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The Dangers of Obesity and Being Overweight

Dangers of Obesity

In 2008, more than 1.4 billion adults, 20 and older were overweight. Of these, over 200 million were men and 300 million were women. 35% under the age of 20 and 11% of these were obese. Fat and obesity is not just in America. It is a worldwide problem!

According to the WHO (World Health Organization) 65% of the world’s population live in countries where obesity and being overweight kills more people than being underweight. 40 million children under the age of five were overweight in 2011. (Source: WHO)

These are facts but here is a story to tell….

Heather Santo’s mom passed away at a young age of 34 from primary pulmonary hypertension. She was overweight and had to wait until she lost 80 pounds to get her double lung transplant. She may have been saved sooner if she hadn’t been so heavy and had to wait to get it off.

Her grandmother (her mother’s mom) died in her mid-50s from having a bad back and being almost 400 pounds. There was nothing physically wrong with her besides being obese. Her great grandmother was in her 80s and was over 300 pounds when she passed away. She had diabetes and was on all kinds of medication.

What does that leave Heather to face if she didn’t take action?

She probably would be in the same path as her mother, grandmother and great grandmother.

Growing up Heather ate a whole lot of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). She said if they purchased KFC’s stock, they could be really rich by now. She grew up with fast food and junk food. She didn’t know how badly she was eating.

She started gaining weight and began noticing her weight problems by third grade. Her family didn’t encourage her to play and anytime she wanted to do any physical activity her family couldn’t take her because they were too obese to move.

Heather didn’t have friends in grade school because she was fat. No kid wanted to play with her. She’d just sit in the corner and pray for school to be over.

It all changed when Heather turned 30. On her 30th birthday while celebrating with her friends at the Hard Rock Café, Heather faced the truth. The tradition and joke for the celebration among her friends is to have the birthday girl/guy sit on a bar stool and receive all the ‘attention!’

Heather was nearly 300 pounds at that time. She was afraid she might crush the bar stool and be embarrassed….

She found a way to escape from that game and began to take a hard look at the state of her health. Her doctor warned her if she didn’t get her act together she would end up dying early like her mother. Her blood work was horribly off the charts.

What is obesity and overweight?

The WHO’s definition for overweight is a BMI greater than or equal to 25. A BMI greater than or equal to 30 is obesity. BMI or body mass index is a simple index of weight-for-height that is commonly used to classify overweight and obesity in adults or children. It is the person’s weight in pounds or kilograms divided by the square of his height in feet or meters.

For example a person who is 5 feet 9 inches tall at 169 (BMI 25) to 202 pounds (BMI 29.9) is overweight. At 203 pounds (BMI 30 and above) is obese. For your convenience here are two links to BMI calculators for adults and children/teens provided by CDC:

Adult
BMI calculation is the same for male or female.

Child or Teen
BMI calculation for a child or teen takes into consideration the sex of the child/teen. It is applicable for ages 2 to 19.

Are you overweight or obese?

Do you know what the extra weight on your body is doing to you?

Releasing 10 or 15 pounds will change your energy level, reduce aches and pain and help you to have better mood. Before Heather released the extra weight she was not feeling like herself. She was beginning to believe that she was going to fall into her family’s footsteps – die early or suffer with medical problems and take medications.

These are the things she went through while carrying the extra weight-

1. Put on a smile but deep inside she was miserable with her weight.
2. Lots of pain in her back from the excess weight.
3. Prior to gaining 300 pounds she had a car accident. The heavier she got the worse the pain became.
4. Ankles were weak because of weight.
5. Critical of herself.

It has not been easy for Heather. She was so overweight when she started the journey of eating right… feeling sick, nauseous and threw up a lot while her body was detoxing. It was like coming off of drugs – in this case fast food. She lost 5 pounds relatively quick and took baby steps to shed the weight.

Today she has lost over 80 pounds and is still on her journey of eating right and losing weight. It is not just “losing weight” or “dieting”. To Heather this journey is all about banishing that mindset of being perfect. Instead, enjoy the journey and continue working towards that goal of great health.

She noticed a dramatic change in how she looks at herself now. She feels better every day and no longer needs to lie to herself. Like any change that we embrace, there are challenges.

