Carole Carson

Backsliding or Thin for Life?

Don’t we all know someone who had lost 30 pounds, swore to never regain the weight and then regained that much and more? Or someone who had exercised regularly, suffered an injury and then became a weight-gaining couch potato?

These stories worried me, especially when a back injury threw me off track. Unable to play tennis, work out at the gym or practice yoga, I was limited to therapeutic pool walking. Distressed and irritable with pain, I found it easy to turn to friends in the refrigerator for comfort.

In this disquieted state, I discovered a book, Thin for Life, that distills the wisdom gleaned from 160 people who lost a minimum of 20 pounds (many lost much more) and kept it off.

The author, Anne Fletcher, MS, RD, wrote the book because she was discouraged by the notion that weight gain always follows weight loss. She set out to find the secrets of those who beat the odds. The author defined maintenance as not just reaching a weight goal but maintaining a healthful lifestyle of nutritious eating, regular exercise and positive relationships.

She found no single formula. Half of the people were in structured commercial programs, such as Weight Watchers, and half achieved results on their own. Even when the individuals were in a program, however, they owned it by modifying the program to suit cultural food preferences and participating in ways suited to their lifestyle.

Some lost weight acquired as children, a fact that disproves the notion that childhood obesity dooms adults. Challenging the idea of hopelessness, most had tried before and failed. They didn’t starve themselves either; they ate often and well. The individuals didn’t become compulsive exercise fanatics, although they did exercise regularly.

The fact that many were in their 50s and 60s invalidates the myth that losing weight becomes impossibly difficult as one ages. Many reached lengthy plateaus before they broke through to their ideal weight. At some point, most regained a few pounds before correcting course and returning to the desired range.

Overarching everything was the faith the people had in themselves. Despite past failures, they believed they would succeed and assumed 100 percent responsibility for results.

Each person accepted the reality of a critical food fact: if more calories are consumed than expended, weight gain occurs. Consequently, he or she looked realistically at what would make eating enjoyable and sustainable—even if favorites weren’t included at every meal.

Each had a plan for the inevitable relapse. No longer a surprise, relapses were simply part of the process. Instead of beating themselves up, the individuals picked themselves up and resumed their program.

Everyone also accepted a body fact: use it or lose it. All followed exercise regimens that took into account age, interests and available time. When injuries occurred, they didn’t quit but rather modified their regimen and continued.

Unwilling to retreat into the comfort of food, each increasingly learned to face life head-on. Sources of pleasure and recreation were expanded. Satisfying activities were introduced, while self-limiting jobs or relationships, for example, were discontinued.

These individuals shared another common bond—they had a supporter who lauded their efforts and encouraged them when they despaired. Some purchased support in the form of trainers or commercial programs. Others relied on friends, colleagues, family or prayer. Independent of source, support was essential. Each person realized the task was too daunting to be accomplished alone.

My experience in losing weight and keeping it off is reassuringly consistent with Ann Fletcher’s research. The myth of inevitable gain following weight loss is replaced with concrete, practical steps that each of us can implement into our daily routines. Adopting a sensible, livable eating and exercise regimen is within our grasp. Knowing this truth enlightens our outlook and lightens the scale.

"We all have a few failures under our belt. It's what makes us ready for the successes."                    Randy K. Milholland

Smiling May Become Your Favorite Exercise

A smile does more than trigger a smile in return. Research reported in the December 2007 issue of Consumer Reports on Health suggests that the act of smiling triggers positive physiological changes. Interacting with another person in an engaging way through smiling and eye contact reduces stress by slowing the heart rate and lowering blood pressure.

 

In two different studies of diabetics reported in Dr. Andrew Weil’s Self Healing newsletter, April 2008, improvements in the body’s immune system were reported after patients had engaged in a laughter-provoking activity. In an article “Laugh More for Better Health,” Dr. Weil goes so far as to suggest that one day physicians will write prescriptions for laughter in the same way they currently do for drugs.

 

If you don’t feel like smiling and must fake a smile and interest in the person you are talking to, will you still receive the benefits? The research didn’t answer this question, but it would seem reasonable to take a chance and smile at every opportunity.

