What is Your Body Telling You About Your Weight?
Listen to your body, it knows what you need. Instead of acting on what you want.
What is your body telling you?
I don’t usually eat breakfast. I know. “It’s the most important meal of the day.” But is it really? Who is telling us that, and what research is it based on? I am not hungry when I wake up, so I don’t eat until I am actually hungry. I am done doing things that I am “supposed to do” just because that is what is expected of me.
I do what makes sense. Many times, what you are “supposed to do” makes sense, and then, of course, I do that. But I haven’t found reasonable scientific research that says I should eat when I am not hungry. So, I don’t. I listen to my body and act accordingly.
Another example of listening to your body would be listening to how your body responds to your current weight or diet. How are your blood pressure, cholesterol, or sugar levels? If they are too high, listen to what your body tells you.
Do you lack the energy to do everyday things? Your body says your weight is not balanced and cannot keep up. Your weight is making you tired because your systems are overloaded with work.
Is it telling you there is too much sugar in your system for it to process? When you overwork your body systems, they start to fail.
How the body handles excess food is a complex process. Suppose you consume more than your system can manage, even at maximum levels. Then you are forcing your body to store it; this is where your cholesterol levels come into play. Overly simplified, cholesterol is food stored in the bloodstream.
The next step is for the body to find someplace to put it. Guess where it chooses? Your hips, butt, thighs, waist, under your chin, pad the inner organs, and it even lines the arteries with it. That is where heart disease and high blood pressure come into the picture. One thing leads to another, just like falling dominos.
If you have high blood pressure, many things can cause this. A significant contributor is having too much weight. When the fat cells grow, there are more blood vessels created
If you have high blood pressure, many things can cause this. A significant contributor is having too much weight. When the fat cells grow, there are more blood vessels created.
Similarly, the skin expands, and more blood vessels are constructed to accommodate the larger size. The heart can only push so much blood for all those miles of blood vessels. Yes, miles. The average person has about 60,000 miles of blood vessels in their body. (1)
When you increase your size, you dramatically add to the number of miles of blood vessels, which strain your heart and circulatory system. There are a few exceptions; people have genetic factors that contribute to high blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes. For those of you, I advise you to follow your physicians’ recommendations.
For most of us, our weight and eating habits affect our health. It is the single most significant contributing factor that we can change. Even reverse.
“…the small decisions you make every single day have more of an impact on your health and wellbeing than anything else.” — Giza & Lapides (2)
References
1. Blood vessels: Types, anatomy, Function & Conditions. Cleveland Clinic. (n.d.). Retrieved April 28, 2022, from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/21640-blood-vessels
2. Giza, P., & Lapides, H. (2018). Transformative Nurse Coaching. The Nurse Coach Collective.