The Health Blog by Ryan Healy

Hernando Cortez and Weight Loss

My friend Pam Getchell passed along a weight loss tip I thought would be useful to pass along to you. It's another one of those simple things that's very powerful when you act on it.

Here's the tip. When you lose enough weight to buy smaller clothes, get rid of the larger clothes you've just "out-shrunk."

Whether you give them to the Veterans of America, Goodwill, or just sell them off in a garage sale doesn't matter. Heck, burn them if you have to! What matters is that you eradicate the large clothes from your life.

In 1519, Hernando Cortez landed on the coast of Mexico and commanded his men to burn the ships. In this way, he insured that he and his men had no choice but to move inland and face whatever dangers lurked there.

Getting rid of clothes that are now too large for you is similar to what Cortez did when he burned his ships. You're eliminating your escape routes... forcing yourself to move forward... lose more weight... and face the obstacles that confront you in your quest to conquer obesity.

So, next time you drop a size, imagine yourself as Hernando Cortez. "Burn" your too-big clothes and discover the personal power that comes from cutting off your escape routes.

Cookie Monster Makeover

Amazing... Cookie Monster has gotten a makeover. Now, in addition to gobbling cookies in a flurry of hands and crumbs, Cookie Monster will also scarf down fruits and vegetables.

Even a new song has been written for Cookie Monster's new image: "A Cookie Is a Sometimes Food." The goal of the new song is to help kids understand the role of moderation in diet.

If you're a long-time reader of The Health Blog, you know I'm not a big fan of television. But I am glad to see that Sesame Street is making an effort to influence children to develop healthy habits.

And while I'm on the subject of children's media, let me call your attention to something else I've noticed... That is, children's books are rife with references to sweets and sugary foods.

Stephanie and I have gotten into the habit of taking our two-year-old daughter Annabelle to the library every week or two. We check out about ten different board books each time to keep Annabelle's reading material fresh.

What's been shocking to me is how many books focus on sweets and sugary foods. One that comes to mind is Sheila Rae's Peppermint Stick. Another one (which I happen to think is a great book) is Jamberry.

The trouble is that nearly every book we check out reinforces emotional attachment to sweets. Frankly, it's hard enought to get children to eat healthy foods without the contrary influence of television and children's books. With their influence, it's even harder.

So—bravo to Sesame Street for bringing moderation into Cookie Monster's life. And if you happen to write children's books, would you please help us parents out and not write about sweets. Thanks.

Sleep Gene Mutant?

According to a Reuters article on MSNBC, scientists have discovered a gene that causes some people to go to sleep early and wake up early.

In fact, scientists have dubbed it a "mutant gene" and even have a name for the "ailment": Familial Advanced Sleep Phase Syndrome.

I'm not so foolish as to insist that such a sleep gene doesn't exist. I'm sure it does. What I dislike in all of this is how the gene—and early risers—has been characterized: "mutant," "ailment," "waking up unsociably early," etc.

This is typical media spin. Just because a gene exists that causes some people to rise early, doesn't mean it's "mutant." Furthermore, waking up early isn't an "ailment," and people who rise early are not "unsociable."

By pinning responsibility on a gene, we are—in typical American style—abdicating personal choice and responsibility for our sleep habits.

I rise at 5 AM, seven days a week. I didn't always. Indeed, I had to practice for a few years before I finally got into the rhythm of my "early to rise" lifestyle. For me, rising early is easy when I get enough sleep, and difficult when I don't. Simple as that.

If I wanted to, I could sleep every day from noon until 7 PM. As long as I got my seven hours of sleep, I'm sure I'd feel great.

Unfortunately, though, scientists are making early risers out to be slaves to their genes, as if early risers had no choice in the matter of sleeping and waking.

One last riff and I'll quit.

The scientists discover this sleep gene. In some it causes them to wake up early. OK, fine. I believe human beings are very diverse... not just in their appearance, but also in their genetic makeup, behavioral proclivities, etc. So the discovery of this gene is not a surprise to me.

But scientists (or the media?) seem to believe there is one genetic makeup that is "normal," and that anything that varies from it is abnormal. And because they view these genetic variations as abnormal, the scientists feel obligated to give these variations a spot in the modern book of ailments, disorders, and syndromes.

Why can't a genetic variation be seen as a simple variation? Why does it have to be a disorder? Why are human beings assigned one genetic recipe from which all variations imply abnormality?

Instead of characterizing the early to rise gene as "mutant," they could have characterized it as a "rare trait." But, no. They opted to sensationalize it... to turn our sleep patterns into an "us vs. them" kind of issue.

