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Leeann Simons's Articles in Health

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If You Don't Like Tax and Spend, Then You Probably Hate Diet and Gain Stop taxing your body and wasting your money on diets that don't work. Learning to become "at peace with food" will allow you to give up those diets and free you to spend your time and energy in areas of your choice. While the decision won't be easy, consider it, shall we say, a long term investment. Guess Why My Friends Think I Am Smart My friends think I have become really smart lately, and do you know why? It's because I have been listening to news and medical podcasts while I'm walking. Not only do I get my exercise in, but I'm learning something while I'm out there. And, sometimes, I may even go the extra step just to get to the end of the story. So even if you don't whistle while you work, you certainly can listen while you walk. Trust Me, Your Body is Not Toxic Body cleansing is quite the fad these days. People want to believe they can drink a potion, take a pill or fast and get rid of "toxins" in their bodies. What we don't understand is that our body is quite capable of taking care of us, if we trust ourselves to take care of our body. We need to learn how to make healthy choices, and not be afraid of the occasional snack or drink. We are capable of taking care of ourselves. Trust me. Eat Food Because You Like It, Not Because You Should At the movies I overheard a woman say she force fed herself dark chocolate every night (until she couldn't eat any more) because "I know it's good for me." Don't ever use this as a reason to eat something (especially chocolate), unless you have a medical condition. This leads to very unhealthy behaviors and, even worse, unhealthy attitudes towards food. Eat because you want to. If it happens to be good for you, that's a bonus. Save Your Energy, Buy Food, Not Supplements Too many people think taking pills and powders is the best way to attain good health. Judy Foreman, health write for the Boston Globe, writes that the studies on these topics have proven false. It is time to throw away the expensive pills and start buying healthy food. Your body, and your wallet, will thank you. Making Peace with Your Body Being upset about weight may be a cover for some other issue of concern. It is easier to be angry about one's weight than to worry about work, family, friends, or, in this case, getting older. Figuring out what's really eating you (pardon the pun) may help save energy for what's really important. Is Someone Holding a Gun to Your Head? No one is forcing you to eat. You are the one in charge. If you are dining out (at a restaurant, or a friends), and you know you may overeat, try eating a little less during the day, or walk a little more. But remember, you are responsible for your eating behavior-unless someone is holding a gun to your head. Weighing in on weight control If you are a person who weighs yourself all the time, try giving yourself a week off-you know you deserve it. Pay attention to how you are feeling, emotionally. If you can learn to trust yourself not to rely on a single number, you will be able to learn to trust yourself to make healthy choices for yourself. Perhaps…over time.. you may discover a way to lose weight-a whole new way. Don't Should on Yourself It is difficult to take care of yourself when you are setting unrealistic goals. You find yourself saying "I should eat better," "I should exercise more." Learn to set small, realistic goals and give yourself time to meet them. Learn to take care of yourself because you want to, not because you should. Taking Care of Your Heart While no one can promise you will never have disease, you can reduce your risk for this condition by modifying certain lifestyle behaviors. Let's look at some of the changes you can make to reduce your risk for disease and make sure you stay around for a long time. Energy Drinks? Don't Waste Your Resources Energy drinks are another name for flavored sugar (or artificially sweetened) water, with caffeine. Sometimes vitamins may be added to boost their claim. There is no science to support these claims. You need to get your energy from real foods, not drinks. Am I Going to Get Fat If I Eat at Night? Will you gain weight if you eat in the evening? It's all about BALANCE. When you eat more calories than your body uses, you will gain weight (it's called "positive energy balance." You may develop heartburn, you may not want to eat breakfast the next morning (which may lead you to overeat the rest of the day!), but unless you eat more calories than your body uses, your weight should not change. You Know You Need To Exercise, But You Just Don't Like It What happens when there is no activity you are interested in? How do you"fulfill" your exercise recommendations when you don't even want to get started? If you are truly interested in changing your behaviors, then you need to work on your attitude. Looking at exercise from a "cost/benefit" perspective may help you get off your chair and start walking. You know why to do it-you just need help getting started. How Do I Possibly Eat All Those Fruits and Vegetables? It's difficult to figure out where to put all the fruits and vegetables you're supposed to eat. Once you know how large a serving size is, and a few helpful hints, you'll see it's not so difficult. And, by following these suggestions, you may also help yourself lower your risk for heart disease and cancer. Eat well! Yoga, It Does a Body Good Regardless of the type of yoga you choose to do, make sure you find a class with an instructor who knows how you are doing, physically and mentally. If you want to get the most of the class, for your mind and body, you must pick an instructor who asks you, before you start the class, how you are, physically and mentally. Once that information is known, you can safely move into the wonder of yoga. That "New" Middle Age, Again Regardless of how you define middle age, it is important to stay active, especially to prevent weight gain. Activity helps maintain muscle mass-and muscle is a tissue that burns more calories than fat tissue. Muscle tissue keeps our metabolism (the rate at which our body burns calories) high. While in many ways we in our 50's feel like we're still in our 30's, metabolism slows down with age. Let' stay active and keep that metabolic rate high. Hate to Exercise? Try Being Active, Instead Some people hate the word "exercise" and it keeps them from being active. Whether you hike or walk, join a club or ride a bike on your own, the important thing is to stay active. Set small goals and build on them. How Long Should I Exercise? People want to know what is the BEST exercise to do and when is the BEST time of day to do it. My answer? Pick the activity your like and do it when you have the time. As long as you are doing something you enjoy, and are doing it when you have