The End of Weight Loss And Diet As We Know It

By Barry Roskin Blake

With the frightening statistics just announced that we are only just a little bit away from the majority of the country being overweight and over forty percent obese, it seems like the end is near.

Just a decade ago we really started to wake up and push films and initiatives in school and at home to change things. Michelle Obama even started that garden in her back yard in Washington. So what the heck happened? Is it some sort of conspiracy, a way to make more jobs or just plain bad luck? I mean there has to be somebody to blame doesn’t there? In every good story you have the hero and his nemesis. Yet people are dying every day. I just lost my youngest cousin who was a year younger then me at age forty or so. She had become very large, had a diabetic stroke and died a day later.

Is this the future that we all have to look forward too? This disease has taken the majority of the family I love. Most of my friends who are overweight suffer from illnesses that are all either caused or contributed to by obesity. There are resources out there and that do present hope. I just think we are letting time pass us by and not getting down to the root of why we are all having this happen to us.  The thing I am tired of is hearing everyday is that someone who has taken off two hundred pounds in six months and has the answer. I hate to say it, but you’re part of the problem. Chances are in another year or less you will have put the weight back on and more. It is not that I am jealous, it is the sad fact that 98 percent of people who go on these type of diets will fail. Those are undeniable facts.

We as a people have to look at the situation very differently.  Our responsibility has to be to our own health first. Then we can focus on the ones we love or who will look out after them. It is time for a change and I am not sure that there is one particular answer. Yet, if we do not try, just imagine what the next twenty years can bring back. Maybe a]we’re heading back to a time when the average lifespan was fifty. We are a great body of people and together, I’m sure we can find our way.  It may be time to stop depending on the experts alone and start depending on each other.  I welcome everyone’s thought and feedback at such a crucial time.

Thanks for checking in,

Barry

New Diet Pills: Our Friend or Enemy?

Well here we go again. It’s been a decade or so since the last medical fiasco with diet pills. One went off the market and one is still around. Yet people in our country are getting heavier with each passing second. I should know.  I’m one of those people.

Now comes the FDA’s probable approval of another new diet pill. This new one is a mix of two older drugs put together to give you a nice kick-start. Yet what happens after the first few months? Will all my temptations be gone? Will they stop all those yummy looking food commercials and take away all the cookies and ice cream from the end of the store isles?  The answer is, no way! So then what is going to be different this time?

If I am no longer hungry, will I never want another pizza or piece of cake for dessert?  Will I stop eating out of emotion or stalking the kitchen at night? I really don’t see any indications that this is going to help me think any differently. Just because you tie my mouth closed, staple my stomach, or make me very feel ill if I eat too much, does not mean that I will start feeling differently towards those foods. Its almost as bad as sending someone for aversion therapy. It has never been shown to be effective and it is just cruel torture. Our country has to stop looking at ways to control our hunger and instead control the much bigger problem. Obesity is crawling up the front lawns of almost half our country.

Think about all your friends and family. Is there anyone in that group who could stand to lose some weight?  Is it more then one person?  It’s time to find a cure. So I encourage anyone considering diet pills to think long term about how you will feel if it does not work out. All of the money you will have spent and the many side effects to probably experience for nothing, just makes me wonder if it’s even worth going through.

Lets not rely on a magical cure and instead stick together to help each other. That’s where hope begins and the cure starts to arise.

-Barry

Eating Less Can Cause Weight Gain

When Eating Less Causes Weight Gain

Ever since the last month, I have found my self not eating emotionally anymore. This was one of my biggest problems and I was so glad to get past it. A wish come true. Yet with ever road I pass, there is always a speed bump or two. The latest one came to me while working ten hour days cutting ‘Finding Thin’ and taking meetings. I discovered I was eating far less then I should be. There was just so much to do that I was neglecting to eat enough. It was slowing down my metabolism and causing me to tire easily and for my weight loss to slow. Who would have though that would be even be possible? I would have dreamed for a problem like that. Well… maybe not.
When growing up I was always thought that less was more. If you went lower on the calories, you would lose more weight. That is so not the case. It really is a game of balance. Not too much and not too little. Finding that sense of balance is not easy by any way but imaginable. Yet it is actually enjoyable since I get to eat more of the foods that I enjoy and do now feel stronger. This was one of the things that I liked about the new Weight Watchers program. It did not deprive me. It made it much easer then counting calories and made sense to me.
As a former dieter, I knew how to skip on the calories but that was not the answer.
Now with diabetes. it makes it even the more a bit more difficult sometimes in choices but nowhere near impossible. I am already finding that the diabetes is going down which means I can stay off the insulin. This of course thrills me. After all, who likes sticking themselves with needles. Though there are millions that are forced to every day and I pray we can beat this dreaded disease one day. I am so fortunate enough to be able to now control this through different eating substitutions. You notice I don’t say diet much since I hate the word.
There are some people out there that have ways they recommend to trick your body but that just seems wrong. My body has gone through enough and deserves to be treated better.
So as I make it past emotional eating, I just have to remind myself to eat enough and at the right times during the day.
The next obstacle is learning to start walking again without wanting to fall over.
I would love to hear from anyone who face those same challenges that I do.

