Take care and have a great time with your family and friends!
Thursday 24 December 2015
Happy Holidays to one and all!
Today is Christmas Eve. It has been a wonderful year and I hope that you will all keep reading in the New Year. I also hope that I will be able to keep helping people, in any possible way.
Take care and have a great time with your family and friends!
I can help you improve your health. If you would like to make an appointment with me either in person or via Skype, just send me an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com
Take care and have a great time with your family and friends!
Thursday 17 December 2015
Should public health services help?
I also read lots of stories in the press about people who have been morbidly obese and have managed to turn their lives around and lose huge amounts of weight. I find these stories inspiring and these people have my total and unconditional respect. When ever I run past an overweight jogger, trying their upmost to haul themselves around the local park, I want to shout out,
"You're doing great! Keep going!"
at the same time I fear for their knees and hip joints suffering from carrying the extra weight, but these people are trying their hardest to do something about their health, and that is amazing!
But is the system helping of failing these "fat warriors"?
We know... it's a fact that there is a severe obesity epidemic which is stressing our public health services to the limit. Being over weight or obese is not just an "unsightly" problem in a world where stick thin models are shoved under our noses every single day. A world where to be an actress you have to be a size 0. A world where young girls aspiring to be models are told that they have to lose weight from their already size 0 frames. Where eating disorders start as young as primary school. A world where HEALTH is not considered.
Being overweight or obese drastically raises your risk of pre-diabetes, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, heart disease, and some cancers, and young obese people are facing the prospect of dying young. So it is not something to be taken lightly.
As I said at the beginning, there are people who turn their lives around. They diet, and exercise and lose vast amounts of weight. Here I am not going to get into HOW they lose the weight. As long as you lose it to improve your HEALTH, then that is all that is important. However, lots of people (mostly those who don't have a weight problem) often criticize those who have gastric by-pass surgery, gastric balloons fitted, or stomach reductions done by the public health services. There are also lots of people who don't, like the woman who installed a treadmill in her garage as she was too embarrassed to go out in public because of her weight, and once she lost some, she started going out at night so no one would see her.
The thing is that treating a person who has serious illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease or cancer, COSTS A LOT OF MONEY and it isn't just a one off. Treatment of type 2 diabetes can go on for decades - the same for heart disease and cancer.
The cost of gastric band surgery on the NHS in England is roughly 6,000 GBP per surgery.
| Area of expenditure | Type 1 diabetes | Type 2 diabetes | Total cost | Percentage of costs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source: Kanavos, van den Aardweg and Schurer: Diabetes expenditure, burden of disease and management in 5 EU countries, LSE (Jan 2012) | ||||
| Diabetes drugs | £0.344 billion | £0.712 billion | £1.056 billion | 7.8% |
| Non-diabetes drugs | £0.281 billion | £1.810 billion | £2.091 billion | 15.2% |
| Inpatient | £1.007 billion | £8.038 billion | £9.045 billion | 65.8% |
| Outpatient (excluding drugs) | £0.170 billion | £1.158 billion | £1,328 billion | 9.7% |
| Other (including social service) | - | - | £0.230 billion | 1.7% |
| Total | £1.802 billion | £11.718 billion | £13.750 billion | 100% |
So, to me, it is obvious that if you can reverse obesity at 6,000 GBP a pop then you will actually be saving money in the long run...
However, the problem doesn't stop there. There is a HUGE psychological problem involved in obesity and weight loss. Lots of obese and overweight people say that they have had social problems because of their weight, or have been passed over for a promotion or are unable to get work because of their weight. They are considered lazy and greedy by others who think that they should just stop eating so much and move more.
One thing that happens repeatedly is that when an overweight or obese person does finally turn his/her life around, in too many cases he/she is left with the most horrendous excess skin that sags and hangs from his/her leaner frames.
Put yourself in that position. For whatever reason you are obese... maybe it is because you have eaten too much for too long, or depression has caused you to comfort eat, or you have an illness or medication that causes weight gain... and you finally decide to improve your life and lose weight. You have spent at least a year if not more changing your diet, resisting temptation, forcing yourself to exercise and stay motivated watching that needle on the scale slowly going down.
But in the end you are left with literally kilos of sagging excess skin. Every time you look in the mirror you see this, it makes you feel unattractive, depressed and makes you wonder why you even bothered.
But in the end you are left with literally kilos of sagging excess skin. Every time you look in the mirror you see this, it makes you feel unattractive, depressed and makes you wonder why you even bothered.
Many people in this situation have commented that they were happier BEFORE the weight loss. That now their lives are blighted by this unsightly excess skin that they have to try and hide.
Skin removal surgery done privately can cost anywhere between 1,500 to 6,000 GBP. Lots of stories I read say how people have been denied excess skin removal surgery because of the cost. So a person does their best to lose weight and improve their health and not cost the public health services vast amounts of money in treatments for serious illnesses, only to be abandoned by the public health services - excess skin obviously isn't important enough. One woman was even told she couldn't have her excess skin removed because she HADN'T had a gastric band operation!
A person in this predicament has SAVED the public health services large amounts of money, and in my opinion should be helped to go that final step to making their turn around complete and having a happy and healthy person integrated into society.
How would you feel, if this was your story?
I can help you improve your health. If you would like to make an appointment with me either in person or via Skype, just send me an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com
Thursday 10 December 2015
It's the party season!
New research has been published from an unlikely source - Tilda Basmati Rice, that surveyed 1,000 adults in the UK about their Christmas eating habits.
