Weight loss and exercise are wonderful ways to prevent back pain, but did you also know that healthy movement could reduce existing back pain? It’s true. Researchers at Stanford University found that overweight people who increased the amount of time they spent moving by just 20 minutes daily reduced their risk of back pain by 32%. Weight loss has also been tied to a reduction in back pain. Shedding pounds through diet and exercise supports your back health in numerous ways. Here’s why, and later, how to lose weight in a healthy way.

1. Eating healthy, anti-inflammatory foods does a body good

Overweight people may eat diets full of fatty and sugary foods. These foods create inflammatory proteins that aggravate back pain. Conversely, eating powerful, healing foods such as cherries, salmon, and green tea fills your body with antioxidants that reduce inflammation and may reduce pain.

A study conducted at Michigan State University found that anthocyanins, the antioxidant that gives cherries their signature red color, may inhibit pain in essentially the same way as anti-inflammatory drugs. Other brightly colored fruits and vegetables contain similar natural compounds that fight pain. As a bonus, eating fruits and vegetables instead of processed, high-fat food can help people lose weight.

2. Exercised-induced weight loss builds muscle strength and reduces inflammation

Strengthening muscles in your abdomen and those surrounding your spine helps support your back and reduce pain. Without exercise, those same muscles weaken, leaving your spinal column to support the body’s weight alone. In overweight people, that task overwhelms the spine and often leads to back problems.

A study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that overweight and obese men who exercised for one hour each week reduced their risk of back pain by 20%. Researchers attributed the reduction to exercise’s work in reducing inflammation often found in overweight people.

3. Weight loss reduces the risk of conditions that may lead to back pain

Carrying excess weight and living a sedentary lifestyle have been linked to many health conditions, such as osteoarthritis and herniated discs, both of which can lead to back pain. Losing weight and exercising promotes a healthy skeleton and can reduce back pain.

5 ways to lose weight, in a healthy and not-starving kind of way 

Weight-loss efforts have the tendency to quickly morph from an initiative designed to help you feel better into one fueled by self-destructive behaviors like skipping meals and obsessively weighing yourself.

Successful ways to lose weight — meaning a person drops pounds and keeps them off while staying healthy — have one thing in common: they’re undertaken as a lifestyle shift.

Losing weight requires thinking about food differently, fundamentally changing habits and behaviors to support a slimmer body. Restricting calorie intake until you lose five pounds and then returning to your typical eating methods doesn’t work.

But here are five weight-loss strategies that do.

1. Eat every meal

Skipping meals makes people hungry. And when extreme hunger strikes, it’s very difficult to make good eating choices. You may eat a half a bag of chips while waiting for your lunch to cook or scarf down a candy bar because your blood sugar has dropped and you need food now!

Instead of skipping meals, eat plenty of food, and eat often. While many people find three meals a day plenty, some research has shown that eating more frequent, smaller meals may be effective for supporting weight-loss efforts.

Research conducted at the University of Eastern Finland found that adolescents who ate five meals a day were less likely to be obese, regardless of their genetic propensity toward accumulating extra weight. Eating breakfast was a particularly important meal for keeping a trim waistline, researchers added.

In the Finland study, participants ate three meals and two snacks. Making sure to eat the right kinds of food is key to making any weight-loss strategy work, whether you eat three times a day or five.

Fill your plate with vegetables, lean protein, and whole grains that are as minimally processed as possible. Eat healthy, unprocessed snacks like celery and peanut butter, almonds and raisins, or a piece of fruit.

Food is fuel, and eating regular meals is particularly important for diabetics, who must maintain even levels of blood sugar. It’s also important for those who may be suffering from fatigue along with pain because eating every few hours helps keep energy levels high and give the body the nourishment it needs to heal itself.

2. Seek support

Some people can lose weight on their own. Others may find it helpful to embark on their journey with the support of a group, like Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig. These groups help people by giving food guidelines. They also provide accountability to those who need a little extra push to stay on track with eating goals.

