Lose Weight and Get Healthy

CURVES — 37 weeks ago

A little over four weeks ago my mother and I joined a Curves fitness center in our area, I am 5’3” and weighed almost 218lbs. since then I have lost 2lbs. but still feel I have no real support system, you know the “You can do it” attitude I need most from my family and friends, my hubby just seems not to care at all, and my mother can only help so much, I just feel FAT, I’m not just feeling chubby I feel FAT! It has affected my confidence level majorly, my hubby wanted me to put on a slinky nightgown, he said it looked great but I felt like a Turkey tressed up for Thanksgiving, it has been driving he and I apart for awhile. I don’t know what to do.

FIRST WEIGH IN — 34 weeks ago

Well, my first weigh in didn’t do so good, I gained 8lbs. so I went from 218 to 216 and now to 224 in a month,but I lost almost 2 inches from various spots on my body, I now comfortably fit a size 20 pant.

NOW FOR MY UPDATES

Third Weigh In (Jan 15 2006): 223 size 20/22 lost 5 inches

Fourth Weigh In (Feb 15 2006): 221 size 20/22 lost 2 inches

Fifth Weigh In (March 16 2006): 220 size 20/22 lost 4 inches

Sixth / Seventh Weigh In (April / May 16): 219 size 18/20 lost 6 inches

Eighth Weigh In (June 15 2006): 200 size 18 lost 7 inches

I have been going to Curves now since Sept 2005, I have cut fast food completely from my diet, I have started a normal and healthy eating patern. And am now happily awaiting my Next WEIGH IN for this month.

NOTE:WEIGHT GAINED WAS ACTUALLY CAUSED FROM ME DRINKING MORE
WATER AND STAYING HYDRATED, MY BODY WAS NOT PREPARED FORIT AND THEREFORE HELD IT IN. AFTER MY BODY STARTED ACCEPTING MORE WATER IT BEGAN TO DROP IT, THIS IS NORMAL WITH ANY
EXCERCISE ROUTINE. ALWAYS BE PREPARED FOR A WEIGHT GAIN WHETHER FROM WATER INTAKE OR MUSCLE GROWTH.

What’s Involved: Dieters replace one or more meals with drinkable formulas, which are usually sold as a liquid or powder. These tend to be low in calories—but high in nutrients.

What You Need to Know: If you decide to try one of these plans, you’ll probably find that they’re easy to use and may help you lose weight.

But most people who try these diets regain the pounds as soon as they start eating solid foods again. Also, these diets do not teach people how to make healthy food choices—a necessary skill for maintaining weight.

In addition, experts agree that it’s healthier to get nutrients from food rather than a formula or supplements. Scientists still don’t know exactly how fruits, vegetables, fiber, and other foods help keep you healthy. But they know it involves a complex interaction among vitamins, minerals, and various disease-fighting compounds. So, people on liquid diets may be missing out on important nutrients.

http://www.mmcwm.com/fasthealthtips/65_weightloss/liquid.html

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Both approaches to weight loss may promote rapid weight loss, but not permanent fat loss. They are associated with medical problems including sensitivity to cold, brittle nails, fatigue, diarrhea or constipation, and heart problems. Weight loss by means of liquid diets can cause gallbladder problems. Sudden death may occur with very low calorie liquid diets or total fasting.

Advertisements using celebrities to promote meal replacement drinks have been widely used in the past few years. Today, however, such products are losing popularity. This is due to the fact that permanent fat loss does not occur unless the person adopts appropriate habits of diet and exercise into their lifestyle.

Medically supervised fasting or liquid diets contain high quality protein and carbohydrates. They are supplemented with vitamins, minerals and electrolytes. With careful supervision, weight loss can be accomplished safely. Such programs require careful medical screening. They may cost around $2000 to $3000.

Diet clinics may offer food plans of 1000 to 1500 calories per day. Some require you to purchase specially packaged meals available only through the company. The cost of these programs range from $250-$1000 or more. Low price initial sign-on offers may not include all costs. These programs provide variable amounts of exercise and behavior modification counseling, which is essential information needed to maintain weight loss.

Remember, permanent fat loss is achieved by following a sound plan that includes exercise, behavior modifications, and a nutritious diet.

http://www.baptistonline.org/health/library/weig5289.asp

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Using diet programs that incorporate liquid meal alternatives may be dangerous, according to Jenny Yi, an assistant professor of Health and Human Performance in the University of Houston College of Education.

Liquid-based diet programs became popular in the late 1980s. They have since blossomed into a multimillion-dollar industry. Of the liquid meal alternatives, SlimFast and MET-Rx are two of the most popular and easily recognizable.

Yi said liquid-based diet programs are not regulated, leaving consumers without government help in deciding if such a diet is right for them, or how it could be managed successfully.

