We hear about it all the time, being overweight/obese puts you at risk for multiple chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol (to name a few).

But, for some of us, these risks are not an immediate enough of a concern to really do something about it.  We may think we’re immune to these problems, or that we have plenty of time to make changes.  But the truth is, the damage we do to our bodies now by carrying around excess body weight can be permanent.  And sometimes, once these processes have started in your body, there’s no turning back, and the damage continues to worsen.  So, today I’d like to describe for you some of the things that are going on, both inside and out, when we carry around excess body fat.

To start, here is the (shortened) laundry list of things that are associated with excess body fat:

Heart attacks,  cancer (specifically breast, lung, prostate, colon, ovarian, liver, pancreatic, kidney, stomach and others), asthma, sleep apnea, reproduction (specifically infertility- any of you ladies trying to become pregnant?), menstrual disorders, complications during pregnancy, birth defects, stretch marks (no one wants to deal with these!), hirsutism (if you don’t know what that one is, I’d look it up!), acid reflux, stroke, migraine (my primary deterrent), carpal tunnel disease, dementia, MS, erectile dysfunction, urinary incontinence, buried penis (I realize many of you are female, but I’d check that one out anyway!), depression (specifically in women), low self-esteem, social stigma, arthritis (once this process starts, there’s not much going back), low back pain, and insulin resistance (this is bad for SO many reasons…in fact we’ll make a separate post dedicated solely to diabetes).

Whew…and that was the shortened list!  When I look at that, I see more than a few things that resonate with me.  Then when I add in a family history of multiple types of cancer and diabetes (putting me at an increased risk!) well that’s enough motivation for me to try REALLY hard to keep excess body fat off my frame.

Do you find yourself reading that list thinking “I definitely DON’T want to get __________”? Well, then my suggestion to you is to do what you can to either lose excess body fat, or simply prevent any unhealthy weight gain.

Need suggestions as to how to do that?  That’s why we’re here.  As always, feel free to email us at smartfitchicks@gmail.com with your questions/suggestions/ideas!  We love to hear from you!