Weight and Health

Today’s topic will be weight and health, their relationship, and their differences. If you are in recovery from an eating disorder or disordered eating, this may be triggering for you so it may be best to come back for next week’s blog instead.

Let’s talk about health first. Our health can be reflected by our mental health, our body image, our gut microbiome, our immune response, our stress levels, our sleep habits, etc. Our health is our overall wellbeing. Our weight is a small part of it. It is a factor considered equally to all the other aspects of health listed. It isn’t any more or less important. However, society will tell you our weight is our most valued quality, and the smaller you are, the more desirably you are. However, aiming to be the smallest version of yourself does not always mean your healthiest self.  What I mean is that you may try to lose weight, and succeed, but not in a healthy way. You may be restricting your food too much, be that in quantity or food groups. You may be over-exercising or miserable in the way you choose to exercise. You may not be sleeping enough, meaning you’re not recovering fully from your exercise. You may be demonizing certain foods, saying they’re “good” or “bad”, then reflecting those feelings onto yourself when you eat the “bad” foods. I could go on. Not only that, but when weight loss is achieved by quick fixes, it may be harder to keep the weight off because your habits aren’t sustainable, leading to yo-yo dieting.

So yes, you could reach your weight goal, but your overall health may suffer tremendously because of it. So now I ask the question, what is more important, a quick change in weight on the scales or your overall health?

Now let’s talk about weight. Our weight, the number we see on the scale, is a representation of our entire body. Our weight encompasses our entire body, from our muscle mass to our plasma.  This can fluctuate within a day, depending on food and drink intake, physical activity, and bathroom visits. To an individual, the number of kgs or lbs doesn’t really tell us much at all of what is going on inside. It doesn’t tell us your bone mineral density, or your body fat percentage, or your muscle mass. This means that when there is weight loss happening on the scales, it doesn’t mean fat loss is occurring. You could simply be losing “water weight” or muscle mass. By saying this, I’m trying to make you aware that the number on the scales really isn’t that important because it doesn’t mean you’re losing body fat. Unhealthy weight loss attempts could cause muscle mass loss and a change in the number on the scale – a weight loss that in most cases isn’t good.

Now that hopefully you understand that weight doesn’t equal health and that weight isn’t always good, what now? There are ways of reducing your body fat percentage without damaging your overall health. First, understand that it’s a journey. It will take time. Then seek a qualified, reputable, registered professional who can support you in your journey. If someone is telling you to go on a juice cleanse, detox or cut out certain foods in your diet, please run a mile.

I wish you all the best in your journey. I hope you do achieve your body fat loss goals healthily and sustainably.