You're eating right, exercising and doing everything you are supposed to do, but how do you know you are healthy? Sure, you may have lost 10, 30, or 50 pounds, but how do you really know if your health is back on track?
Courtesy of one of our Registered Dietitians, here are 4 small signals that you've gotten your health back.
4. Losing Your Breath is No Longer an Issue
“Often times, even if you are slightly overweight, tasks that shouldn’t be too rigorous, like walking up stairs, require a ton of breath,” says Carrie Wissemeier, a Registered Dietitian and one of the lead dietitians for bistroMD. “If you constantly carry around extra weight, this increases your heart rate, making you breathe heavier.”
As you lose weight, your heart rate improves as well as your blood pressure. Your energy levels will improve and little things like walking up the stairs will no longer be an issue.
If you know you are breathing better doing simple tasks, this is a good indicator that your health has improved.
3. You are Walking on Cloud Nine
If you’ve noticed that you are in a much better mood and in really good spirits, this is probably because you are physically healthier.
“When your body is happy, you are happy,” says Carrie. “Being overweight is very stressful on your body. Once you lose the excess pounds, your body can respond by drastically changing your mood for the better.”
If you’ve noticed a drastic change and an improvement in your mood and your behavior, it’s likely because your body is physically healthier.
2. You Look at Food Differently
When you first start dieting, you look at food completely differently. Food is comfort and not proper nouishment.
“In a sense, food is your body’s best medicine,” says Carrie. “If you feed it with the right dose of nutrition, you will be healthier.”
You can easily become addicted to eating the wrong foods for the wrong reasons. There’s a reason why they call it “comfort food.”
Once you let go of this notion, it means your body is getting back on track because it craves healthy foods versus sweet, salty or junk foods.
1. You Become a Motivational Speaker
Before being healthy, it’s probably safe to say that you weren’t too thrilled with the idea. Your attitude may have been negative and complaining to close friends and family was probably second nature.
“When you get to a certain point of being healthy, you are more likely to share your joy with everyone,” says Carrie. “Your newly found sense of accomplishment inspires you to motivate others to do the same.”
If you feel great, you want to share your great news. This is probably one of the greatest gifts that is associated with being healthy.