Heather’s challenges include-

1. Being critical on herself even after losing a large chunk of weight. She had to continually work on herself and her mindset.
2. There were many times when she felt like giving up.
3. She had to give herself grace and know that she will not eat perfectly her entire life. Perfection is overrated.
4. She has to remember to take it step by step and not cut off too much or expect miracles to happen because that will set her up for failure.
5. Keeping up has been an uphill and downhill battle. The entire process has been eight years now.
6. To remember this is not a race but a journey. Rebuilding our body takes time and effort. She has lost over 100 pounds twice fast only to gain it back very quickly.

One great piece of advice from Heather:

This time I’m going to go slow and win – it is for keeps. I’m done playing games and gaining it back. I keep the weight off by going one day at a time.

Are you on a journey to shed some pounds?

Here is Heather’s secret to losing weight, keeping it off, feeling and looking great:

1. To help with keeping her skin from getting saggy, she uses a dry brush and Cel-Lite Magic.
2. Start small. It is a journey and not a race.
3. Drink plenty of water. She uses Slique Essence and or lemon, grapefruit and peppermint every day. She drinks thirteen 8oz. glasses of water per day with these oils. She switches up the flavors of the citrus oils to keep it interesting.
4. Get moving in any capacity possible. She does different kinds of exercises so she won’t get bored- walk, yoga, Les Mills Combat, Rev Abs, dance, Zumba and more. The key is to keep it fresh.
5. Track your food and keep a journal to track your emotions and learn how you relate with food.
6. Get educated and read labels.
7. Keep the weight off by going one day at a time.

Heather is still on her journey. She wants to lose another 60 pounds. She is ready to fight every day to keep it off. She is one of TheTotalWellnessDoc’s group of ladies on a journey to feel better and healthier.

Are you ready to start your journey? Connect with Heather Santo at her website www.santofitlife.com today and get tips and encouragement from her.

For wellness tips from TheTotalWellnessDoc please join our weekly newsletters here.

Disclaimer: This information is not meant to diagnose, prescribe, treat or cure any illness or disease. It’s strictly for informational, educational, or entertainment purposes ONLY. The products I talk about are not meant to diagnose, prescribe, treat or cure any illness or disease. Any information I give you about them is for informational or entertainment purposes only. They have not been evaluated or approved by the FDA. Please seek the qualified health professional of your choice when making health decisions for yourself, your family and your pets.

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How to Stop Gaining Weight and Stay Healthy While Cruising

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“Just picture a great big steak, fried, roasted or stewed…Oh…wonderful food, marvelous food, glorious food!” What an irony to think of a scene from Oliver the 1969 musical, based on a book written by Charles Dickens called Oliver Twist when looking at the abundance of food served in the buffet lounge of the Norwegian Cruise Line.

Cruising is synonymous to buffet meals and overeating. According to a fitness coach on the Norwegian Sun, the average person gains one to two pounds per day on a cruise. Which means, if you are on an eleven-day cruise you would have the potential of gaining 22 pounds.

Hedonic eating happens while cruising because food is readily available, free, and comes in great variety. We eat for enjoyment and entertainment as well and its no wonder almost eighty percent of us are overweight.

So when we saw the sign up sheet outside the gym on the first full day of our cruise for “Detox for health and weight loss” we immediately signed up. It was definitely worth the one hour of lecture.

Walking out of the lecture we discovered the trilogy of good health- exercise, nutrition and detox. Here are five ways we keep the weight off while we cruise:

One: No soda or sugared water

Absolutely no sugar water in our 11-day diet because each can of soda or sweet tea contains about 40 grams (4 tablespoons) of fructose corn syrup or sugar. Do you know it takes 36 cups of water to drain out all the acidity from a can of soda? Our body may be sick and tired because of the acidity and toxicity from the food and drinks we consume.

You save money and calories when you drink just water while cruising. Water has the ability to hydrate and flush out toxins from our body.

In addition, we also had 2 oz. packets of NingXia Red per person per day with our water.

Two: High fiber food

stay healthy while cruising

Constipation is one of the main problems in America today. What we put in must come out but some people are finding it hard to do so. If we eat three meals a day, it means 21 meals in a week. If we go to the bathroom once a day, we are left with 14 meals still in our gut.What if you don’t go once a day?

