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Here's to Your Health:  Venting about diets... grrrr!  |
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prairie_princess
True Blue Farmgirl
613 Posts
Elizabeth
Carpenter
WY
USA
613 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 28 2010 : 09:02:20 AM
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I know I've discussed diets on this thread before, but I've been having some rude awakenings with the subject this past week.
I suppose I've sheltered myself from being exposed to advertisements about diet and weight loss products for awhile. I don't subscribe to magazines that focus on diets and I hardly watch TV anymore. I have believed for a long time that diets and most approaches to rapid weight loss is unhealthy... I just try to keep a balanced approach to healthy living and it has worked very well for my body. I think many people are wasting time worrying about meeting that ideal body shape, spending too much money on trying to look like someone that is impossible to look like for their body type, and going to unhealthy extremes to acheive this. So I suppose I thought this problem was getting better because i am part of some online groups to try to help women take care of their bodies in a healthy bodies, love their bodies for what they are, and get past trying to be something they are not. And because that's the only exposure I have to diets, which is positive exposure, I truly thought society was moving in a more healthy direction. But I guess I was wrong...
A friend gave me a stack of older magazines to read, so I flipped through them one day. I couldn't believe how much focus there was on diet products and trying to get thin! It seems that no matter what someone does to lose weight, it will never be good enough! Count calories, work out a certain amount of time per day, only eat certain things, and heaven forbid you eat a peice of chocolate! After I was done reading these, I felt horrible about myself! I hadn't been following all these rules! I was eating all the wrong things! I wasn't excercising as much as I should! But wait.... I'd been content with my health and what I was doing to maintain balance BEFORE I'd read those magazines... It felt so toxic to be jolted back into what the rest of society was still exposed to. yuck.
And then.... I called one of my best friends. She told me about some EXTREME diet she was on and I'm still depressed for her about it. She has always had what we'd call a larger body type. But a very muscular one, too. She'll go back and forth about how she feels about it. But she's on this crazy diet... I couldn't even beleive it when she was telling me about it. You eat as much as you possibly can, bad foods, to gain as much weight as you can before starting this diet to get your fat content up. Then you start applying this hormonal cream to your body and get some injections of what, I don't know, that will eat away at the fat first before muscle. The more fat you have, the more it will eat away at the fat. While you are on this cream, you are limited to 800 calories a day! You can't excercise because it is unsafe to excercise while restricted to that amount of calories. My friend said she cheated one day and ate some nachos... she got diarrhea right away and felt sick after eating them. I suppose that's a "perk", you feel sick when you eat bad foods. Which will hopefully restrict you from wanting to eat bad foods. I suppose she's lost 13 pounds in the last couple weeks....
I asked her what happens when she gets down to her "ideal" size. She says you are able to slowly start excercising again and slowly start eating regular food again. And then she plans on trying this excercise regimin that has you do workouts like 2 hours a day... not every day a week, but still. And I guess they are hard core workouts.
Is it just me, or does this just sound harsh and sick?!!! I just can't believe people would do this to their bodies. To me, life is too short to waste on expirimental things to lose weight. One of my other best friends was trying some experimental weight loss thing last year, some vitamin that eats your fat away... GAH!
And I don't know if it's my place to tell them I think it's unhealthy. I suppose I should voice my opinion because I can't possibly support this because I love these people. But at the same time, they are adults and make their own decisions. I don't want to sound like I'm preaching to them. So I don't know what to do... I've been jolted into the "real world" after being sheltered out in my country way of life....
"Only two things that money can't buy, that's true love and homegrown tomatoes."
- Guy Clark
"The man who has planted a garden feels he has done something for the good of the world."
- Charles Dudley Warner |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22937 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22937 Posts |
Posted - Mar 28 2010 : 11:09:04 AM
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Ugh! That does sound....weird! Now I do believe in working with your body to help tune it up. The one "plan" I like is eating small meals (about the size of your fist) every 2 hours and exercising. It takes about 2 weeks for your body to really adjust to the smaller and more frequent in take, but after about 2 weeks you feel full- really full by just eating that amount, and your body is adequately fueled. The best shape I have ever been on was when I was doing this and towing my young niece around in a bike trailer all summer. But again I think that is working with your body to supply adequate food and exercise in harmony instead of doing weird things to it.
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
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prariehawk
True Blue Farmgirl
2914 Posts
Cindy
2914 Posts |
Posted - Mar 28 2010 : 9:16:14 PM
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The problem with diets is that they don't address the real reason why women overeat--for emotional nourishment. There is a book by susan Albers, 50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food, that I've been meaning to read. I recently gave up eating meat for Lent, in addition to trying to eat more mindfully, and I've lost about five pounds so far. I haven't been exercising any more than usual and I eat whatever I want, some fish and just a little chicken(I was feeling protein deficient so I had the chicken) and I don't feel deprived at all. My clothes fit better and I feel better. I agree that the diet with the cream and injections sounds horrible. I saw some pictures of these "Beverly Hills Housewives" and frankly, they all look deathly skinny and like they've had plastic surgery. I just want to be healthy and really don't care if my body doesn't meet someone else's standards. They don't have to live in my body, I do. The advertising industry is largely to blame for women's dissatisfaction with their bodies. I like looking through fashion mags, but I don't want to look like some of those models do. they make me want to FEED them. I try to offer emotional support to my friends who are on diets, since that's what they need more than anything. And yes, living the "farmgirl life" does tend to shelter you from what's going on in the rat race world. but that's a good thing, don't you think?
