:Obesity Information for all

Each day, a simple search of the internet will show dozens of results for morbid obesity or weight loss, or weight loss solutions. Men and women around the globe are looking to solve a personal problem that haunts millions of individuals every day. As the condition of obesity becomes more publicly discussed, researchers are starting to focus on solutions to the emotional, physical and medical problem of obesity.

With the advent of cheap, accessible food and little or no need for daily exercise, humans (in developed countries) are getting fatter each year. Even with 200,000 weight loss surgerys being performed annually, surgery will never be an option for all obese individuals, and it is one that many choose not to pursue. Therefore, scientists are looking at other ways to combat the growing waistlines and pending health crisies.

The author of a 2006 study, found that ongoing support deliverd by email was an effective tool in weight loss programs because it has the potential to reach diverse populations across time zones, socio-economic status, and even in different countries, at a fraction of the cost of traditional non-web based programs. More than 1/3 of the participants lost more than 5 percent of their starting weight - a signficant result.

In another 2008 study, a participants in the computer (email) group reported greater weight loss and maintanence than the self-directed group. Even if small increases in success occur, the results of these studies demonstrate the benefit of online support, especially when cost is a factor, for long-term successful weight loss.

As morbid obesity continues to plague millions of us, there are better options available for losing weight. The cost of some online programs can be less than the cost of a daily cup of coffee or soda, and yet the benefit of lost weight and increased self-esteem priceless.

If you are combating obesity, there are inexpensive programs available to help you lose massive amounts of weight, safely and permanently.

I think finding an online program is far better than sitting in a support group…but that is just me. Being very private, I would rather just have some one-on-one support via the internet.

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Living with obesity is a curse I wouldn’t wish on my cruelest of enemies. Everything we do is tiring and challenging. Difficulty sleeping through the night due to insomnia from sleep apnea or diabetes, the inability to move freely in our bathrooms and kitchens and hallways due to space, challenges putting on our clothes, or even finding clothes that fit properly, then going into society for our workdays. Each day, we receive the harshest of looks from utter strangers, and receive condescending judgments from many of our closest friends. Then we have to do it all over again. We have created this hell that we live in, and everyone, including us, knows it.

Daily, even moment to moment, we have decisions to make that can move us further into our hellish existence, or, blessedly away from it. The pervasive problem with obesity is us. We create it, with each caloric-based action we take…and it adds up, literally to an albatross around our neck.

Most of us would never willing put a loaded gun to our head, even in our darkest moments. Nor would we slip a noose around our necks, or drive our cars into a brick wall – all of which significantly reduce our chances our survival. But anyone reading this can admit to eating more than we need on a given day…and many of us know the pain of consuming massive quantities of food over and over and over. I have said numerous times, “How did this happen?!” and I have wondered to myself, “Where did 100 pounds of fat come from and I didn’t notice?” To many people out there, that seems ludicrous. However, with one third of the adult population being obese in the United States, there are nearly 50 MILLION Americans who can identify with those feelings.

What are our options? Who has the solution to our obesity? Where can we go to find the right diet, the right plan, the right doctor, to help us? Anyone who has successfully overcome obesity – whether losing 85 pounds or 385 pounds discovers that she is the reason for the obesity, and she is the solution. There are many ways to stop the path to an early grave…gastric surgery, lapband surgery, low-calorie diets, exercise and multiple variations within each option. However, the bottom line is this – to overcome obesity in our lives we must metabolize more calories than we consume, daily.

Is this a simple thing to do? Yes. Is it an easy act to accomplish? No. To decide this one thing…repeatedly…is the hardest thing for us to conquer. The good news is, once we begin to take back our lives, one meal, one bite, one day at a time, it does get easier. One successful choice leads to a tasty, healthy meal. A few balanced, proportioned meals fill out an entire day. The decision to walk one flight of stairs each day builds up to two flights per day by the end of the month.

Obesity destroys our lives by reducing our life span and making our days emotionally and physically difficult. When we decide to overcome our obesity – when we truly decide…we make another choice.

I am proud to say I changed. It was the best decision of my life - and it undoubtedly gave me many years of life to live. You can change too. I guarantee it.

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How many times has Willpower failed to help you lose weight? How many times have you lost weight then regained it back after you stopped trying to lose it?

Will Power is the concept that you can fight a preordained path. That simply by mentally muscling yourself into an action, you can get your desired result. I won’t argue that the emotional battle often delivers impressive results; rather it my experience that it won’t last. It is akin to walking along a narrow board or tightrope. Certainly you can do it – we both know it, but for how long? And then, how do you feel when you “fall off” the path you have been so focused on dedicated on?

For me, I would feel horrible, and filled with self-loathing. Obesity, in our society, is a social disease; yet it is viewed with far more disdain then alcoholism. We are taught from early on, that being fat is a choice. I can’t actually argue that point. We have created our extra weight – and with the proper support and education, we can eliminate it. However, the prejudice against us is overwhelming at time – and the health care professions propensity to prescribe dangerous surgery over behavioral modification is frightening.

Men and women are losing their lives and putting themselves in debt…and we, the obese, do not learn how to modify our eating and our exercise, it won’t matter how small our stomach is; we will continue to overeat.

Surgery is not the only option. Learning, in small, steady steps to cut back on a food here, or a food there is the key. Moving just a little more today than yesterday, is a way to conquer a lifetime battle with food and fat.

Erin Carraway
www.obesityfreeforlife.com

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The Body Mass Index (BMI) , or Quetelet index, named for the mathematician Adolphe Quetelet who created it in the 1800’s, was designed as an measure of a population and not as a means to measure individuals. It is only a statistical tool that merely indicates adiposity (degree of fatness). Based solely on height and weight information, it fails to account for varying proportions of muscularity, fat, bone, water weight, or one’s level of fitness. Competitive athletes frequently measure obese due to there increased muscularity and weight, in relation to their height. Furthermore, the various classifications of Starvation /Underweight /Normal /Overweight /Obese /Morbidly Obese have been found to have wildly varying health benefits across numerous epidemiological studies.

Unfortunately, the “war on obesity” and the excessive media focus upon this “war” has shown the limitations of such an arbitrary measure. Repeatedly, we are being inundated with the message to get our BMI down to a “normal” level (18.5-24.9) or else risk the dire consequences. Yet, in study and after study, researchers continue to be confounded by what is called the Obesity Paradox; most fat people actually live longer than thin people! In 2006, the American Heart Association reported that “obese” cardiac patients were more than TWICE as likely to survive hospitalization and invasive surgery then “normal” patients…this was taken from a study of over 130,000 heart disease patients.

This Obesity Paradox is not just being seen with heart disease…it has also been reported with dialysis patients. “Obese” patients are more likely to survive than their smaller counterparts. As it turns out, patients with kidney disease, often present with malnutrition, called Kidney Disease Wasting, and the obese populations within this group actually fare better due to increased reserves! In fact, there are many areas where the “obese” are showing to have greater survival rates – possibly due to a protective benefit of fat as we age; cancer, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis and even type 2 diabetes.

What does this all mean to us? Should we allow ourselves to get fatter and fatter – and fell guilty about it? That is not a question I can answer for anyone but myself. I know that I feel better at certain weights than others. I also know that I will never be “actress thin” in a safe way…therefore, accepting my body as I am, and living within it each day is best I can advise for myself or anyone else.

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