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.

Obesity Similarities To Alcoholism

 

Foodaholic

 

 

 

 

Why Can’t I Diet Alone

For years I always thought that I don’t need to go to weight loss meetings like Weight Watchers or O.A.
I thought I could do it with diet books or by having my meals prepared for me. Yet with week after week, the pounds went higher and higher. It was like a losing fight between me and the scale. Weight loss was a friend that I did not have.

It took most of my family and the rest were heavy so why try anymore.
Then after I got towards the end of making my film ‘Finding Thin’, I discovered that weight groups were not necessarily such a bad thing.
There would always be a sponsor or a Weight Watchers group that I could always go to.

Basically a support system that I could not find on my own. Books and DVD’s are great and certainly help but I really needed someone to help me in this lifelong battle.

Hiding from the scale because I was afraid of what it would say only made the bad news worse. The one person who could lie to me the most or come up with the best excuses was no one other than myself.
Obesity is such a hard battle with food being around you almost constantly. I sometimes compare it to an alcoholic with drinks around him all day. Then add to the fact that the alcoholic must drink in order to sustain him or herself.
Pretty tough. I think there really is some truth behind the term foodaholic.

I know that some people might get angry but obesity is a disease and nothing I have said is not true.
So to make things easier, the one thing I truly encourage is joining a Weight Watchers type group or something similar that works for you.
There will be no more hiding food away or eating secretly up in my room or car. Change can come with the help of others.

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?

It’s a Fight That Doesn’t Have to Be So Hard

When I lost both of my dogs last month, I went into the deepest form of depression that I have ever experienced. Luckily my friends stood by me, but there was not much they could do to help my inevitable pain. To mourn, I wanted food…

and not necessarily the good kind.

I knew if I emotionally ate, the outcome would be a reverse affect of my hard work, and I was very much willing to accept that.

In the end, the pain did subside and I only gained a couple of pounds.

I’m determined to lose that weight and that pain.

Being in control really does aid my happiness. It is great that I have finally had the chance to learn all of this by making this film. I have been given a one in a million chance to have three years of constant advice from the top diet and health gurus in the country. They are helping me fight the fight of obesity. Even through emotional obstacles, I’m still fighting the fight.

It doesn’t have to be so hard…does it?

My Visit With Ruby

I traveled almost eighteen hours each way for this interview;  this was officially the longest trip I had taken by car for ‘Finding Thin’. After three years of researching the secret for what it was to truly “find thin”, it was coming to an end.

At first I had only seen Ruby on The Style Network a few times during  my fifteen hour work days on the film. But through Facebook, iTunes, Hulu, and YouTube, I was able to find hours of footage to look at and really get a feel for what Ruby was all about.

Originally I was going to simply interview her by phone but after watching her story….there was no way I was not going see this amazing woman in person. I felt like she was someone who I would immediately bond with; and I was exactly right.

With all my pain from the aftermath of my previous accident, every minute in the car felt incredibly daunting. But I refused to give in; this was going to be my final interview for the film, and Ruby was going to be the perfect finish.

When I first arrived, she looked different. Ruby had lost a great deal of weight and looked terrific. She was beautiful on both the inside and outside.  I ended up sitting with her on the couch and kitchen table with her family and friends, and I immediately felt at home.

Of course after losing my most beloved dog the other week, I had been in a very depressed state…probably the saddest I had ever been in a long time. Then I met Ruby’s beautiful dog. She sat between us during our first hour on the couch and fell asleep against my leg. It was one of the few interviews that I wanted to cry in. It was ironic that Ruby not only helped me as a person, but her dog got in on the action as well. I even offered her a thousand dollars for the dog; but like me, there wasn’t a price tag big enough for Ruby to let go of her “wo-man’s” best friend.

We shared so much in common and it was comforting. Some might ask, how could a woman who is heavy herself, help me? Well the answer is simple. We both could relate in a way that most thin people could not. We had gone through many of the same experiences and felt the same way about many issues.

Ruby has lost weight and is gaining happiness and hope along the way.  I wish I could tell you more about this inspirational woman, but you’ll have to wait until you see the movie.

In the meantime, check out Ruby Gettinger’s show because this is one beautiful, intelligent, and purely sweet person for which I am a better person for knowing.

When Food Doesn’t Take The Pain Away Anymore

Almost three years ago I began the quest for “Finding Thin.”

During my quest to find thin, I started to gain even more weight.
Traveling all around the country interviewing Jillian Michaels, Bob
Harper, Tony Horton and more, was extremely stressful and offered very
few healthy eating opportunities throughout the way.

In truth, I used the stress as an excuse that in turn failed my body,
my health, and overall, myself. Emotional eating has interrupted any
successful weight loss for as long as I’ve ever known.

Last week I lost my beloved Pug and it was devastating. This was the
last of my dogs and the loss of two in a month or so time.

My world was completely torn apart. Life didn’t feel right, even in my
own bed where I’ve been barely fighting off sleepless nights. Any
mention of my dog broke me into a million little pieces.

In the past, I’d usually turn to food to ease my pain, but this time
it just didn’t feel right.
It was as if someone put some sort of mind trap in me and I could not
reach for the food.
Suddenly there were just a few poor food choices…but I didn’t even
care. I believe that I even lost weight.

Whether or not this is because I feel so empty inside or not, I am not
sure. Though the one thing I know is that over the last couple of
months, I have felt very different when it came to emotions and
eating. I wasn’t even trying for weight loss and yet it seemed to be
coming naturally.

There is still internal pain that I have to get through, but there is
also that feeling of success for being able to deal with something as
devastating as this in such a different way.

I guess the point that I am trying to make is that even in the darkest
hours, there is still hope out there.