Cindy
"Dog is my co-pilot"
Visit my blog at http://www.farmerinthebelle.blogspot.com/ |
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MrsRooster
True Blue Farmgirl
1168 Posts
Amy
Seabrook
TX
USA
1168 Posts |
Posted - Mar 29 2010 : 08:16:08 AM
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I am over weight. I am losing weight slowly. I hate to see companies explot ladies who are overweight and depressed. It is a shame that people will do anything to "improve" their looks without looking into lifestyle and emotional ties to health. We are getting to be such a commercial society. It scares me. Why are we letting "Hollywood" or others say what is desireable??? I get upset with Reality shows too. There isn't any reality in reality shows. I really wish people would unplug their tvs, cell phones, etc and remember life. I know this sounds hypocrite being typed on a computer. But I don't fill my life with TV, cell phones, celebraties, and other stuff.
I'll get off my soapbox now.
www.mrsrooster.blogspot.com
Farmgirl #1259
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Annab
True Blue Farmgirl
2900 Posts
Anna
Seagrove
NC
USA
2900 Posts |
Posted - Mar 29 2010 : 09:42:37 AM
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"Diets" are all a ruse.
I did a little research one day and found the following "well duh" information:.
The basic 160 pound human can exist on roughly 1,500 claories a day while completely at rest doing nothing. That's how much we burn just sitting still throughout the course of a day.
The key when "dieting" is to create a deficite by either reducing caloric intake, exercising - or both. Sounds simple enough
To gain 1 pound a person must intake an extra thousand calories. (This number may be wrong, so someone plese check too.)
So when we are either not moving, eating too much or consuming high calorie foods, you can see how the numbers start to creep up fast!
The cure all for me is to read the labels and see how claorie or fat dense a food is, and know what the consequence is. For me that's usually motivation enough.
And the "reduced fat" foods are also a lie, as yes, fat content has been reduced, but has been replaced by sugar!
Diet pills block receptors in the brain that signal hunger
And since our bodies aren't designed for an extreme reduction in caloric intake, any weight lost will usually be gained back .
I have heard that if one looses weight more slowly, the pounds are more likely to stay off. I think it all has to do w/ lifestyle. If you make and stick with small do-able changes, the effects will be good long term
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SunshineDoc
Farmgirl in Training
41 Posts
Mary Ann
Albany
Oregon
USA
41 Posts |
Posted - Mar 29 2010 : 09:54:22 AM
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Wow! This all resonates so deeply with my experience. (Check out the topic of "Mindful Eating" under the "Keeping in Touch" section of this web site.)
I developed a series of classes, "Mindful Eating" for this exact reason. As a physician, I was deeply troubled by the hospital's answer to obesity as a health problem. Bariatric surgery! When I started seeing patients with the micronutrient loss and emotional fallout I was concerned about in my clinic -- I knew I needed to do something. Diets only work when we're on them -- and are not self sustaining. (Like - duh. Of COURSE you lose weight when you're not eating. But who can keep that up?)
The thing is - it isn't about losing weight! It's about being healthy. And if part of what is awry with us is eating for reasons other than hunger (emotional stress; emptiness; whatever) -- than addressing the root of that. And then, if weight needs to come off, it just will. Frankly, just thinking about the idea of "weight loss" is stressful enough for most folks that it is a counterproductuve concept.
Anyhow -- enough - I can go on and on about this. I do hope you check out my book, "Mindful Eating: Minful Life"! I think you'd love it.
All the best!
Mary Ann
www.maryannwallace.com
Being mindful is a way of life - and health.
Mary Ann Wallace, MD
www.maryannwallace.com |
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Annika
True Blue Farmgirl
5602 Posts
Annika
USA
5602 Posts |
Posted - Mar 29 2010 : 10:01:03 AM
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I am being treated for several emotional disorders, especially anxiety. I find myself eating a lot more when my anxiety is high. Food binging 
Trying to stop doing that...
Thanks for the book tip Mary Ann!