If you’re not sure how to eat healthy, those groups are wonderful resources to learn how to choose food. Jenny Craig sells packaged food for you to eat while Weight Watchers guides people through a point system, where you can eat whatever you want as long as you stay within the required number of points.

These programs provide professional support as well as the opportunity to connect with others working to lose weight, but they can be costly. If you’d like to find encouragement without the high price tag, consider joining a weight loss support group like those on Meetup.com.

And if you need help learning how to eat healthy, consider ascribing to a diet style, like the Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats like those in fish and nuts. Mediterranean diet cookbooks are readily available and a wonderful starting point for those embarking on a weight loss journey. Try The Mediterranean Diet for Beginners, which comes with 40 recipes and a weeklong diet plan to take the guesswork out of eating healthy.

3. Eat family meals

Busy schedules prevent many families from eating together, but research has found gathering around the dinner table may help you lose weight.

Research published in The Journal of Pediatrics found that family meals—even one or two each week—helped protect against rising levels of adolescent obesity. Researchers say:

“Coming together for meals may provide opportunities for emotional connections among family members, the food is more likely to be healthful, and adolescents may be exposed to parental modeling of healthful eating behaviors.”

4. Plan ahead to lose weight

Changing habits is never easy, but good planning helps create the inertia needed to shift diet choices.

Each week, perhaps on a Saturday or Sunday, plan ahead what you’ll eat for the following week. Find a few healthy recipes, whether on a food blog or from a cookbook, and buy all the necessary ingredients so you have them on hand.

Knowing what to eat takes the guesswork and thinking out of meal planning. The question of “What should I eat?” never seems to go away, partially because once it’s solved for one meal, it’s already time to figure out the next.

Most people have go-to meals, ones they make without even thinking. The idea is to create a new set of healthy, nutritious go-to meals through planning. Without planning ahead, lunchtime will come around, you’ll wonder what to eat, and end up eating an unhealthy go-to meal. Then you won’t meet your weight-loss goals, get mad at yourself, and develop the misconception that you’re not capable of losing weight.

It’s just not true! You can lose weight. It just requires good planning. Another part of planning ahead is deciding how you’ll handle those times you’re busy and don’t have time or the desire to cook.

Maybe you know you’ll be busy on Tuesday night, so on Monday, you make a big batch of soup, or pre-cut vegetables for a salad or quick stir-fry. Cooking in batches is a wonderful way to reduce the amount of time and energy spent cooking.

Many people with chronic pain might find it hard to chop vegetables or cook due to issues with joint pain or fatigue. In that case, you may plan ahead by buying pre-chopped vegetables. Or, ask a friend or family member to help you with cutting.

Achieve your desired weight loss by knowing what speed bumps you’ll face and plan ways to get around them. The obstacles will never go away, but you can develop ways to succeed despite them.

5. Indulge strategically

If you love chocolate, or cake, or ice cream, designate a cheat day where you can enjoy your favorites. You might also designate meals where you enjoy any fried or unhealthy food you want.

Losing weight is more about the choices you make over time, and not those made on any one given day. Taking the opportunity to enjoy delicious, but not-as-healthy foods makes eating healthy a true, sustainable lifestyle. It’s better to cheat once a week than to avoid cookies for months and binge by eating a whole box.

By looking to make lifestyle shifts, instead of depriving yourself on a restrictive diet, your plan to lose weight transforms from a torturous endeavor into a wonderful adventure. One characterized by learning about health and making choices every day to become a healthier, slimmer, more vibrant you.

What is your best tip to lose weight for reducing and preventing back pain? Ready to talk to a doctor about treating your back pain. Find one in your area here. 

A sedentary lifestyle has been linked to a host of health issues, including obesity, back pain, and osteoporosis. Sitting is dangerous enough to be considered the new smoking, according to JustStand.org. The average U.S. adult sits for eight hours each day, reports U.S. News, but that number is higher for many people who may work in desk chairs, watch television or read on the sofa, and otherwise relax while reclining.

A spate of studies has been released calling sitting deadly, and many of them reveal that even exercise isn’t enough to stave off the health impacts of a sedentary lifestyle. While exercise is important, researchers say, it’s as important to intersperse activity throughout the day to break up long periods of sitting.

