It’s the beginning of the week and as you rise and get ready to grind it out you notice you still feel sleepy. As you hop into your used to be favorite pair of jeans, you brush off your aches and pains as just another bad night’s sleep and case of the Monday blues, but it could be something more. More often than not the way we feel physically is our body’s way of telling us something is wrong and needs to be fixed asap, yet many of us choose to ignore the warning signs. Ever wonder how those pesky 10 pounds crept up on you? Maybe it’s because you ignored your favorite pair of jeans’ cry for help or that popping in your knee. Our bodies may not have mouths, but they definitely have voices. Here are 5 ways our bodies say “Hey buddy! See that treadmill over there…use it!” Are you listening?

You’ve Got That Molasses Feeling

By now you’ve heard the expression ‘moving slow like molasses,’ and if you’ve noticed yourself feeling tired often or after having a full 8 hours of sleep, that’s exactly what your body is doing. You may want to blame it on that big pasta dinner you had, but in reality you could be moving slow because your body isn’t burning the extra fat you’re carrying around so instead it’s storing it and as a result, it’s slowing down. Hit the gym and get your heart pumping to increase your metabolism and burn off some of that fat and your energy will return in no time.

You Tried To Drop It Like It’s Hot … And Your Knees Popped

One inevitable part of life is getting older and as we age, some parts of our bodies don’t work like they used to. But if you’re finding that your knees are popping while you twerk in the club or feel sore after you’ve walked for awhile, that’s not old age calling, that’s your body telling you that it can’t carry your extra weight. Our bodies are built Ford tough indeed, but like cars, our bodies have limits. Adding too much extra weight to your body adds pressure on your bones which can put strain on your muscles and joints causing soreness, pain, inflammation and even breakage.

You’ve Unfriended Your Favorite Pair Of Jeans

Remember those jeans you used to wear with everything because they were your favorite, but now when you go to put them on you have to do a slight dougie just to get them past your thighs? Yea, you didn’t stop wearing them because they went out of style or because you have a new favorite pair, it’s because your body has expanded and is now protesting anything that will smother it to death. Tight clothing is usually the main way we hear our body screaming at us to put the ice cream down and pick up the celery. More of us need to listen.

You’re Contagious

No I’m not having flashbacks of R. Kelly and Mr. Biggs; I’m talking about contagious as in sick…all the time. On the outside extra weight simply looks like rolls or protruding guts, but on the inside all of that fat is slowly smothering vital organs and after awhile it prevents those organs from functioning at their best. The result is your body starts to lack important nutrients or certain bodily functions become irregular and this can cause a breakdown in your immune system which can leave you constantly feeling under the weather. From frequent colds to constant headaches and migraines, if your body is sending you these signals it’s time for you to hit the gym.

You Can’t Breathe

Running a marathon would leave even the healthiest person out of breathe, but if all you did was walk up the four steps to your front door and now you need to catch your breath, I think your body is trying to tell you something. Being out of breath after the simplest of tasks is a clear sign that your body is struggling to produce oxygen and it could be because the extra weight you’re carrying is putting pressure on your lungs and heart. Unless you want to stop breathing for good, listen to your body and take steps to get healthy now.