Feeling deflated about your New Year’s Resolution? Did you have the goal of losing some weight this year, yet feel like the pounds are just not coming off like you wanted them to? We are just over halfway through January, and many people will soon start giving up on those goals of getting healthy, simply because they feel they are not being productive in losing weight. However, maybe their focus wasn’t on the right thing.
Have you been eating right, exercising hard, but still feel like you’re not making progress? You might be making more progress than what you can see!
Yes, we are in the middle of an obesity epidemic. More and more people are becoming overweight or obese, which can lead to a multitude of health problems (high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer). However, that’s only part of the story. Once we control for age, sex, and whether a person smokes, it appears that fitness level is a much better predictor of disease and early death than how much you weigh. Being skinny does not protect you from disease, it is actually your physical activity that does that – regardless of what your weight is. This should be good news to anyone who is working on becoming healthier because it focuses on your daily activity and not your end result on a scale.
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In 1999, a group of researchers studied the risk of disease and mortality based on whether you were normal weight, overweight or obese, and whether you were physically active or sedentary. As you could imagine, those who were obese and sedentary were at the greatest risk of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and dying earlier (more than 2-3 times the risk in normal-weight active individuals). Overweight individuals who were sedentary were also at a great risk (twice the risk of normal-weight active individuals). However, those who were normal weight, but had a low level of fitness were at greater risk of developing those same diseases than if they were overweight or obese and fit.
Cardiovascular fitness levels were a stronger predictor of health
than what the patients’ weight was.
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Another group of researchers conducting a similar study found that active and fit individuals had lower rates of chronic diseases and lower rates of mortality across all body types (normal weight, overweight and obese). They concluded that overweight or obese individuals who are active and fit are less likely to develop obesity-related chronic diseases and have early death than normal weight persons who lead sedentary lives.
Bottom Line – It is more important to your health that you are physically active than what your weight is on the scale. Don’t give up hope! Each step you take (literally) is a step in the right direction. It is a daily choice to get up and get moving, and each time you make that choice, you are one step closer to a healthier life.
Instead of focusing on this scale:
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Maybe we should be focusing on this scale:
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Sources:
Blair S & Brodney S. Effects of Physical Inactivity and Obesity on Morbidity and Mortality: Current Evidence and Research Issues. MSSE: 1999 (31), S646-S661.
Wei M, et. al. Relationship Between Low Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Mortality in Normal-Weight, Overweight, and Obese Men. Journal of the American Medical Association: 1999 (282), 1547-1553.
