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From Paleo to low-carb/no-carb, from diets based on your blood type to counting macronutrients, there are as many different ways to lose weight as there are reasons for dropping pounds. One of the most-stated causes for losing weight is to get healthy — a good reason, but one that doesn’t scratch the surface of the benefits losing weight has on your body, or how your weight affects your heart.
As your weight increases, the excess fat increases the amount of work done by your muscles — which causes your heart rate to increase; heart rates go up with a higher muscular workload. This means your heart needs to work harder not only during times of exercise, …show more content…
Watching your waistline is a good idea for many reasons.
As the levels of stomach fat increase, typically, so does your blood sugar, as well as your blood pressure and levels of triglycerides. Increases in these levels tend to directly raise your risk of heart disease.
Stomach fat is closer to the internal organs, and excess fat in this area can put pressure on or shift these organs, hindering their ability to do their jobs in your body.
As your stress levels increase, your body increases its production of cortisol, a hormone that increases belly fat. It’s ideal for times of high stress, but should be limited, as it can cause damage to blood vessels and the heart, as a result.
Excess fat can restrict the blood flow throughout the body, making it harder for the heart to push blood. This a problem for two reasons: due to inactivity, your heart may be weaker than you think, causing it to beat more often to reach the needs of your body.
Getting Heart Healthy
If you’ve asked yourself how your weight affects your heart, you can see that it’s not a positive relationship. There are many different things you can do, though, that will help to improve your