How Can you Tell if you Need to Lose Weight?

By: Terry Edwards

Are you one of the millions of people who look in the mirror daily and say to themselves "I have to lose that excess weight"? Most of us have done this at some point and in many instances you do indeed need to shed a bit of weight. This is not however always necessary and so just how do you know whether you really ought to shed some weight?

A major problem with weight gain is that it has a tendency to creep up on you when you are not paying attention and this is increasingly being seen especially in countries such as North America where obesity is classed as an epidemic. Because your weight generally rises only slowly over several months, you generally simply are not aware of the increase in terms of changes to your looks and are only conscious of it when you step onto the bathroom scales. Therefore, it is good practice to get yourself into the habit of weighing yourself on a regular basis (about once a month is generally sufficient) and if you discover that it is increasing noticeably then it is time to shed some weight.

Opinions vary about precisely what constitutes obesity but for our purposes here if your weight has increased by more than about thirty pounds then you are probably heading towards obesity and a myriad of associated medical problems.

The next sign that you probably ought to to go on a diet is if a friend tells you that you are putting on weight. Now it is possible that you will get upset if someone informs you that you need to go on a diet but bear in mind that they most likely found it hard to find the courage to say something to you and are also practically always demonstrating a very real concern for your state of health, rather than passing a comment about how you look.

A further indication that you have put on too much weight is seen when you begin to experience difficulty with simple tasks like running to catch a bus or climbing a flight of stairs and discover that you are getting short of breath. This will not necessarily be the result of being overweight and could be caused by other health problems, but you would be surprised at just how many times the cause turns out to be weight. If this happens your body is starting to ring its alarm bells and these should not be ignored.

A final and very simple, although frequently ignored, indication of weight gain is quite simply discovering that your clothes no longer fit like they used to. A somewhat tight waistband following Christmas is usual for many of us but when it continues getting tighter and you find that you are buying bigger and biggersizes each time you go shopping then it is time to diet before your expanding waist stretches both your clothes and your store card.

Here we have examined just some examples of the many indicators that you are overweight and need to take some corrective action. Excess weight has a tendency to creep up on you slowly and it is far too easy to simply not notice it at all. The secret to both looking and feeling good is fairly simple - know your ideal weight and jump on the scales once in a while to ensure that you are not getting too heavy.

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