Diet rules for cheaters
1. If you eat something and no one sees you eat it, it has no calories.
2. If you drink a diet soda with a candy bar, the calories in the candy bar are canceled out by the diet soda.
3. When you eat with someone else, calories don't count if you don't eat more than they do.
4. Food used for medicinal purposes NEVER count, such as hot chocolate, brandy, toast and Sara Lee Cheesecake.
5. If you fatten up everyone else around you, then you look thinner.
6. Movie related foods (Milk Duds, Buttered Popcorn, Junior Mints, Red Hots, Tootsie Rolls, etc.) do not have additional calories because they are part of the entertainment package and not part of one's personal fuel.
7. Cookie pieces contain no fat--the process of breaking causes fat leakage.
8. Things licked off knives and spoons have no calories if you are in the process of preparing something. Examples are peanut butter on a knife making a sandwich and ice cream on a spoon making a sundae.
9. Foods that have the same color have the same number of calories. Examples are: spinach and pistachio ice cream; mushrooms and white chocolate. NOTE: Chocolate is a universal color and may be substituted for any other food color.
10. Foods that are frozen have no calories because calories are units of heat. Examples are ice cream, frozen pies, and Popsicles.
Health Dangers of Obesity - Some Facts
- An estimated 300,000 deaths per year may be attributable to obesity.
- Even moderate amounts of excess fat (10 to 20 pounds for a person of average height) increases the risk of death, particularly among adults aged 30 to 64 years, especially if this fat is stored as abdominal fat tissue.
- Individuals who are obese (BMI > 30) have a 50 to 100% increased risk of premature death from all causes, compared to individuals with a healthy weight.
- Heart disease is increased in persons who are overweight or obese (BMI > 25).
- High blood pressure is twice as common in adults who are obese than in those who are at a healthy weight.
- A weight gain of 11 to 18 pounds increases a person's risk of developing type 2 diabetes to twice that of individuals who have not gained weight.
- Overweight and obesity are associated with an increased risk for some types of cancer including endometrial, colon, gall bladder, prostate, kidney, and postmenopausal breast cancer.
- Women gaining more than 20 pounds from age 18 to midlife double their risk of postmenopausal breast cancer, compared to women whose weight remains stable.
MYTH: "If fat people really wanted to, they could lose weight.."
FACTS: Permanent weight loss is elusive for most fat people; 95-98% of all diets fail over three years. Contrary to what the $33 billion per year dieting industry would have us believe, the failure of diets is not the fault of the dieter; rather, the body's response to a very low calorie diet (VLCD) dictates that the diet will fail.
A person's body weight is determined by a number of factors, including genetics, metabolism, and dieting history. The body will naturally stabilize at a certain weight; dieting serves to raise this natural "setpoint". This is because the body interprets a VLCD as a period of starvation; in response, the body slows down its metabolism, in order to conserve energy (calories), and sends messages to the dieter that it needs more food. When the dieter goes off her diet, her body converts extra calories consumed as fat, in anticipation of the next period of "starvation," resulting in weight gain greater than the amount lost. This "ratchet effect" is evident in yo-yo dieters, who may lose 20 pounds, gain 30, lose 30 pounds, gain 40, etc.
MYTH: "It's not healthy to be fat."
FACTS: The issue of fat and health is a complex one, with many factors to consider. Medical research has raised more questions than it has answered. It seems that, while there are health risks associated with being fat, there are also some health benefits. It may be healthier to remain at a stable high weight than to yo-yo diet.
Added to questions raised by medical research, we also must consider that, in our society, it is very difficult for fat people to stay healthy and become fit. Due to prejudicial medical treatment and harassment by health care professionals, many fat people do not receive adequate preventative health care, and put off seeking treatment when there is a medical problem. In addition, many fat people do not feel comfortable participating in activities that would lead to a greater level of fitness. Due to the harassment they face, fat people rarely feel comfortable using public pools or health clubs, or participating in recreational exercise.