 

And the wonderful part is that you don’t need others to smile. To count the steps I take each day in support of my exercise regimen, I wear a pedometer. Will someone please invent an equivalent device to count smiles? Because who knows, if I practice, smiling might become my favorite exercise!

"Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy."

 

Finding the Innergy to Lose Weight—Before It’s Too Late

Why do some people succeed in losing weight while others fail? Why do some people pick themselves up when they fall down while others remain immobilized? Why do some people, like Oprah, achieve fitness and then find themselves backsliding?

The answer resides in a quality that I call innergy. Innergy is the place inside us that provides the motivation and will to change our habits. As Oprah’s situation reveals, others can inspire us, others can educate us, others can train us and others can cook for us. But to succeed, we have to self-manage our way through a maze of daily decisions. And only inside our hearts do we find the innergy to guide our decision making and make our visions a reality.

Dr. Ian Smith, founder of the 50 Million Pound Challenge and author of the The 4 Day Diet, affirms that neither he nor anyone else can motivate you to adopt a healthier lifestyle and lose weight. “This,” he says, “is a decision that only one person can make—the person seeking health and fitness. Each of us must find our core motivation. Whether the desire to change is triggered by health or vanity doesn’t matter. What matters is that the person connects with this core motivation and consistently reconnects with these values over time.”

I discovered my own innergy before it was too late—before my body was irreversibly damaged by surplus pounds and a sedentary lifestyle and before I suffered chronic or fatal medical problems. Armed with this newfound strength, I moved steadily toward fitness and weight loss. Since then, I’ve used my time and talent to help others make similar decisions—before it’s too late.

In the course of this work, I’ve had conversations with dozens, if not hundreds, of individuals who are struggling to lose weight and become fit. I commonly hear despair in the stories from individuals who have tried and failed to make changes, just as I had tried and failed for over 40 years.

Like me, they mistakenly feel that the problem of excess weight arises from overeating. If they could just stick with a diet, they reason, they could lose weight. Moreover, these individuals believe I succeeded because I have willpower.

They are mistaken. I am not blessed with surplus willpower; however, once I tapped into my innergy, I became a good student. As I discovered, overeating was not the problem. Rather, overeating was my overused solution to the stress and discomfort of everyday life. I learned more healthful ways of coping that reinforced my commitment to living more healthfully.

Dr. Martin Binks, Director of Behavioral Health at the Duke Diet & Fitness Center and co-author of The Duke Diet, says that “any unhealthy coping solution we overuse (shopping, eating, smoking or drinking alcohol, for example) to the exclusion of other more helpful ones (talking it out with friends, exercising to reduce stress, for example) creates new problems.” Dr. Binks assures us that “successful lifestyle changes are determined less by the strength of our willpower than by our willingness to learn new skills and different ways of coping.”

Here are three ways to tap your own innergy to help you lose weight and get fit (FIT):

F: Figure out and list the different ways you can comfort yourself—from a hot shower to a walk outdoors to an escape into a good book. Create a personalized buffet of coping options from which to choose when you feel discouraged, fatigued or out of sorts.

I: Invent yourself anew. Learn new ways to cook that are healthy and less fattening. Learn fun new ways to exercise that you thoroughly enjoy. Experiment with tennis, dancing, Pilates, swimming, walking, bodybuilding, yoga or other forms of exercise until you find one or two that make you feel like a kid again.

T: Tell everyone about your heartfelt dream to nourish and care for your body and the gift of life it represents. Enroll your friends and family to support you and to tackle their own fitness goals. You can inspire others just as they can inspire you. Fortunately, for all of us, our bodies are wonderfully forgiving. If it isn’t too late, our bodies respond magnificently and quickly when we adopt healthful habits.

In contrast to the approximately $39 billion a year Americans spend on diet products—from diet books to unregulated supplements promising magical weight loss based on a medical breakthrough—these three tips are practical and inexpensive to implement.

