No more diet drinks for me

May 022008
 
 May 2, 2008  Health 1 Response »

I've never gotten into the habit of drinking Coke or other carbonated beverages (aka pop, soft drinks, etc.) the way some people do – as if they were water. I might have one a week, sometimes more, sometimes less. But I've always known there was nothing good about it. With a chocolate bar, you can at least claim the benefits of the peanuts or almonds, maybe even the chocolate. With drinks that are basically sugar and chemicals, not so much. So when I decided I needed to lose weight, it wasn't a huge deal to switch to the diet variety. [ Read more...]

Whose responsibility is the obesity epidemic?

Apr 132008
 
 April 13, 2008  Health No Responses »

Years ago, a wonderful new commodity was born. White bread. And the housewives thought it was so light and such a wonderful appealing colour that they flocked to the stores to buy it. And then Kraft developed a pasta dinner that only took minutes to prepare. And so on and so forth. It wasn't until years later that people began to wonder if maybe the white bread and the packaged meals weren't as good as the original ones. But by then it was too late: the idea of fast foods, packaged foods, and giving the public whatever it will buy [ Read more...]

Fat vs thin

Apr 102008
 
 April 10, 2008  Health 2 Responses »

After watching "I Can Make You Thin" with Paul McKenna, I found myself thinking about words and their meanings, and I suddenly realized that we don't actually have a word for "just right." "Fat" is never a positive word when used in North America to describe a human being. The word for "too fat" is "obese," but being "fat" in any way is never perceived as a good condition. And doctors will say it's isn't healthy for individuals to be "fat." Since "thin" is theoretically the opposite of "fat," in my mind, "thin" should also be a negative word. Yes, [ Read more...]

Stopping cravings by negative association

Apr 082008
 
 April 8, 2008  Health 1 Response »

I've been thinking more about what Paul McKenna said last week about losing weight by taking control of your cravings through associating a very negative taste (rotten, with worms, etc.) with whatever it is you crave. (I wrote about that in my last blog.) I was struck by a memory from long ago. It's not about eating, but it is about a similar craving. I was in my early teens when my father stopped smoking. To his disgust, neither my mother nor I noticed for two weeks. He finally had to tell us. Shows you how observant we were, because [ Read more...]

Thoughts on TLC’s “I Can Make You Thin”

Apr 052008
 
 April 5, 2008  Health No Responses »

I started watching this program last week, kind of by accident. Along with millions of other people, I hit a certain poundage at few years ago, and said, "this far and no further!" Since then, I've been trying to get to what I believe is a healthy weight.  Not so much that i want to be thin as I want to be fit. Consequently, over the last few years, starting at 175, I've lost 35 pounds, gained back 10, then another 5, lost it, gained it back, etc. I've never hit my goal weight which is somewhere in the 125 [ Read more...]

2 simple rules for getting in shape

Apr 032008
 
 April 3, 2008  Health No Responses »

1. Eat only what your body actually needs. Would you stuff sugar in your car's gasoline tank? Give a bowl of it to your cat or dog? No? Then why put it inside your mouth? Sure it tastes good. Kind of. But it isn't doing you a bit of good. We need to forget about all the external reasons for eating (taste, appearance, smell, texture) and focus on what our bodies actually require to work properly. No, we don't have to turn into Seven of Nine; but we can learn to like things that are actually good for us. 2. [ Read more...]

Eating ourselves to death – kaching!

Apr 022008
 
 April 2, 2008  Health No Responses »

What's on my mind right now is getting my physical body in shape to do the things I still want to do. In other words, I want to be as fit and healthy as possible. So – what to do? I think I've read enough books and magazines on the subject to write my own book. However, I'm no expert and don't claim to be. I just know that common sense helps. Well, in a culture where being out of shape has become the norm, a little common sense certainly can't hurt. So, all my processing of information has come [ Read more...]

Can’t I buy groceries without getting depressed?

Jan 112007
 
 January 11, 2007  Health 1 Response »

I’m in the checkout line buying groceries. As usual, I glance at the magazine headlines for a casual check of what’s going on. But all I see are headlines screaming at me: "Get Thin in Three Weeks!" "Firm up-fast with Hollywood’s Top Personal Trainer!" "Organize Everything Better!"   Now, I have nothing against improving myself. I actually want to lose a few pounds. Okay, more than a few. And I want to eat healthier, and exercise more, and get a little more organization in my life. But these headlines make me feel depressed, not motivated. No wonder they talk about [ Read more...]

What women need to know about tiredness, weight gain, and the thyroid

Dec 152005
 
 December 15, 2005  Health 3 Responses »

Looking back, I realize that my symptoms had begun at least five years earlier. I was often tired. My bed time kept getting earlier. I had to drag myself out of bed in the morning. My skin, especially on my back, was itchy. I bought lotions and bath oils to use but they only eased it a little. My hair, which had always been naturally wavy, became dry and straight—like straw in a broom. I had periods of depression where I felt tired and unable to cope. Words I was looking for—usually words I knew well, would completely evaporate when [ Read more...]