Obesity Free Forever Blog™

Hi Everyone,

I was recently asked what the causes of obesity are.  Actually, obesity can be caused by several factors including genetics, environment, social and behavioral.  Here is some background information on each of the causes of obesity.

Obesity due to genetics is very rare.  At 280 pounds, I wanted to believe that genetics was my problem but no dice! 

Environmental and social causes of obesity often go together.  Environmental factors are whether you have access to eating healthy food and exercise for weight loss.  Social factors are those cues or triggers that drive us to eat.  Social causes of obesity can be as subtle as going to a restaurant known for fattening foods every Tuesday with your friends or as blatant as your spouse filling the house with junk food when you start a diet for fear you’ll leave him when you get skinny!

Behavioral causes of obesity are the choices we make.  Whether we pick eating healthy food and a weight loss program or we choose to continue our bad eating habits remains within our control.  Keeping our bad eating habits is an example of a behavioral cause of obesity.

The effects of obesity were devastating for me.  Besides the health problems I developed such as severe shortness of breath and symptoms of GERD and Gastritis, I suffered from depression and social isolation. 

What’s the obesity solution?  Take control today!  Think about the cause and effect of your obesity and make a list of how obesity is holding you back.  Writing down the cause and effect of obesity and looking at the limitations it caused me was the first step I took in 2004 to lose over 140 pounds.  Once I made a decision to accept obesity no more, the path became clear and I’ve kept the weight off ever since.

Georgene Dana Collins, 134 Pounds

Here’s my latest picture as of October 31, 2008. 

Take Care,

Georgene

Hi Everyone,

I am traveling again, this time for work, and once again there are challenges to my healthy eating plan.  Here are the strategies I am using to stick to my healthy eating plan.

I planned my food intake before my trip and shopped for items that stored well without a fridge.  Luckily, though, the hotel I am staying at has an option to use a fridge during my stay for a minimal fee.  I brought items such as salads, fresh fruit and Jello brand diet jello (a staple food of mine!), and stored them in the fridge.

I also brought lots of Fiber One products such as my favorite cereal and bars.  In addition, I brought along some of Aunt Millies high fiber bread.  Fiber is very important to maintaining a healthy eating plan and it is equally important to prevent my symptoms of GERD and Gastritis.  Of course, everyone knows that fiber helps reduce the risk of many cancers, especially colon, which is a family history of mine.

Maintaining my healthy eating plan was easy on this trip because I was able to drive.  However, in the past, I’ve shipped my favorite foods to the location I was traveling to.  I just called ahead and asked for the process to ensure my box would find me once I arrived.

Maintaining a healthy eating plan is easy with proper planning and anticipation of challenges.

These are the tips I continue to use to maintain my weight loss of over 140 pounds, which I have kept off since 2005.

Take Care,

Georgene

I am often asked what I used to keep my daily weight loss motivation.  After losing over 140 pounds and now keeping it off since 2005, I learned a lot about weight loss motivation.

 Here are some weight loss motivation tips I used to lose my weight.

 Start by remembering why you started your exercise and weight loss plan. For me, it was to decrease my health risks of obesity including GERD and Gastritis and chronic knee pain.  Losing weight can be the difference between living a healthy life and being on medication for conditions that are a result of obesity, like diabetes and heart disease.

 Move More. 

Another weight loss motivation tip I used was to move more.  Exercise is great for relieving stress.  You don’t have to go to the gym, though.   You can do stuff around the house like work in the garden. Housework is a great stress reliever and helps you burn those calories.

 Celebrate Successes!

At 280 pounds I found a lot of things wrong with me and very little right!  I hardly celebrated any personal successes.  This changed quickly as I began my healthy eating plan.  Regardless of what I did, whenever I stayed true to my healthy eating plan, I celebrated by privately congratulating myself in my journal.

 It took me 13 months to reach my initial weight loss goal of 120 pounds but I kept my daily weight loss motivation by using these tips.  If I can do it, you can too!

Take Care,

Georgene

Hi Everyone,

Another post for the men in your lives…

One of the best ways how to lose body fat is through exercise.  Changing your exercise habits are often easier than changing your bad eating habits

Strength training is one component of exercise for men. The benefits of exercise for men are endless.  Besides making you look better, it will also make your body more durable.  Exercise might help you stave off diseases too.  Research has shown that exercise for men like strength training will lower your LDL cholesterol (the bad kind).  Strength training may even reduce the effects of aging. 

The next question is how do you strength train to get the results that you want, without over training or under training?  If you are new to strength training the best thing you can do is a 3 day a week total body split.  What you do is choose 2 exercises per body part.  By doing this split you will train one day on and one day off. 

