If you’ve lost that lovin’ feeling, it may be because either you or your significant other is weighed down with passion-dulling pounds. Either way, it’s not necessarily that the weight’s a turn-off; it’s that it crushes feelings of desire and flattens physical get-up-and-go.

Excess belly fat triggers inflammation in your arteries, which makes them unable to secrete nitric oxide (trust us, it’s critical) and less able to enlarge. The result is reduced blood flow, not just to your heart, but also to other critical organs, including your genitals. And you’ve got no go without enough blood flow. While this is especially true for men (hello, Viagra increases nitric oxide’s effects), it affects women, too.

Emotionally, excess weight can crush satisfaction and self-esteem. Extremely overweight women are even more likely than men to report less satisfaction with their sex life. And two-thirds of heavy women say they cringe when their lover sees them undressed.

But when you start to reclaim your health by losing weight and exercising, wonder of wonders, the pot boils, the steam rises, the room spins ... you get the idea. And it doesn’t take a lot to stoke the fires. Losing just 13 percent of body weight can change women’s and men’s self-image from unattractive to woohoo! After shedding only a few pounds, half of the women who were ashamed to bare their all were happier with the naked truth.

So you’ve got nothing to lose by getting healthier and enjoying more romance — except about 85 calories for every 30-minute roll in the hay!

The You Docs — Mehmet Oz, host of “The Dr. Oz Show” and Mike Roizen of Cleveland Clinic — are authors of “YOU: Losing Weight.” To submit questions, go to www. RealAge.com. A King Features syndicate.