No long-term studies have been done to determine if any permanent problems can result from liquid diets, Yi said.

As a result, she believes they should be taken off the shelves until they’re thoroughly tested.

Some recent short-term studies indicate that health risks like high blood pressure and liver complications are associated with liquid diets, Yi said. Eating disorders may develop if dieters change their eating habits to conform to liquid-diet programs, she said.

People can and do lose weight by using liquid meal replacements. But they are three times more likely to gain the weight back than someone who lost weight by eating low-fat foods and working out, Yi said.

“How long is someone going to stay on a diet like that?” Yi asks. “When they get off, they will gain it all back.” Yi adds that the rapid weight loss that often accompanies the use of liquid meal alternatives can be dangerous.

http://www.stp.uh.edu/vol61/951103/4b.html

%{color:red}Holiday Goal — 7 weeks ago
I have finally decided to make a promise to myself….during this Holiday season (I’m talking about Thanksgiving and Christmas)I will loose 8-10lbs, this will give me a little less than two months to do it and I plan to weigh in on the second Tuesday of the New Year!!!! Which will be…%

Tuesday January 10th 2006!!!

WELL I MISSED MY GOAL BUT I DID LOSE 3 1/2LBS. AND 7 INCHES (AVG.) FROM VARIOUS BODY PARTS….. SO YAY ME FOR AT LEAST LOSING A LITTLE.

MY MOTHER AND I ARE PROUD MEMBERS OF THE D.C. CHAPTER

http://www.naafa.org/

WHAT IS NAAFA?*
*Founded in 1969, the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance is a non-profit human rights organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for fat people. NAAFA works to eliminate discrimination based on body size and provide fat people with the tools for self-empowerment through public education, advocacy, and member support.

WHAT DOES NAAFA DO?
The purpose of NAAFA is to:
Work towards providing equal opportunity for fat people wherever obstacles and/or discrimination exist.
Disseminate information about the sociological, psychological, legal, medical, and physiological aspects of being fat.
Advocate and sponsor responsible research about the various aspects of being fat.
Empower the large number of people regarded by the medical profession as “obese” to accept themselves, to live more fulfilling lives, and to promote acceptance of fat people within society.
Serve as a forum where issues affecting fat people can be discussed in an unbiased setting.

HOW DOES NAAFA WORK TO MEET ITS GOALS?NAAFA uses a three-pronged approach to end size discrimination and improve the quality of life for fat people. The three facets are as follows:

ADVOCACY:NAAFA fights size-related discrimination and bias at every opportunity.
NAAFA members have participated in rallies and demonstrations in protest of Southwest Airlines’ discriminatory practices regarding fat passengers, at an obesity research conference funded by the commercial weight loss industry, and in response to comments by New York Governor Mario Cuomo.
NAAFA’s Fat Activist Task Force fights offensive advertising and negative media representation through letter writing campaigns.
NAAFA works to gain legal protection for fat people by educating lawmakers and serving as a national legal clearinghouse for attorneys challenging size discrimination.
NAAFA represents the interests of the fat population at conferences of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and obesity research conferences, in order to shift the research agenda from a focus on finding ways to make fat people thin to ways to make fat people healthy. NAAFA also represents consumers in legislative hearings to regulate the commercial weight loss industry.

EDUCATION:NAAFA fights society prejudice against fat people through education.
NAAFA works to dispel the common myths that are used to justify treating fat people as second-class citizens: “If they really wanted to, they could lose weight;” “It’s not healthy to be fat;” “Fat people are ugly.”
NAAFA reaches out to national and community groups through our Speakers Bureau, literature displays at community fairs, and traveling exhibits. “The Diet Deception” is a memorial exhibit commemorating those who have died from dieting, weight loss surgery, and prejudice-affected medical care. NAAFA “Hall of Fame” honors fat people throughout history who have contributed to society.
NAAFA works extensively with the media, and NAAFA representatives have appeared on such programs as 60 Minutes, 48 Hours, Larry King Live, Donahue, and The Oprah Winfrey Show. NAAFA’s message has been featured in the New York Times, USA Today, and many other well-known newspapers, radio programs, and magazines.
Information on health, legal issues, and the progress of the size acceptance movement is provided by the NAAFA Newsletter, as well as by publications of local chapters and special interest groups.
At regional gatherings and conventions, discussion groups and workshops are held to bring supporters up to date on the latest size-related issues.

SUPPORT:
Through NAAFA, fat people can raise their self-esteem and overcome feelings that they deserve to be treated as second-class citizens.
Information in the NAAFA educational pamphlets and the NAAFA Newsletter helps fat people to realize that their worth as human beings is not dependent upon the size of their body.
Because being fat can be both a physically and emotionally isolating experience, NAAFA has helped to create and sustain a fat subculture. NAAFA has several chapters in the United States that hold meetings, sponsor support groups, publish newsletters, and organize social events. NAAFA also has special interest groups for people sharing common concerns.
NAAFA’s special events and annual convention create safe space for our members to explore their own issues about fatness, and give people an opportunity to network with others who relate to their experiences.

