Effects of Obesity

I'm sure you may have seen this picture before. Especially if you Pinterest at all.

But guess what?

I found the actual SOURCE of the pictures and the article that accompanies it.

Let me go over a few things...

1. I find this fascinating. I really wish I would have seen this way back when. I think it would have been a big wake up call

2. I am not posting this to call anyone out, gross anyone out or anything like that. I am doing this for the information value. Everyone is at a different stage in their journey whether or not they have started, are in the middle or maintaining at the end. Please no harsh or negative comments.

Ok. Look at the scan. Red is obviously muscle, black are the organs, white is bone and yellow is fat. One of the first things I noticed is all the fat that surrounds your organs. This is called visceral fat. Visceral fat isnt just like fat you find on the body that is a lump but visceral fat actually pumps out chemicals that has been linked to heart disease, diabetes and even some cancer.

The second thing I noticed is the enlarged heart on the scan. An enlarged heart cannot effectively pump blood to where it needs to be for the body. It is also a common cause of heart failure. And if an enlarged heart doesnt cause heart failure it will at least cause shortness of breath. A normal heart is about the size of a fist. Look at the picture below. See the size of the obese heart vs the hands on each side?

Now some things you may not have noticed. Look at the neck. See the yellow fat on each side? Excess fat here can cause pressure on the nerves and may contribute to headaches and neck pain. AND obese people also are at a higher risk for sleep apnea.

Their lungs though similar in size would be more compressed in the obese persons scan making it harder to breathe. This can lead to lack of energy, imparred immune system and even high blood pressure as the body tries to compensate.

Also think about the strain on the hips, knees, joints. The increased risk of varicose veins and arthritis. Think about your feet. I know when I was obese I didnt wear heels. I always joke that as the weight came off, the higher my heels became. The weight on the feet as you stand, walk etc. The increased risk of plantar fasciaitis. 

To read more about what effects obesity has on you, check out the remainder of the article here. I found it very interesting and learned things I wish I had known when I was 268 lbs.


Ok onto my Monday Recap.

I did great on my eating just as I outlined yesterday with the exception of some crackers and spinach dip and grapes after I worked out last night. I was hungry so I ate. 

The gym I did good too. I ran 4.25 miles before working with Eric. I wanted to make it to 5 but I need to get my brain past the 5k hurdle. Once I get to 5k I walk for a few then pick it back up. Thats ok though. All a process.

Last night we did the leg squat machine and then backward lunges while holding barbells.Then after we repeated that circuit 3 times we went to the upper portion of the gym for some floor space. There he had me hang onto two 10 lb kettle bells (on in each hand) with my arms up and out and folded like a chicken wing so my hands were in by my heart. I hope that makes sense. It was so the kettlebells rested in the crook of my arms by my elbows. Then he had me do squats with those. 20 lbs, no big deal right? Next exercise he had me kneeling with my toes planted firmly down on the ground. He spotted me by kneeling behind me and pressing his knees against the soles of my feel and pressing down on my heels while I VERY SLOWLY tilted myself forward to resist gravity. Oh baby does that work the hamstrings and glutes! Great exercise though. Then we went back to the kettlebells this time with 2- 20lb ones. My forearms are not muscular yet so those were starting to get a little painful on my arms. By the time we did the resistance exercise and got back up to do  kettlebells again I was pretty sweaty. This time he had me use 2- 30 lb kettlebells. Well let me tell you... between the sweat on my arms and my weak right arm I couldnt keep the kettlebells on. I would do one and it would slip. I even dried my arms off. Nope. It wasnt happening. Well did Eric let that stop him? No. He went and got one 60lb kettlebell for me to hang onto and squat with. That, even though it was super heavy and uncomfortable, I could do. And I did. We didnt give up. And that felt great. Just another way to do the exercise. We finished off by going back to the leg press machine. He loaded it up with 3 50 lb weights on each side and had me do 8. Then he took off one weight on each side and had me do 10. Then he took off another weight on each side and had me do 20. Whew. Then he put them ALL back ON and had me do a final 8. By then my legs were shaky and done. LOL.

After that I had to walk to stretch my legs back out. I did a nice easy walk for another 1.75 miles to round out my mileage to 6 miles for the night.

Today I am VERY sore but I weighed back in at 155.0. Happy with that. If I can keep it up I can hopefully reach goal by the end of the week.

Here is my meals for today:
Breakfast- Ab juice with pomegranate added, english muffin with PB
Lunch- Scallions, hummus, hard boiled egg, apple with PB
Dinner- Salad with apple cider vinegar

Tonight we will be going to Aarons grandmas for dinner. We are going to be picking up pizza and breadsticks and salad to take with us. 

Then once we get home and get the kids to bed my plan will be to run on the elliptical. I need to stretch out the legs and I love the elliptical for that. 

Well thats the plans for today. 
Have a great Tuesday everyone!!

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