Weight Loss Challenge

So you’re resolved that you will lose weight and save money this year? That’s a laudable goal and in fact, these two things are quite compatible with one another.  Yes, losing weight is great for you on its own.  You will not only gain energy, but huge health benefits as well.  However, did you know losing weight can help you save more than $5000 per year for things like transportation, insurance and other health costs?  It’s true, and new research indicates that the gains of weight loss truly go beyond just what we see in the mirror.

A recent study by George Washington University found that the overall annualized costs of being overweight in the US, relating to higher bills, an average salary that is lower and lost wages due to health problems is approximately $500 per year.  For the 33% of the US that is considered obese, this number is even larger: between $2500-5000 per year.  Of interest is not only the increased medical expenses such people incur over their lives, but also how it holds back our careers, advancement and income levels as well.  This study cleared showed a correlate between weight and average salary.

Three Major Areas You Can See Gains from Weight Loss

If you’re looking to get rid of a lot of unwanted weight, there are ways to do so and at the same time fill your wallet as well.  We hope some of these reasons only serve as a motivating factor for your success:

1. Reduce Your Medical Bills – This is likely the most obvious thing that you reduce by losing weight, but it’s also extremely important to consider.  According to the GWU study which was cited above, those who are overweight (BMI 25-29) spent an additional $346 annually on direct and indirect medical costs.  However, for those considered obese (BMI >30) this was $800-2800 per year.These costs originated primarily from increased prescription drugs, as those who are overweight typically have worse overall health and more chronic health problems. Diseases such as diabetes are actually caused in large part by the person’s weight.  The GWU study did not attempt to calculate the risk factors for long term ailments which can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to treat, such as heart disease, heart failure, or other chronic health effects.   Type 2 diabetes, for example, costs the average person $80,000 over their lifetime.
2. Make More Money at Your Job – Not only does being overweight cost you when it comes to your medical bills, but it also impacts your ability to make money at your job and advance your career.  Despite our best intentions, people are still judged by their outer appearances.  In a 2011 study it was found that obese women made less money annually by approximately $5800 than their normal-weight counterparts.  This trend was further confirmed by the GWU study cited here.  There’s an inverse relationship with weight and income.Studies have identified many reasons this inverse relationship occurs, including biases against the overweight.  Obese workers historically work fewer days and make less doing so, they have a lower chance of promotion and less ability to move up within a business sector.  This is just a simple reality of the world we live in, and it’s unlikely to change much in the future as this trend has been persisting for generations according to research.  Absenteeism related to health problems that the overweight or obese face also directly impacts your career.
3. Reduced Fuel and Transport Costs – This one is probably a bit of a surprise, but you actually use substantially more gas driving around if overweight than you may realize.  Fuel efficiency of a car will improve roughly 2-3% per 100 pounds removed from that car.  If someone, or multiple people, who drive together lose weight, the fuel costs will drop significantly.  In the US, if a person were to lose 50 pounds, their fuel costs would drop by around 1.5% annually.  The average fuel costs annually in the US are approximately $2000, so this is a savings you can take to the bank directly once you lose weight and get healthier.

Sure, the benefits to your appearance, health and energy are probably enough on their own to warrant strong attention to weight loss.  If you needed any more motivation, however, you need look no further than your wallet for why you need to get healthy and stay in shape.

You may be surprised to learn that dieting has a 95% failure rate after only 1 year.  This may seem shocking, but it’s probably not surprising to many people who have tried dieting.  Between the magazines, TV show hypes and other crash diet methods without any clinical backing, people just cannot lose weight effectively on their own.  Studies indicate that for those who succeed and actually lose weight permanently, they have always developed a healthy diet and a method that produces rapid results.  The slower the results the person achieves, the worse their progress will be unfortunately.

A recent study from 2010 found that out of two groups of people who lost weight, one strategy clearly won out.  One group was put on a reduced calorie diet, and the other group was told to eat healthy (more natural foods, fruits or vegetables).  Contrary to what you may expect, the second group actually did significantly better than the first, and kept the weight off for longer as well.   Why did this happen?  Even after a full year down the road the group who ate foods that were healthier and better for them wound up having the most success and the longest lasting results.

