OT: Addressing the Wicked Problem of Obesity

[Todzo]

Addressing the Wicked Problem of Obesity

http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/inf ... ed.1001475

[49er]

Addressing the Wicked Problem of Obesity

http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/inf ... ed.1001475

I had a hard time comprehending the article which may be a "me" issue. But if I had any power to solve the problem, here is what I would do.

1. Teach people how to eat in response to hunger and not emotions. It is truly amazing to me how many people have forgotten what seems like a basic concept to me.

When I have proposed this in the past, people feared they would overeat on all the "wrong" foods. In my experience, when I truly practice this philosophy, my body finds the right balance.

2. Teach people that if they chose to eat in response to emotions to pick the most appropriate food that would satisfy the need. I know this doesn't seem like a good policy but my reasoning is if people learn to be conscious of what they are doing, by picking the most satisfying food for the situation, they will eat less of it and thus less calories.

3. Teach people that bodies come in all shapes and sizes. In my opinion, alot of obesity is the result of people trying to be the size of Twiggy when they are only moderately overweight. They go on a diet and not only regain the lost weight but add some more pounds. This cycle continues until they are now considered obese.

4. Stop the over prescription of drugs, particularly psych meds. I realize they can be helpful but in my opinion, they are way over prescribed and causing horrific weight gain which is contributing to the obesity epidemic in my opinion.

5. Encourage ways to incorporate more movement in a person's daily life such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator, parking further away from the store (don't forget about safety).

6. Make sure the people who require it are referred for sleep apnea testing. During the rare times pap therapy has worked for me, it has taken zero effort to eat when I am hungry and the right foods for my body.

My two cents.

49er

[RestedRebel]

Addressing the Wicked Problem of Obesity

http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/inf ... ed.1001475

I had a hard time comprehending the article which may be a "me" issue. But if I had any power to solve the problem, here is what I would do.

1. Teach people how to eat in response to hunger and not emotions. It is truly amazing to me how many people have forgotten what seems like a basic concept to me.

When I have proposed this in the past, people feared they would overeat on all the "wrong" foods. In my experience, when I truly practice this philosophy, my body finds the right balance.

2. Teach people that if they chose to eat in response to emotions to pick the most appropriate food that would satisfy the need. I know this doesn't seem like a good policy but my reasoning is if people learn to be conscious of what they are doing, by picking the most satisfying food for the situation, they will eat less of it and thus less calories.

3. Teach people that bodies come in all shapes and sizes. In my opinion, alot of obesity is the result of people trying to be the size of Twiggy when they are only moderately overweight. They go on a diet and not only regain the lost weight but add some more pounds. This cycle continues until they are now considered obese.

4. Stop the over prescription of drugs, particularly psych meds. I realize they can be helpful but in my opinion, they are way over prescribed and causing horrific weight gain which is contributing to the obesity epidemic in my opinion.

5. Encourage ways to incorporate more movement in a person's daily life such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator, parking further away from the store (don't forget about safety).

6. Make sure the people who require it are referred for sleep apnea testing. During the rare times pap therapy has worked for me, it has taken zero effort to eat when I am hungry and the right foods for my body.

My two cents.

49er

Obesity is an epidemic in the United States, and the lack of physical activity is only one of the many problems. My city is not bike or walker friendly, so any kind of physical activity generally comes from activity outside the job - gyms, walking, treadmills, sports, etc.

However, that being said, too many Americans are in the habit of going out to restaurants, at least in my city. The problem with restaurant food is portion control and high calories. In order to make the food tasty, butter and oils are used, which adds calories to the meal. If people eat everything on their dish, they are taking in too many calories. 4 oz. of lean meat is not what is often served, and potatoes and/or rice aren't good for women who are start intolerant. It would be better to 'double up' on the veggies and to ask that both the meat and veggies be served 'dry' without all the stuff that adds on calories to healthy food.