A study in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that adults who sat for at least eight hours per day were 15% more likely to die in 15 years than people who sat for no more than four hours per day, according to U.S. News.

The risks are even more pronounced for people older than 60, according to research from Northwestern University. Scientists found that the risk of disability doubled for each hour a person spent sitting, regardless of how much a person exercised.

Scientist Dorothy Dunlap says:

“This is the first time we’ve shown sedentary behavior was related to increased disability regardless of the amount of moderate exercise…Being sedentary is not just a synonym for inadequate physical activity.”

The study examined nearly 2,300 people over the age of 60 who wore devices called accelerometers to measure their movement. Gathering objective data was important because researchers said older people and those who are overweight tend to overestimate the amount of physical activity they’re getting.

So what are the top health risks from sitting?

1. Heart disease

Sitting decreases the rate of blood flowing through the body, limiting the fresh supply of nutrients delivered to all the organs, including the heart. Prolonged sitting has been linked to higher rates of cholesterol, blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease, according to The Washington Post.

Those who spend most of their days seated have about the same heart attack risk as smokers, says Dr. Martha Grogan, a Mayo Clinic cardiologist.

Sitting for more than five hours per day has also been linked to heart failure, reports USA Today. The newspaper quotes Dr. James Levine, inventor of the treadmill desk and a professor with Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University, suggesting that people should try to move for ten minutes every hour. Levine says:

“If you’ve been sitting for an hour, you’ve been sitting too long.”

2. Back and neck pain

Many people sit at desks or on sofas with poor posture. The neck might be leaning forward for a closer look at the computer and the back is often hunched. When sitting, by definition, the body is still. Consequently, the bones, muscle, and cartilage of the back and spine stiffen, losing flexibility.

These factors contribute to back and neck pain. While some risk of pain can be mitigated by sitting with good posture, it’s best to rise and move every hour or so, even if it’s just to drink a glass of water.

3. Osteoporosis

Strong bones require weight-bearing activity. Sitting increases the risk for osteoporosis, a disease of thin bones that are more prone to breaking. Researchers believe that the increasing number of cases is related to the prevalence of sedentary lifestyles, according to The Washington Post.

4. Weight gain

Expanding waistlines are the target of a multitude of weight loss products and the cause of concern for many people. It’s not all about aesthetics—weight gain has been linked to disorders such as diabetes, some cancers, and osteoarthritis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

5. Diabetes

While sitting may contribute to weight gain, which can increase the risk of diabetes, long periods spent in a chair are enough in itself to increase risk of the disease, according to research published in Diabetologia.

The study found that limiting time spent sitting is more important than exercise when it comes to reducing the risk of diabetes. Researchers cautioned the findings don’t negate the importance of exercise. Instead, they emphasize how problematic long periods of sitting are.

How to mitigate the dangers of sitting

We’ll talk in more detail on this blog about options like standing desks and taking breaks to walk around, but there are a few ways to reduce the health risks of sitting right now.

One option includes swapping out a chair for a stability ball. These balls require core engagement to stay balanced and so they work the muscles even though the body is still.

While in a traditional chair, be sure to maintain good posture, with the back straight. Switch chairs if needed, making sure to find one with adequate lumbar support.

Part of the problem with sitting is the reduced blood flow and muscle constriction it creates. By doing a few simple chair exercises, you can increase circulation and work muscles without standing. Try ankle flexes and circles, repeating each exercise ten times and completing the set on both sides.

The hips tighten when seated, so simple hip stretches may feel good. With the left leg remaining on the floor, take the right ankle and rest it on the left knee, keeping the foot flexed to protect the knee. If it feels good, bend forward slightly to access a stretch in the hip.

To release the spine, do a simple spinal twist. Place the right hand on the left knee and the left hand behind you. Gently twist, making sure to keep the spine straight. Hold for three to five breaths before switching to the other side.

What do you think about the dangers of sitting?

Image by Mish Sukharev via Flickr