Want to Lose Weight? How to Overcome the Obstacles

If you’re overweight and out of shape, working on your wellbeing isn’t easy. In fact, the difficulties you face as an overweight person can put you off even trying for better wellness in the first place. The obstacles to your weight loss are both mental and physical, and challenge you in every possible way. However, Fitness and Behaviour Expert Dean Anderson asserts that these obstacles are well-worth facing.

 

According to Anderson, ‘These obstacles are not just obstacles to exercise—they are the same challenges that stand between you and the life you want for yourself. If you can find a way to meet these challenges head-on now, by being successful at making exercise a part of your daily life, you’ll have self-management skills and the confidence you need to handle just about anything else life might throw at you. Exercise can help you shed pounds, and a lot of other unwanted baggage as well. Sounds pretty dramatic, considering we’re just talking about exercise, doesn’t it? But it’s true—at least it was for me.’

 

For Anderson, trying to reduce his 370-pound size was a wake up call, revealing all the parts of himself that had got him into the mess he was in in the first place: ‘The part that had become an expert in excuse-making, procrastination, and rationalization; the part that relied on food and eating to manage feelings; the part that was afraid of what other people might think about me; the part of me that didn’t think I had what it took to lose weight (or do much of anything else); the part of me that was terrified of what might happen if I actually succeeded and no longer had my physical limitations to use as an excuse for avoiding intimate relationships, challenging work, and other anxiety-provoking situations; and yes, even the part that just plain liked sitting on the couch with a bag of chips a lot more than all the huffing and puffing and discomfort of exercise.’

 

If that sounds familiar, and you want to do something to change those parts about yourself, let’s take a look at some of the challenges you might face, and how you can overcome them to get off to a safe yet effective start with your weight loss:

 

1. Safety: Anderson points out, ‘One of the biggest mistakes people commit is making assumptions about what they can’t do without checking with someone who knows how to determine that. You may have physical problems, ranging from medical conditions that impose unavoidable limitations on what you can do, to the typical after-effects of years of obesity and a sedentary lifestyle, such as chronic inflexibility, weakness, and muscle pain. These problems may rule out one kind of exercise or another. But it would be unusual if there is truly nothing you can do.’ So what can you do? First of all, take a trip to see your doctor and get a medically approved exercise prescription. This means you’ll have something concrete to tell you what you can and can’t do. You should take this prescription to a personal trainer, and between these two sources, you should get ideas to start safely.

 

2. Finding a good place to start: Some movements are difficult for overweight people to achieve, especially if they involve getting up off the floor quickly or bending in a certain way. Then you have gym equipment that’s too tight a squeeze for comfort, and the soreness and cramping that comes with even simple activities like walking. Anderson notes, ‘Almost every exercise can be modified so you can do it (or something like it) in a way that meets your needs and present capacities…Chair exercises allow you to do many strength and stretching exercises that otherwise would have to be done on the floor or standing.’ You can also take water aerobics classes and/or do your walking in a swimming pool.

Categories: anderson, exercise, Lose weight, nbsp, obstacles, Overweight, weight, Weight Loss

The Libido Lowerers: What’s Dampening Your Sex Drive?

Everyone wants a healthy sex life, but a stalled libido can get in the way of your sexual health and even have an impact on your overall wellbeing. The underlying causes of reduced sex drive can be varied, so you don’t have any idea what’s affecting your wellness – and this can be very unnerving. Because of this, if you have a faltering libido often, you can be tempted to suffer in silence. However, a little information can go a long way toward providing a solution, and the reality is that many causes are treatable. So, what possible causes are dampening your burning passion?

 

1. Ageing: As you age, your sex drive is no longer critical for reproduction and – as a result – it wanes. For men, your testosterone will likely peak in your late teens, and then slowly decline at a rate of about 1% per year – although you’ll probably be in the mood for sex way into your 60s. For women, however, the balance of your hormones – progesterone, oestrogen and testosterone – can become upset more suddenly around the age of 35-40, as this marks the beginning of perimenopause (or the period of time in which your body prepares for menopause). As your body is lower in oestrogen, your vaginal tissue will become less healthy, making sex more painful. For this problem, lubricating creams or gels can help, while trying new positions is recommended if your aching joints are making sex less fun.

 

2. Exercise: Generally speaking, a healthy body means a healthy sex life. However, sex is a physical activity and, as such, carries certain risks. Vigorous sex can be taxing on your heart and a host of muscle groups – particularly your lower back – which can put you off having sex in the future. Plus, if you exercise often outside of the bedroom, you may be bringing aches and pains to bed that can dull your sex drive.

