Fitness for Mind, Body and Spirit

While there are many reasons to loose weight, exercise and change your diet, the fact that obesity is directly linked to many serious diseases is a major reason to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Let's take a look at type 2 diabetes for example. Type 2 is the most common for of the disease and with a whopping 80% of the diabetic population being obese or seriously overweight this is a major cause for concern. To put it simply diabetes is a disease that affects your body's ability to produce insulin and to regulate your blood sugar. If not managed correctly people could slip into a diabetic coma, loose their eyesight or even die for complications. Another scary statistic is that many overweight people have diabetes and do not even know it, putting these individuals in serious risk. Another major disease associated with being overweight is heart disease. This is because too much fat in your blood increases triglycerides or "bad cholesterol."  In turn this leads to heart attacks, congestive heart failure, abnormal heart rhythms, plaque build up in the blood stream and more. Obesity can also affect your ability to have children and in women their ability to maintain a normal pregnancy. I know this was a major concern for me because with four pregnancies and a lot of weight gain associated with each one I knew I was at risk as were my children. So the point is to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Eat right exercise and embrace your health because if you do not take care of yourself you may not be healthy for long.