"The Fat Trap"

The Health editor of the NY Times admitted that she is approximately 60 pounds overweight; the result of yo-yo dieting.  She then proceeded to review research to shed light on why this happens.  To date there are approximately 900 postings; it generated tremendous interest.  Many posts were about not giving up on weight loss despite the futility, and others were about how they lost weight.  Here is the link to “The Fat Trap”  http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/28/why-lost-pounds-come-back/  What follows are my responses, followed by attacks from my detractors.

“Why might our biology fight so hard to regain lost weight?  Because losing weight is not in your best interest?  Why, in the face of scientific and anecdotal evidence do people think that losing weight is still a healthy and admirable goal?  Yo-yo dieting has been proven to be harmful, and people who have kept weight off generally meet the criteria for eating disorders, and obsessive-compulsive neurosis!

People are obviously meant to come in a variety of shapes and sizes.  The process of living healthfully, not the outcome of weight loss counts most, and the “evils” of obesity can be easily managed with modern medicine and healthy lifestyles.  Furthermore, insulin resistance, hypertension, and lousy cholesterol have also been found to result from yo-you dieting.  They also occur in thin people.

There is no research suggesting that people who lose weight live longer.  The NY Times recently reported that New Yorkers are living longer than ever before, despite increased obesity! (This was also found by the CDC for all of America.) 

The “obesity crisis” seems like a scam to sell diet products and make discrimination against people of size acceptable.

Let’s strive to live a relatively healthy lifestyle, and accept our resultant size with grace and dignity. No more putting ourselves or others down; discrimination begins with us.”

Thank you.

Abby Aronowitz, Ph.D.

Expert psychologist for Diet.com

www.YourFinalDiet.com

“A Ph.D. working as an expert psychologist for Diet.com believes the "obesity crisis" is a "scam." Really? Diabetes, heart disease, loss of mobility, loss of sexual attractiveness, social disapprobation--all are figments of our imagination, implanted in our minds by the folks who sell diet products? If people are "meant to come in all shapes and sizes" what explains the phenomenon of the dominant shape and size changing very significantly over the last 50 years. "Meant" by whom? I am suspicious of any post which ends with a link to a for-profit website designed to sell the poster's book. ($12.99 shipping and handling). Does not this make the poster a person who "sells diet products" herself?”

Comment:

“Why, in the face of scientific and anecdotal evidence do people think that losing weight is still a healthy and admirable goal?"

Apparently, you haven't read the conclusive epidemiological evidence that obesity, (BMI >30), doubles one's risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. Moreover, type 2 diabetes, a disease exclusive to obesity, is not only the primary cause of blindness, renal failure and amputations, but typically shortens one's lifespan by a decade or more. Obesity can further affect one's quality of life, increasing the risk of asthma, arthritis and other autoimmune diseases. The scam of the obesity crisis is that the obese are not made to pay the significantly higher medical costs they impose on the rest of us.”

Here’s my next post:

“Keeping weight off is damn near impossible for the average mortal, But living a healthy lifestyle regardless of the scale, is a more achievable goal for many.  Thin people should live healthfully too, but many believe that because they are thin, they can eat crap and sit on the couch…

The focus on “fat” per se, does everyone a disservice.  Healthful living should be everyone’s goal, but many fat people have learned to hate their bodies, because they’re considered ugly, unattractive and worthless.  This absolutely demolishes self-esteem, and represents the malignancy of discrimination.

We take better care of that which we love, than that which we hate, so a cultural and personal attitude adjustment is in order.

Here is a link for a free download of my book,” Your Final Diet.” 

http://www.yourfinaldiet.com/book-promo.html 

It offers a path to healthful living by making peace with food and body image, while accepting the resulting size with grace and dignity.

 It was endorsed by Hillary Clinton, because it’s particularly empowering to girls and women.   Hey, it’s worth it, just for the chapter on self-acceptance!