And I thought science was supposed to be objective....

Generation Rx

Today's news tells of "Generation Rx"... a new moniker for teens who are turning to prescription drugs to get high. The article reports that it is far more common for teens to get a fix by reaching for something in the medicine cabinet than it is for them to buy illegal drugs on a street corner.

Two things I found interesting when I read this article:

1. Most teens who take prescription drugs for a fix don't believe the drugs are dangerous.

2. Teens are using the Internet (chat rooms, instant messaging, etc.) to discover new ways to get high, so the rate of abuse is accelerating rapidly.

I guess it makes me sad that teens are so bored with their lives, feel so unwanted, that they feel compelled to abuse their bodies in this way.

Fact is, prescription drugs can be quite deadly if the proper dosages aren't observed. And since teens usually weigh less than adults, they can get into trouble with prescriptin drugs more easily than adults can.

If you have teens, make sure they know that prescription drugs can be just as lethal as their illegal counterparts. And please do what you can to make sure they don't get caught up in Generation Rx.

TV Turnoff Week

It's not surprising that excessive TV viewing is one of the biggest causes of obesity in America. Not only do we eat poorly, we spend hours in front of the television and hope our excess weight will somehow melt away.

Want to lose weight? Really?

Then give your intentions some traction and turn off your TV. Or, better yet, just get rid of the damn thing.

I admit, I should take my own advice here. My family doesn't watch much TV at all. And I would have ditched our television long ago... except it was a wedding gift from my in-laws.

I'm very appreciative of the gift because Stephanie and I like to watch one or two movies a month. We have self control when it comes to TV.

But now we have a two-year-old daughter and a four-week-old son. We have let my daughter watch cartoon movies (like Finding Nemo and Ice Age) once or twice a week. But even that limited diet is enough to cause my daughter to throw fits when we tell her she can't watch a movie. And, I can imagine, it will only get worse the longer we have the TV around.

A great way to start watching less television (or cut it out altogether) is to participate in the national TV Turnoff Week. It's right around the corner: April 25 - May 1.

If you really want to lose weight, and have the stomach for it, then participate in the TV turnoff. See what kinds of activities you take up to fill your time. And watch how much better family life becomes.

Of course, one week is often not enough to get television out of your system. If you're really serious, try turning the TV off for a month. The changes you observe in your weight and family life could very well shock you... in a positive way.

Junk Food Defense

The best defense against eating junk food is don't bring it in the house. I find that it's just too difficult to say no when cookies are in the cabinet or ice cream is in the freezer. So I don't bring those kinds of foods home.

This goes back to my weight loss tip about short changing yourself around vending machines. The basic concept is the same: if it requires too much effort to get the food you want, your laziness will overpower your craving.

I just finished reading The Plug-In Drug yesterday and a passage toward the end of the book reminded me to write this post. The author, Marie Winn, compares television to junk food and affirms my opinion on the matter.

"Parents who use television to buy free time from child care are giving in to temptation that is nearly irresistible. It's not unlike the problems people have trying not to eat some delicious but fattening morsel sitting in their refrigerator. They resist and resist, and then succumb. And then they feel terrible, as if they were weak-willed and self-destructive. Yet most people give in to such temptation. To be sure, if the fattening morsel weren't there, they wouldn't find it hard at all not to eat unhealthy food. The problem arises when it's there." (p. 265)

Put a cigarette on the table in front of a chain smoker and he'll smoke it. Put a skin magazine in front of a porn addict and he'll look at it. Put a Coors in front of an alcoholic and he'll drink it. Put a slice of chocolate cake in front of a compulsive eater and he'll eat it.

It's all very simple when you think about it. If you want to conquer your weight problem, then don't feed your weakness. Starve it.

New Food Guide Pyramid

The USDA has finally unveiled their new food guide pyramid... make that 12 food guide pyramids. No longer will you find a simple pyramid on the side of a cracker box. You'll actually have to log on to MyPyramid.gov to build the pyramid that's right for you.

A Reuters news article (linked above) reports, "The new symbol drew immediate criticism from some experts for placing responsibility for a slimmer America on consumers and not food companies."

Excuse me. Did I miss something? I've always thought that what I eat is my responsibility, not the responsibility of food companies.

That kind of thinking—the kind that abdicates personal responsibility—is how America became obese in the first place. Frankly, if the new food guide pyramid puts more responsibility on the consumer, so much the better.