Also in contrast, these tips require action and accountability on your part—unlike the typical diet products that promise quick and effortless weight loss, encourage your dependency on the product, require up-front payment and may be harmful to your health. (Given that most of us continue to be overweight, it’s understandable that some authorities consider these diet products a gigantic fraud perpetrated on the American public.)

The irony is that innergy—the essential element needed for fitness and weight loss—is free. No one can sell it to you, nor can anyone take it away from you. The very quality that allows you to set your lifestyle change in motion resides with you and is connected to your deepest values. If Oprah succeeds as she continues her weight-loss journey, her ability to make this connection will be the source of her transformation.

The same holds true for you. You can adopt a new mind set today. Once you do, you cannot go back. You can fall down. You can stumble. And you can veer off track. But you can’t go back. Tapping into your innergy will trigger an authentic commitment to well-being that will inform your daily decision making and allow you to realize fitness and weight loss beyond your wildest dreams. And it’s yours for the taking.

"The undertaking of new action brings new strength."                            Evenius

Escalating Medical Care Costs: Who Will Be Our Brother’s Keeper?

Medical care costs reached $ 2.3 trillion in 2008 and are expected to rise indefinitely at an annual rate of 9 to 10 percent.

 

In addition to the uninsured, middle-class Americans with insurance are feeling the pinch as the costs outstrip increases in income. In response to the growing financial burden, President-Elect Obama has made accessible and affordable medical care a top priority.

 

Yet 70 percent of medical care costs, or $ 1.61 trillion, is attributed to unhealthy lifestyle choices (smoking, poor eating habits and lack of exercise). This raises a compelling question: who will foot the bill?

 

A report by the Vitality Group, a provider of employer health and wellness programs, highlights the disconnect between personal responsibility for maintaining one’s health and financial responsibility for medical consequences. While 82 percent of those surveyed felt they were personally responsible for the state of their health, only 44 percent felt they had a financial responsibility for the cost of medical care.

 

Over half of those surveyed felt that employers and government should absorb the financial consequences of unhealthful lifestyle behaviors, rather than the individuals who engaged in the behaviors. Researchers also reported that the participants were reluctant to pay for wellness programs designed to teach healthful habits.

 

Spotlighting the disconnect between lifestyle choices and financial consequences provides useful insight for policymakers and employers seeking to reduce medical care costs. Even with the availability of sophisticated technological tools, social engineering is an imprecise mix of science and guesswork. Consequently, a variety of experiments are likely to be undertaken with the hope that one or more will be successful in reducing unhealthful lifestyle behaviors.

One approach is taxing unhealthful behaviors. Alabama’s fat tax falls in this category. Beginning in January 2009, obese state workers will risk a monthly increase of $25 in insurance costs if they fail to reduce their weight.

Equally controversial is the approach being proposed by New York Governor David Patterson—an 18 percent sales tax on sugary drinks and sodas. Governor Patterson estimates that this tax, if approved, would generate an estimated $400 million in revenue to offset rising medical care costs resulting from obesity.

 

His model is based on the success of the anti-tobacco campaign. Certainly anti-smoking advertisements have contributed to a decline in smoking; however, researchers have also found a clear correlation between the increased cost of cigarettes and a reduction in the number of smokers. According to statistics cited by Drs. Tom Farley and Deborah Cohen in their book, Prescription for a Healthy Nation, every 10 percent price increase on cigarettes reduced sales by about 3 percent.

 

Whether smokers connected the cost of their behavior with the cost of treating smoking-related ailments was irrelevant. Some quit smoking because of the expense. Those who continued were forced to offset some of the medical costs associated with smoking. (Even so, a $7 tax would be required to fully cover the additional costs of medical care associated with smoking.)

 

In Governor Patterson’s model, sugary drinks are the equivalent of cigarettes. Americans consume one-third of their calories from sugar; half of those come from sugary drinks that nutritionists consider empty calories—the drink is high in calories and low on nutrition. In addition, sugary drinks fail to satisfy hunger. Consequently, the surplus calories in the sugary drinks are added to the calories consumed in food. For these reasons, many experts consider sugary drinks to be the most significant factor in the rise of obesity.

