Antidepressants Blog » Weight Loss

EATING DISORDERS: THE MIXED MESSAGES OF OUR MEDIA

admin — Fri, 13 May 2011 10:00:57 +0000

Our mass media do more than spread information and promote products; they influence how we feel about ourselves. Magazines, television, and movies tell us that we must look a certain way in order to be accepted. Although more research needs to be done in this area, magazine ads appear most persuasive, perhaps due to their pervasiveness and to the fact that the models used are extremely thin. In fact, some studies suggest that the smaller the models used in a magazine, the more young women favor that magazine.Television adds to this pressure in overt and subtle ways. During the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, for instance, late-night television jokes about Monica Lewinsky and Linda Tripp made fun of their appearance, as opposed to examining their actions. Commercials are constantly trying to sell people on a particular look, and this can make viewers feel depressed about their current self-image. In one experimental study, ads focusing on appearance were shown to produce an immediate negative effect on die self-image of undergraduate female subjects. At best, the media are giving women mixed messages, telling them to try a rich recipe, for example, and in the same magazine including an article on how to get rid of that “disgusting” cellulite. Ultimately, what women are hearing is that their self-esteem comes from the way they look, while other values that go into each person’s uniqueness take a distant second place. The feminist movement also has suggested that judging females by appearance alone is a means of controlling women in a male-dominated society. Because men feel threatened by women who want equal salaries and competitive jobs, they put women down for their appearance to make them feel less welcome in the workplace and other venues.Social worker Carol Bloom, the author of Eating Problems: A Feminist Psychoanalytic Treatment Model, notes that while women are hardest hit, men and children are being increasingly affected: “The sociological trends are that we need new markets now to exploit. As long as products are being sold that have to do with image, you are going to have people in this very bizarre relationship to their bodies. They are going to try to transform their outer selves so that they can accomplish these culturally sanctioned goals about human identity. Women are the grossest example of this—as long as self-esteem and identity are tied together, women will be trying to get control over their food and their bodies so that they can gain acceptability.”*55\233\8*

EXTRA HELP FOR WEIGHT LOSS

admin — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 12:23:44 +0000

A number of chemical reactions are involved in turning glucose into energy instead of fat. These are controlled by enzymes, which are themselves dependent on certain vitamins and minerals in the body. If these are deficient, you will lack energy and feel low. So while it is important to identify any allergies and to eat well, you can also help yourself by making sure that you are taking a good balance of vitamins and minerals. While you are restricting your food to check on the allergies it can be a good idea to take some supplements to ensure that you have a good balance of nutrients.
The В vitamins are important, especially vitamins B3 and B6, and the minerals zinc and chromium. They help to supply fuel to cells ready for burning to give you energy. Vitamin B6 is especially important because it is needed for the production of pancreatic enzymes which help effective digestion. Together with zinc, B6 is needed to make the enzyme that digests food.
Zinc is an important mineral in appetite control and a deficiency of zinc can cause a loss of taste and smell so that we crave and seek stronger tasting foods. Chromium is needed for the metabolism of sugar. Without it insulin is less effective in controlling blood sugar levels. Chromium also helps to control levels of fat and cholesterol in the blood.
Vitamin С can play a role in weight control too. It helps to lower cholesterol and is involved in the conversion of glucose to energy in the cells.
Co-enzyme Q10 is important for energy production. It’s found in all the tissues and organs of our bodies but as we get older we may become deficient. Any deficiency of co-enzyme Q10 results in a reduction of energy and a slowing down of the life-giving process. It has been used to help heart problems, high blood pressure, gum disease and immune deficiencies. A study showed that people on a low-fat diet doubled their weight loss when supplemented with Q10 compared to those who did not have the extra Q10.
Garcinia cambogia, a small tropical fruit from Central Asia where the rind is used in Thai and Indian cooking, can also help with weight loss. The garcinia contains HCA (hydroxy-citric acid) which can enable carbohydrates to be turned into usable energy instead of being deposited as fat. The HCA in this fruit seems to curb appetite, reduce food intake and inhibit the formation of fat and cholesterol; though this has yet to be proven scientifically. Garcinia cambogia is usually marketed under the brand Citrimax.
Eating, of course, is not a purely mechanistic biochemical process. Food is and should be enjoyable, appealing to our senses. Constant dieting can distort our emotional relationship with food. Not eating the right food at the right time can also affect our moods and emotions, sabotaging our efforts to establish a healthy eating pattern that will result in weight loss.

