The glorification of certain body-types with the societal attitude towards weight loss has combined to cause a big problem for the modern woman or young girl.
Social media has perpetuated the myth of a perfect female-form that is somehow skinny and yet curvy in just the right proportions. This pushes women or young girls both either “too skinny” or “too curvy” to be considered perfect to engage in unhealthy habits in response.
Constantly being told that they either have to eat or stop eating altogether or take dietary teas and supplements at exorbitant prices to chase the perfect figure causes depression, anxiety, body dysmorphia and low self-esteem.
Though weight-loss is healthy for people who are over a certain weight and are facing functionality issues due to it, there is too much misinformation about weight-loss and a myriad of problematic behavior surrounding it. Anxiety leads to binge-eating and purging and bulimia or unhealthy periods of fasting for a large amount of young girls.
Being motivated to get to a healthy weight and being obsessed with food or not eating it because of societal pressure are two very different things.
The culture of fat-shaming and the horrible effects of social-media on our youth have an effect on our attitudes towards weight-loss as well. YoYo-ing weight and fad diets predominate the culture of weight loss and this leads to lesser known health issues relating to metabolic processes and lesser discussed issues that result from such habits that are promoted by our society.
Thus it is important to look at the health benefits of weight loss, the cons of doing it the wrong way, and the proper way to lose weight in a healthy manner.
Health Benefits of Weight loss
The “Healthy at all weights” movement has most definitely had positive effects. Letting people know that they are not defined by their weights and reflecting that with plus sized models in mainstream media has allowed people to be more comfortable with their weight. This has helped to counter the increasing pressures of staying a perfect size and weight and reduced instances of body dysmorphia in the young and the impressionable.
However, there are some downsides of this movement. There is too much misinformation regarding staying at a heavier weight and unfortunately this means that people become comfortable with being dangerously overweight. There is an overwhelming amount of studies and peer-reviewed work that points to the fact that carrying around access amounts of fat and having a bad diet leads to diabetes, heart disease, weakened immune systems (as seen in the mortality rates in the US during Covid) and mental issues as well like depression. Fat deposits tend to require more vascular systems and function almost as separate organs that become a drain on the body’s resources as well apart from the other myriad of health issues it causes.
Weight loss leads to lowered inflammation, reduced risk of heart-disease, and the resulting (or required) lifestyle changes lead to lowered rates of mortality. Cholesterol deposits that lead to heart-disease are simply less common in people below a certain weight-range. It also stabilizes certain hormonal issues that were caused by the excess hormone secretions caused by the fat deposits throughout the body.
Lowered blood-pressure, reduced risk of joint pain, reduced back-pain, heightened self-esteem, and higher energy levels are direct results of having reduced your weight.
As good as it seems, however, there are way too many ways to achieve weight loss that cause more problems than they solve.
What happens when you do it wrong?
The whole world talks about how to lose weight and do it fast. Losing weight if you are overweight is encouraged and has health benefits but the issue lends itself to exploitation by gurus and grifters. Weight loss teas and other pseudo-scientific medication messes with people’s metabolisms or work as diuretics that only effect your water-weight. These kinds of substances cause hormonal problems and imbalance issues that cause kidney and liver problems in the long-run and are highly discouraged by the medical community.
Another kind of method used are fad diets. These tend to be good in theory, but they are highly ineffective in practice due to them being very simplistic in nature. One of the earliest examples of this were the juice only diets. These were pushed by utensil companies that sold their juicers to people looking to an easy way to lose weight and do so fast. This juice diet consisted only of vegetables and fruits that are pressed and shredded to release their “goodness”. Unfortunately, juice does not contain enough protein or the fiber required for a healthy diet and lead to more problems.
The same follows for most diets that cut out normal, unprocessed foods that most people enjoy. The Keto and no-carb diets for example are effective for certain people, but have medical problems associated with them of their own. Fasting and Calorie counting are effective methods as well but they can cause binge and fast eating behaviors and cause disorders and anxiety for a large proportion of those trying it. Furthermore, losing weight fast through restriction causes reduction in energy, hair loss, and bungee weight gain-loss due to metabolic and hormonal problems as well.
So, how to lose weight the right way?
How to lose weight the right way?
The most reliable method of weight loss is the simplest. CICO is a method of counting calories but not restricting any food-groups.
Allowing you to be conscious of what you eat despite being able to eat a normal diet that does not require meal-planning. The way to lose weight is to cut out calories in a slow and conscious manner over a period of time. This way, your body will not go into panic-mode and lead to metabolic problems in the long-run. Also, this puts way less pressure on your psyche of having to restrict yourself when you can eat anything you want as long as it stays within your calorie budget for the day. Read about survivors plagued and tortured by guilt.
And of course, exercise and a balanced diet will ensure that your energy levels stay constant and you do not suffer from hair loss, weakness, and brain-fog that most crash-diets cause.