 

If Governor Patterson’s tax initiative passes, public health officials believe they will see a correlation in reduction of the number of overweight or obese individuals, similar to the decline in the number of cigarette smokers.

 

According to Art Carlos, chief executive officer of the Vitality Group, “The increasing need for health care arises from the treatment of illnesses and medical problems that are preventable through more healthful lifestyle choices. Despite advances in medicine, physicians cannot undo the damage resulting from long term abuse of our bodies and are limited in their ability to reverse a lifetime of unhealthful habits. The solution will emerge when we are required to take personal accountability for the way we choose to live.”

 

We spend twice as much as other industrialized nations for medical care, yet we are losing ground on the health front. In the near future, rising medical costs will force us to answer the question: who will be our brother’s keeper?

"Am I my brother's keeper?"                    Bible, Genesis, chapter 4, verse 9

The 7 Billion Pound Fat to Fit Community Challenge

The United States is home to just over 300 million residents. Of those, approximately two-thirds are overweight. Half of these (one-third of our residents) are overweight, and the other half are considered obese (approximately 30 or more pounds overweight).

If Americans decided to become more fit (and for the majority of us, that would mean losing weight), we would need to lose 7 billion pounds.

Here’s the math: 100 million citizens who need to lose an average of 50 pounds of weight and another 100 million citizens who need to lose an average of 20 pounds totals 7 billion pounds of surplus weight.

Dr. Ian Smith has taken the initiative by leading the 50 Million Pound Challenge. While the Challenge is responsive to the needs of African Americans, Dr. Smith emphasizes that the Challenge “is accessible to any and everyone of any age who wants to lose weight and change their life.”

Dr. Smith and his staff have organized events in over 30 cities and have helped 715,000 participants lose nearly 3 million pounds during the Challenge sponsored by State Farm Insurance. In addition, his Web site is loaded with free tools that can help individuals learn how to make healthier decisions to change their lives.

“The impetus for making lifestyle changes and losing weight—whether the reasons are medical, psychological or vanity—makes little difference,” says Dr. Smith. “I created the 50 Million Pound Challenge in response to the despair and discouragement I heard in the voices of individuals trying to lose weight.

"Too many Americans, including African Americans, are dying from preventable illnesses,” Dr. Smith adds. “The Challenge empowers people to help themselves by getting fit and losing weight, an effort that has frustrated so many for so long. It helps us take a giant leap forward towards leading longer, healthier lives."

Surplus pounds take a particular toll on members of the black community both from lowered self-esteem of those who try and fail to lose weight and from medical complications. Diabetes, stroke, cancer and cardiovascular disease are reaching epidemic proportions, and black children are at particular risk.

Although the focus of Dr. Smith’s Challenge is on adults, he is counting on the impact of parental role modeling. Parents who make positive lifestyle changes will influence other family members, especially children.

Dr. Smith and I share a vision of communities undertaking the challenge of adopting healthier lifestyles. After I chronicled my own weight loss (62 pounds) in the local newspaper of my small northern California foothill community, I offered to help others lose weight and get fit. I was astounded when over a thousand people showed up in the middle of winter for our first meeting. Each week, the crowd grew. Eight weeks later, we had lost nearly 4 tons of surplus weight.

What I discovered from my experience and what Dr. Smith has affirmed on a much larger scale is that we need to tackle the problems of obesity as a community. Just as the new president may introduce a major program to stimulate the economy, we need an exciting national initiative that will stimulate families to adopt healthier habits and lose weight before the medical consequences are irreversible. Will a 7 Billion Pound Fat to Fit Community Challenge be introduced by Tom Daschle, the proposed new secretary of Health and Human Services?

While we wait for the answer, Dr. Smith will continue promoting healthy lifestyle habits in black communities throughout the United States through the 50 Million Pound Challenge. And I’ll continue to support him and others in their determined efforts to bring about needed changes.

As Pogo said, “We are confronted with insurmountable opportunities,” yet all we need to do to reach 7 billion pounds is help one person lose one pound at a time.