Everything we do to celebrate in this country involves going out to eat: birthdays, anniversaries, retirement parties, holiday parties, and any other reason one might want want to celebrate. We are hit daily with advertisements for food, and not food that is necessarily 'good' for us, either. Usually, it's junk food. Also, just as cigarettes were manufactured in such a way as to make cigarettes even more addictive, food is treated the same way. A lot of that junk food is made more addictive. So, we eat more and more. Foods with a high glycemic index have us craving for more.

We all need to get off the merry-go-round and focus on our health, living a healthy life-style. People tell me that once I reach my target weight goal, I'll no longer have sleep apnea. Not necessarily true. I am working toward a healthy lifestyle, though and still have 94.3 pounds to go until I reach my target weight, although I have already lost 61.4 pounds. I want to weigh 130 lbs.

There is a war on obese people in the U.S. Discrimination is rampant. It's not okay to make racial, ethnic, or religious comments or jokes, but it is okay to make jokes on obesity. Southwest Airlines has been both criticized and sued for some of the thoughtless and hurtful remarks made to obese individuals. Also, airlines are probably going to start charging higher prices for obesity, or may even start charging fares based on one's weight.

We'll also get better gas mileage as we lose weight. Being able to get off certain medications and avoiding the possibility of strokes, heart disease, cancer, etc. due to obesity is a powerful motivator.

Parking farther away is always good because it requires us to take more steps. In fact, we should all take 10,000 steps a day just to maintain our weight. Buying a pedometer and tracking our steps is a good way to go.

And above all, don't go back to the same old habits once you lose your weight, or you'll be on that yo-yo cycle. Monitor weight and when it goes up 2-3 pounds take it off.

These are some of the things I've learned since starting my weight loss in February. Getting my cpap therapy in December gave me the energy I needed to fight the battle with my weight. Above all, take pride in yourself. If you don't, no one else will.

[Stormynights]

I had ulcers and I would often snack to get something on my tummy to make it feel better. I also have a lot of back pain that prevents me from getting enough exercise. Now that my ulcers are healed I don't have that need to keep my tummy full. I wasn't obese but overweight. I have lost weight but can't l loose all I would like due to lack of exercise.

[roster]

1. Teach people how to eat in response to hunger and not emotions.

49er

I like about all of your post except this item. Eating is a fun event for me and, in addition to being a response to basic hunger urges, eating is a response to emotion. I always look forward to a good meal and especially so when I am enjoying it with company.

I would not want to take the emotion out of meals. Life would not be so good without really enjoying food.

BTW, despite mostly eating in restaurants five days per week the last two years (heavy business travel), I have not gained weight and remain fit. I do a few things to survive the restaurants. One, I always eat eggs (protein) for breakfast and keep the carbs low. Two, I joined two gyms that have locations in many of the cities I visit and I find time to use them or, if the city is nice, I walk the streets for an hour or more as often as I can.

I also try to keep the carbs down at lunch and dinner and make sure to have a good serving size of protein.

You are right about our sedentary lives, prescription drugs and needing education about nutrition and lifestyle.

[RestedRebel]

1. Teach people how to eat in response to hunger and not emotions.

49er

I like about all of your post except this item. Eating is a fun event for me and, in addition to being a response to basic hunger urges, eating is a response to emotion. I always look forward to a good meal and especially so when I am enjoying it with company.

I would not want to take the emotion out of meals. Life would not be so good without really enjoying food.

BTW, despite mostly eating in restaurants five days per week the last two years (heavy business travel), I have not gained wait and remain fit. I do a few things to survive the restaurants. One, I always eat eggs (protein) for breakfast and keep the carbs low. Two, I joined two gyms that have locations in many of the cities I visit and I find time to use them or, if the city is nice, I walk the streets for an hour or more as often as I can.

I also try to keep the carbs down at lunch and dinner and make sure to have a good serving size of protein.

You are right about our sedentary lives, prescription drugs and needing education about nutrition and lifestyle.

