Health Advice Please

[mariyas11]

<h3 style="border: medium none ; padding: 0in;">Ok, so I'm very unhealthy. I'm almost 17, 5' 11'', almost 300 lbs, but am very strong. I know I can still make a change for the better and that's why I'm here. I need help making good diet restrictions, exercise recommendations, and vitamin/mineral suggestions. I am always tired, and my lower back hurts. I don't eat too much junk food, and just stopped drinking soda. I work next to a specialty pharmacy that just opened and a farmers market. Anything will be helpful. Thanks</h3>

[Sheryl]

First of all get a complete physical check-up if you haven't had one recently, to rule out any metabolic problems. Specifically ask that they include a "thyroid panel" (TSH/T3/T4).

Assuming that does not turn up anything other than the obvious fact that you are obese, next step is weight reduction. Experience shows that crash diets are counter-productive in the long run. Rather, change to a healthy eating pattern that you can sustain for life. No great secret as to what this means: no sugar, no foods to which sugar has been added, no or minimum processed carbs (white bread, white rice, pasta), no deep fat fried anything. Instead: fruits, vegetables, whole grains (brown bread/brown rice/whole wheat pasta). If you eat meat, keep it in moderation and avoid skin and fat. Chicken better than beef etc. Fish, tofu better than meat.

If you can stick to the above then what is left to battle with is quantity, although people do not tend to over consume the foods mentioned above as much as they tend to overconsume processed/unhealthy foods. In my experience rather than try to restrict portion size it is easier to set up an eating plan which restricts times. For example, decide on how many meals a day and at approximately what times and stick to that but allow yourself to eat until full at each of those times (sticking of course to the allowed foods). In between those times, take plenty of water and remember that in just a few hours it will be meal time again as a way to refrain from snacking.

If the above sounds overwhelming to you then do it increments until you end up where you need to be.

It's important to know your own patterns and weaknesses. A high percentage of obese people have some sort of eating disorder, binge eating and night eating syndrome being among the more common. need to know what yours is, what seems to trigger it and work out alternative strategies.

Hypnosis can be a valuable tool in this. It works best if you already know what your problem is so that the hypnotist can give appropriate suggestions. For example, many people who overeat do so because

(1) they fail to detect the sensation of fullness in the stomach and instead follow other cues like a very high blood sugar -- in that case, hypnotic suggestions to make you sensitive to the feeling of fullness in the stomach

(2) they mistake other feelings, like thirst or sleepiness or emotional tension, for hunger -- in that case again appropriate suggestions so that you recognize ize thirst as thirst and take water not food; recognize sleepiness as a need for sleep, not food, etc.

Another valuable ally and one available in Bangkok is Overeater's Anonymous. Goggle it, they have a Bangkok chapter.

Exercise: definitely, you need to become more physically active. As with diet, best done in a manner that can become a permanent part of your lifestyle rather than a temporary work-out campaign. Also, as you lose weight your tolerance for exercise will increase. Start with what you know you can do and then gradually increase it. Walking is often recommended but given the heat at this time of year, make it early morning, evening or else on a treadmill in an a/c fitness club. Give yourself goals that represent an improvement over the present but are still achievable. For example: walk 1 km a day, either actual or on a treadmill. Then the next week, make that 2.5 km, then the next week, 2. And so on.

Hypnosis can also be used to plant suggestions about physical activity. We all tend to automatically look for easier ways to do things and to minimize effort; you need to alter that pattern by remembering that more (physical) effort in your case is better .Simple alterations like walking not to the closest newstand but to one a bit farther away, taking the stairs instead of elevator etc. can all increase your total daily exercise without a big investment of time or money. But it needs a change of thinking.

Good luck.