Brain Surgery For Weight Loss

Brain Surgery Is New Magic Bullet For Weight Loss

People have been looking for a quick fix to weight loss for years. The quick fix for or holy grail of successful dieting.. Everything from diet pills to starvation methods or even tape worms.
Nothing has ever worked.
Then we finally got into a version of taping the mouth closed through wires. When that did not work, we went to Gastric Bypass Surgery.
After that did not seem to be a hundred percent or totally safe, the medical industry went with a less invasive method called the ‘Lap Band’ surgery.
This did not really work all that much better either and still had possible fatal complications as well.
Now comes the winner of them all. Brain surgery. As barbaric as it sounds, they figure they can mess around with the wiring in your brain to get it right.
What everyone keeps missing is that no one is getting to the real problem. Teaching the person how to explore what or why they are eating.
It is just another method to go around the problem and take away the hunger.
There is no education or studying of the inner cognitive workings of the mind when it relates to food.
Dr. Judith Beck worked on a couple of books based on eating and the cognitive behavioral therapy approach. Usually called CBT for short, it was a valid attempt at trying to figure out why instead of how.
The ironic thing is that when one of the early people who had the surgery known as ‘Deep Brain Stimulation’, he started to put weight back on.
Know one could figure out why.
Well, they actually put a on/off switch on the product and the person was turning the unit off so he or she could eat when hungry.
This is why it still goes back to why we are choosing to eat in the first place. Not just trying to shut of the feeling of hunger.
There is a impulse that has to be dealt with and explored before we can move on to any long lasting and permanent weight loss.
As of now, there is no such thing other then good old fashion therapy and weight groups.

Heavy People Getting Burned At the Clothing Store

Fat People Punished For Buying Cloths

Before I begin, it is true that as an obese person I do need more material then the normal person.
That could certainly make for the higher price for the plus sized cloths. Though do consider that when buying in bulk, the price does go down.

Big Sizes Mean Big Money

I have heard many argue that the bigger you are the more you should pay. Though if we go ahead with that argument, the issue becomes much larger. The truth is that big and tall stores are charging three to four times the prices.
I went looking for a 3x bathing suit and was told it would cost me over fifty dollars. This would normally be around ten dollars in a Target or Walmart.
So why do heavy people pay such large prices. It feels as though we are getting taken advantage of at the over-sized stores.
Some people say if you can’t go to the normal sized stores then that is your problem.
The reason that I take issue with the “normal” phrase may be a shock to you. Right now   over sixty percent or more of U.S.A. is overweight or obese.

That would put the heavy people in the majority and actually the normal ones.
So my question is still why we should pay more money for something that is far greater in demand.
Wait… I think I just answered my own question. Greater demand means greater profits.
It has nothing to do with discrimination or prejudice. Instead it is pure greed.
So my hat goes off to the plus size stores for getting what they can but sooner or later the Targets’ and Walmart’s are going to catch up. So watch out.

Fat People Don’t Deserve Health Insurance

This type of comment keeps getting thrown around in the news. Its as if the overweight culture has chosen to become overweight and become a finical burden on the healthcare system.
Yet with a country that is almost 65 percent overweight, that would be a ton of people to throw blame at.
I understand that the insurance companies are there to make money and nothing more but this is a disease and not a choice. For instance, who would make a choice of having Diabetes, Cancer or Heart Disease. All which eventually can lead to an early death.
Then consider the environment of all the unhealthy foods like cookies and candy available right under you pharmacy pickup counter.
How can we stand a chance.
The true way to bring down heath costs is to address this disease from every angle including education and treatment. It is ironic that you can get into almost every chemical dependency clinic for a reduced rate but never one for obesity. After all isn’t sugar a additive substance that you grow dependent on?
So why blame the wrong group of people that could use it just as much as everyone else.
I never though I would see such bigotry return these days but it seems that it is rearing it’s ugly head in many ways.

