There are so many benefits of losing weight that it would be impossible to mention them all.
Everyone has at least one thing that they look forward to when thinking of life after losing weight, and many of us have many things we look forward to after getting in shape.
Thoughts of future rewards that keep us excited, focused on our goals, and motivated to stay on track. In addition to the health advantages that come with weight loss, there are lots of exciting rewards that you can look forward to if you start making healthy changes in your life, consistently.
Looking forward to some of the common benefits of weight loss can keep you in a confident and positive mindset that will help you stay on track with your efforts.
Amazing things can be right around the corner, only months from now… if you eat healthy daily, and exercise regularly.
Here are just a few of the rewards that will come from all of your hard work, that you can confidently look forward to if you make the decision to start living healthier today.
Fitting into smaller clothes
Fitting into smaller clothes is one of the most amazing rewards that comes with weight loss. It happens multiple times along the way, and feels incredible each time. It’s one of the most exciting and common, “non-scale” ways of tracking your progress.
From going down pants sizes… shirt sizes… to notches in your belt, your whole wardrobe will become smaller over time.
As you get thinner, you will of course notice your own progress, but sometimes you don’t notice just how much you have changed until you try some new clothes that fit your new body.
Never more do you feel like a brand new healthy person, than after you buy a set of smaller clothes that fit just right.
Seeing people’s reaction
Seeing people’s reaction to your transformation is a very rewarding thing. You see yourself every day in the mirror… but the image that others hold of you was when they last saw you, when you were bigger. They are able to see the huge difference that your efforts have made, in one single moment.
This is very similar to the feeling of seeing a before and after picture of yourself.
It’s a huge confidence boost when someone who you never told you were on a diet, asks you, “have you lost weight?” It’s a significant comment, because you know that they got the idea on their own just from seeing you, and it means that you’ve changed enough for them to say something.
When you have lots of weight to lose, this will happen many times over as you become thinner.
After a while you’ll hear, “did you lose MORE weight!?”
That’s when you get to say confidently that yes you have lost weight, lots of it.
Keeping up with the kids
Losing weight can help you keep up with your kids in several ways. Personally I don’t have kids, but I know that many people look forward to both having more energy in day to day parenting in general, as well as actually being able to do things like play sports and be physically active with their kids.
If you have lots of weight to lose, getting in shape may even mean being able to go places and do things that you couldn’t before.
Easier to explore and travel
Being lighter, stronger, smaller, and more internally healthy, can open up a wide variety of options when it comes to exploring the world.
One of the activities that was very rewarding for me after getting in shape, was when I went on a hike with a friend and was able to keep up, without getting exhausted or having knee pain.
The more weight you have to lose, the more you’ll identify with this idea. If you are very big, then you may have had to pass on going somewhere that you wanted because of your weight. Whether it’s an amusement park, a plane seat, or a sports car that you want to enjoy, that dream is just right around the corner if you start making healthy changes.
Getting better sleep
Getting enough sleep is indeed important for losing weight… but I tend to think of it the other way around. Losing weight makes you sleep better, for several reasons.
- Less snoring
- No digestion issues
- No late night snacking
- More comfort
Perhaps the most common and impacting way that losing weight improves quality of sleep, is in helping with snoring and sleep apnea. Many who suffer from snoring and breathing problems in their sleep, do so largely because of their weight.
When you lose weight, there is a great chance that this snoring will either reduce or go away completely, and you will be able to breathe clearly when you sleep.
Eating a healthier diet can also mean getting a full night of sleep without any stomach pain or having to visit the restroom, which is much easier to do when you are not eating lots of junk.
I used to wake up with stomach cramps and even cold sweats very often because of my horrible diet, but after my diet was filled with healthy foods my stomach pains went away and I started sleeping much more soundly.
Late night snacking also used to interrupt my sleep. I would wake up hungry, then get up to eat, and then try to get back to sleep.
This was also due to my poor diet content, and not just a matter of a midnight snacking habit. Even though I was overeating, the unhealthy foods I was eating were not nutritious, were filled with bad chemicals, and digested quickly… leaving me hungry all of the time, including the middle of the night.
Healthy, whole, nutrient-rich foods help me to keep my blood sugar stable over longer periods of time, which allow me to sleep through the night (while burning fat). So, the same foods that will help you lose weight, will help you sleep better.
I also feel less pressure on my joints and my back now that I am not heavy, not just when I am walking around but also when sitting or laying down. My bed just feels more comfortable now.