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."                Lao-zsu(604-531 BC)

A Global Perspective on a Personal Matter

Forty years ago, who would have predicted that obesity would become a critical global health issue, along with malnutrition and starvation? The World Health Organization coined the term “globesity” to describe the current phenomenon.

 

Today, the total number of overweight people (1.3 billion) surpasses the number of hungry by several hundred million, according to Gary Stix in his September 2007 Scientific American article “A Question of Sustenance.” Mr. Stix paints a bleak picture and believes that “. . . few good solutions exist to deal with the emerging epidemic.”

 

Unlike Mr. Stix, I am a little more optimistic, especially when I read about efforts under way to shift our thinking so that we will change our eating habits. For some interesting reading on first-hand perspectives of people who are trying to make a difference on the frontline battle against obesity, you might want to look at Perspectives in Health Magazine. Its articles are both informative and encouraging.

 

I’m not in a position to tackle this worldwide problem, but that doesn’t mean I have to sit idly by. First, I can set a good example. Second, I can use my talents and resources to highlight the importance of addressing this issue among my neighbors, family, friends, and readers.

"We are at the very beginning of time for the human race. It is not unreasonable that we grapple with problems. But there are tens of thousands of years in our future. Our responsibility is to do what we can, learn what we can, improve the solutions, and pass them on."                        Richard Feynman

Family Fitness Trends in 2009

As a mother of three and grandmother of seven, I worry about the health of my extended family, particularly when I read that

• four out of five 10-year-olds worry about getting fat

• 33 percent of children and 66 percent of adults are overweight

• an increasing number of children require cholesterol-lowering drugs, type 2 diabetes is considered epidemic and gastric bypass surgeries are performed on adolescents

Despite the national attention and urgent concern of health professionals, parents and grandparents like me, families continue to struggle with the problems associated with surplus weight.

According to Dr. James Hubbard, “American families must focus on developing healthful habits that are sustainable for the long term. Limiting sedentary activities, such as watching television and gaming on the computer, is important. But far more critical will be the family’s commitment to eat healthfully and exercise regularly—with weight loss as a natural by-product.”

Looking ahead, what trends are likely to improve family health? Here are some predictions:

Old Idea: Surplus weight among family members was a private matter or one of no great concern. Parents believed that children who were overweight would trim down during an adolescent growth spurt.

New Approach: Family members and pediatricians acknowledge the importance of recognizing weight problems at an early age. Research has established that being overweight affects the health and well-being of children during their early years and sets the stage for chronic medical conditions in adulthood. Early intervention is critical, and families will take a team approach by adopting healthier lifestyles that benefit all members.

Old Idea: Living healthfully involved constant deprivation and required heroic amounts of will power.

New Approach: Strategies for making healthier choices involving eating habits and exercise can be learned, according to Dr. Martin Binks, director of behavioral health at the Duke Diet & Fitness Center and coauthor of The Duke Diet. Parents and children will become students to learn new, more healthful ways of cooking and eating. Success will be determined not by will power but by a willingness to learn.

Old Idea: Dieting was required to lose weight.

New Approach: Eating for health and vitality is the family goal—weight loss is the natural by-product. Because calories count, the caloric content of fast foods and food products will become increasingly available—sometimes voluntarily provided and other times mandated by law. Conscious eating will replace dieting and recreational eating.

Old Idea: The threat of global warming was debated and considered, at worst, a problem of the distant future that would be solved through technological advances and without our personal involvement.

New Approach: Families leave a fitness footprint. By eating food that is locally grown, seasonal and organic, we can reduce the pollution resulting from transporting food and using pesticides. Switching from disposable plastic water bottles to glass or metal water containers will reduce waste and exposure to potentially toxic chemicals.

Old Idea: Exercise was boring and sustaining a regular routine of exercise was impossible with demanding work and school schedules.

New Approach: Exercise is entertainment. The introduction of exergaming (consider Wii and Dance Dance Revolution) will bring fun and appealing exercise activities back into the home. A return to the popular exercises of childhood (using a Hula-Hoop, jumping on a trampoline, dancing and playing outdoor games) will occur.

