What are your expectations when you’re working to lose weight?
Obviously, you expect to weigh less, fit better into your clothes, look better and be healthier.
But there are many other unexpected benefits of losing weight that you may not even be aware of. Here we look at some of them.
Better health
While you may know that losing weight improves your health, you may not realise the impact that this has. Just losing 5-10% of your body weight can reduce your risk of:
- Heart disease (including dying of heart disease)
- Type 2 diabetes
- High blood pressure
- Kidney disease
- Some cancers
- A weak bladder (in women)
- Symptoms of arthritis
- Knee problems related to weight
- Symptoms of gastric reflux
- Back pain.
You’ll also improve:
- Cholesterol levels
- Blood sugar levels
- The quality of your sleep
- Breathing and fitness levels
- Stress levels
- Energy and productivity levels
- Mobility and flexibility
INCREASED CONFIDENCE AND HAPPINESS
Losing weight can increase your happiness and confidence, but not in the ways you might expect. Many people believe that they will be happy when they’ve lost the weight. However, true happiness comes from within. When it comes to body transformation, you become happier by becoming the person you need to be, in order to lose weight and keep it off.
For example, anyone can diet and get the weight off. But to keep it off forever, you’ll need to change your habits, because it’s your habits that have got you to where you are now. When you start working on your habits, you’ll begin to think differently. You may begin to feel more grateful, feel more worthy, and start to believe in yourself again.
This will all lead to a renewed sense of confidence, wellbeing and happiness that has nothing to do with how much you weigh, or what size clothing you wear. The more habits you change, the happier you become. And when you’re happier, it’s easier to lose weight and keep it off.
You’ll be more successful
Because transforming your body requires you to transform your mind, you’ll find this will spill over into other areas of your life. If you’re a business owner, you’ll begin to work more efficiently. You’ll be able to set boundaries around your working hours, which means you’ll have more time for you. This will mean you’ll be healthier, happier and more energised, so when you do go to work, you’ll be firing on all cylinders. As your confidence increases, you’ll begin to attract customers who are willing to pay for your services, who don’t quibble about your prices, and who refer your business to others.
Even if you don’t have your own business, you’ll still enjoy more success. You’ll have the confidence to go after that promotion or to apply for a new job. You’ll stop worrying about whether you’re good enough and you’ll be more willing to take a risk on a career change. You’ll be able to stand up to demanding bosses, and set healthier boundaries when it comes to your working hours. And overall, you’ll command a new level of respect from your boss and your colleagues.
You’ll have more money
Another unexpected benefit of weight loss and increasing your confidence is having more money. First of all, better health means you won’t need to spend as much on health care and doctor’s bills. An increase in confidence will also mean you’re less likely to waste money buying ‘things’ to fill the empty void inside you because you’ll already be filling yourself up by prioritising yourself. If you’re a business owner, you’ll stop discounting your prices to attract customers and instead you’ll attract those customers who are willing to pay what you’re worth. This will also mean you’ll be able to work fewer hours than you did when you were discounting your rates. And when you’re more successful in your career and winning promotions and different jobs, you’ll automatically increase your salary, which means you’re better able to support your family.
Your relationships improve
Changing your body shape requires you to change your habits and your outlook on life. This will help you realise the people in your life who are supportive, and those who are toxic. Toxic people are easy to recognise — they’re often very negative, jealous, blame others for their situation, and are draining to be around. But as you change your mindset, you won’t want to hang around with these kinds of people. Instead, you’ll be attracted to, and attract other like-minded people into your life. You’ll end up being surrounded by positive, supportive people who will enrich your life and build you up.
You’ll also find that your relationships with your partner and family members improve because you’re feeling happier and more confident within yourself, and making choices that will support your physical and mental health for the long term.
You’ll be a better role model
Inspiring other people is another unexpected benefit of weight loss. When you become better, you influence those people around you. When you’re doing healthy things for yourself, you’ll be a better role model for your kids. When you make healthy changes to your body and your mind, you know you’re setting them up well for life. You’ll also be able to impart all the important lessons you learn along the way to your kids, to ensure they don’t repeat the same mistakes you made.
But your influence won’t end there. People you work with and socialise with will also be inspired by you, and may well begin making changes to their health too. At Imani Tribe, we have several members who decided to undertake their very own Body and Lifestyle Transformation, because they were inspired by someone already on the journey.
An investment for life
As you can see, losing weight is more than shedding kilos and fitting into a dress size. It’s a decision that will impact your whole life for the better, and in ways that you may not realise. The great thing is that these ripple effects will continue to build and be felt, as you continue to change your habits in order to lose weight for good. Committing to a body and lifestyle transformation journey is definitely a sound investment in your future.
If you’re ready to invest in your life and the life of your loved ones and experience some of these unexpected benefits of weight loss, please contact us.