Toxins are built up when food is stored in our body if it is not being eliminated daily. Toxicity and acidity are poisons to our liver and whole body. Eating fruits and vegetables in every meal is essential. Most of those huge bellies we have may be due to stored up waste. Our guts are overflowing and they are making us sick. In the “Oliver” musical, the kids sang about three banquets a day and indigestion.

Take a look at some of the glorious breakfast, lunch and dinner I took with my iPhone:

Three: Exercise

We took every opportunity to jog and walk every day. All cruise ships have well-equipped gyms and exercise programs like yoga, stretching, bicycling and Pilates. Usage of gym is free but for a small fee of $10 to $15 per person anyone can join the daily exercise programs.Swimming is another form of exercise onboard a cruise ship. You could even hire a personal trainer for your daily workout.

Four: Nutritional Supplements

We brought nutritional supplements even on a cruise. Three essential supplements that we used daily were NingXia Red wolfberry drink, Life 5 Probiotic and Essentialzyme.

These products help with digestion and promote energy in our body and mind. NingXia Red is a superfruit supplement containing essential oil and puree wolfberry. We take it for the antioxidant and phytonutrients that help provide natural energy supply and aid with liver health. Essentialzyme helps with digesting the over abundance of protein we consumed every day during cruising. It helps balance our body’s overall enzyme activity and digestive health. Last but not least is Life 5 probiotic that supports core intestinal health.

Five: Take the stairs and take a walk (don’t eat the bread)

Instead of taking the elevators, walk the stairs. Walk after every meal and let go of as much carb as possible particularly any type of bread including whole wheat bread.

After 11 days of good food and great life, I gained three pounds. I guess that is really not bad considering I overate and had dessert for lunch and dinner everyday. What do you think of cruises and weight gain?

Claudia Looi is an online copywriter, travel writer and web content writer. She has traveled to more than 30 countries and is currently traveling in South America with her husband and two teens for nine months. You can find out how she could travel and work at the same time from her Free Report: Tips to Having Money and Time to Travel.

He Lost 20 Pounds And Lowered His Cholesterol By 36 Points In 52 Days

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Lowered His Cholesterol

In less than 8 weeks Jay Carter lost 20 pounds, lowered his cholesterol by 36 points and his Triglycerides by 388 points. How did he do it? Here is his story written by me.

Jay realized after Christmas 2012 that he needed to make a change in his health. He knew he was overweight, fatigued all the time, had little motivation and I noticed he had been snoring and moody for many months. His eating habits included skipping meals or going many hours in between meals. He ate one healthier meal a day and then white bread, chips, quesadillas 4-5 times a week, beef jerky 3-4 times a week, soda 3-4 times a week, sugar/sweets 4-5 times a week. Fast food meals 1-2 times a week. Very little vegetables and fruit in diet. And his portions were large.

We were expecting our 2nd child and he really wanted to be in better shape for this next bundle of joy in our lives. On 12/31/2012 the doctor’s office weighed him at 218 pounds, (at 5ft 9 inches that is obese) his blood pressure was normal, but they did some routine blood work. This is what came back.

They found in his Lipid Panel

Triglycerides at 597 (normal 45-150)
Cholesterol 230 (normal 125-200)
LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) was invalid because his Triglycerides were so high
HDL (good cholesterol) 41 (39-96 is normal)
They could not determine his cholesterol to HDL ratio because the Triglycerides were so high
Vitamin D was low at 16 (normal 30-100)
—————————————————————-

On 1/12/13 we returned to the doctors and got the above results of the labs and we asked for the option to try a program of exercise, diet changes, and nutritional supplements for the next 2 months. They agreed but told us it was rare to see changes in blood work in this short period of time. Jay had his challenge.

The next day he purchased a used treadmill on Craig’s list for $200.

Here is was his Program from January 12 – March 4th (so not even 8 weeks)

Exercise: Started walking 20 minutes or more about 5 times a week with an incline and higher speed. Always sweated during workout. Occasionally used weights for biceps and upper body.

Diet:

Got rid of white foods in the house. Set up a strict protocol of no white products, soda, or sugar. Cut back on red meat but still had it at least once a week. Also cut out cheese a previous staple.