PREVIEW OF SITE

Diets Don’t Work!

By Chad Tackett

Many Americans view a healthy lifestyle as something difficult to attain-and something that’s not much fun. Traditional diets have taught us that to lose weight, we must count calories, keep track of everything we eat, and deprive ourselves by limiting the amount-and kinds—of foods we eat. Diets tell us exactly what and how much food to eat, regardless of our preferences and individual relationships with hunger and satiety. Dieting can help us lose weight (fat, muscle, and water) in the short term but is so unnatural and so unrealistic that it can never become a lifestyle that we can live with, let alone enjoy!

While very few diets teach healthy low-fat shopping, cooking, and dining-out strategies, many offer unrealistic recommendations and encourage health-threatening restrictions. Even more important, diets don’t teach us the safest, most effective ways to exercise; they don’t teach us how to deal with our cravings and our desires, or how to attend to our feelings of hunger and fullness. Eventually, we become tired of the complexity, the hunger, the lack of flavor, the lack of flexibility, the lack of energy, and the feeling of deprivation. We quit our diets and gain back the weight we’ve lost; sometimes we gain even more!

Each time we go on another diet of deprivation, the weight becomes more difficult to lose, and we become even more frustrated and discouraged. Then we eat more and exercise less, causing ourselves more frustration, discouragement, depression. Soon we are in a vicious cycle. We begin to ask ourselves, “Why bother?” We begin to blame ourselves for having no will power when what we really need is clear, scientifically-based information that will help us develop a healthier lifestyle we can live with for the rest of our lives.

Deliberate restriction of food intake in order to lose weight or to prevent weight gain, known as dieting, is the path that millions of people all over the world are taking in order to reach a desired body weight or appearance. Preoccupation with body shape, size, and weight creates an unhealthy lifestyle of emotional and physical deprivation. Diets take control away from us…....

http://www.freeweightloss.com/article21.html

The term “diet” referred to in this website refers to America’s obsession with ‘fad’ diets. Diet simply refers to an eating program. In the truest sense, we are all on a diet daily.
If a physician were to ask, “What does your current diet consist of?” He or she would be asking about your eating habits. However, most view “dieting” as a restriction, a reduction, or a decrease of some sort. Therefore, our site WhyDietsDontWork.com refers to fad diets and misleading weight-loss products that give a false perception of weight-loss. I offer thanks to those in the industry whose diet programs focus on health, vitality, education, moderation,
sensible eating, and long-term success. But to others who are part of the problem in creating the diet craze, I encourage serious consideration of our responsibility to the next generation, as well as those currently seeking to lose ! weight and live a happier, healthier life.

Shane Idleman
President

What Works When Diets Dont?

After working many years in the fitness industry, helping thousands of people lose weight; one thing was evident: Those who were in good shape, rarely, if ever said that they were on a diet; conversely, those that were overweight referred often to dieting. It was obvious-diets don’t work!

IT’S OBVIOUS DIETS DON’T WORK. What does work are the 7-steps listed below:

Choosing to change: From the inside out.

Education: What you dont know can hurt you.

Getting Started: The pain of discipline vs. the pain of regret.

Preparation: Setting and achieving realistic goals.

Making the right choices: You make a choice and it then makes you.

Prioritizing your life: First things first.

Lasting changes: Maintaining your results

http://www.whydietsdontwork.com/

(Warning a few links don’t work at the moment, but there is some useful information contained inthe working pages)

I have finally decided to make a promise to myself….during this Holiday season (I’m talking about Thanksgiving and Christmas)I will loose 8-10lbs, this will give me a little less than two months to do it and I plan to weigh in on the second Tuesday of the New Year!!!! Which will be…

Tuesday January 10th 2006!!!

Well, my first weigh in didn’t do so good, I gained 8lbs. so I went from 218 to 216 and now to 224 in a month,but I lost almost 2 inches from various spots on my body, I now comfortably fit a size 20 pant.

A little over four weeks ago my mother and I joined a Curves fitness center in our area, I am 5’3” and weighed almost 218lbs. since then I have lost 2lbs. but still feel I have no real support system, you know the “You can do it” attitude I need most from my family and friends, my hubby just seems not to care at all, and my mother can only help so much, I just feel FAT, I’m not just feeling chubby I feel FAT! It has affected my confidence level majorly, my hubby wanted me to put on a slinky nightgown, he said it looked great but I felt like a Turkey tressed up for Thanksgiving, it has been driving he and I apart for awhile. I don’t know what to do.