Sweating less
To anyone who has never dealt with the constant heat of struggling against your own weight, sweating less may sound like something minor, but it’s actually a very big deal that can actually improve your quality of life, as you won’t have to deal with the social stress of sweating for activities that others find easy.
When you get thinner, you will be happy to find that not only will you sweat less during activities such as climbing the stairs, but you can also look forward to being more comfortable at a slightly higher room temperature, at rest.
When I was overweight the smallest thing would make me sweat, then it would be hard to stop sweating, and I would feel dirty all day until I could change clothes or take a shower.
I was always hot when others were comfortable… before losing weight I remember that I kept my house at about 63 degrees, and now I like it between 67 and 70 degrees.
This constant overheating and sweating went away when I lost 80 pounds, and you will also find that after getting rid of your excess fat, you’ll feel much more “cooler”.
More attraction
I wonder how many people scrolled strait to this one. There’s no shame in it… most people find a lot of motivation for their fitness goal in aesthetics. We want to look good just as much as we want to feel good. As a matter of fact, looking good does make you feel good. It’s just the way we are wired, since a healthy body reflects a healthy person and healthy life all around.
So embrace the drive to want to look good and use it a as a source of continual motivation.
If you work hard, as you lose weight your body and face will both continue to become a more attractive shape. This can mean having more confidence when dating, out in public in general, or most importantly when the new you is staring back at you in the mirror.
You have likely seen others around you become more confident and attractive when they get in shape, but we have the tendency to not believe that the same will happen to us.
It’s amazing how much your appearance can change after weight loss, and how great it can make you feel to have achieved the transformation that you wanted.
Goodbye to man boobs, love handles, and your belly
This is one in the same with what has been mentioned above, but these are specific things that you can look forward to being rid of with consistent effort. In addition to being “thinner”, your body will actually tighten up, and take on a more defined shape.
Losing weight will change a man’s life and body in lots of ways, but one of the things overweight men want to change specifically, is their man boobs. I remember a kid making fun of me in middle school, asking me if I always wore two shirts to hide my man boobs… and that was exactly why I did it.
But those man boobs quickly turn into pectoral muscles just as soon as the fat starts melting away with a healthy diet and exercise. Dedicate to eating more and more healthy, natural foods every day consistently and soon you’ll know exactly what it feels like to go from overweight to fit and strong.
Women can look forward to love handles disappearing… from flabby, to only slightly protruding, to flat, and eventually inward to that hourglass shape.
Both men and women dream of getting rid of their belly, having a flat stomach, and feeling great about the way they look both with a shirt on, and off.
Easier to curl up on the couch
Something frustrating about being big, can be trying to share the couch with someone special, and trying to comfortably wrap your arms around each other. Losing weight for either or both people in this scenario, can go a long way towards making cuddling much easier.
Whether you’re trying to fit side to side, on top of each other, losing weight is a win win for both people, and can help to bring a great level of closeness.
Having way more energy!
Energy comes in two major ways after you get in shape…
First, you feel more awake and mentally energized throughout the day.
Second, you will actually have more physical energy that you can use to go on long walks, or simply not sweat when you are walking up stairs.
Before I lost weight I always thought that “having more energy” sounded kind of cliché, but I didn’t understand how much my body and habits were dragging on my energy, and how good you should feel on a normal basis when you’re in shape.
Weighing less, having more muscle, eating healthy food, detoxing from the junk food, and having more confidence, all add up to having lots more energy and feeling way better… from the moment you wake, till the moment you go to bed, and even in between as you rest more peacefully than before.
Seeing yourself in a new way
Going through a physical transformation, and become healthier both inside and out, is a very profound thing that changes both your body, and your life.
When you see yourself staring back in the mirror… when you do new things that you could not before… you take on a new level of natural happiness and self-confidence that makes you feel great pride in yourself. This change, this confidence, can lead you to seeing yourself in a whole new way, and possibly as a “whole new person.”
The best part of all of this, is that unlike so many things in life… you don’t have to pick and choose which rewards you want, or sacrifice one to get the other. You can experience all of the benefits of losing weight, all at once. For staying deeply motivated, I believe it is important to focus on a single reward that you want more than anything, but after actually losing weight you get to experience all of the rewards that come along with it, which are seemingly endless.
Want to start working towards your weight loss goals so that you can experience all of the amazing benefits of losing weight for yourself? Try the 8-Week Weight Loss Challenge! It’s a simple but super effective program that will help you change your eating habits permanently, and lose lots of weight the healthy way. Sign up below for your free PDF copy or read more about the program here.
