Trying to lose weight? Think about changing to a positive focus on more exercise and/or healthy eating habits, rather than a number on the scale. A fascinating new study shows that even if you are at a healthy weight, feeling bad about your weight seems to cause the same diseases as being overweight, like diabetes!
Sadly, weight dissatisfaction and poor body image can start early in girls and actually discourage healthy behaviors.
With all of thin supermodels in the media, it is no surprise that weight dissatisfaction has risen dramatically over the last decade or so. Our unhappiness with our bodies has been linked to higher blood pressure and glucose levels, a greater risk of metabolic disease, higher body-mass indexes (BMIs), more disordered eating, lower self-esteem, and “generally diminished quality of life.” Even relatively short-lived weight dissatisfaction predicted higher levels of type 2 diabetes many years later, according to one researcher, Christine E. Blake, a professor at the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina.
People who feel good about their bodies take better care of them
Adolescent girls who are unhappy with their weight get less physical activity, gain more weight, and generally do a worse job with self-care than girls who like their bodies. Yet research shows that exercising improves our body image even when our weight and body shape stay exactly the same! Another great reason to get and stay active.