Can You Be Overweight and Healthy?

Recently the national media jumped all over a new study suggesting that it was perfectly fine to be overweight and that you could live just as long as a slimmer you. The media campaign is part of a strange national campaign to redefine what it means to be overweight so that millions of overweight people no longer consider they have a weight problem, which is exactly what many such people now believe. Apparently, our country is now setting the bar so low that even the most overweight person will be able to waddle over it.

The Canadian study placed those who are overweight into four categories; Stage 0: no other risk factors, Stage 1: mild conditions, Stage 2 and 3: moderate to severe conditions. In other words, if you are overweight and you have health problems such as high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, as well as other health problems, then your risk for early mortality clearly goes up.

The study found that those in Stage 0 and 1 did not have elevated mortality risk, compared to thinner people. The study also found that those who ate a quality diet, high in fruits and vegetables, and maintained their cardiovascular fitness were more likely to be in the Stage 0 and 1 category.

The study also found that the number of times a person tried to diet and failed was also a factor that contributed to being in Stage 2 or 3. This was then interpreted by the media to mean that you should not even try to diet if you are overweight because it could harm you.

Extra body weight is one form of stress that you can do without. Like any type of stress, it combines with other forms of stress and eventually elevates into major health problems.

Your body has an incredible ability to tolerate abuse, including the gaining of excess weight. Your fat cells will expand in size and become sluggish. Inflammation signals start to ramp up. Yes, you can keep the problem somewhat contained with a better quality diet and regular exercise. That is a good thing, but it does not mean that being overweight is a good thing.

It is true that yo-yo dieting is quite stressful to your metabolism. You want to lose weight as a progressive trend over time, without going through “starvation.” This is why I recommend The Five Rules of the Leptin Diet, which enable your body to more efficiently extract energy from food. This helps you actually have more energy from less food. When you combine this with a better quality diet and regular exercise, your weight will gradually shift in the right direction.

Many nutrients are vital to support this process, especially if you aren't moving in the right direction following just the basic ideas. Furthermore, those with more difficult weight issues invariably have some type of inflammatory “monkey wrench” that is obstructing their metabolism.

I explain the most common causes for these issues in my series of articles on the Leptin Diet Weight Loss Challenge.

Optimal body weight will always be preferable to being any amount overweight. However, how you get to that goal can make a large difference in your health. If you lose weight by too much calorie restriction you lose bones and muscles and create a more feeble state of health. If you do it right, however, you preserve a far higher quality of health for many years to come.