The survey found that the first Friday of December is when Britons tuck into their first festive food of the season - and as early as 9.58 am on the first Friday. This starts off the beginning of what will end up being an extra 30.000 calories consumed between now and Christmas.
Let's face it, it's very easy to overeat at this time of year with all the delicious treats on offer every time you go anywhere near a food department.
According to the survey, the biggest over eaters are young adults between 16-24 years of age. Probably due to the number of parties they'll be attending, or students back from university. But all age groups will be joining in the overeating and less healthy foods; men are less likely to treat themselves than women, just 28% of men stated they never indulge in festive treats versus 23% of women who claimed the same.Lots admitted to comfort eating (28%) and others that the cold weather led them to stay at home and indulge (24%) and others said that the Christmas over indulgence was a "reward" for all the hard work during the year (21%).
However, there is a way to have your cake and eat it too!
My advice is to plan ahead. If you know you have a party to go to on a Saturday, then be really strict with yourself all week prior to the party. Don't mix your carbs and your proteins and stay as active as possible. Reduce your carb intake to just twice a week. If the party you are going to is a cocktail type with only "finger foods" available, I suggest you eat something healthy before going. Nibbles are usually all carb based with lots of mayonnaise and protein mixed in. A sure way of piling on the pounds! If you eat beforehand you won't be so hungry and it will be easy to avoid the fattening foods.
In both cases, be strict again from the next day onwards, to counteract the "damage" that may have been done.
Drink lots of water before and after drinking heavily. Think before you eat, ask yourself if you are really hungry first or if you are going to regret eating that afterwards. If you do decided to indulge then ENJOY it! Don't feel guilty about doing it.
After all, Christmas is for having fun too!
I can help you improve your health. If you would like to make an appointment with me either in person or via Skype, just send me an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com
Thursday 3 December 2015
It's all in the mind...
Obesity is bankrupting our health services due to obesity related illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer. There is a huge weight loss industry generating millions of dollars which tells you to stop eating fat, stop eating carbs, stop eating.... exercise more...
But just as many criticize the medical profession for becoming too specialized; you see a cardiologist for heart disease, an oncologist for cancer, and endocrinologist for diabetes, and not treating people as a whole, the same can be said for the weight loss industry.
People aren't fat just because they eat too much. There are many reasons why a person puts on weight... eating too much is just one of them. There are medical reasons and also psychological reasons. Stress, anxiety, and even emotional attachment to food all play a part in weight and if these are not taken into consideration and treated along with a weight loss program then in most cases, weight loss will not be sustained.
Orlando Health researchers have revealed that only 1 in 10 Americans recognize the importance of psychological well-being in weight loss. People tend to attribute more importance to other components such as exercise when it comes to losing weight.
31% of Americans think exercise is the biggest barrier to sustaining weight loss, while 26% think that eating less is important and 17% blame the cost of a healthy lifestyle as the biggest problem to losing weight and keeping it off. 12% cited a lack of time to dedicate to changing their lifestyle to be healthier.
Dr. Diane Robinson, a neuropsychologist and the program director of integrative medicine at Orlando Health said:
"Most people focus almost entirely on the physical aspects of weight loss, like diet and exercise. But there is an emotional component to food that the vast majority of people simply overlook and it can quickly sabotage their efforts."
Food has become the center of the social aspect of our lives. When you meet up with friends it is usually over lunch or dinner or drinks, special occasions are celebrated with food like cakes, or Thanksgiving or Christmas are centered around huge spreads of food, Valentine's Day chocolates, Halloween candy and we even reward or pacify our children with sweets.
Many people turn to food in moments of emotional stress and anxiety, comfort food doesn't tend to be a salad with grilled fish. Comfort food is high fat, high carb indulgence that leads to extra weight that we then can't shift. Even when on a diet people tend to reward themselves with "treats" when they have reached a certain goal. A too restrictive diet and cause feelings of deprivation and then a treat of a piece of chocolate means you end up eating the whole bar.
Finding out WHY you eat the way you do is of vital importance when losing weight. You can't just treat the fat around your middle, you have to treat the psychological aspect of why you are eating in a way that has lead you to put on weight to start with.
Becoming aware of your habits is very important and isn't as difficult as it may seem. Ask yourself simple questions when you are considering reaching for the cookie jar;
Am I hungry? Or am I just bored or upset? Keep a diary and write down what you have eaten and how you felt prior to eating and afterwards as well. If you ask yourself the right questions you may discover that boredom is a large part of why you eat between meals. So, what can you do instead? If you are bored go out for a walk, or read a book. I find doing housework keeps me occupied and makes me feel more positive because there is a positive end result. Find what works for you to keep boredom at bay.
If you eat when you are upset, what is upsetting you? What can you do about it?
We humans have a strong emotional attachment to food which is learned from a very young age. So if your go-to reward is food, think about other rewards you'd enjoy which aren't food based. Treat your self to a pampering session or a movie, a new item of clothing, indulge yourself in a non food based way. Think about how you can reward your children without giving them food, maybe a small toy or movie night at home, a play date with a best friend. There is so much we can do to reward ourselves without reaching for food.
The minute you identify your psychological triggers you will automatically begin to change your habits and the weight will drop off and stay off and you will be all the more happier for it. You will also feel more in control of your life and more able to cope.
I can help you improve your health. If you would like to make an appointment with me either in person or via Skype, just send me an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com
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