Your motivation to lose weight is personal and important. But what if you make healthy changes and you don’t experience any weight loss? Are there still meaningful health benefits even if the scale doesn’t change?
You want to make lifestyle changes that will deliver the greatest impact on your health. Focusing on weight management is one piece of the puzzle, but it’s not the only piece, or even the best one, to improve your health.
This article gives you actionable steps to take, beyond focusing on weight loss, that can improve your metabolic health.
Metabolic health refers to how well your body can protect itself against diseases without relying on medications. There are several systems in your body that contribute to your metabolic health.
Examples include your cardiovascular system, weight management (also referred to as metabolism), and blood sugar control.
For most people, there is an existing link between your weight and metabolic health: you have a healthy weight, then you must be metabolically healthy. The same is true in reverse, if you are overweight, you must not be metabolically healthy. Right?
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Yes, weight can be a predictor of metabolic health. There is evidence to suggest people who are overweight or obese are more likely to have poorer levels of metabolic health.1 Poor metabolic health includes a higher risk of developing:
But, not everybody who lives in a larger body will experience these health outcomes. Likewise, a healthy weight can’t determine if someone is at risk of or has any of these conditions.
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Changes to your weight can have an impact on your metabolic health. There many medical diagnoses linked to weight gain, such as:
If you rely on medications to manage your health and would like to lose weight, speak to your physician about weight-neutral options. They may adjust your treatment or recommend seeing a nutritionist to manage your weight.
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Weight loss may improve metabolic function in people who are overweight or living with obesity. The CDC states that a 5-10% weight loss can be enough to see positive changes in most people.6
Some people will make healthier choices in an effort to lose weight, but they may not see any changes. Although the weight is not going down, they are still likely gaining health benefits through their healthy actions.
Other parameters of your health that can be improved by maintaining healthy habits include:1
If you start to develop healthier habits and the scale isn’t budging, try tracking some of these other health markers. Improvements, even small ones, in any of areas is a sign you are on the right track to improving your health.
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Here are a few examples of how you can improve your health without focusing on weight loss:
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There are several reasons why looking at the bigger picture of your health is a great place to start:
Remember, your weight is a small piece of your overall health. There are many other parts that serve as indicators of positive change.
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Decreasing the pressure of losing weight can provide some people with an immediate sense of relief. In 2016 the CDC published survey results indicating that at any given time, 49.1% of Americans had tried a weight loss diet in the last month.9
If people were successfully losing weight, the number of dieters would decrease, but it hasn’t.10Understandably, people may feel frustrated or stuck after years of trying different diets without seeing any results. People may still want to lose weight, but not seeing any progress can be discouraging and lead to non-compliance with their care plan.
Shifting the focus away from weight can be a refreshing and welcomed change. If you focus on other parameters, like the markers of good metabolic health, you can start to see that your efforts are having a significant impact.
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You are not alone if you have felt like you must lose weight to be healthy. You may have already experienced the blowback of scenarios like:
Losing weight has been advertised as a cure-all method to improve your life. But scientifically speaking, we know that weight loss alone is not going to guarantee you a clean bill of health.
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Write down the circumstances in your current lifestyle that you like, and then list areas you want to improve. Use the “room for improvement” list to help you decide which changes you want to start making first. Some ideas include:
There are no wrong or right places to start; the only thing that matters is starting somewhere. If making a commitment feels overwhelming, consider creating smaller goals that will help you reach your ultimate goal.
This could mean going for a five-minute walk instead of ten. Or, perhaps you bring lunches to work for only two days of the week instead of every day. Every week or two, try to increase the length of your walk or number of lunches you bring to work until you meet your goal.
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Your metabolic health includes all the different systems that keep you healthy. Weight loss may improve your metabolic health, but it is not the only approach you should consider.
Including more variety in your diet, prioritizing high-fiber unprocessed foods, and eating at regular intervals throughout the day can help stabilize your blood sugar and improve your health.
Incorporating regular movement and exercise will have more impact on your health than weight loss alone. Choose activities that you enjoy and stay consistent. Small amounts of daily movement can make a big impact.
Off the scale, there are other ways to check if your metabolic health is improving. You could record your blood pressure, complete annual bloodwork to measure your cholesterol levels, and use a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to track your blood sugar.
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