When you get
beyond a healthy weight, your body is always dealing with the impact of those
extra kilos. It takes more effort just to function, and that can weaken your
system overall.
Being
overweight or obese disrupts normal breathing. There is extra fat inside your
body that makes your breathing muscles weaker and squashes your lungs, meaning
they can’t hold as much air.
If you’re
heavier than you should be, you’ve probably noticed times when it’s harder to
breathe. Huffing and puffing when you’re walking or snoring while you’re
sleeping are just some of the examples of how your weight makes your lungs work
harder.
Patients
admitted to ICU due to COVID-19 complications are there because they need help
to breathe. It’s perhaps not surprising that overweight or obese people account
for most of these patients in the UK. If your lungs are already struggling due
to your weight, then they are less able to cope with additional pressures like
the coronavirus.
Read more: 4 Easy ways to tell if your heart is healthy without equipment
Being
overweight is not just about how you look, it can have a serious impact on your
health. The amount of fat you are carrying around your stomach is called
visceral fat. Visceral fat surrounds internal organs such as the liver,
pancreas and intestines. Higher amounts of this type of fat are linked to many
health problems including type 2 diabetes and heart disease amongst others.
Easy ways to
tell if your weight is healthy without scale
- An easy
way to tell if you have too much visceral fat is to measure how tall you are,
then half this figure and your waist should be no more than this eg. If your
height was 170cm then your waist should be less than 85cm.
- Measure
your height and cut a piece of string to this length, fold it in half then wrap
it around your waist. If the string meets that’s good, if you can tie a knot,
even better.
Losing extra weight may help you look better, but more importantly, it can take pressure off painful joints and improve overall health. You can read many ways to lose weight here 8 reliable ways to lose weight without exercise
