Losing Weight and Feeling Great

Archive for the ‘Miscellaneous’ Category

Weight loss setbacks plague pretty much anyone and everyone who tries to lose weight.  It’s something you need to deal with…but not beat yourself up over.

What kinds of setbacks might you expect, and what can you do about them?  Let’s take a look and see.

Dedication for the Long Run

Sometimes your dedication falters and you might eat or drink things that are “off the diet”.  Stop!  Don’t use it as an excuse to go hog-wild (so to speak) and abandon your weight loss plan!

It’s important to not let small setbacks get in the way of your overall weight loss goal.  Don’t give up on sensible eating and exercise, just because you ate pizza and drank some beer one night.

Cut yourself some slack, dust yourself off and get back on track.

Life – It Can Get in the Way

Life does have a tendency to throw our carefully-laid plans into disarray.  You plan your meals out for the week and somehow, it just doesn’t work out every day.  Something happens and throws you for a loop.

Maybe you’ve had a bad day at work, or had an argument with your spouse/significant other.  You get stuck in traffic and are starving!  That fast-food drive through is looking awfully good…

…if that drive-thru calls and you answer, just remember — make the best possible choices and skip the fries.

Weight Loss Setbacks Happen

Maybe in the past, you’ve thrown in the towel on dieting when you hit the first obstacle.  “Weight loss just isn’t for me!” you might exclaim.  But you’d be wrong!

Accept the fact that there will be momentary lapses.  After all, you’re only human.  Just don’t let the weight loss setbacks derail your dieting effort for good.

Getting “back on the wagon”?  It’s as close as your next meal.

In the last post I discussed binge eating; in this post we’ll look at bulimia causes.  Bulimia is another form of eating disorder that is far too common in today’s society.  It’s normally the “purge” part of a “binge and purge” eating session.

Bulimia is officially called bulimia nervosa and purging through vomiting is only one method of ridding the body of the binge food.  Other ways include laxatives, enemas and excessive exercise.

But why do people succumb to the siren call of bulimia?  It can’t be because the purging is pleasant (it isn’t).  So why do people go it?  Let’s take a look at five possible causes of bulimia nervosa.

Cause Number 1:  “Thin Is In”

Like it or not, we live in a world where the emphasis is placed on being thin and beautiful.  This, despite the majority of people in the United States are overweight!  This leaves a lot of people dissatisfied with their body. It’s especially true for women, in their teens and twenties, who are constantly bombarded with unrealistic images. 

But the popular culture also says, “supersize me” when it comes to dining out!  Restaurants, especially fast food restaurants, serve far more food than is needed for a healthy weight, and we’re conditioned to clean our plates.  You see the paradox. 

Number 2:  Self-Esteem 

People having a low self-esteem are highly susceptible to bulimia.  The feeling is that no matter what, they aren’t thin enough or pretty enough or good enough.  Then there’s the added feeling of guilt after a binge session, driving the self-esteem even lower.

Perfectionists can also fall into this category, especially if the purge of choice is exercise.

Cause Number 3 – Dieters Beware (Especially Yo-Yo)

There’s a lot of us who fall into this risk category.  And if you are a perpetual yo-yo dieter, you’re even more suseptible.  Why?

When you are constantly going on and off diets, lowing weight then gaining it back, you short-circuit your metabolism.  After awhile, dieting alone doesn’t seem to work very well.  It’s at that point that the idea of purging may occur. 

You’ve probably purged in one form or another in your life, but most of us don’t make a habit of it.  It’s when the need to purge becomes a habit that bulimia looms.

Number 4:  Changes in Life

Now I’m not necessarily talking about the “change of life”, but rather large changes in your life.  Examples include a new job (especially if it’s stressful), getting married, getting divorced, buying a house, becoming a parent.  You get the idea. 

The stress of a major life change leaves many people without a coping mechanism, if they don’t have supportive family and friends.  Bilimia becomes part of a coping mechnaism, because it’s something they think they have control over.

But when it comes to bulimia, the control eventually passes from the person to the purge.  And this leaves you worse off than when you started.

Bulimia Causes and Effects

So you’ve seen some possible causes of bulimia.  Now what are some possible effects?  Well, death is the most extreme example, but it is a possibility.

For those whom vomiting it the purge method, problems include all sorts of digestive and throat problems.  Not to mention problems with the teeth, from the acid in the stomach contents.  There’s evidence that excessive vomiting of the kind found in bulimia is also linked to esophageal and stomach cancer.

For the purge with laxatives, obviously your intestinal muscles stop working the way they should.  Malnutrition is also a problem, since many nutrients are absorbed in the intestines.  Watery stools can also be a cause of dehydration.

For those choosing diuretics, the low potassium levels prevalent with getting rid of all that water can cause heart failure, as you’re not likely binging on bananas.

Exercise as amethod of purging carries its own problems.  While exercise is good, too much strenuous exercise can lead to muscle failure, when they don’t have a chance to relax and recouperate.  There is also the problem of dehydration and heat stroke.

