if we even grab an opportunity to spend a few hours with our friends and loved ones. This is the time when extra centimeters around your waist can really creep up on you, so here are 10 warnings signs that you might need to start losing weight.
1. Your clothes are getting tighter
We all have a favorite pair of jeans or that one shirt that just makes us feel as if we are lighter than a feather. These clothes are a perfect litmus test for the progression (or regression) of your weight. Do you no longer feel comfortable in your favorite jeans, even though they are pretty elastic? If your clothes are getting tighter, this is a sure sign that you have gained weight, but you’ve still not done anything drastic.
2. You are chronically tired
If you feel sluggish and your mind regularly fogs up in the afternoon, you might want to check the width of your waistline. Majority of medical researchers claim that there is an underlying reason which connects excess weight and tiredness. Apparently, extra fat causes internal inflammation, which leads to this vicious circle of perpetual fatigue. It goes without saying that such continuous inflammation has deep and far-reaching consequences for your body and the state of your mind.
3. You snore
If you are gaining weight, you will probably begin to snore harder – though snoring can also be related to a number of issues, including anxiety, stress, etc. However, if you truly add more than ten kilograms to your natural weight, your snoring could wake the dead. This becomes especially pronounced when the body begins to store fat around your neck. If you’ve woken up to the sheer force of your own snore – the time has come to make some changes.
4. Your joints are suffering
As it has been mentioned above, increased probability for chronic inflammation is an important factor that comes with gaining weight. The hotspots where that inflammation can get really serious are joints and ankles. If your knees began to hurt every day, as well as hips and back, it probably means that your weight is putting pressure on them.
5. Exercise is extremely uncomfortable
It’s just surprising how many people dislike physical exercise. Some gym-enthusiasts argue that they have just not discovered that they love exercising until they’ve “broken through the rookie ceiling”, but it is absolutely true that physical activity becomes more taxing and uncomfortable as you gain weight. As soon as you feel nearly suffocating discomfort from the most innocuous of exercises, it is high time to change your lifestyle.
If you feel insecure about going to the communal gym, you can create one right at your home by purchasing one of the top-notch exercise bikes and a few lighter weights which you can place in a corner of your living room, preferably by the window. Remember – the first steps will be the hardest, but the longer you persevere, the easier it becomes!
6. You are constantly hungry
The math is quite simple – if you increase the intake of food, your body will begin to crave more as your stomach expands. More food will be needed to sustain your increasing size. While constant hunger is a glaring sign that you are eating a lot of wrong food, it can also be a sign that you are tethering on the edge of abyss known as diabetes. This incessant food craving is also known as polyphagia. Weigh can trigger insulin resistance and diabetes, so have a checkup with your physician and do the necessary blood-work to see if you are in the safe zone.
7. Skin rash
People that gain a lot of weight tend to develop persistent skin rash that can really influence their quality of life. As your skin stretches to accommodate your bulking physique, it begins to fold and these folded, sweat-laden zones are usually where the rash begin to develop. These rashes don’t only cause discomfort, they are also aesthetically distasteful and dealing with them is an additional chore.
8. Your sex life has taken a downturn
Your sex life used to be frequent, abundant in interesting activities and stimulating, but it has taken a downturn lately. If you have gained weight, there are several reasons why this has happened. For one, due to chronic fatigue, you simply lack the strength to engage in sexual “exercise”. In addition, your sexual drive could have gotten replaced by constant food cravings. Finally – and most devastatingly – you simply aren’t as attractive to your partner as you used to be.
9. Excuses, excuses, excuses
Rationalizing your dietary choices goes beyond your inability to find time to take care of yourself. People that have gained a lot of weight can go through incredible cognitive gymnastics to justify their condition and exclaim it in front of other people with a straight face. For example, one of the more frequent justifications of overweight people is that they were unhappy while they were skinnier, which pretty much contradicts modern scientific findings.
In addition, some would even rationalize through surreal mathematics that the amount of time they spend in the gym complies over a lifetime to the number of healthy days they would gain by exercising, turning it into some sort of zero-sum game. Learning how to be brutally honest with yourself and listening to what your friends and family are saying is exactly what you need at that moment.
10. You need to sit in order to take your shoes off
With balance issues, back problems and painful knees, you get into the habit of sitting down in order to take your shoes off, as it would otherwise be impossible without toppling over. There is also a technical aspect to it – people with a “tire” around their waist cannot reach for their laces over the belly. If you have added a chair by your entrance as the regular piece of furniture, you might want to rethink your weight.
If any of these symptoms are familiar to you, it might be high time to renew that forgotten gym membership. With such a deep well of scientifically backed information about maintaining proper physique, losing weight should not be as hard as it used to be. While the initial attempts will certainly be hard, the longer you persevere the easier it becomes. Finally, your body and your spirit shall be immensely grateful for your effort.
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