FACTS ABOUT OVERWEIGHT

Management of body weight is a multi-billion dollar industry. In another words, the more you worry and try to lose weight the more money you are likely to put into someone else's pockets getting nothing in return.. Does body weight management really work?

Sometimes it works, most of the time it doesn't!

People who have poor eating habits, or accumulated excess weight because of some distressful event in their lives, for instance, marriage break-up, having a baby, migrating to another country, an injury or illness that prevented exercise, are more likely to benefit from dieting and exercising plans.

People who are naturally overweight, have a daily healthy diet, exercise regularly, and have well developed skills for managing stress, in another words, they were made to fit size about 14 or over, will not benefit from any dieting plan.

Research shows that 95% of dieters will regain their weight within 1 or 2 years. If their diet is combined with exercise the weight regain will be slower.

Many people would wonder if they are naturally overweight or not. It is difficult to find out. We live in a society which places excessive emphasis on the appearance, besides that, our standards of beauty are steak thin people. So we grow up in an environment which forces us to be thin at any cost. However nature does not respond to social demands in the way we expect.

Studies also show that organisms which maintain a regular body weight, either slightly below the average or average, are less likely to develop illnesses. Organisms which tend to fluctuate their body weight are twice as likely to develop life threatening illnesses. Organisms which do not take a minimum required amount of food daily are likely to perish - this is typical among anorexics.

The burden of being overweight is usually perceived by the difficulties of carrying extra body weight. People often go to diet meetings and support groups for the first time and tell others they want to lose weight because it is unhealthy and uncomfortable to be overweight. From my experience, in most cases the real reason to lose weight is social pressure.

There is an enormous prejudice against overweights. It derives from irrational beliefs. Irrational thinkers believe that obesity is a result of lack of discipline and self-control, or a defence against sexuality. There is no scientific evidence to support any of these beliefs.

Not many of our outstanding people are overweight. So therefore there is a lack of models to follow. However, many successful business people are overweight. It is a shame that the media does not draw attention to them!

In the past, until about two hundred years ago, the overweights used to fit the beauty standards, thin people were out of fashion. Overweights were extensively portrayed in the paintings of Renoir, Toulouse Loutrec and other impressionists. Renaissance artists painted even heavier models. In those times, being overweight was a symbol of health and social status. Fashion change. Now the beauty icons are the skinny type. In another 20 years, who knows which body type fashion will dictate?

For these reasons I often ask my clients: is it worth the effort?

People engaged in dieting and weight management will soon find out that :

• No matter what you do, you won't be able to please everybody.
• Sexual attractiveness is important to start a relationship. Some feel very attracted to the steak thin type. However, many will prefer real people, with a fuller figure. 
• Diet pills combined with antidepressants cause delirium and other symptoms of mental illness 
• If you haven't got a self-esteem problem you may develop one when trying to work against your natural body weight 
• The best of a person's virtues are inside, and can be externalised through action. Although these qualities can overcome deficits in appearance, beauty itself won't make up for a person's poor character.

So if you are considering losing weight, think twice. Because as you try to solve one problem you could be creating a snowball out of it.

MD

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