Lose Weight to Become Healthy OR Become Healthier to Lose Weight

You do not lose weight to become healthy; You should become healthy to lose weight.

That statement kindled my thoughts about weight-loss, and here are a few of my thoughts and ideas if they help you in how you are thinking about weight-loss if you are going through the same or have an intention to go through the same.

So, which one is important?

Losing weight to become healthy OR

Become healthy to lose weight

In the past, I may have been inclined toward "Losing weight to become healthy". But now, as a health coach, helping many individuals to lose weight in a healthy way, I am leaning more towards "Become healthy to lose weight" and here are some reasons why I think so.

While your focus may be to lose weight, gain good shape, enjoy seeing yourself in the mirror, and also probably inspire others around you. But there is more to it than just the weight and shape.

I believe this article would enlighten you with more aspects to consider and think about, as part of your healthy weight-loss journey.

1. Is BMI being high always bad?

Not necessarily. Many people consider high BMI as always inferior. Well, it may look so at first, but one needs to go deeper before confirming that.

Let's take two people with the same BMI of 28 (28 is overweight in many countries, but in India, considered pre-obese because India is becoming the world's obesity capital!!).

Of the two, one (Let's call this person A) may have higher body fat compared to muscle mass vs. the other ((Let's call this person B)) may have more muscle mass and less body fat.

Person B may be healthier compared to A because Person B has more muscle mass. They may have better strength, agility, and metabolism. Remember, your body would be metabolically better active with more muscles vs. less muscles. It is one of the reasons every weight loss program suggests doing strength workouts.

But yes, from a BMI standpoint, both A and B have opportunities to lose weight. Remember, more body surface area means more calorie needs (due to a higher Resting Metabolic Rate(RMR)), more medicinal needs (your dosage gets higher in some cases), and so on.

2. You want to lose fat

How many of you know that our bodies can store an unlimited amount of fat in our bodies? Literally, there is no limit to how much fat our bodies can store. The more calories you eat than needed get accumulated as fat in your body.

Your body can use good fat as an energy source and even for other body functions, such as a solvent for fat-soluble vitamins, and acts as an insulation and protection. While there are a few benefits from our body fat, there are more ill effects.

Too much fat in your body causes many health issues, such as your hormonal balance in the body going off, affecting liver functions, and so on.

3. You don't want to lose muscles

Many diet plans, including a few forms of fasting, eating only vegetables and fruits (vegetable diet, or fruits diet!), and drinking only water (Water diet!), though they help you lose weight, remember you eventually lose muscle mass, and your body becomes metabolically weaker.

You become a weaker person with less energy and more fatigue. Your metabolism goes for a toss.

One of the benefits of having superior and active muscles in our bodies is that you can do all things physically that you want to do. It could be the daily needs of your movement as part of your profession, your traveling, or your hobby (hiking, trekking, etc.). More importantly, it helps to burn fat better.

One of the reasons I do regular exercises is that it not only enables me to run better. It keeps me active in all parts of my life.

4. Eating clean is non-negotiable

Our diet and lifestyle decide 80% of our health, while our workouts decide only 20% of our health. Even if you have lost weight in your weight-loss journey, it is pivotal not to bounce back on weight. It means you must have gone through adequate lifestyle-changing routines such as regular exercises (at least five times a week), a good lifestyle (less stress, better sleep, adequate water intake, etc.,), and clean eating.

"A good lifestyle" means many things and may need a separate article which I will write probably soon. For now, it means sufficient sleep, good restfulness, drinking enough water, and basic movements of our body through walking, climbing stairs during the day, and many others.

Sustaining all these (exercise, lifestyle, and clean eating) is central to ensuring you do not gain weight, and the distinctive component is clean eating. Your health and fitness may not get affected that much if you miss exercises or do fewer exercises, but if you do not eat clean (despite working out heavily!), you will quickly gain your lost weight.

Summary

To summarize, your focus should be to become healthier, and your weight loss would automatically become a byproduct rather than focusing too much on weight loss and still being unhealthy in certain aspects.

Losing weight may be a short-term need while leading a healthy life might always take some additional time, but be ready to give that.

It is your health in the long term that should matter the most.

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I am an experienced health and wellness coach helping individuals with running, fitness, nutrition, weight management, and type-2 diabetes reversal.

Do you want to transform your health and wellness? DM me for a free consultation.

Here is my LinkedIn Profile - Ganesh Kuduva