Emotional hunger is not the same as enjoying your company at dinner and having a good time. Emotional hunger is more about 'cravings' when you're not really hungry. I also agree with you about eating a low carb diet, working out regularly, and learning about nutrition and lifestyle. That's why you're fit.

[roster]

Emotional hunger is not the same as enjoying your company at dinner and having a good time. Emotional hunger is more about 'cravings' when you're not really hungry.

I wasn't thinking of it that way. Before I was diagnosed with apnea and treated with CPAP, I had almost constant hunger cravings. Later I learned this was due to imbalances in the hormones ghrelin and leptin caused by sleep deprivation in turn caused by sleep apnea.

I wonder when we speak of this "negative emotional hunger" if it is not the case that it very often comes about due to ghrelin/leptin imbalances? If you are depressed about something and overeat because of it, what caused the depression? Some situation in life or is there an underlying cause of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB)?

Yes, I am one of those people that thinks SDB causes every bad physical and emotional health situation.

[RestedRebel]

No doubt about it, I was depressed due to lack of sleep and no energy because of it, which of course, helped with the weight gain. In my nutrition and behavioral classes though, we've been taught that emotional hunger refers to craving something when you're not hungry, but it's a lot more complicated than that. I'm just happy that I'm now getting sleep each and every night and that I'm now losing the weight. Being obese can contribute to that depression as well.

[Janknitz]

What if it's not really about "calories in, calories out" and some of us are driven to eat more because our food so lacks nutrients that our metabolic and hormonal systems drive us to eat more to try to meet the body's vitamin, mineral, energy and metabolic requirements? What if certain foods make us more hungry and drive us to eat more, while other foods are more satiating and help us eat less? What if certain foods cause us to store more fat, while other foods cause us to burn fat instead (hint, eating fat does NOT make you fat!). What if the very advice we are all given to lose weight is the very reason we keep getting fatter and sicker?

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/07/magaz ... all&src=pm

And for a way to eat:
http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf

[FattyMagoo]

I think we should use more specifics instead of the term "emotional eating".

For example my emotion is fear. I am insecure and easily stressed about certain things and the fear is so unpleasant that I feel like I have to self medicate by overeating, which helps to calm me down a little in the near term and is slowly killing me in the long term.

I'm sure it's very different for everyone but the emotional eating term always makes me think of someone sitting around crying over a breakup, which is probably not the problem for many of us.

No doubt about it, I was depressed due to lack of sleep and no energy because of it, which of course, helped with the weight gain. In my nutrition and behavioral classes though, we've been taught that emotional hunger refers to craving something when you're not hungry, but it's a lot more complicated than that. I'm just happy that I'm now getting sleep each and every night and that I'm now losing the weight. Being obese can contribute to that depression as well.

[RestedRebel]

I think we should use more specifics instead of the term "emotional eating".

For example my emotion is fear. I am insecure and easily stressed about certain things and the fear is so unpleasant that I feel like I have to self medicate by overeating, which helps to calm me down a little in the near term and is slowly killing me in the long term.

I'm sure it's very different for everyone but the emotional eating term always makes me think of someone sitting around crying over a breakup, which is probably not the problem for many of us.

No doubt about it, I was depressed due to lack of sleep and no energy because of it, which of course, helped with the weight gain. In my nutrition and behavioral classes though, we've been taught that emotional hunger refers to craving something when you're not hungry, but it's a lot more complicated than that. I'm just happy that I'm now getting sleep each and every night and that I'm now losing the weight. Being obese can contribute to that depression as well.

All emotional hunger or emotional eating means is that you're eating, not because you are hungry, but because you are: stressed, fearful, depressed, anxious, etc. Those are all emotions. The emotions must be dealt with in ways other than eating.

