Lose Weight For Your Psychological Health

Many people understand the physical benefits that come along with losing a significant amount of weight. Being obese can increase your risk of developing certain diseases, and it can take a toll on your internal organs. While these physical benefits are enough to motivate many people into shedding a few extra pounds, losing weight can also be beneficial for your psychological health.

Here are three psychological benefits you can experience when you make the choice to lose weight.

1. Losing weight could help you find more joy in life.

Researchers have established an intimate connection between depression and obesity. These two conditions seem to feed off one another. Depression can often lead to overeating, which causes an individual to gain weight, which leads to increased levels of depression.

If you are hoping to be able to find more joy in your life, losing weight could be the answer. Individuals who are obese are 25% more likely to suffer from a mood disorder. Don't let being overweight give you the blues. Lose weight to help you battle your depression.

2. Losing weight could help you feel more socially connected.

Gaining weight can have a negative effect on your social life. If you are finding that you aren't as socially connected as you were when you weighed less, you are not alone.

An online study that quizzed Americans about their experiences and views on obesity found that 22% of the morbidly obese respondents felt they had been excluded from social gatherings purely because of their weight. Making the choice to shed a few pounds could help you restore your social connections once more.

3. Losing weight can help you avoid the negative effects of size discrimination.

Discrimination is a term that more and more people are beginning to associate with weight, and size discrimination can have a serious effect on your psychological health. A study conducted by Yale's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, in cooperation with Glamour magazine, showed that overweight women were perceived as being lazy, undisciplined, and slow.

These discriminatory views could have an effect on your self-esteem, and they could even prevent you from earning as much money as your thinner counterparts. Shedding excess weight can help you avoid the negative psychological effects associated with size discrimination.

Losing weight is beneficial not only for your physical health, but your mental health as well. Avoid depression, social exclusion, and size discrimination by making the choice to lose weight in the future. Contact a business, such as In Shape MD, for more information.