Solving America’s Health Problems With The Next Generation

A Special Guest Post By: Chris Steurer

As America continues to stay on top as one of the unhealthiest countries in the world, we are seeing a tremendous growth of obesity and weight issues among our adult population and children as well. INC.com has noted that “according to the Center for Disease Control, approximately 17% of all children in the U.S. are obese.” They are the future of our country, and they are looking bigger than ever before.

I don’t believe that short term solutions work very well for truly solving any problem, therefore, we must look to longer-term solutions that are responsible and sustainable now and into the future. The current children of America are the future of this country, and it is up to them to decide what will happen down the road. So why do we do such a poor job at teaching them healthy habits and such a good job at raising them to make bigger health mistakes than ourselves?

I’ve talked with my younger cousins, my friend’s kids, and other children and they excitedly tell me how much they love eating fast food and playing video games all day. It’s quite alarming if you think about it, our next generation seems likely to be worse off than we already are.

So, how can we fix the problem? It is known that prisons often serve better food than our public schools do. Children are eating at least one meal- five days out of the week- that is high in calories and low in essential nutrients that the body needs to stay fit and healthy. I am almost certain that many of them consume many more meals throughout the week that consist of fast food or other unhealthy meals. We teach children how to read, write, and do arithmetic in school, why can’t we teach them to eat healthier and stay more active as well?

At least one company has set out to do something about this problem. Revolution Foods is helping to bring access to nutrient rich meals that taste good to low-income schools. They have realized that by targeting schools with healthy food alternatives, they can help make the world a better and healthier place to live!

What other ideas do you have that could offer a long-term solution to getting America’s health back on track?

Do Americans Work To Gain Weight?

           A Special Guest Post by:  Chris Steurer

Throughout the 1900’s in America, we were known for our powerful and growing production industry. Many people worked in factories and other jobs that required physical activity at work. Today in America, most of the jobs here are service industry jobs that for the most part don’t require physical activity beyond visiting the coffee machine and getting back to your desk.

It is blatantly obvious that America is now one of the most notoriously unhealthy countries in the world. We are very well known for our overindulgence in unhealthy activities, most notably, living sedentary lifestyles and consuming way too many unhealthy foods (http://www.heartattackgrill.com). Despite the growing number of fast food chains that seem to be popping up on every corner, we can’t place our blame on them for our weight issues. We all have a choice as to where we eat, but that is only half of the problem at hand.

Most of us can agree, especially those of us who are overweight, that we aren’t getting enough physical activity in our days. There are thousands of excuses as to why we might not get in our needed physical activity ranging everywhere from “I am to tired after working all day” to “I just can’t do it.”

Despite the fact that I would like to say we need to stop making excuses and placing blame elsewhere, there is some validity to people who blame working all day as the reason to why they don’t exercise. Even if your job isn’t physically demanding, we are often mentally drained by the end of the day and it becomes hard to find the motivation to wear yourself out even more. So, what do we do?

We need to find ways to bring more physical activity into the office. I am not saying that we need to replace our desks with treadmills that have a computer attached to it, but we need to find ways to allow employees to get away from sitting in a chair and not moving all day. If that means getting a headset and notepad so you can walk around the office and take phone calls, then we should highly consider it. Some places, like Google, have taken things a step further by offering a work out facility in the office.

If you could design the perfect office that blends physical well being with staying productive, how would you do it?

With Great Amounts of Nutritional Info, Comes Great Amounts of Responsibility

Will this help our eating habits?

We are all guilty of not eating healthy all the time, but we are probably even worse at making healthy choices when we are out to eat. When the menus are overloaded with delicious looking  foods that are just screaming our names, its hard to pick that wimpy salad when it’s sitting right next to a picture of a hot, thick, and juicy hamburger. So, is it the restaurants fault that we make poor healthy choices when we go out?

The Government has taken a closer look at this question and has come up with their own solution; make it mandatory for fast food restaurants and vending machines to display nutritional information. At first glance, this sounds great…but then you start to think about it, and you might realize that you never paid much attention to those labels anyway and that they can play psychological tricks on your mind.

So the question is, do you think giving consumers more information will lead to healthier choices?