Overweight But Fit?

When you diet, the weight that you lose is a combination of body fat, muscle mass, and water weight. By exercising regularly at the same time, you actually retain and even gain some muscle mass, which is beneficial since muscle is sensitive to insulin and is an effective depot in which to store extra blood glucose. However, muscle is denser than body fat and weighs more, making it possible for your weight showing on a scale in your bathroom to change very little (or even rise slightly at first), even though you are losing fat and changing your body composition undeniably for the better.

It's best to pay more attention to your waist and hip measurements and to how loose your clothes are getting than to your weight on a scale. But if you like to weigh yourself, try to do it only once a week, and always at the same time of day, like before eating breakfast.

Even if you can't lose all the weight you want to, you can achieve a higher level of fitness. Doing so will undeniably benefit your health.

Over the years, researchers have examined the effects of being fat and/or fit, separately and combined, on the risk of developing a debilitating illness or even dying. The main finding has been that, as body weight increases, so does your risk of dying from heart disease or developing Diabetes.

The good news is that the more physically fit you are, the less risk you run of developing serious illness. The best scenario is still to be "fit and thin." But being classified as "overweight but fit" at least puts you closer to people who are thin but unfit.

The worst thing to be, indisputably, is a member of the "unfit and overweight" club.