Recent statistics from the World Health Organization suggest that in 2014, more than 1.9 billion adults 18 years and older were overweight. 600 million of these were obese. 41 million children under the age of 5 were overweight or obese.
It’s no surprise that excess weight can affect your health in a negative way. However, many people wait until they’re already experiencing health issues, often around middle age, before they do anything about their weight. While taking steps in the right direction is never a bad idea, there is an ideal time to shed excess weight, and it’s before middle age.
Read on to learn 5 shocking reasons why you should slim down before middle age!
1. Skin doesn’t return to shape
Though loose skin is a superficial issue, it’s one you’ll have to contend with if you lose weight in older age rather than earlier in life. As you age, your skin will naturally change. Some of the changes you will probably experience include:
- rougher skin
- the development of lesions, including benign tumors
- transparency due to a thinning epidermis
- fragility due to the flattening of the area where the epidermis and dermis come together
- bruising as blood vessel walls thin out
Of course, one final, more major, change is that your skin loses elasticity. As you age, the elastic tissue in your skin relaxes. This is due to a decrease in elastin production. While elastin works with collagen to keep your skin smooth and flexible, elastin is largely responsible for your skin’s ability to remain flexible and elastic, especially when it’s stretched or compressed.
This means that the longer you wait to drop excess weight, the less likely it is that your skin will shrink back to size. Thus, you should focus on losing weight earlier in life, while you can prevent the problem of loose skin well in advance.
2. You risk joint damage
Joint pain, and damage, is another shocking reason why you shouldn’t wait until middle age to drop excess weight. There are two issues when it comes to your joints:
- excess weight puts additional unnecessary stress on weight-bearing joints; and
- it can cause inflammation, causing problems in other joints that don’t bear weight.
The issue comes down to science: On level ground, your knees, as weight-bearing joints, experience a force 1.5 times greater than your bodyweight. If you weigh 150 pounds, this means that you’re putting 225 pounds of pressure on your knees with each step. If you’re going up a hill, stairs, or other incline, the force is 2 to 3 times your body weight and if you kneel down for something, it’s up to 5 times as much force as your bodyweight.
This means that if you’ve put on some weight and currently weigh 200 pounds, you could be putting as much as 1,000 pounds of force on your knees when you bend down to tie your shoe or pick something up from the ground. Over time, this can lead to joint disorders such as osteoarthritis.
The earlier in life you lose weight, the better your chances of avoiding joint disorders altogether.
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3. Menopause is more challenging
This obviously affects female readers, and it’s important to consider it! The reason menopause is more challenging for those who are overweight is because a higher body mass index (BMI) is associated with hot flushes and sweats. Considering that extra body fat insulates flushes when they occur, it isn’t a surprise that these common symptoms are much worse for those who are carrying extra weight.
Moreover, menopause is often associated with joint pain, another issue that can be exacerbated if you’re overweight. These symptoms can be disruptive to your life, if not impossible to live with. As such, it’s important that you exercise − which can reduce these symptoms − and focus on getting into shape before you hit the menopause.
4. You have an increased risk of several common diseases
On a more general level, being overweight, especially as you age, puts you at risk of a variety of health problems. The most common include diabetes, heart disease, and certain types of cancer.
Conditions you may develop include:
- type 2 diabetes
- high blood pressure
- heart disease and stroke
- osteoarthritis
- kidney disease
- sleep apnea
- many more!
The underlying causes of many of these conditions are the same: High blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, high blood sugar, and more. If you don’t exercise regularly, your cardiovascular health is likely to suffer as well.
By exercising regularly and watching what you eat to reduce your cholesterol and blood sugar levels, you can, over time, eliminate many of the factors that contribute to these conditions.
5. Lower quality of life
Perhaps this isn’t as shocking as you think, but it’s something many people don’t consider until it’s too late!
Carrying around excess weight can lower your quality of life. Whether it’s due to lower self-esteem because of your weight, being physically unable to perform certain tasks due to strain on your body, or any number of other negative effects, you aren’t living your life to the fullest if you’re unhappy with your size.
Some people don’t realize this until they believe it’s too late to change their weight − and health. Others realize it but aren’t sure what to do to tackle the problem. Well, you don’t have to condemn yourself to staying that way! The answer is to make the choice to change your lifestyle − and ensure that when you do, you’re committed to seeing it through.
Are you ready to slim down?
Whether you’re 25, 35, 45, or even older, it’s never too late to turn your health around. In fact, the biggest change will come when you decide that you no longer want continue on the path towards health problems.
When you decide to make a change, PhenQ can help! PhenQ burns fat, boosts energy, and otherwise puts you on the path to a healthier, happier you. And if you’re ready to jumpstart your weight loss efforts − no matter what age you are − PhenQ, along with diet and exercise, is a great way to do so!