Given that permanent weight loss is elusive for most fat people, the issue of fat and health is irrelevant. The only true option available is to be as healthy as you can, regardless of your weight. (Often times the health issue serves as a smoke screen to justify denying fat people their civil rights. The assumption that fat people are unhealthy is often used to defend discrimination in employment, educational opportunities, housing, and adoption privileges. Health issues should never supersede one's civil rights.)
MYTH: "All fat people are compulsive overeaters. "
FACTS: The compulsive eater, whether fat or thin, is a person with an eating disorder. Simply being fat does not indicate the presence of an eating disorder. Studies which set out to prove that fat people eat more than thin people concluded that there is no measurable difference in the food consumption of fat and thin people. Compulsive dieters, who ignore their body's hunger messages, tend to become obsessed with food, and usually overeat after a round of dieting.
MYTH: "Fat people are ugly."
FACTS: Beauty is a learned concept, and the cultural norm of beauty changes over time. At the turn of the century, the leading sex symbol, Lillian Russell, weighed over 200 pounds. Marilyn Monroe would be considered "overweight" today. The media, advertisers, and the diet industry tend to set the standard of beauty in today's society. We must remember that they are selling us dissatisfaction with our bodies in order to make a profit.
MYTH: "Fat people can't find romantic partners."
FACTS: It's estimated that at least 5-10% of the population has a preference for a large-size partner. Because our society does not view this as a legitimate preference, many people who prefer fat partners face harassment from their families and peers. As the preference for the large-size partner is legitimized, the 5-10% figure may rise.
Natural fat? Fact or lie?
Puppy fat? Does it exist? Yep afraid so.... Babies/children have more fat to keep their vital growing organs safe. Mind you its supposed to go in the teen years.
teenage girls gain a few extra pounds as well during your period due to the fact you're retaining water, which we all know counts as extra weight.
What worse? A smoker or a obese person??
Did you know that, health-wise, it's worse to be obese than to be a smoker or a problem drinker?
A study published in the journal Health Affairs, has found that obesity contributes to a decline in quality of life at nearly four times the rate of smoking or alcohol abuse. Only a two-decade jump to middle age -- going from age 30 to 50 -- brought similar health effects and costs, according to the Associated Press.
Being obese (which is defined as being more than 30 percent above your ideal body weight) increases health care costs by 36 percent and medication costs by 77 percent, while smoking only increases those costs by 21 percent and 30 percent.
Almost 30 percent of all Americans are obese, according to a recent Surgeon General's report and more than 60 percent are overweight. --Martha Miller
Here's an irish article on obesity i found.
Frightening messages needed
Dr O'Shea says that the statistic relating to stroke tends to be 'more frightening'. "When people hear the word stroke, they get worried". He says that this information needs to go out in a major public campaign, similar to the anti-smoking campaign of recent months. The issue also needs to be part of every GP and hospital review, so if you are attending a family doctor or a hospital clinic and you are overweight or obese, you should be warned about the dangers.
Dr O'Shea warns that no hospital service in the country is currently able to deal with people who are morbidly obese. "A hospital bed can take a weight of 170 kilos (26 and a half stone). We have at least 20 patients who are above that weight, therefore they cannot be admitted to hospital", he explains.
Hospital beds cannot withstand a weight of more than 170 kilos
Dr O'Shea expresses concern about the current rate at which obesity is increasing in Ireland, particularly in relation to the 16 - 24 age group.
"The obesity rate trebled amongst this group within 10 years. If that rate continues, 30% of this age group will be obese in the next 10 years. If that happens - well it doesn't bear thinking about".
He is under no misconception that the problem of obesity is going to get worse in Ireland before it gets better. The issue, he says, is 'how much worse?'
Hopefully today's school-goers will face less of a problem in this area, due partially to the SPHE (social, personal and health education) programme, which has already been introduced into a number of primary schools nationwide. The aim is to introduce SPHE as a subject on the primary and secondary curriculum. The SPHE programme will include a wide range of topics, including healthy eating, alcohol and safety.
"I hope that today's school-goers will be ok. We won't know if they are for another 10 to 15 years though" he says
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