Dropping just 5% to 10% of your body weight can improve your overall health and reduce your risk for heart disease and diabetes.
But shedding unwanted pounds can also have less-obvious effects, and not always for the better, says Dr. Adam Tsai, a physician at Kaiser Permanente Colorado and a spokesperson for the Obesity Society.
Here are nine things — the good and the bad — that you don’t normally hear about losing weight:
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1. Your energy levels will skyrocket
A big energy boost is often the first thing people notice when they start dropping weight. Why?
When you’re carrying around fewer pounds, you use less energy to simply go about your day, says Tsai.
Weight loss also improves oxygen efficiency, so you won’t find yourself out of breath so easily when climbing stairs or hustling to catch the bus.
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While it’s true that weight loss is associated with bone loss, it’s only a big concern if you become underweight or follow an unhealthy diet, and the National Osteoporosis Foundation says that the benefits of weight loss usually outweigh the risks.
Extra weight can make your bones stronger (they have to be, to carry the extra pounds) but it also damages joints. And new research suggests that visceral fat around the belly is particularly bad for bones, for both men and women.
Losing weight can help, as well as reduce arthritis symptoms, according to a 2013 review published in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons.
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9. You’ll probably spend less on health care
Normal-weight people spend less money on medical bills and expenses than their overweight peers, according to a 2009 study published in the journal Health Affairs.
Specifically, researchers found obese people spent $1,429 more — that’s 42% higher — than their normal-weight peers, most of which went toward prescription medications needed to manage chronic conditions. And a 2014 report on Michigan residents found that annual health care costs for people who were extremely obese were a whopping 90% higher than those of normal-weight individuals.
In related sad-but-true news, you might notice something else when you lose weight, as well: Doctors (whose bias against obese patients has been well-documented) might treat you better, too.
