We talk a lot about the
health benefits associated with keeping our weight under control, but an
article called “Eat Right, and Wrong,” by Rochelle Eisenberg (Baltimore Jewish
Times, January 23, 2009) reminds us that our quest for unnatural thinness isn’t
always a good thing.
Most adults, by the time
they reach 50 are tired of fighting the battle of the bulge and are ready to
start looking at things a little more realistically. It is an unfortunate statistic that 66% of
Americans are overweight (32% or 1 in 3 are considered obese) according to the
BMI (body mass index) scales. We seem to
be fixated with food one way or the other and neither way seems to have
anything to do with eating for health.
Dieting is a multimillion dollar industry as it tries to appeal to
today’s weight obsessed society. We are
spending too much time focused on dieting and restricting the foods we eat
instead of focusing on healthy nutrition.
Some people strive through
an entire lifetime trying to reach or maintain an impossibly small dress
size. Model thinness is not
realistic. Anorexia, bulimia, diet
pills, fasting, impossibly low calorie intake and other forms of torture are
not good for you. One of the results of
this constant emphasis on dieting is the rise of compulsive eating
disorders. Studies are showing that
eating disorders extend to all age groups.
Doctors are treating more men, older women, and children under the age
of 12.
We need to understand that some people are
genetically thinner and some are genetically larger than others. Genetics plays a significant role in
determining body size, which is why 95% of diets fail. It is time to forget about starvation diets
and concentrating on making nutritious choices, along with exercise and common
sense. Linda Bacon in her book “Health at Every
Size: The Surprising Truth about Your
Weight,” promotes healthy eating and exercise as being more productive for
people who struggle with lifelong weight loss issues.
It is time to stop beating
yourself up because you can’t reach runway model thinness. Size 12 is the
average size of women today and expecting everyone to fit into a single digit
size has been harmful to women on so many different levels. Accept who you are, take good care of
yourself and exercise regularly. If you
focus on healthy behaviors, a healthier weight will follow.
Media messages are starting to promote fat
acceptance and are encouraging people to accept their size and focus more on
their health.
Most of us want to live a
long and healthy life, but we want those years to be good years not just longer
ones. Eliminate the word diet from your vocabulary
foster the idea of a healthier way of living.
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