A little weight loss goes a long way!

For obese persons (BMI >40) losing 5-10% of weight can drastically improve blood pressure and cholesterol. Depression, quality of life, mobility, sexual dysfunction, and urinary stress incontinence are significantly improved as well. 

2-5% weight loss can improve irregularities caused by PCOS, which affects many women, causing infertility and a host of other problems.

Losing 10-15% can improve clinical outcomes of obstructive sleep apnea and fatty liver disease. Reduction in mortality may take more than 10% weight loss, but more studies need to be done to determine this.

When it comes to fitness, weight loss can be a touchy subject and there are so many variables. One thing I like to do with my weight loss patients is start with fasting labs to get an idea of their metabolic health state including overall cholesterol (lipids) and inflammation status, as well as find any underlying obstacles to weight loss. We discuss their personal goals that are being impeded by their weight/health and work with those goals in mind.

The goal of weight loss isn’t a number on a scale, though that can be helpful. The main goal is to shift the status of what’s going on within the body, for better health overall. With better health we get better immune responses to daily insults like viruses and other microbes. We get longevity from joints, including those of the spine. We prevent gnarly diseases like type 2 diabetes and some types of cancer. 

Ref: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13679-017-0262-y