Old Idea: Medical intervention in the form of drugs or gastric bypass surgery were viable solutions to health problems associated with poor eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle.

New Approach: Exercise is medicine. Exercise will replace drugs and surgery as the first line of defense against lifestyle-induced health problems. The wellness industry, which grew from $100 million a decade ago to $2 billion in 2008, will continue to grow exponentially as families take greater personal responsibility for their health and fitness. In a worrisome economy, families will be increasingly motivated to save money by adopting healthier habits to avoid preventable medical expenses.

Today’s notion that fitness can be achieved at every age, size and time of life is exciting. Bodies come in all shapes and sizes and go through many stages. Determining the appropriate weight and level of fitness for each family member will be the goal.

Our daily decisions in 2009 regarding nutrition and exercise will determine the next set of statistics for 2010.

Will we continue to get fatter until, as currently projected, 75 percent of us are overweight in 2015?

I think not. Despite occasional missteps and temporary setbacks, human beings tend to move toward richer, more fulfilling and healthier lives. If history is our guide, we will make progress in achieving greater health and fitness for families—yours and mine.

"Seek freedom and become captive of your desires, seek discipline and find your liberty."                    Frank Herber(1920-1986)

How to Fit in Fitness in the New Year

Each of us has 525,600 minutes to allocate in 2009. That represents a lot of minute-by-minute decisions.

 

Looking back at how you spent last year, are you resolved to make changes? Will you spend more time with family and friends? learn a new skill? become healthier? get control of your spending? reduce your debt?

 

As you consider your priorities, ask yourself, “In budgeting my time in 2009, will I fit in fitness? Will the task of caring for myself be first on my list or last?”

 

Here are three tips to help you keep your commitment to get FIT:

 

F: “First things first” needs to become your mantra. By taking care of yourself, you can better meet the needs of others. You also demonstrate faith in yourself, which sets a powerful example for everyone around you.

 

I: Initiative in adopting new habits is critical. Start today to become the person you want to be. Make appointments with yourself to exercise, record your eating and exercise activities and results in a daily journal and set aside time to shop for healthy foods and prepare nutritious meals.

 

T: Talk up your self-improvement program. Telling everyone about your plan and goals will help keep you accountable. Ask your physician for advice. Teach others what you learn about your new lifestyle. When your progress delights you, sharing your joy will inspire others to join you and reinforce your own commitment.

 

Financial uncertainties in the coming year may very well command more of your attention than usual. As the year unfolds, however, remember to spend some time each day on your number-one priority—yourself.

"Make your own recovery the first priority in your life."                        Robin Norwood

The Fitness Creed

A few years ago, I decided to get fit and lose 62 pounds. Since then, I developed a personal creed to guide my efforts. Articulating this creed seems an appropriate task to conclude 2008 and begin 2009. Here are 10 guiding concepts:

1. Just do it: At a minimum, each day needs to include a period of playful creativity and exercise.

2. When you don’t know what to do, do whatever is in front of you: If you don’t know where to begin, ask for help. Learn from—and lean on—those around you.

3. Every day is a new day, unlike any other: Enthusiastically welcome each day as an opportunity to continue your fitness journey.

4. If the rearview mirror is all you see, it’s not safe to drive forward: The only obstacle worse than letting past failures block your vision for the future is being asleep at the wheel.

5. Make hay while the sun shines: It’s better to develop your own unique fitness program before you develop an irreversible medical condition.

6. Waste not, want not: Measure your fitness footprint and adopt environmentally sound approaches to eating and exercise.

7. Be useful to others: Live life with purpose by encouraging everyone around you to share in the joyful fun of being alive.

8. Now is always the right time to begin: It’s never too late. Today may never seem like the perfect time to begin, but it is always the right time to begin.

9. Experiencing good health throughout life is the goal: The best way to reduce medical costs is to avoid incurring any.

10. If your shoe fits, you’re not allowing room to grow: Continuing your education stretches your mind, just as regular exercise stretches your body.

If I follow my own creed and keep learning, I just may have a new set of concepts to begin 2010.

"Those are my principles, and if you don't like them...we'll I have others."                             Groucho Marx