the time, you will be successful. Tonight was One of Those Nights Tonight was one of those nights when I ate because it looked good, and I just felt like it. Afterwards, I realized I felt bad about myself, guilty about overeating and I wanted to start dieting-immediately. But then, I got hold of myself. This type of eating is not my usual pattern, and I need to allow myself these "let them eat cake" times. So tomorrow, I start again, with no guilt, no fear. Just moving forward. Don't Pick the "Skip Meals to Lose Weight" Diet If you think skipping meals will help take off that holiday weight quickly, think again. Your metabolism (the rate at which your body burns calories) slows down when this happens, because it doesn't know when it's next meal is coming. Your body wants to survive at all costs, even if that means burning calories slowly, and preventing weight loss. Eat small regular meals, be active, and chew with your mouth closed! Nutrition, Dieting and the "New" Middle Age This "new" middle age I'm in doesn't change the fact that I still need to look at my diet like I'm still the "old" middle age. Calcium, for instance, is very important. It's very important for women my age to pay attention to our bone health, and calcium intake plays a major role in that. Whether its via diet or supplements, we must make careful adequate choices so we can age gracefully into whatever will be the "new" old age. Don't Change Your Comfort Foods To Diet Foods Comfort foods remind you of safe times, warm feelings and good memories. You eat them when you are vulnerable and need those feelings. Don't change your comfort food recipes to ones lower in calories and/or fat, because they then become diet foods and take on an entirely new meaning. Holiday Attitude-Be Real It is difficult to lose weight during the holidays, we all know that. So make sure you have a realistic attitude during this festive time. Don't plan to lose weight, try to maintain your weight. Don't set food goals, set activity goals. Be realistic with yourself and your attitude and you won't be disappointed. Have a wonderful season. Hot Pants, Cold Memories Even though clothing ads make us think it's a "one size fits all" clothing market, it's not. Unfortunately, when the clothes don't fit, we think it's our bodies, not the dress, or shirt. We need to understand that we have unique shapes, and look for those clothes that we like, and look good on us. Stop trying to look like everyone else-look like yourself! Dancing Through The Holidays Many people worry about gaining weight during the holiday season. One my of clients has decided she is going to "dance through the holidays." While she may not be losing weight at this time, she is doing something new that she loves, and as a side benefit-it burns a lot of calories. She has found her strategy for getting through the holidays. How about you? Party in Peace As the holidays rush upon us, I am hearing from clients their fears about what to do at parties. They fear eating too much, losing control, getting too fat. They are afraid of becoming a manic eating machine-one that starts to eat, and cannot stop. When you are at peace with food, you feel safe around meals, snacks, desserts. You trust yourself to make the choices that are right for you. Trust yourself, and have a wonderful holiday season. Weighing the Scales of Justice, II How is it possible that your whole life can be changed by a simple number? How can you let your sense of accomplishment, your sense of self be dictated by a number found on a bathroom scale? Let's hope for a time when scales don't have that kind of power-when we have enough confidence in our bodies and our food choices to decide for ourselves how we feel-not some number on a machine. Finding Good Nutrition Advice Finding accurate nutrition advice can be difficult. Making sure your information comes from a Registered Dietitian and/or someone with an advanced degree in Nutrition Science improves your chances of trusting the information you find, and increases your chances of separating fact from fiction. Scales of Justice Don't be fooled by the numbers on your scale. There is a difference between weight loss and fat loss. Diets promising quick weight loss don't help change behaviors that led to becoming overweight. Learn to make slow, realistic changes so you can lose weight permanently. And don't listen to those ads-what they tell you. The fact they can tell such lies is-well, a crime. Buy It Now! When you feel good about yourself, you treat yourself better. Too many times I turned to food. I felt undeserving of attention, of reward. Being overweight made me unable to trust myself to give myself with anything besides food. I was saying "You can't take care of yourself." The reality is I do the best I can. Some days are harder than others, but I do my best. We all do. So go ahead- buy that dress, or pants, or shirt. Now. Stop Wasting Energy We know about the need to save energy for our planet. Let's talk about saving energy-for ourselves.We think too much about how we are "supposed to look, to eat"- and when we deviate we've sinned. It is easier to criticize what we haven't done than applaud what we have managed to accomplish. What a waste of energy!Oh what you would learn about yourself and your friends"”if you simply weren't wasting energy. Yoga-Your Path To Peace With Food Losing weight isn't always about eliminating foods, it's also about adding new behaviors. When my colleague included yoga in her life, she seemed to easily lose weight and feel peaceful, in control. When both were stopped, weight returned, control left. Start with the yoga, be at peace with your body, and you'll find that being at peace with food falls more easily into your life. Missed Moments-what else you can lose when you're obsessed with losing weight Sometimes a memory is so vivid that you feel liked it just happened yesterday, For example, I remember one of my oldest friends, Joan, who I hadn't seen in several years, called me on the phone, inviting me to get together. I didn't, I felt too fat. Does this sound familiar? Becoming at peace with food, you will not being afraid to be around your friends. Life is too short. Go swimming with Joan. Are You Hungry for Forbidden Foods? IMAGINE you could eat whatever you want whenever you want. Yes, you probably would gain weight tat first, because you are eating all the treats you have forbidden yourself. Now, if you can eat ice cream whenever you want, do you really think you need to eat it all the time? It is hard to trust yourself without the structure of a diet. But please try it, and you'll find that you can control your urges and enjoy food without guilt. Is Cheating On Your Diet Making You Feel Why is it that people place such harsh judgment on themselves for their eating behaviors? Let's stop this craziness, and put our relationship with food into perspective.

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