While obesity or being overweight can have a negative impact on your overall health and well-being, losing weight to a healthy weight can have a positive impact. Not only can it lower your risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, and chronic issues, but it can also decrease joint pain and improve the quality of your sleep.

When you are overweight or obese, you are at a higher risk of developing life-threatening complications, a few of these complications that are linked to being overweight or obese includes:

1. Unfortunate wound healing

For a wound to heal, you will need a healthy supply of blood and oxygen. Excess fat can put pressure and tension on the blood and oxygen levels and reduce them from reaching the wound which will increase the time it will take to heal it. If the wound is not able to heal at a certain rate, it can become infected.

2. Increased risk of cardiovascular issues

Your heart needs to work much harder than if you are at a healthy weight to provide the entire body with blood and oxygen. You are at a higher risk of certain conditions like chest pain, stroke, heart attack, and high blood pressure.

3. Type 2 Diabetes

Being overweight or obese will greatly increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The more weight you have in excess, the more resistant the muscle and tissue cells have become to your own insulin hormone.

4. Coronary Heart Disease

If you are overweight or obese, you will have a greater amount of blood, which makes the heart have to pump a lot harder which over time will lead to heart failure.

5. Gallbladder Disease

Being overweight or obese can lead to fat infiltration of many organs as well as infiltrating adipose tissue which produces many cytokines and result in the dysfunction of organs including the gallbladder.

6. Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis rises with the increase of extra weight on your joints, being just 1- lbs overweight can cause extra pressure on the knees and other areas which will increase the development of osteoarthritis or make it worse if you already have it.

7. Sleep Apnea and Breathing Issues

Fat deposits are found in the upper respiratory tract which narrows the airways, with this, there is a decrease in the muscle activity within this specific region, which will lead to hypoxic and apneic episodes, and finally result in sleep apnea if you are overweight or obese.

8. Cancer

Being overweight or obese cause many changes to the body which all will help lead to different cancers. A few of the changes can be long-lasting like higher-than-average levels of insulin, insulin-like growth factor, inflammation, and sex hormones.

9. Low-quality of life

Overweight and obese individuals often experience significant impairments to their quality of life due to the extra weight they have on their bodies.

10. Body pain and difficulty functioning physically

Many who are overweight or obese have pain due to the excess mechanical stresses and proinflammatory state. This chronic pain is often due to physical inactivity as well as eating for the analgesic effect. Other factors can also lead to body pain and issues functioning physically.


11. Mental illnesses like:

a. Anxiety
b. Depression
c. Other mental disorders

A few of the main key factors for successful weight loss include:

• Caloric deficit diet
• Eating whole foods that are high in fiber
• Portions
• Exercise
• Add more fruit and veggies to your diet
• Cut down or cut out alcohol
• Cut down on junk food and fast food
• Do not skip breakfast
• Get enough sleep

You can start by following a caloric deficit diet, exercising more, and adding a more healthy variety of foods to your diet.

If it is a struggle to stay motivated yourself, reaching out to a weight loss physician is best. Metabolic Medical Centers are available to help you reach your weight loss goals and get back to a healthy weight.

At Metabolic Medical Centers, we have a few different programs that can help you achieve your weight loss goals. A few of these programs include:

• Accelerated medical weight loss
• Whole foods weight loss
• Ten-pound trim down the program
• Weight loss for young adults
• Vitamin b12 injections
• Metabolic weight loss

The kind and compassionate professionals at Metabolic Medical Centers can answer all your questions regarding weight loss. We serve patients from Mount Pleasant SC, Irmo SC, West Ashley SC, Murrells Inlet SC, Columbia SC, Bluffton SC, Sullivans Island SC, Isle of Palms SC, Daniel Island SC, Charleston SC, James Island SC, North Charleston SC, Pawleys Island SC, Myrtle Beach SC, Hilton Head SC, and Hardeeville SC.