Is Natural Dieting Really a Viable Alternative

Why did the group who just tried to eat healthy do so well? Researchers found a few key things that they reported feeling better in regards to.  They felt far less pressure to do something a certain way, rather they just had a general idea “Eat Healthy and Natural Foods”.  There’s also a huge benefit that comes along with natural foods, and even makes someone feel so much better biologically, that they wind up demanding those foods all the time.  If you’ve ever been on a rigorous workout and healthy eating phase before, you know that your body adapts powerfully to these changes.  You’re happier and have a ton more energy.  They gave their body all of the nutrients and vitamins it needed to operate at an extremely high level.

This isn’t the first study showing this outcome.  Studies on this topic go back all the way to the 1970s, when it was found that dietary mental factors actually played a much bigger role than what the person even ate.  If a person had a healthy mind, and positive motives, as well as was choosing to eat healthier foods and adapt their diet around it, they succeeded far more often.  This can have huge effects on individuals who are aiming to lose weight and get healthy.

Is There Any Ways to Improve These Chances Even More?

There are several ways you can help yourself to see even faster and longer lasting results than just a switch over to healthier foods.  Let’s take a recent study for example using garcinia cambogia, a popular and effective metabolism booster and appetite suppressant.  Without any changes to a person’s diet, this product helped them lose 15 pounds per month.  This is a the extract of a natural fruit found in Africa.  A particular compound of this fruit has been shown in around 12 studies so far to boost weight loss tremendously, and it does so completely naturally.  Coupling this with  a more natural diet will result in rapid weight loss.

Much of the benefits of the natural diet come from its long term sustainability.  If using a product like garcinia cambogia to help you lose weight and keep healthy, you will often lose 30 to 40 pounds per month during the weight loss portion of this kind of program.  You can then just stop taking the garcinia once you hit your goal weight and just maintain the healthy and natural diet as described above (fresh fruits, vegetables, and organic meats).  This is by far one of the most effective ways to lose weight today and can really keep your progress high.

In order to lose weight, the level of motivation you have at the start is often not the deciding factor.  If you want to actually lose weight, you also need good information, from reliable sand objective sources.  The best place for this, not surprisingly, is actually from researchers or doctors who are looking at the most effective treatments in a clinical setting.  You can certainly try the more traditional diet and exercise methods, just don’t expect miracles to come about very easily using these methods.  However, this has many of its own problems that are difficult to deal with and overcome over long periods of time.

The support structure when you lose weight has been shown to be of critical importance for success when trying to lose weight on this program.  Studies clearly show that people who are held accountable by others during dieting actually have much better success losing weight.  Weight loss occurs most often in cases where people can pinpoint their own problems and work to correct them, but this can be difficult to do.    Steamed vegetables, for example, can substitute into our diets and replace many of the bad fried foods we like to eat instead.  Steamed vegetables are extremely tasty, and one of the best ways to cook vegetables to begin with.  It also prevents many of the raw nutrients, which are so good for us, from being destroyed in the cooking process.

Knowing Your Weaknesses and Strengths

When people struggle to lose wight over and over again, they often have issues exercising and controlling their diets.  Recognizing these areas of difficulty and overcoming them is critical to succeed when losing weight.  For example, if you like waking up early in the mornings before work, try to set your alarm a bit earlier and do some cardiovascular exercise in the morning or some strength training.  If you enjoy staying up late, try to exercise when you get off from work and still have the energy to do so.  Doing this and setting a strict schedule for yourself can make all the difference when it comes to your success.

Unfortunately, many people quit their diet very early in the process, due to lack of results, expectations not matching realities or motivation disappearing.  This could be due to many reasons, whether it’s a lack of time to exercise, difficulty maintaining diets, or otherwise.  If you don’t have time to maintain your weight loss goals, then it’s difficult to achieve results.  That’s where proven treatments can really come in handy as well.  If you continue to make excuses for not losing weight, it will just persist indefinitely unfortunately.  A person needs not only motivation, but commitment as well.  Fortunately, there are many proven treatments out there that can actually help you if you are short on time to fully tackle dieting and exercise.

There are many treatments out there that can help you lose weight, naturally.  Scientists have spent decades trying to find treatments that are highly effective and with few side effects.  Fortunately, they’ve been able to find many such treatments that offer such benefits.  A new method, for example, which as proven to be highly successful is using extract from natural red raspberries called Raspberry Ketones.  This actually absorbs a sizable amount of the lipids our body produces, keeping it from being deposited as fat.  Other methods like using the HCG hormone or garcinia cambogia also have a long history of working very well in producing weight loss.  No matter which method you wind up choosing, all of them have proven to work quite well in studies and can offer some great additional help.