 

3. Excess weight: There’s a famous story in which rotund Irish playwright Brendan Behan reportedly turned down an equally large woman’s passionate advances because – even though he’d would have liked to accept her offer, he was ‘afraid our equators would prevent conjugation.’ However, being overweight doesn’t just make sex difficult; it can also put a serious damper on your libido. If the physical assertion involved in sex makes your heart too busy trying to push blood through pounds of excess adipose tissue, it won’t be able to deliver an adequate supply to your sexual organs, which is a key factor involved in arousal. Plus, there’s a link between excess weight and other, libido-lowering conditions, such as diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. If you are overweight, improving your diet can help with all of the above, as well as improving your body image and, as a result, your sexual confidence.

 

4. Tiredness: At the end of a long, busy day, you hardly feel in the mood to get active between the sheets. Tiredness takes its toll on your entire body, causing you to operate at less than 100%. Not getting enough sleep has a direct impact on your body’s production of hormones and this, in turn, influences your sex drive. Simply put; feeling sluggish doesn’t often translate into feeling sexy. If you feel tired all of the time, you may have an underlying medical condition in need of treatment. Chronic insomnia, chronic fatigue syndrome and sleep apnoea can all be as deceptive as they are debilitating, and often require medical attention. However, if you’re merely run-down, some light exercise can give you more energy, as well as avoiding drinking alcohol close to bedtime.

Categories: ageing, body, decreased libido, drive, excess weight, Healthy, healthy sex, libido, nbsp, Overweight, Sex Drive, sex life

How Much is too Much? How TV Affects Your Child"s Health

 Every parent knows how handy the TV is as a quick and easy in-house babysitter, but how much should you really be allowing your children to watch on a daily basis? According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), many children are averaging approximately 2 hours of screen time a day for years before they even enter school. While obviously the content of the programming is of concern, what is “plugging in” doing to kids at such an early age?

 

Important Facts You May Not Know:

1) Too much TV inhibits social growth.

Most parents know that the first few years of their child’s life are crucial for developing their brain and social functions. While good nutrition and sleep are extremely important, so is how a child interacts with the world around them. TV and other electronic media can inhibit them from these all-important interactions, and also slow down social learning processes.

2) Kids who watch too much TV tend to be overweight.

We all like to occasionally veg out in front of the television, but regular couch sessions can be detrimental to a child’s overall health. Children with screen time of 4 or more hours a day are not only losing valuable physical activity time, but are also learning habits that will follow them into adulthood.

 

3) Excessive TV can lead to shorter attention spans.

Though TV can be educational, it can also develop school problems down the road. Recent research has found that preschoolers who watched a lot of television had more trouble sitting still and listening during class, and generally lacked the focus and attention of those in the class who had limited television viewing.

What’s Appropriate for Your Child

Taking all of this into account, figuring out exactly how much TV to allow your child to watch can seem like a daunting task. However, the television can be an important tool in your child’s growth and education if used correctly. Developing a plan is crucial to get the very best out of it.

Know Your Limits

Parents will read all sorts of advice as to what the “appropriate” amount of TV time is. Try to understand your current TV usage by keeping a log of how often your little ones are watching television so you can get a better understanding of your family’s viewing habits. From there, try to limit screen time to only quality programming for 1-2 hours per day. Engage your children in other activities to show them that there’s life “away from the box.”

Choose Wisely

Kids may love cartoons, but is that really the best use of their TV time? From DVDs like Baby Einstein to downloadable programs, there are a variety of age-appropriate program choices that can not only entertain your child, but also give them a head-start on ABC’s, counting, colors and shapes. Try to follow up any lesson on the program with appropriate activities. This will show them to use TV more as an educator rather than entertainment.

Engage

Like adults, children have a tendency to “zone out” while watching TV. Keep your child engaged by watching the programs with them. Encourage them to clap their hands or follow along, and talk with them about what you see. This can not only provide some valuable parent-time, but also reinforces a different ideal about watching television.

 

Television doesn’t have to be the monster in the corner of the room. In fact, with planning and keeping an eye on what your children are watching, TV can be a helpful addition to your child’s growth.

 

With four kids, writer Melanie Fleury is guilty of using the TV as a distraction a little too much. She found that by choosing educational and developmentally appropriate shows like the Baby Einstein DVDs helped to make sure that the time spent in front of the TV was quality time.

