Obesity adversely affects health in many ways. It causes stroke, high levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, high blood pressure, heart disease, and multiple types of cancer. If you’re not technically obese but are packing a good amount of excess weight, it can still cause many of the above problems. A number of these problems, such as high blood pressure or diabetes, may jeopardize your ability to pass your next DOT physical.
These facts may scare some drivers into losing weight as fast as possible. However, losing weight the wrong way can backfire by causing you to binge eat and by harming your health. Avoid these three unhealthy ways of losing weight:
Smoking
Nicotine suppresses the appetite. Eating less causes you to lose weight. The downside to this method is the harm that smoking has on the body. It causes lung cancer and other respiratory problems as well as heart disease. Smoking is highly addictive, which means you will have a hard time quitting. It will shorten your life just as obesity does. Finally, eating less doesn’t mean that you’re eating well.
Starvation Diet
Generally speaking, starvation is never a good thing. When done over the long-term, it can, or even will, cause death, depending on the level of starvation to which you subject yourself. People suffering from anorexia nervosa chronically starve themselves and often suffer heart attacks.
When on a starvation diet, the body gets the necessary calories for metabolic activities by feeding on itself. This means you lose muscle tissue. Paradoxically, the body also hoards fat and lowers its metabolism. Loss of muscle tissue while retaining fat (having a higher percentage of fat) increases your risk of type 2 diabetes and of metabolic syndrome. If you quit the diet, your body will gain weight rapidly because of its slow metabolism.
Exercise without Diet
Much of the food Americans typically eat is loaded with calories. For example, a Big Mac with fries, a strawberry shake, and a coke make for a filling lunch. However, it totals up to 1420 calories. A 200 pound person would have to jog for 90 minutes to burn that off. Assuming that breakfast and supper each has at least the same number of calories, then the person would have to jog 270 minutes, or 4.5 hours every day.
A person who is 200 pounds because of weight problems and who drives a truck for a living, won’t likely have the time and stamina to jog 4.5 hours every day. In addition, the person’s supper would likely exceed 1420 calories. In any case, effective weight loss is 80% healthy diet and 20% exercise. Talk to your doctor about a weight loss program that fits your lifestyle.
If you are looking for the best Florida rig insurance at affordable rates, contact us today at J.E.B. Insurance Services.
