Various Ways To Know You Are Obese

Maintaining a reasonable weight is important in living a more comfortable and healthier lifestyle. If you weigh much more than is appropriate for your height, then you may be considered obese. This means you are at a higher risk of developing numerous health problems, and you may feel your lifestyle is limited in many ways. Check out these common signs of obesity and, if you fall into any category, consider working towards healthier habits.

Increased Back Pain

Back pain is not an automatic sign of obesity but does tend to be an issue for those carrying some extra weight. If you have not recently done anything that would typically put a strain on your back, then you might consider your weight as the cause of your newfound pain. Your spine is designed to support your body and keep the weight properly dispersed. If you are carrying extra baggage, this will put more pressure on your spine, thus causing weak muscles, posture problems, and a sore back.

Shortness Of Breath

Many people who are overweight have breathing problems. If they engage in almost any type of physical activity, they quickly find themselves out of breath and in need of a break. This is caused by the extra pressure on the lungs and stomach. The muscles working to help a person breathe must work that much harder when there is extra weight on the organs that enable us to breathe normally. This not only puts a strain on their airways but makes it harder for all parts of the body to work together and function appropriately.

Snoring

When you are obese, the extra pounds on your neck put pressure on your throat, thus inflaming your tissue and causing you to snore. Snoring at night may seem like no big deal, but it can have a significant impact on your normal sleeping pattern when it becomes a regular occurrence. A constantly disrupted sleep schedule can greatly impact your day to day lifestyle, leaving you feeling less rested and hindering your body and mind from running at maximum efficiency.

Difficulty Walking

If you find yourself struggling to do common activities, such as walking or going up and down the stairs, this may be cause for concern. When you are obese, you end up putting a lot of extra pressure on every other part of your body, leaving you with aching muscles. Often times, the knees of obese people face a lot of potential damage and can cause problems when trying to do regular activities. These limitations put a strain not only one’s health but on the ability to fully engage in what life has to offer.

High BMI Levels

Measuring your body mass index is a simple calculation to know whether or not you fall into the obese category. BMI is a method to quantify the amount of tissue mass (muscle, fat, and bone) in an individual, and then categorize that person as underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese based on that value. BMI is not used for muscle builders, long-distance athletes, pregnant women, the elderly or young children. This is because BMI does not take into account whether the weight is carried as muscle or fat, it simply shows just the number.

Waist Size

Another clear and somewhat obvious sign that an individual may be obese is their waist size. According to experts, a waist circumference that is greater than thirty-five inches in women and forty inches in men may indicate that an individual is overweight. A waist circumference above either of these numbers illustrates excessive belly fat, which is a dangerous type of fat that surrounds numerous vital organs. This increases an individual’s risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, and developing metabolic syndrome.

To measure your waist circumference, simply use a measuring tape and place it on the top of your hip bone, bring it around your body and level it with your belly button. Don’t suck in, as it will no longer be an accurate measurement, but also do not make the tape too snug; comfortably place it around your stomach for an accurate measurement. An inaccurate measurement will only hurt you in the long-run.

Frequent Heartburn

Any changes to a person’s body weight, even slight fluctuations, such as a couple pounds, can lead to more acid reflux, as more than one-third of obese and overweight individuals experience gastroesophageal reflux disease, more commonly known as GERD. Typical symptoms of GERD include belching, a bitter taste in the mouth, nausea, and uncomfortable abdominal pain. Recent research indicates there is a clear connection between obesity and heartburn, as the studies conducted have proven that an increase in one’s weight and the size of their stomach can either cause or worsen the condition.

Heartburn, or GERD, occurs when stomach acid flows back up into the esophagus, and symptoms typically appear shortly after an individual has eaten, and can last from a few minutes to a couple of hours, depending on the severity. Unfortunately, this connection appears to be stronger in Caucasian women compared to men and other ethnic groups. The increased risk of developing GERD is believed to be caused by an excessive amount of belly fat putting pressure on the stomach, the development of a hiatal hernia that causes the backflow of acid, or even hormonal changes.

Increased Sweating

Excessive sweating, or hyperhidrosis, can also be another warning sign of obesity or other serious conditions, such as diabetes, thyroid problems, or infection. Excessive sweating is generally more common among individuals who are overweight or obese, as sweating is a normal reaction when the body begins to work harder as a way to cool itself down. There are many variations in how a person sweats, just as there are variations in other bodily functions. Specifically, there are two types of excessive sweating: localized and generalized hyperhidrosis, with both ranging in severity and can be a clear-cut sign of other serious health conditions as well.

Chronic Fatigue

Not only does being overweight increase an individual’s chances of developing various, serious conditions, it also increases their risk of developing chronic fatigue. Chronic fatigue in obese individuals largely develops due to the person carrying more weight, suffering from joint and muscle pain, and are more likely to develop a disorder where fatigue is a typical symptom, such as sleep apnea or diabetes. A fatigued individual may not exercise, and a lack of exercise in their life can cause further fatigue. A lack of exercise in an overweight person’s life can also cause deconditioning, making it more challenging and tiring for the individual to perform a physical task in general.

In essence, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a complex medical condition that affects different parts of the human body. Studies have shown that obese individuals with CFS have demonstrated poorer functioning, and obesity has similar symptoms to CFS, such as increased levels of fatigue, increased sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, increased levels of pain, and a reduced level of physical functioning and vitality, essentially a lower quality of life.

Overeating

One of the primary causes and obvious signs an individual may be obese is if they are prone to overeating. Your refrigerator, not your lack of gym time, is to blame for your expanding waistline! Recent research has discovered that overeating alone is one of the main culprits for the obesity epidemic in America at the moment. According to the World Health Organization at Deakin University in Australia, there have been many assumptions that a decrease in physical activity and an increase in energy intake have been the root causes of obesity in America, but that is simply untrue. One study conducted there proved that the weight gain in the American population is explained by people consuming larger quantities of food and calories, while changes in physical activity played a small role in the rise of this epidemic.

Not to mention, the combination of biological and economic factors mainly result in overeating with cheap and readily available food (fast food) becoming the norm within society and sometimes the most affordable meal an individual can eat with rising food costs. Another potential reason for the obesity epidemic and why an individual may overeat leading to obesity is due to food producers creating more genetically modified organisms (GMOs), which help to stimulate the affective system within the body, encouraging people to overeat.

Low Confidence & Self-Esteem

One of the side effects of gaining weight, particularly if an individual becomes obese, is they tend to have lower confidence and develop self-esteem issues. One Yale University study discovered that obesity discrimination in the U.S. has increased by sixty-six percent in the last decade, resulting in a tremendous impact on one’s emotional health. Obese people are often viewed as lazy, sloppy, less competent, and lacking self-discipline, which is simply not true, and are often rejected and face biases by society due to their appearance.

Unfortunately, in our day and age, society places an immense importance on an individual’s appearance, and to be attractive they must fit into a certain size, resulting in a stigma surrounding overweight and obese individuals which negatively impacts their social well-being and emotional health. This can further lead to feelings of shame, rejection, loneliness, isolation, and even depression. If an individual has gained a significant amount of weight and they begin to receive comments about their weight gain, and feel alone, isolated and their confidence has taken a major hit, they might not just have gained ‘a bit of weight,’ they could possibly be overweight or obese.