Dieting: I Can’t Afford To Lose Weight!

We are so eager to lose weight that we swallow the promises of every diet guru on the planet and eagerly plunk down our hard earned cash, praying that this time it will work.

What are the costs of the popular diets? The initial cost is to buy the “Bible” for the diet or join the program. Those initial fees range from $20 or $30 for a book to several hundred dollars for a personal program.

Then there’s the food. Studies have shown that the average cost of a week’s food purchases, per individual, is slightly above $50. To start the South Beach Diet, tack on an additional $25 per week. For the Zone and Weight Watchers Diets, the additional cost is about $40, for Atkins $50, for NutriSystems almost $60 and for Jenny Craig about $85!

Wait a minute, you say. I’m losing weight by cutting back on eating. Shouldn’t that SAVE me money?

Looking at it logically, you would certainly think so. But we don’t try to lose weight logically, we approach the whole process through our emotions. It is our emotions that lead us to buy things on impulse, to sign up for programs we know we’ll never complete, and to join projects we’ll never actively pursue.

Our emotional thinking is our weakness and it has nothing to do with intelligence or education or social level. We all get suckered into scams at some point in our lives and we all occasionally suffer from buyer’s remorse - it’s a part of the human experience.

The marketers and ad men know it well and spend their days devising tricks for which we all too often fall. How often have you eagerly dialed an 800 number during one of those brilliant infomercials only to receive something that doesn’t work as it did on TV, is either shoddily made or just too complicated, and you stick it in the back of a cupboard where it gathers dust until you finally toss it?

When it comes to our weight, our emotions reign supreme. We so desperately want to be more attractive, more respected, and more desirable. We will even subject ourselves to painful and sometimes dangerous surgery to bring our reality closer to our ideal. And we will rob our piggy banks, deplete our bank accounts, and run up our credit cards for anything that promises us a slender future.

Do we get what we pay for? Sometimes. There are a few successful disciples in every program. It is their pictures and stories that are prominently displayed in promotional literature. It is the old “before” and “after” trick that sucks us in. Our logic (and a tiny footnote) tells us that the featured results are not typical.

The wary left side of our brain wonders if a little airbrushing might have been employed. Then the right side explodes, filled with desire, well-meaning intentions, and an overwhelming urge to believe. And we fall for it again.

Notice that we never hear or see about the failures, the hundreds of thousands who start a diet with such high hopes yet live the rest of their lives overweight. All the diets have their failures but never bother to mention exactly what their percentages are. They may caution that their program must be followed exactly if it is to work, but let’s be realistic. How many of us can follow an unswerving routine for the weeks, months, or years it is going to take to reach our ideal weight? We may be creatures of habit but life seldom fits into one unsquishable box for very long. We adapt the routine to meet our immediate needs and everything falls apart.

Sadder, wiser, guilt-ridden and self-critical, we vow to start again until, eventually, we give up. Is there a better way?

We can start by realizing that it really doesn’t matter what diet we choose. The secret is to address our emotions, that infatuation with food that has, nationally, reached crisis proportions. We have to break off our affair with what we eat and restore food to its rightful place - something that keeps us alive and healthy, not our primary source of excitement and self-satisfaction.

Virginia Bola is a licensed psychologist and an admitted diet fanatic. She specializes in therapeutic reframing and the effects of attitudes and motivation on individual goals. The author of The Wolf at the Door: An Unemployment Survival Manual, and a free ezine, The Worker’s Edge, she recently published a psychologically-based weight control e-workbook, “Diet with an Attitude” which develops mental skills towards the goal of permanent weight control. Reach her at www.DietWithAnAttitude.com/index2.html.

Why Friends Sabotage Your Diets

Dealing with the Food Pushers, or How to Say No When You Don’t
Any

A friend’s doctor said he should lose 10 pounds and so he is
trying to break his sugar habit. He generally eats well during
the day but his downfall is cookies while watching TV. At an
office luncheon when dessert was being served, he said, “No
thanks, I don’t want any.” A well meaning co-worker then foisted
dessert on him, shoving it in front of him and saying, “You’re
doctor is wrong, have some,” leaving him staring at the dessert
then back to us with a sorrowful look on his face.