*3/101/5*

MEASUREMENTS AND ASSESSMENT OF FATNESS

admin — Fri, 08 May 2009 12:03:33 +0000

Summary of main points.

• Accurate measurements of body fat, mass and distribution require a variety of techniques and there is no one entirely satisfactory measure.

• A combination of measures is usually necessary to determine health risk.

• Validity, reliability and sensitivity of measures are an important indication of their worth.

• BMI is a good measure of body mass; waist circumference of fat distribution; skinfolds are useful measurements in the hands of experienced operators and with thon severely obese.

• New measures of central fat, such as abdominal diameter, may have important uses in the future.

Typically, the most commonly used measure of body fatness has been body weight. This is then compared with a table of ‘ideal weights’ prepared by life insurance companies on the basis of actuarial data, relating weight to the risk of an early death or to average weights in the population, and some measure of overweight calculated on the basis of population figures.

The advantage of weight is that it is a simple, accurate and reliable measurement. For individuals, significant changes in weight over the long term usually reflect significant changes in body composition. However, weight is often not a true reflection of obesity—particularly in those in the population (e.g. athletic males) who might have high body density due to muscular structure—nor a good indication of health risk, because measures of weight (in contrast to body fat distribution) do not correlate highly with illness risk. Height is, of course, a confounding factor and hence the calculation of body mass index, or BMI, which corrects for height, has become the norm.

More recently, it has been realised that BMI is also not always a good representation of fatness, again because of the bias against those with a high body density (i.e. those with a high fat free mass to fat mass ratio, FFM:FM). Hence there has been a recent move towards new measures of total body fat and fat distribution, including the better use of simple anthropometric measures such as height, weight and circumference measures. There has also been a move to develop cost-effective machines which accurately measure fat, in contrast to body mass.

*56\186\4*

FEED YOUR BODY RIGHT: 2 PLATES, 1 DINNER, MINUS 40 POUNDS

admin — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 03:50:29 +0000

Jack Zimak and his wife believe in sharing everything, including dinner. This simple strategy helped him take off 40 pounds.

In 1997, at age 33, Jack went for his first physical in a long time. The news wasn’t good. After years of not paying much attention to what or how much he ate, his weight had crept up to 245 pounds.

Worse, his cholesterol level had risen to 240—well above normal. Jack thought of his father, who had died of a heart attack at age 60. He didn’t want to risk the same fate.

“Like everyone, I needed motivation to change my lifestyle,” says Jack, a sales manager from Palm Bay, Florida. “My motivations were my cholesterol, my family history, and my three kids. I wanted to be around to see them grow up.”

Jack’s doctor wanted him to get his cholesterol level down within 2 months, and Jack rallied to the task. He gave up red meat, eggs, dairy products, and fast food. He learned new ways to prepare fish and chicken, instead of frying them. His diligence paid off: When he had his cholesterol level rechecked 8 weeks later, it had dropped to 160. As a bonus, he had lost 15 pounds.

That initial weight loss inspired Jack to make more dietary changes. Mayonnaise was out, mustard was in. Butter was out, replaced by a bit of olive oil or canola oil. Soda and fruit juices were out, water was in.

Restaurants presented a bigger challenge. Jack and his wife, Jen, enjoyed eating out. But Jack knew that the gargantuan portions were no good for his physique. So the two of them got into the habit of ordering one entree and an extra plate. Then they’d split the food between the two of them. “Most restaurants were quite accommodating, especially when I showed them my driver’s license picture so they could see how much weight I had lost,” Jack says.

How much did he lose? A total of 40 pounds in about a year. “My wife took off a few pounds as well,” he reports.

Jack is content at his current weight of 205 pounds, which he has maintained since 1998. To ensure that those extra pounds don’t come back, he and his wife have started a daily walking program. “And we still share our meals when we eat out,” he adds.

WINNING ACTION

Order one meal for two. Restaurant meals are the downfall of many weight-conscious people. The portion-control technique that Jack uses is a great one for a couple of reasons. First, it immediately cut your calories in half. And second, by eating with a fellow dieter, you have a j j* built-in weight-less buddy system.

*48\89\8*