(NaturalHealth365) Throughout the current pandemic, healthcare providers and public health officials have understood that obesity is a leading risk factor for falling severely ill with COVID-19.  (Obesity is defined as a body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 30.)  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also points out that being obese is associated with other chronic health conditions including cancer, diabetes, arthritis, stroke, and heart disease.  This is exactly why sustainable weight loss is such an important endeavor for individuals who are overweight.

The question is: how much weight does a person actually have to lose in order to start seeing benefits?  Recent data suggests that the number of pounds you need to drop in order to see a meaningful improvement in your health and quality of life might not be as much as you think.  Time to discuss what a reasonable weight loss goal may look like, and how to lose weight sustainably.

Great news!  You don’t have to lose a lot of weight to reduce your risk of this medical syndrome

A 2018 paper published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings looked at health outcomes of over 7,600 individuals from a well-known cohort known as the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).  Using data including weight, waist size, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels, the researchers found that people who were able to lose at least 20% of their body weight were 53% less likely to have metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that increase the risk of diabetes, stroke, and other health conditions.  Metabolic syndrome is characterized by a large waistline, low HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides, high blood sugar, and high blood pressure.

It might not be surprising to know that if you have a lot of excess weight, your health will benefit more the more you’re able to lose.  However, the researchers also concluded that people who managed to lose just between 5 and 10% of excess weight were 22% less likely to have metabolic syndrome.  So, while the benefits weren’t quite as significant, they were still notable — findings that may offer hope to people who feel intimidated by the number on their scale.

How DOES one lose 5 to 10 percent of their body weight? Here are 3 tried and true techniques

Of course, most of us understand that weight loss can be beneficial for anyone who is carrying around some extra pounds.  But sustainable long-term weight loss can be notoriously difficult.  Having a realistic initial goal — say, dropping 10% of your weight at a rate of around 1 to 2 pounds per week — can be a huge step in the right direction.  But when it comes to figuring out how to lose weight, what sort of sustainable and practical steps can we rely on?

As a reminder and spot of inspiration, here are a few of the simplest approaches to use, according to Mayo Clinic:

• Participate in 30 minutes of brisk walking or similar activity on most or all days of the week
• Eat, at a minimum, 3 servings of fruit and 4 servings of veggies per day
• Weigh yourself regularly, perhaps even every day (research, including a 2015 study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, suggests that weighing yourself every day helps you stay on track with healthy weight loss behaviors and ultimately leads to greater weight loss compared to weighing yourself just a few times per week)

Never underestimate the value of consistent, healthy behaviors for sustainable (positive) results.  And, ultimately, it may seem “impossible” (from time to time) to achieve your weight loss goals.  But, never give up!  Your quality of life depends on you.

Sources for this article include:

Mayoclinicproceedings.org
Medicalnewstoday.com
CDC.gov
CDC.gov
NIH.gov
MayoClinic.org
MayoClinic.org
NIH.gov