Your Friend Is Trying to Make You Happy

His co-worker probably was not out to sabotage him, but more
likely was remembering the last time she said no when she really
wanted to say yes. She wished someone would have made the
decision for her, albeit against her wishes, and then she could
have eaten the dessert because it wouldn’t be polite to refuse
(or some other excuse), so now she’s doing him the favor. She is
wrong, but that’s the way people generally are. We all
understand the pain of deprivation and want to make it better
for each other.

Devise a Plan for Dealing with Sabotaging Food Pushers

First, if you do want some dessert, have some, enjoy it and move
on with your life. It is not a big deal to have a dessert, even
if you’re already over full. It’s one eating event out of
thousands. But when you are being pushed into something you
don’t want it’s no different than being offered drinks when
you’re underage; peer pressure doesn’t stop because you graduate
from high school.

You Don’t Have to Explain: Just Say No

If you’re making an effort to make better choices, choosing to
eat only foods that really appeal to you, and learning to say no
when you just don’t want any, you can tell the food pusher, “No,
thanks,” and leave it at that. You don’t owe anyone an
explanation. You could also take a plate and let it sit there.
Most people are so preoccupied with themselves they won’t notice
whether you’re eating. If someone does ask, “Aren’t you going to
eat your cake,” you could say, “In a minute.” Keep busy talking
and just delay until it’s time to go, then discretely set the
plate aside.

If you watch the thinner folks at parties you’ll notice they
talk a lot and eat little. It’s difficult to talk and gesture
while holding a drink in one hand and a plate of food in the
other.

If the food seems to be calling your name and it’s becoming more
difficult to resist since it’s sitting in front of you then
simply pretend it is made of plastic, like the display food in a
Chinese restaurant. It’s not meant to be eaten, just admired.
Then admire it all you like.

Why do we need to resort to trickery to make our own food
choices? Because food pushers are not going to accept your
arguments, no matter how well you state your case, so don’t
bother fighting a losing battle. You can’t change their mind;
they want to eat some and they’d feel better if you ate some
too. You can’t change other people, you can only change yourself.

Remember the next time you feel the urge to push food on
someone, food means love in our society, but choice means more.
Offer it, and then let it go if they say no.

Laughter, Why It’s so Good for You

For hundreds of years, we’ve known that ‘Laughter is the best medicine’.

Laughter makes you feel good for a reason. The physiological effects on your body are amazing. For example:

• Laughter reduces levels of certain stress hormones. It provides a safety valve that shuts off the flow of stress hormones and the fight-or-flight compounds that come into action in times of trouble, or hostility or rage.

• Laughter boosts the immune system because when you’re in a state of mirth, natural killer cells that destroy tumors and viruses increase. It basically brings balance to all the components of the immune system.

• Laughter can be a total body workout! Do you often feel exhausted after a bout of contagious giggling? This is because you have just had an aerobic workout.

• Blood pressure is lowered and there is an increase in vascular blood flow, and an increase in oxygenation of the blood. Oxygenation of the blood enables the body to carry on healing activities for itself.

• There also has been some belief that laughter prevents some life-threatening diseases such as heart disease. That’s because anger and fear (two emotions that often lead to heart attack) are completely eliminated while you are laughing.

Laughing invokes happiness and joy.

Instead of being gloomy and frustrated because there is no perceived solution, laughing lifts you up out of your pool of problems and places you on solid ground where you can gain some new insights. Under conditions of happiness it is much easier to think creatively around a problem than when your mind is filled with thoughts of helplessness or worthlessness.