If you suffer from bulimia, the first thing is to admit it; first to yourself and then possibly to others.  Get help, because you may not be able to do it alone.  A therapist, a group or a trusted friend are all invaluable.  There are also online groups where you can encourage and receive encouragement.  You can check out the message boards on SparkPeople, for one.  You can also check the Yahoo groups.

Can you lose weight while you sleep?  Well, yes in the respect that weight loss happens all the time — not just while you’re awake.  However, there’s something you really need to know about sleeping and losing weight.

There is a connection.  If you don’t get enough sleep, it may prevent you from losing weight (or at least slow down your weight loss).  But why?

Today I have guest author Gail Davis, who has put together some great information on how sleep deprivation can slow down or even prevent weight loss.  Especially in today’s culture of trying to get as much done as possible, sleep may be losing out to chores, activities, work, etc.  And really, we sleep in order to be healthy.  So let’s see what Gail has written on sleep and weight loss.

Lose Weight While You Sleep;  Sleep Deprivation and Weight Loss

Let me ask a question — are you plagued by sleep deprivation?  Do you get your 8 hours of sleep in a night?  No?  Then let’s look at some facts.

In the past 40 years, American obesity has risen from one in nine adults to one in three.  And here’s something to consider.  During the same time frame, there has been a decrease in the amount of sleep by up to two hours each night!

Unfortunately, this isn’t just an American issue.  A study recently conducted at the University of British Columbia on adults between the ages of 32 and 49 determined that participants who slept less than seven hours a night were significantly more likely to be obese!

Why is this?  Well, there are 2 hormones, leptin and ghrelin that may be responsible for these alarming statistics. Let’s take a closer look.

Your energy intake and expenditure are both regulated by leptin, whose primary purpose is to tell the brain when you’ve eaten enough.

Now for the flip side:  ghrelin’s main function is to trigger hunger. Your ghrelin levels are naturally higher prior to a meal and naturally lower following a meal.

Leptin, Ghrelin and Sleep

How is sleep affected by these hormones?  It’s because when your body is deprived of adequate sleep, it produces more ghrelin, which is the appetite stimulator.  And again the flip side, it also produces less leptin, which is the appetite depressant!  Do you see where this is going?

A study conducted at The University of Chicago in 2004 demonstrated alarming results. Participants, who slept only four hours a night for two nights in a row, had an increase in their ghrelin levels by 28% and a decrease in their leptin levels by 18%!

Appetites on Overdrive

Would you agree that these number show that sleep deprivation appears to cause people to have appetites that are on overdrive?  As if that weren’t alarming enough, the same lack of sleep hinders the body’s ability to recognize that it’s had enough food.  It’s quite a vicious circle.

About the Author:
Gail M. Davis offers more facts about the alarming relationship between sleep deprivation and weight-related. Peruse her website, Easy Weight Loss Tips where you’ll find many weight-related topics such as this in addition to healthy recipes.

Sleep and Your Diet

Thanks, Gail, for this information.  You’ve given us quite a bit to think about.  We’ve always know that we really do need to get the proper amount of rest.  I know for me, it’s at least 7 hours a night, with 8 even better.  I’ve never thought about if getting less than 7 hours regularly would hinder my weight loss.

But I do remember a time in my life where 7 hours of sleep a night was actually a luxury; I usually got 6 or less.  And despite the fact I hadn’t changed anything else (same amount of exercise, no change in the foods I normally ate), I do remember being hungrier.

So, you really can lose weight while you sleep — just not in the way you might expect.  What about you?  Do you get the sleep you need on a regular basis?  Do you notice a difference to your appetite on days where you didn’t get enough sleep the night before?

When it comes to losing weight, we need all the help we can get.  Now consider that sleep is another tool in your fight against weight!

A lot of people ask, “What is binge eating?” wondering if they may possibly be a victim of this not-often-discussed eating disorder.

Well, according to WikiPedia, you can have a binge eating episode, without actually suffering from the disorder, as seen on this page.

So technically, binge eating is uncontrolled overeating.  It can be small, like when you decide to eat half a candy bar, but eat it all instead.  Or it can be large like eating several fast-food value meals, one right after the other.  It’s the inability to stop eating, no matter if the amount is large or small.

What is Binge Eating Disorder?

I mentioned that you can have a binge eating episode without actually suffering from the full disorder.  And really, who hasn’t had it happen before?  Thanksgiving dinner is an excellent example; the vast majority of us eat far too much, then shuffle off to the couch, groaning in discomfort.

The disorder itself (which I think deserves a post of its own) is characterized more by how compelled you are to overeat.  In other words, is it something that periodically happens and you feel you have no control when it does?

The disorder is also characterized by frequency.  Once or twice a year at holidays is one thing.  One or more times a month could be something else.

In my next post, I’ll cover common signs of the disorder, as well as some binge eating facts.  Meanwhile you now know the answer to, “what is binge eating?”.  It’s when you just don’t have control.