 

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jerine/2623121313/

Categories: baby einstein, child's health, Overweight, Screen time, tv, tv time, watching television, watching tv

Do You Have an Overweight Child? How to Improve their Health

Children often put on weight in adolescence, and their fitness is frequently below par, too. The phrase ‘puppy fat’ is often used in these circumstances, to describe a chubby period that many teenagers go through, without it having much of a long-term effect on their wellbeing. It is important, however, that you do not allow an adolescent weight problem to turn into a lifelong battle with weight, as this can have far reaching consequences for their wellness for the entire duration of their life.

It is tricky, however, to tackle the issue of weight and fitness with teenagers, as you want to avoid making them feel any more self-conscious than they probably already do during this period of their lives. Any discussion must be handled with tact and diplomacy.

One of the best ways of going about this is to talk about healthy eating with your children. Explain to them the importance of having a varied and balanced diet, and place emphasis on the importance of eating, rather than the importance of going on a diet. Your aim should be to encourage them to eat healthily but also to avoid crash of fad diets, as these are not long-term solutions to any weight problem and can actually end up making things much worse and contributing to an ongoing weight problem rather than fixing it. You also want to avoid the risk of your child developing an eating disorder. For this latter reason, it is also vital that you never, ever tease your child about their weight. It may be a lighthearted attempt to make them deal with their weight issues, but calling your child fat or even insinuating that they are can be the cause of some very deep-rooted insecurities that follow them into later life in the form of eating disorders or other mental health problems.

 

Categories: Child, Overweight, teen

Body Mass Index And Weight: Are You "Waisting" Your Time?

There are many different ways we can tell if we’re overweight. We might find our favourite jeans feel too tight, or our jumpers don’t seem to give us the same freedom of movement around our arms. Most of us just rely on our weighing scales and start putting weight-loss plans into action if we go above a certain weight. Although, one measurement we are being advised to take seriously when it comes to our weight is out waist measurement.

What about body mass index?

Body mass index (BMI) has become a common gauge for our weight and future health. The NHS also highlights how BMI is a useful tool to establish whether we need to get rid of some excess weight. It takes into account lots of different variables, such as our height, age, and gender. We then get a reading that can tell us if our weight is in a healthy range. But, one important measurement that BMI doesn’t consider is our waist measurement, so it can miss whether we could be endangering our health. This is because we may fall into a healthy weight category, but still have a waist measurement that is considered unhealthy.

Why is it important?

Waist measurements above a certain level are associated with health problems, including type 2 diabetes, cancer and heart disease. The NHS says that waist measurements over 37 inches for a man and 31.5 inches for a woman means we have a higher risk of getting these conditions. It seems the risks increase with our waist size. The health body explains that when men measure 40 inches and more around the waist, and a woman’s measurement is over 34.5, then our chances of being diagnosed with those diseases rises even more. The NHS recommends losing weight to reduce our waist size if they measure over these limits and says making small changes to our lives is a good way to start losing weight. The health body recommends swapping unhealthy snacks for fruit and says we should start walking on our lunch breaks rather than sitting at our desks.

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Body Mass Index And Weight: Are You "Waisting" Your Time?

Categories: Overweight, weight, Weight Loss

Mexico Locked In Serious Diabetes And Obesity Battle

Mexico is one of the most obese nations in the world. A staggering 82 percent of the adult female population is either overweight or obese. The number is at 64 percent for men, and still a worryingly high 34.4 percent for children. These are very frightening figures, and has seen Mexico up to fifth on the world list when it comes to obesity-related health conditions.

The obesity problem in Mexico has been going on for almost a decade; in 2007, the country’s health secretary estimated the incidence of diabetes would rise by approximately 40 percent by 2012, killing as many as 100,000 Mexicans every year. And worryingly the numbers were not really very far off, with diabetes claiming the lives of approximately 70,000 Mexicans every year, according to recent study. And now diabetes is the number one killer in Mexico. This chronic health condition comes as a direct result of the obesity issue.

It is thought that the obesity problems are mainly due to convenience food. Most experts point out the intense rise in sugary drinks and snacks that have complicated an already serene lifestyle that many Mexicans lead. According to a recent report people in Mexico spend approximately $14.3 billion annually on sugary fizzy drinks alone. Because quality drinking water often isn’t available many Mexicans choose bottled drinks instead, and these sugar-laden fizzy drinks are very cheap.

Mexicans currently spend upwards of $380 million every year on their diabetes medications. The number of Mexicans that suffer from the disease is estimated to be as high as 10 million. The Mexican health authorities and government needs to focus on educating the public on the dangers of extremely sugary drinks and snacks. This could lead to a reduction in obesity and that would contribute to lowering levels of diabetes across the country.

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Mexico Locked In Serious Diabetes And Obesity Battle

Categories: Mexico, Obese, Overweight