Annika
Farmgirl & sister #13
Palouse Prairie Girls Chapter
http://palouseprairiegirls.blogspot.com/
http://prairiegirlsjournal.blogspot.com/
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. ~Leonardo DaVinci
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MrsRooster
True Blue Farmgirl
1168 Posts
Amy
Seabrook
TX
USA
1168 Posts |
Posted - Mar 29 2010 : 10:43:01 AM
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I eat when I get stressed, upset, or that time of the month. I am trying to find a non-eating alternative like gardening, stitching, walking, etc.
www.mrsrooster.blogspot.com
Farmgirl #1259
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Annika
True Blue Farmgirl
5602 Posts
Annika
USA
5602 Posts |
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Annab
True Blue Farmgirl
2900 Posts
Anna
Seagrove
NC
USA
2900 Posts |
Posted - Mar 30 2010 : 03:51:12 AM
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Here's somethibng else that I really HATE to admit, but it is true....
I am a diet pepsi addict.
I hate reading all thiose articles that say how bad Nutrasweet is and how it really tricks you into eating more.
I can attest IT DOES!
Usually after drinking this stuff, notice how you'll get a food craving or will just kind of start eating for no reason.
Scary and weird.
So to compromise, I have allowed myself a diet pepsi in the morning (not much of a real coffee drinker) and at noon switch off to fizzy water for the rest of the day. I have grown to love the LaCroix fizzy water from Costco and jsut plain 'ole unflavored/unsalted seltzer water from the grocery store .
Well? The food cravings do stop as do the binges. The want for food just isn't there.
Am I crazy??
You purists are probably saying FINALY SOMEONE IS LISTENING!
So at least for me, the findings are true. But I never had a problem w/ lack of energy or headaches, thank goodness....just a want for food when it really isn't NEEDED!
So I think the "diet" colas are yet another symptom of "Fat America"
But this in no way puts the green light to the full tilt colas either All that sugar is just as bad.
So as with the rest.....all things in moderation
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SunshineDoc
Farmgirl in Training
41 Posts
Mary Ann
Albany
Oregon
USA
41 Posts |
Posted - Mar 30 2010 : 10:01:39 AM
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I mean - this is really it. Noticing what the need really is, and addressing it. And frankly, I really do think it is a crime what is put out there as "food". It should carry a different moniker - something that does not relate it to nutrition in any way. "Junk Food" is oxymoronic.
There was an interesting video made in years past which showed pictorially the amount of advertising that was presented, relative to the nutritional value of the product. Amazing. Exactly inversely proportional. To wit: advertising for broccoli was less than one sprig of the substance. Soda pop? The cans were still piling higher than the Empire State building and going when the video ended. That's scary. It's called brainwashing for the sake of profit -- and in this case, to the detriment of health.
That's why I call it a crime.
Being mindful is a way of life - and health.
Mary Ann Wallace, MD
www.maryannwallace.com |
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Annika
True Blue Farmgirl
5602 Posts
Annika
USA
5602 Posts |
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coffeemom
True Blue Farmgirl
160 Posts
Melody
Carlinville
IL
USA
160 Posts |
Posted - Mar 31 2010 : 11:54:35 AM
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I am a fitness trainer at Curves. We have a weight management program that stresses life style change. We know that a person eats for many reasons other than staying alive! I am a stress eater. I have lost 50 pounds, 28 inches, and 26 body fat pounds so far on our program. I feel better than I have for years. One of the things people don't realize is that if you go "on" a diet, you are setting yourself up to go "off" of it at some point in time rather than changing your eating habits instead. Healthy eating is not punishment as some would make us think! I am rooting for all of you that want to change to something better. GO GIRLS!!!
Melody |
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SunshineDoc
Farmgirl in Training
41 Posts
Mary Ann
Albany
Oregon
USA
41 Posts |
Posted - Apr 01 2010 : 10:16:52 AM
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A consideration for some for whom anxiety is part of the background problem with eating: be sure to get your thyroid checked.
I'm not a strong proponent of thinking the problem is always physical (if you check out my web site, you'll see that. :)) -- but sometimes overlooking the simple can cause needless suffering, so I offer this in goodwill in hopes it may be of help to one or another.
Peaceful day to you~
Being mindful is a way of life - and health.
Mary Ann Wallace, MD
www.maryannwallace.com |
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bboopster
True Blue Farmgirl
1140 Posts
Betty Jo
West Bend
Wisconsin
USA
1140 Posts |
Posted - Apr 16 2010 : 9:46:29 PM
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I think the diet that was referred to was the HCG diet. Injects or drop of a hormone that is created by pregnant females. My friend tried it. $150.00, 1 month of 500 calories a day, and either drops or injections and she lost 15 pounds. That's $10.00 a pound! WW is cheaper and heather I think. When it comes to weight lost most people only need to watch what they eat, and exercise. A lifestyle change. I wish there was a pill to help me lose my post menopausal weight. I hate exercise and it hates me. Leaves me in tremendous pain but I know it is the only way. So I will keep trying to watch my food intake and physical out put. Or I may just learn to love that extra 15 pounds. 
http://www.bboopster.blogspot.com
Nana to 4 with 1 on the way.
3 Blue Star Mother and Proud of it!
Pray for our troops to come home safe and soon.
Enjoying the road to the simple life :>) |
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Here's to Your Health: Venting about diets... grrrr! |
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Venting about diets... grrrr!