Shared laughter promotes bonding and unity within a group. This is particularly evident when there are a few people involved in a project. People feel more welcome and free to offer suggestions and think out loud. They’re not afraid of being put down, so will risk sharing their opinion. Laughter also opens the door to more real and risky communication. Sometimes people are feeling scared or overwhelmed by conditions, but don’t know how to express it. If a humorous comment is made that expresses the concerns in an exaggerated way, people will laugh. This then enables them to talk about the uncomfortable issues or concerns. By laughing, an entry is made for talk about the subject. This applies just as well in a family setting.

Humor is hazardous to your illness and so are some other things!

There are several things you can do to boost your enjoyment of life and to open the way for a day of laughter…and then more days of laughter. I think in terms of Enjoying Health, and to me, this means total health: body, soul, and spirit. I’d like to share from my own personal experience what my husband and I do to build our physical and emotional health and so enjoy life more fully.

We’ve changed our diet away from the traditional American diet that includes white flour breads and sugary drinks and desserts; grocery store meats that are basically polluted; and packaged foods. We try to eat natural, vibrant foods; drink more water than any other liquid; use supplements on a daily basis; and use (http://www.essentialimmunehealth.com/newsletters/July2004.html) the Q2 Energy Spa every other day, practically religiously. We work hard out of doors, getting plenty of fresh air and sunshine; and we pray to God with thankfulness, asking for His guidance and blessings too. We’re Baby Boomers that were going downhill in bodily health, but somehow we’ve made a turnaround and our aging process has not only been slowed down, but it has been reversed! We’re getting rid of disease symptoms right and left. Tell every Baby Boomer you know that they can make a difference in their health. Refer them to my website: http://www.essentialimmunehealth.com!

Most of us lack energy or have multiple diseases or are (http://essentialimmunehealth.com/journals/NaturalAntidepressants.html) depressed. Sickness and disease and depression are on the rampage in our culture because of the way we have treated ourselves. I want you to know you can regain your health and I want you to begin today TO STOP DOING WHAT’S HURTING YOU AND START DOING SOME THINGS THAT ARE GOOD FOR YOU. This article is excerpted from my October 2004 newsletter from my website called ENJOYING HEALTH. To read more specifically what my recommendations are, please refer to my October newsletter (http://www.essentialimmunehealth.com/newsletters/October2004.html). You can grow old gracefully, happily, finding reasons to laugh every day…

My skin is being rejuvenated and so is that of my husband Dave (i.e. moles and liver spots and bumps and skin tags are going away)… And when the healing process that begins from within begins to show on the outside of your body, you KNOW you’ve been successful in regenerating good health. That’s something to laugh about. ENJOYING HEALTH makes each day more pleasurable.

About The Author

Reverse the desperate condition called AGING. You can affect your health!

Sincerely from me,

Dianne Wandruff

mailto:bwandruff@yahoo.com

http://www.essentialimmunehealth.com

(406) 752-6422

Lap Band Surgery as a Weightloss Solution

Approved by the FDA in June 2001, lapband surgery is the latest and the only adaptable medical treatment for morbid obesity in the USA.

Lapband surgery adds to loss of weight by reducing the size of the abdomen, which inhibits the quantity of food that can be digested. Since its clinical institution, more than 100,000 lapband surgeries have been performed around the world.

During lapband surgery, surgeons frequently use laparoscopic techniques that entail employing small incisions and long-shafted instruments to insert an inflatable silicone band in the patient’s abdomen. Like a watch, the band is affixed around the upper stomach to design a new, tiny stomach pouch that limits and controls the amount of food you eat. It also constructs a small opening that slows the emptying process into the abdomen and the bowels. As a result, patients experience an earlier impression of abundance and are satisfied with reduced amounts of food. In turn, this results in weight loss.

Since there is no slicing, stapling or stomach re-routing concerned with lapband surgery, it is considered the least upsetting of all weight loss operations. The laparoscopic methodology to the surgery additionally gives the merits of lesser post-surgical pain, shortened hospital stay and faster recovery. If for any reason the lapband requires removal, the stomach generally assumes its fundamental form.