Losing weight is all about improving your health. The biggest reason to want to lose weight and overcome obesity has nothing to do with the aesthetic benefits of looking thinner, and absolutely everything to do with feeling your best. This is why as you lose weight it is recommended that you begin looking at other healthy habits that, while maybe having an indirect benefit on your ability to lose weight, will have a direct benefit on your ability to feel healthier and happier day after day.

Living with obesity is highly associated with having a variety of other health issues. Being overweight increases your risk of everything from arthritis to cardiovascular disease. To really improve your quality of life, it is important to take your weight loss efforts seriously and to start making small changes in your daily habits that can mean big change for your overall health and wellness.

This means making changes outside of the basics of diet and exercise. As you lose weight, improve your overall health by adopting healthier habits like:

• Ensure that you are getting enough sleep every day. You need at least 8 hours to be mentally ready to handle the day, and shorting yourself on sleep can harm you in lots of ways, including making it more likely that you’ll overeat in an attempt to conserve energy, not to mention increasing your risk for mental health disease and cardiovascular concerns.
• Remove alcohol and tobacco from your lifestyle. Alcoholic beverages are high in sugar and calories, and don’t add any nutritional value to your day. What’s more, they also increase your risk for heart and liver disease. The use of any tobacco product increases your risk of everything from heart disease to dental disease and all that is in between. Cut these vices out completely as you focus on losing weight for immediate health improvement.
• Take a multivitamin. Talk to your doctor about the best types of vitamins for your health needs. Taking a vitamin regularly can help reduce your risk of nutritional deficiency, and improve your energy levels as you are trying to lose weight.

Other habits are also important to focus on, including drinking plenty of water, embracing a more positive outlook on life, and balancing your physical and mental health with plenty of fun activities and time with the people you care about. Focus on whole-body wellness as you lose weight to see the greatest results in the end.