The next component of exercise for men is cardiovascular training.  There are so many benefits to performing cardio on a regular basis.  The first one everyone is interested in, and that’s one way how to lose body fat.  Do cardio training regularly and the weight will come off.  Next to that your heart will be stronger, you will have better circulation and your lungs will be stronger.  For years people thought that the only way to do cardio was to trod along for an hour or more being bored out your mind.  This is not the case, you have countless options.  One option is to do high intensity interval training.   High intensity interval training consists of is running at a pace that is 50% of your maximum ability for 2 minutes and then sprinting for one minute.  You then repeat this process for 20 to 30 minutes.  You can also take a kickboxing lesson, play a game of basketball or go out and ride your bicycle.  The sky is the limit and your body will thank you. 

One of the best ways how to lose body fat is just start moving!

Disclaimer:  Remember to check with your doctor before making changes to your health.

Ryan Collins

Master Fitness Trainer

Certified Personal Trainer

Certified Cardiovascular Trainer

Certified Medical Exercise Therapist

Hi Everyone,

I’d like to introduce my son, Ryan, to you.  He is a Personal Trainer and holds many certifications.  I asked him to write some blogs for the men in your lives. 

Enjoy…

So you have decided that you want to learn how to lose body fat and get into shape.  Maybe you want to lose a little and tone up or maybe you want to feel better and have more energy so that you can keep up with your children.  Congratulations on taking the first step. Making the choice to get into shape is half of the battle.  Over the next few blogs, you will learn how to lose body fat.  You will learn the steps needed to lose the weight and get into the shape you want.

Now for the fun part, what is the best way how to lose body fat?  What is the best diet for men?  With all of the information out there it can be a little confusing.  There are thousands of gimmicks that claim you can get into the shape you want with just 5 minutes a day 3 times a week for the low cost of 4 payments of $19.99!  Fast weight loss for men is not that easy.  If it were everyone would be walking around sporting a six pack and biceps the size of bowling balls!  There are 4 components of getting into shape.  Think of it like a car, without all 4 wheels, the car won’t drive.  The same goes for your body.  Many life style changes are needed to get healthy and if you’re missing one of these components your body won’t work right either.

One of the most important components is nutrition.  Going back to the analogy of your body being like a car, think of your nutrition as the fuel.  There are endless fad diets that promise to be the best diet for men.  Here is the simple truth of the matter; none of them work long term.  Advertisers may promise fast weight loss for men, but most likely it will not be permanent because it is water weight.  Once you stop the diet for men, you’ll gain the weight right back and you may even gain more then you lost.  The best nutrition program is one that is balanced with the right combination of protein, carbohydrates and fats for you.  Many factors play into the best diet plans for men including your age, current health and body composition.   The best thing that you can do is contact either a nutritionist or a registered dietitian and have a plan designed specifically for you. 

Ryan Collins

Master Fitness Trainer

Certified Personal Trainer

Certified Cardiovascular Trainer

Certified Medical Exercise Therapist

Disclaimer:  Remember to check with your doctor before making changes to your health.

Hi Everyone,

My travels for school this week have been a little trying, especially for my healthy eating habits.  Challenges such as a bad flight and a long check in time of one hour became quite stressful for me yesterday.  In fact, I felt so stressed, I was tempted to overeat on some Fiber One cereal!  Although Fiber One is still considered eating healthy food, I would have only ate because of stress and not due to hunger.

Stress eating reminded me of the weight loss motivation I used to lose over 140 pounds in 2005.  There are some days that seem to just spiral out of control and even the best weight loss plans get challenged.

Here are the tips I used to keep my weight loss motivation and achieve a healthy BMI (body mass index).

Identify where you feel your stress.  Stress can develop pain in the neck, head and shoulders.  I feel my stress in my neck and stomach.  Once you become aware of your individual symptoms of stress, you can work to reduce it quickly.

Find things you like to do that give you a brief break from the stressful environment without food.  Some examples are to take a bubble bath or a walk or possibly listening to your favorite music or venting to a friend. 

If you do accidentally eat in response to stress, forgive yourself quickly and go back to your healthy eating plan with your next scheduled meal.  Everyone makes mistakes and it is important to accept yourself “as is”, with imperfections.  The benefits of healthy eating the majority of the time is that you have a frame of reference of what the best weight loss plan is for you.  Trust yourself to return to your healthy plan and let go of your mistake quickly.