New Daily Diet

Oatmeal, beans, avocado, dark berries and coconut oil were a staple on most days.

Also a protein fruit shake most mornings and another some afternoons. (this is where I snuck in the avocado and berries)

Ate on a FOOD Schedule so he was eating at regular intervals! Ate every couple of hours including 3 meals and 3 -4 snacks

Beverages

Water minimum of 2-3 25 oz. bottles
1 -2 cups of Slique Tea (one tea bag a day)
NingXia Red about 2 ounces or more a day.

Snacks

A protein bar (tried a variety of different kinds)
Greek yogurt and granola
Apples or fruit
Hummus and crackers or veggies and hummus
Shake (Balance Complete or Pure Protein)
or a lite meal or leftovers

Breakfast

Oatmeal most every day

Lunches and Dinners

Included more soups, chilis, salads, and smaller portions. 80% gluten free

Nutritional Supplements

Daily Young Living Supplements

Thyromin 2 capsules first thing upon waking up and 2 capsules before going to bed
True Source 1 packet
Longevity 1 pill
Super B 1 tablet
OmegaGize 3-4 capsules a day
Essentialzymes-4 1 -2 duo packs usually with larger meals
Again Slique Tea- one cup on most days right around the 3 pm -5pm time
NingXia Red 2-3 oz. a day
He also took Liquid Vitamin D about 50,000 IU’s a week

He also did on an off about maybe 10 or less days out of the 52 days took 2 Life 5 Probiotics at night, 4-5 Sulfurzyme a day, and maybe 5 doses of Lemongrass Vitality in a capsule.

To help remember to take supplements we used these little pill boxes I found near the pharmacy section of a store. They were only like $1.50 but really help to keep you on track. Every morning I would fill his pill box and mine. We usually keep them near us most of the day. (But again we work from home so that’s not far.)

On March 11th we returned to the doctor’s office to get his lab results from March 5th.

They weighed Jay at 199.4 lbs. and we are giving him the .4 for heavy clothes making his total weight loss 20lbs. And here were the results of 52 days of diet changes, light exercise and Young Living supplements.

Symptoms Gone

Within a week Jay had more energy, improved moods, motivation and overall happiness. His snoring stopped after about week 2. The difference in him especially when on the full nutritional program and eating regularly and healthy is almost like another man. He is full of energy, life and thinks very clearly.

The Partnerships

Jay and I worked together along with a few helpers. What do I mean we worked together? He asked me for a protocol and I wrote out basically what you see above for diet and supplements. Since I am growing a baby, I decided to cut out the same foods (mostly) and eat regularly and supplement similar to Jay every day.

We worked as a team but I also pay my health conscious great cook, friend and my Aunt Shirley to help prepare some healthier soups and desserts that all of us could eat, 2 meals a week. And because I am doing more cooking and prepping I also got some help 2 times a week with cleaning.

It’s not easy to make all these changes at once but it was the best decision for our family since we are on a deadline to change our ways and get on track with our health. (our 2nd child is arriving at the end of this month)

One more comment – Stress Levels and Sleep

Jay’s stress levels did not go down, in fact I would say the demands on his time and energy went up during these past 8 weeks. With the birth of a new baby approaching, working 60-70 plus hours a week and getting on average 6 hours of quality sleep a night and yet was still able to lose weight. I believe that exercise even if just 20 minutes a day, better eating, supplements especially Thyromin was the KEY TO THIS! Exhausted adrenal glands lead to fatigue, exhausted bodies, sick bodies and more.

Also he wasn’t sick at all in those 8 weeks when prior to this he had been sick with a cold or something little almost every couple of weeks for several months.

The next step

This is just the first step. 52 days is just the beginning. We have another 180 days until his next appointment because the doctor agreed he is making great results with diet, exercise and supplements. Some of the staff and doctors already use Young Living essential oils and products so they wanted to know what we used as well.

Jay is on the road to health again. But he has to continue the process.

What about you? Are you ready to get on the road to health? Some will choose to do a full protocol like Jay, others will take some of things he is doing and incorporate it into their life. Make the commitment. Jay made a commitment to be healthier for his growing family. Find something that will help you stay motivated and make a commitment to do something to improve your health today!

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