Tag: fat

For years and years the nutrition world has shoved these phrases down your throat: Fat-free, Non-fat, Low-fat. Those words have dictated how you’ve tried to eat for a long, long time. Right? Well, truth-be-told there are plenty of reasons to eat fat—and lots of it.

Turns out, there is a healthy kind of fat. It’s the fat you find in avocados, olive oil, and fish.

"Mom, I’m so fat. I need to go on a diet," says your 10- (or 6 or 16) year-old daughter as she pinches at her belly. Your stomach drops. She’s too young to be feeling this way!

You are flooded by a tsunami wave of thoughts and emotions:

* It’s my fault!  I’ve disliked my body for so many years.
* It’s the media’s fault!  I shouldn’t let her watch so much TV.

The alarm goes off, waking you to another long day. Before your feet even hit the floor, you begin your body-checking rituals.

Ritual 1 - Lay perfectly flat on your bed. Can you feel your hipbones?

Ritual 2 - Stand sideways in front of the mirror. Does your stomach look "flat-enough?"

Ritual 3 - Step on the scale. Have you lost any weight since yesterday?

The answers to these questions determine not only how you will think and feel for the rest of your day, but also how you dress and present yourself to the world.

Dealing with stress on a daily basis is inevitable when kids, jobs, traffic, bills and a number of other factors come into play. While a little bit of stress keeps us aware, alive and productive, too much prolonged exposure can have serious effects on our physical and mental well-being. Taking some time to unwind and relax, and teaching your kids to do the same, gives the body time to heal between stressful episodes.

Paying attention to what you eat is also important in helping to manage the negative effects of too much stress.

Are you stuck on what seems to be an everlasting plateau when it comes to fitness? Do you work out several times a week and eat a healthy diet but yet the scale just doesn’t seem to budge?

It’s highly frustrating, I know, because I used to be in the same boat until I discovered what was really keeping me from attaining my fitness goals and dreams. You may be surprised what is actually holding you back. If you think it’s because you’re not exercising hard enough or that you’re not eating clean enough, you’ll be happy to know that you’re likely way off tract; it could have nothing to do with your training or your diet.

Obese people who feel stigmatized about their size are not only more likely to struggle with weight loss, they're also more likely to develop cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders, a new study suggests.

In many cultures, people who are obese are viewed as stereotypically lazy, lacking in willpower, incompetent, unattractive and personally responsible for their excess weight, researchers note in the journal Obesity. These negative beliefs, known as weight bias, can cause obese people to experience discrimination, which is in turn associated with an increased risk of "internalizing disorders" like depression, anxiety and low self-esteem, previous research has found.

A recent study published in the journal NeuroImage found that when study participants engaged in self-criticism or self-blame, their brain showed activity in the regions of the brain strongly correlated with depression, eating disorders, and anxiety. Translation: If you're preoccupied with your faults and mistakes, you put yourself at risk for emotional eating and weight gain.

This brain research confirms what I have long known. I used to have a poor self-image and a great deal of anxiety. As a result, I engaged in unhealthy patterns around food and eating. I soon went from being an attractive TV soap opera star to being obese.