Finally, remember why you began your healthy eating habit.  Did you want to improve your health?  Do you want more energy to play with your children or grandchildren?  Was your weight holdng you back in your career or personal life?  My weight loss motivation came when I could no longer take medications for my GERD and Gastritis symptoms.  Each of us has a different weight loss motivation and it is important to keep it in mind frequently for days when you don’t feel like eating healthy food.

Take care,

Georgene

Hi Everyone,

The past two weeks have been incredibly busy and stressful and definitely challenged my healthy eating plan!  Between work and school, the pace of my life has picked up tremendously and I felt my GERD symptoms returning.

At 280 pounds I suffered from severe GERD symptoms regularly.  The severe GERD symptoms I experienced included GERD nausea, a GERD cough and gastritis symptoms.  I even experienced GERD and chest pain on occasion. 

After losing over 140 pounds, the GERD and Gastritis symptoms are under control with my healthy eating plan.   

With the demands of the past two weeks, though, I noticed the GERD symptoms starting to come back.  The reason behind this is due to the changes in my healthy eating plan; specifically eating 2 hours later than normal and increased stress. 

I am happy to say, I was able to control the symptoms of GERD before they turned into servere GERD symptoms and I did this without medication. 

Here’s what I did.  First, I recognized symptoms of stress quickly.  I notice that my GERD and Gastritis symptoms come on quickly with stress.  I feel my stress in my neck and back.  Once I noticed these areas tightening up, I also experience GERD nausea.  The way I handled this was to take short breaks frequently and practice deep breathing exercises. 

Another trick I used to prevent the GERD symptoms from worsening was to make sure I sat up at least 3 hours after I completed my evening meal.  Laying down after eating is sure to bring on severe GERD symptoms.  I learned this the hard way!

Of course, I stayed true to my healthy eating plan which includes a GERD diet of plenty of fiber, fruits, vegetables and water. 

I hope these tips help you.  They are tips I continue to use to treat my GERD disease. 

Take care,

Georgene

PS:  Remember to check with your doctor before making changes to your health.

Hi Everyone,

There is lot of information flowing lately about obesity and Type 2 Diabetes and I thought it is a good time to dedicate some blogs to this important subject. 

Almost 24 million people in the US have diabetes.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of people with diabetes has increased by three million in 2 years.

Diabetes mellitus is a disease where blood sugar is elevated due to reduced amounts or no insulin.  Insulin is a hormone that is needed to push blood sugar into every cell of the body.  Sugar or energy is needed by every cell of the body to function correctly.   

Type 2 diabetes develops when the body produces insulin but there is not enough to keep up with blood sugar demands.  Obesity and type 2 diabetes is becoming more common.  Obesity puts extra demands on insulin production needed to cover the excess weight.  Also, obesity leads to insulin resistance where more than normal amounts of insulin are needed to push the sugar into the cells.

Metabolic syndrome is a relatively new term that includes a group of diseases caused by excess weight including belly fat, high blood pressure, bad cholesterol and high blood sugar.  Metabolic syndrome can lead to diabetes, heart disease and stroke.  A recent study showed persons who ate french fries weekly increased their risk of metabolic syndrome by 10%!

To help reduce your risk of metabolic syndrome and Type 2 diabetes, experts agree that a healthy eating plan and exercise program are key.  This is the advice I used to help me lose weight in 2005 and I continue to follow this advice to maintain my weight loss.

Take care,

Georgene

Hi Everyone,

As an overweight child, I often felt alone and separated from other children.  Experiencing teen obesity, I felt the same.  Back in the sixties and seventies as a child, there was very little information for parents to help their overweight child.  Child obesity statistics were not well known and child weight loss advice from doctors was to spit out anything that tasted good!  

Now, parents and guardians have much more information to help their overweight child.  In a recent study supported by the US Department of Health & Human Services, behavior modification was found to help with child weight loss. 

Approximately 17% of children fall in the greater than 95th percentile for weight, which technically is obese.  Studies show these overweight children will go on to face teen obesity and remain obese as adults. 

Behavioral interventions that helped with child weight loss were dietary and exercise lifestyle changes and goal setting.  These are the strategies I used to lose over 140 pounds in 2005 and I continue to use them to maintain the weight loss.

Take care,

Georgene 

Hi Everyone,

Many people know the causes of obesity in children includes overeating and lack of exercise but may not know the dangers of television and computer time on their overweight child. 

In a study of over 500 obese children ages 4 to 17, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, more and more children are spending excess time in front of the television.  There was also a finding of high blood pressure among these overweight children.

The study suggests limiting television time to less than 2 hours a day.  A healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables and low in fat can help also.

Take care,

Georgene