Getting physically fit isn’t necessarily about losing weight. It all boils down to your ability to control insulin resistance and therefore silent inflammation. If your body maintains an appropriate zone of insulin, you can still be overweight and healthy. On the other hand, if your body has to pump out greater and greater amounts of insulin due to insulin resistance in your cells, then your excess body weight is generating silent inflammation around the clock, setting you on a fast track for type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

For example, in one recent study in which overweight individuals lost weight on a calorie-restricted diet, it was only those with insulin resistance who had any decrease in their blood levels of CRP when they lost weight. This helps to explain why some overweight people have perfectly normal cholesterol levels and are at relatively little risk for heart disease. They manage to maintain their insulin levels in a healthy zone. Their weight is a cosmetic problem due to eating too many calories, but not a medical problem. Research by Stephen Blair at the Cooper Clinic in Dallas, Texas, confirms this seemingly paradoxical situation. Individuals who were physically fit but overweight were significantly less likely to develop heart disease then those who were of normal weight but less physically fit. Of course, those who were of normal weight and physically fit had even lower levels of cardiovascular risk.

How is it that some people can be healthy and overweight while others are not? It all boils down to the levels of visceral fat. Decrease this type of fat, and levels of CRP are also lowered. It is visceral fat that is mobilized by exercise. Unfortunately, exercise has a much smaller impact on subcutaneous fat, the unsightly but relatively safe fat that collects on the hips, thighs, and buttocks.

Obviously, the best course of action is to be physically fit and at a normal weight. But don’t use loss of body weight as a fitness goal. First of all, you might gain a few pounds of muscle while you’re reducing fat—which is a great thing, though your scale won’t tell you this. This is why your body fat percentage is a far better indicator of fat loss and why it is considered to be a biomarker (although a weak one) of wellness. Second, from a health standpoint, getting active will help reduce silent inflammation regardless of whether you lose any inches from your hips and thighs.