This is what happens to your knees when you gain weight

22 Aug 2016 InUncategorized

Do you know which part of our body supports most of our weight? The answer is knees! What’s even more surprising is how much weight our knees are enduring on a day-to-day basis –

Walking: 2x your weight
Climbing the stairs: 6x your weight
Squatting down: 8x your weight

For instance, if you weigh 60kg, your knees will need to endure 480kg of weight when you’re squatting down! Let’s award a gold medal in the weight lifting category for our knees – bet no one would disagree on that.

Jokes aside, having to endure most of our body weight, our knees suffer from immense pressure and that’s the all the more so when you put on too much weight. A sign that things are getting serious is when your knees hurt, from a run or even a short walk.

Cause and Consequence
Like it or not, we’re dealing with a chicken or egg situation here.

Ladies on the heavier side often experience pain and discomfort around their knees, especially when they move around. This makes it harder for them to lose weight through exercises! On the other hand, weight gain is more often than not caused by inactivity. So when your diet remains despite switching a sedentary lifestyle, weight gain eventually results and this in turn places even more pressure on your knees.

With the increased burden our knees have to bear, osteoarthritis, a form of joint pain, may then result from the constant wear and tear, as well as inflammation, of our joints. In fact, plus size women are said to be four times more likely to develop osteoarthritis than their counterparts with healthy weight.

Reasons to lose weight when you’ve osteoarthritis

When it comes to losing weight to protect your knees (and joints), a little goes a long way.

1. Lesser pain and discomfort
Dropping 3kg will mean taking 6kg off your knees when you walk! With lesser burden placed on your knees, you’d enjoy greater mobility and even longer shopping trips without having to stop for a break in between.

2. Less inflammation
Fat in our body creates and releases chemicals, many of which could lead to inflammation. These chemicals could in turn cause the joints to break down more quickly.

3. Feeling better overall
It’s not only for the good of our knees that we try to lose the excess kilos. Being overweight goes hand-in-hand with a myriad of health problems. E.g. High blood pressure, diabetes and so on. These health risks are often ‘invisible’ and are the silent killers. Losing weight will thus help to lower the risk of developing these illnesses.

Diet plans to lose weight

To lose weight healthily, there are some weight loss tips you should remember.

Lesser – calorie, fat
More – fibre, vitamin

Diet plan #1

Breakfast: Overnight oats with fruits –
this helps to boost your fibre intake, helping you to stay full longer
Lunch: Sliced fish beehoon soup –
fish is low in fat content, making it a healthier choice. To further cut down on calorie intake, try to avoid drinking the soup as the evapourated milk in it alone adds approximately 100 calories to the dish!
Snack: Frozen fruit slices (apple, avocado etc) –
high in vitamins, low in calorie and extremely easy to make, this snack can help in fulfilling your daily requirement of 2 servings of fruits
Dinner: Brown rice with lean meat and vegetables –
keep to ½ a bowl of rice and pile up on vegetables. Don’t forget to add lean meat to your meal for some protein!

Diet plan #2

Breakfast: salmon or chicken salad –
opt for healthier and low fat dressings such as olive oil. Drizzling your salad with dressings such as Thousand Island dressing will only add on unwanted sugar and calories!
Lunch: Wanton noodles –
this dish is low in calorie and fat, making it an excellent choice for those who want a little more flavour yet don’t want to hit the daily calorie ‘quota’.
Snack: Greek yoghurt –
this snack aids in digestion and is high in protein. If it’s too bland for your liking, throw in some fruits.
Dinner: Spaghetti Bolognese –
tomato based sauce is a healthier alternative to cream based ones. Top it up with a fresh garden salad to balance up the acidity from the pasta