[RestedRebel]

What if it's not really about "calories in, calories out" and some of us are driven to eat more because our food so lacks nutrients that our metabolic and hormonal systems drive us to eat more to try to meet the body's vitamin, mineral, energy and metabolic requirements? What if certain foods make us more hungry and drive us to eat more, while other foods are more satiating and help us eat less? What if certain foods cause us to store more fat, while other foods cause us to burn fat instead (hint, eating fat does NOT make you fat!). What if the very advice we are all given to lose weight is the very reason we keep getting fatter and sicker?

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/07/magaz ... all&src=pm

And for a way to eat:
http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf

The number of calories eaten is important, but you are correct that a low carb diet is being used at the hospital's weight management program I'm involved in. I eat fewer than 50 carbs a week and only 800 calories a day. Yes, it's a fasting, 'starvation' type of diet, but that's exactly what the NY Times mentioned in its article. Being in ketosis where I burn fat instead of calories does not make me hungry the way other low calories diets do, as in those that burn glucose rather than fat. We've also been taught that carbs make you retain water, so when switching from ketosis to burning glucose, people will see a reflection on their scale due to the increased water weight. When I ate mainly carbs, I was hungry and gained weight. With low carbs, the opposite is true.

[roster]

I think we should use more specifics instead of the term "emotional eating".

For example my emotion is fear. I am insecure and easily stressed about certain things and the fear is so unpleasant that I feel like I have to self medicate by overeating, which helps to calm me down a little in the near term and is slowly killing me in the long term.

Are you monitoring your data? Is your AHI under control? Do you sleep well?

After my experience pre and post CPAP, I don't use the word "emotion" very much. It all seems like a bunch of chemicals, mainly a hormonal cascade, that make you feel one way or the other.

If your sleep (or diet, Janknitz) is not normal the hormonal cascade will make you have fear, anxiety, depression, hunger cravings and on and on.

If your hormonal cascade is "what God intended" you will be confident, relaxed, optimistic, able to thrive during difficult times, etc.

It is not in the free will, it is not in the character, it is not in God's hands, it's in the hormonal cascade. Try to get the cascade in balance.

[FattyMagoo]

Thank you for asking Roster.

I'm in the process of sorting everything out and I agree mind/body health problem all interact together.

I just think that particular term is not productive. It doesn't allow thin people to relate to us easily, and it doesn't always allow overweight people to realize they are in the same boat as others,

In my mind its too ambiguous to connect people to the issues. Real life examples can be easier to understand.

I think we should use more specifics instead of the term "emotional eating".

For example my emotion is fear. I am insecure and easily stressed about certain things and the fear is so unpleasant that I feel like I have to self medicate by overeating, which helps to calm me down a little in the near term and is slowly killing me in the long term.

Are you monitoring your data? Is your AHI under control? Do you sleep well?

After my experience pre and post CPAP, I don't use the word "emotion" very much. It all seems like a bunch of chemicals, mainly a hormonal cascade, that make you feel one way or the other.

If your sleep (or diet, Janknitz) is not normal the hormonal cascade will make you have fear, anxiety, depression, hunger cravings and on and on.

If your hormonal cascade is "what God intended" you will be confident, relaxed, optimistic, able to thrive during difficult times, etc.

It is not in the free will, it is not in the character, it is not in God's hands, it's in the hormonal cascade. Try to get the cascade in balance.

[BlackSpinner]

Are you monitoring your data? Is your AHI under control? Do you sleep well?

After my experience pre and post CPAP, I don't use the word "emotion" very much. It all seems like a bunch of chemicals, mainly a hormonal cascade, that make you feel one way or the other.

If your sleep (or diet, Janknitz) is not normal the hormonal cascade will make you have fear, anxiety, depression, hunger cravings and on and on.
.

There is also life in general that can create stress and fear. I have spent the last 2 years dealing with my parents slowly disintegrating, doing all the legal stuff to take care of the banking, and health care, all the while being on call 24/7 and waiting for the big health event which will send them both over the edge.

Yes I eat emotionally, especially at night.