Although I don't agree with the USDA's recommendations for what constitutes a healthy diet, I do agree with one underlying principle they've adopted. That is, "One size doesn't fit all."

In other words, there is no single diet that is a perfect fit for everyone.

Since I've been married I've noticed on occasion how some foods make me feel bad, but don't seem to affect my wife. And vice versa. I began to formulate a theory that her body processes some foods better than mine, and mine processes some foods better than hers.

It turns out that there's a growing body of evidence that suggests a healthy diet is a moving target... that what's healthy for one person may not be healthy for another.

For instance, Dr. Mercola talks about metabolic typing. He says that you should eat according to your metabolic type if you want to feel the maximum amount of energy and health possible.

Peter J. D'Adamo, on the other hand, says you should eat according to your blood type. Type O should eat more meat and protein; type A should eat more grains; etc.

Ultimately, I'm not sure what measure you should use to determine what you should eat, but I prefer to use an experimental and experiential approach. Eat a particular food and observe the way it makes you feel. Do you feel energized and healthy afterward? Or do you feel sluggish or congested?

Simple observation of how your body responds to certain foods can take you a long way toward figuring out the diet that's right for you.

So take some time to check out the new food guide pyramid. But don't bank on achieving perfect health by following its suggestions.

Toxic Lexan

What you store your water in could be just as important to your health as the kind of water you drink. For instance, Lexan bottles (and, in fact, all bottles made with #7 plastic) are quite unstable, and have been shown to have toxic effects on the body.

In a recent study, polycarbonate plastics (including Lexan) were shown to increase aneuploidy, an abnormal loss or gain of chromosomes, which contributes to miscarriages and disorders like Down Syndrome in humans.

Nalgene is one brand that manufactures Lexan water bottles. I have a few of these in my cabinet, and use them primarily for hiking and camping trips in the Rocky Mountains. Since discovering that Lexan can be dangerous to my health, I've severely limited my use of them.

One thing I now do: I save Auquafina and Dasani water bottles to reuse. They are typically made out of #1 plastic, which, to my knowledge, is not as risky as using #7 plastic.

If you have some time, you might be interested to read what Dr. Mercola has to say about the toxicity of Lexan in his article "Nalgene Water Bottles Appear to Be Unsafe."

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Marketing Food to Children

My mom pointed me to a great article about marketing food to children. If you have children, you already know what a struggle it can be to avoid buying all those unhealthy foods your children demand.

Why is it such a struggle? One reason is how heavily unhealthy foods are marketed to children. Not only do food items bear the likenesses of such popular kid cartoons as SpongeBob SquarePants and Shrek, advertising for these same food items reaches kids just about everywhere.

The NY Times article reports: "Marketing bombards children not only through television but also in schools, in movies, video games, web sites, books, and even in textbooks."

What's most interesting, I think, is Americans' blasé attitude toward marketing to children. In America, there are no bans on what companies are allowed to do to market and advertise to children. Furthermore, the government isn't expected to enact bans anytime soon.

This is in stark contrast to some other countries who've taken a more aggressive stance. The NY Times reports:

"Sweden, Norway, Austria and Luxembourg have all banned television advertising to children. School-based marketing has been banned in Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Portugal and Vietnam. In Ireland, where television commercials for candy and fast foods are banned, wrappers must carry warnings that fast food should be eaten in moderation and that sugary foods cause tooth decay."

Given the obesity problem that both children and adults face in the United States, it seems we could benefit very much from legal restraints that prevent food companies from marketing to children. But, at this point, we can only hope.

Free Weight Loss Tip

Here's a free weight loss tip that might come in handy if you work near a vending machine... Don't carry cash and don't store change in your desk.

Two summers ago, I somehow started drinking soda once a week. At first it started out as a way to treat myself on sleepy Friday afternoons.

But it quickly progressed to where I was drinking two or three cans of soda a week. That was a lot for me, considering I almost never drink soda (maybe four cans a year).

My solution: go to work without cash. Then I'd have to ask for money to get a soda. And I never wanted a soda so bad that I would go ask for money. When I was short-changed, laziness triumphed over my desire for something sweet!

Think of it this way. The vending machine is a highway bandit. Every time you walk by, it puts a gun to your head and demands that you give it money in exchange for something (unhealthy) you want.

If you don't have any money, what can the bandit do but put his gun away?

Now you have one of my simplest and most effective weight loss tips. You'll be amazed at how quickly the pounds melt away once you stop eating from vending machines. So get rid of your cash and be free from the power of vending machines forever.