Less Foot Pain
Less weight means less pressure on the part of your body that bears most of that pressure — your feet. A recent study of people who lost an average of 90 pounds after bariatric surgery found that their complaints of foot pain dropped by 83 percent. Pestered by foot pain? Getting tootsie relief is great weight-loss motivation.
Better Mood
When you’re overweight, your entire system is out of balance. This includes the hormones that impact your mood. As a result, losing weight can increase your overall well-being and decrease the severity of depression.
“Many overweight people suffer from severe depression, and depression can also increase the chances of being overweight as it reduces the individual’s ability or desire to help their overweight situation or to prevent it in the first place,” Wald notes. “PMS also can be helped by losing weight, as the loss of fat tissue can have a favorable effect upon hormonal balance.”
Arthritis Relief Can Occur When You Lose Weight Now
Weight loss and arthritis have a strong connection: inflammation in the body. A number of studies have noted that weight loss improves arthritis pain. A recent study of 87 older adults with knee arthritis found that those in a weight-loss group reduced their pain. They also improved their function significantly over a control group that did not lose any weight.
Improve Memory
Mental weight-loss benefits can go even further, boosting memory. That’s the finding of more recent research.
One study compared 109 people who underwent bariatric surgery to 41 people in a control group who lost no weight. After 12 weeks, the researchers discovered that those who’d had the weight-loss surgery had significantly improved memory, compared with the control group. That’s the weight-loss motivation you’ll want to remember.
Sound Sleep
The prospect of getting a good night’s sleep is a strong weight-loss motivator. A recent study of 264 people with sleep apnea and diabetes discovered that those who lost the most weight showed a significant decrease in sleep apnea symptoms.
In fact, the weight-loss group saw their sleep apnea symptoms cut in half. Considering that sleep apnea can be life-threatening, this weight-loss benefit is a significant one.