BTW, I am an expert psychologist for Diet .com, writing a “Health At Every Size, Naturally” column, entitled “Where Science Meets Sin!”.  I am very grateful to my editor be being so open-minded.”

Here is another detractor:

"Keeping weight off is damn near impossible for the average mortal ..."

Not a great attitude, Dr. Abby. I also am tired or reading about supposedly fit fat people and broken down thin people all of whom are eating badly when most unfit people are fat.

The reason the focus is on extreme overweight and obesity is because they are associated or cause many obvious, serious problems. Yes, everyone should eat well and exercise, in our economy, good luck with that. But the costs of the obesity epidemic prompt the most attention.”

My final post:

“Our bodies are programmed for survival – at least living long enough to have and raise children.  So why won’t our bodies help us to maintain weight loss, if it’s so healthy??? Why does it fight like the dickens to put weight back on?  And why does every population study around the world find highest survival rates for overweight people?  (Our own government found 86,000 FEWER deaths in the overweight range,and 33,000 more deaths in the thin range.) Are we living longer than ever before despite our increase in weight or because of it?   Fat stores energy, which aids survival during illness, but researchers are also investigating the role fat plays within the immune system.  Can anyone cite research finding that weight loss extends life? All I’ve seen is that most biological improvements are quickly reversed with weight gain and yo-yo dieting - which happens in nearly 100% of cases.  The “obesity crisis” correlates with an increase in DIETING!

Many thanks for the overwhelming requests for the free download of my book, in a previous post.  If anyone else would like to learn how to finally make peace with food and body image, and learn what a healthy lifestyle means – regardless of weight loss, I will reprint the offer here.  Once we stop hating our fat, and loving ourselves, we can find a relaxed, enjoyable truce with food and movement, as opposed to the obsessions reported by those in the Weight Registry.”   http://www.yourfinaldiet.com/book-promo.html

Thank you.

Dr. Abby!

Longevity Linked To Fat?

Originally posted @diet.com

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. life expectancy just hit another all-time high. Is this despite increasing weights of Americans, or because of it?

Data recently reviewed from 2009 found 36,547 fewer deaths than the year before. The newly estimated age of 78 years, 2 months for a baby born in 2009 compares to 75.4 years in 1990. In approximately 20 years, nearly 3 years were added to our lives!

The average American male gained 17.1 pounds and the average American female added 15.4 pounds in the last 20 years. That's 70 days of life added for every woman's extra pound of fat! Why didn't this make headlines??? If life expectancy was down, everyone would be blaming the "obesity crisis."

Fat bias is pervasive and acceptable. It skews interpretation of research, and interferes with dissemination of true methods for obtaining optimal health. When fat is always blamed for ill health, it obscures more important determinants, such as genetics and lifestyle.

News stories linked increased life expectancy to a range of causes, including less heart disease, fewer homicides, better medical treatment, increased vaccinations, and decreases in smoking. Nowhere was the correlation between Americans' expanding lives linked to their expanding weights.

Research continues to explore why increased weights are linked to increased life expectancy, since this is actually old news. Every population study around the world found longest survival rates in the overweight range, despite pervasive beliefs that thin is the healthiest range. In fact the NIH found 86,000 fewer deaths in the overweight range when compared to the normal weight range, and 33,000 more deaths in the thin range. Why didn't they revise weight recommendations after their own research confirmed this???

There is some evidence suggesting that fat is part of the immune system, and keeps us healthier. Of course fat provides stored energy reserves to aid survival in times of illness. Additionally, fat secretes estrogen, which can compensate for ovaries shutting down in menopause. Estrogen is typically considered the fountain of youth, so perhaps this contributes to increased life expectancy in women. Females will tend to die at 80.6 yrs, whereas males will kick the bucket at an average of 75.7 years.

I also believe there may be an evolutionary reason for this. One guy can impregnate many women, whereas most women give birth to only a few children. There is more of a need for women to hang around to nurture them, whereas if a bunch of men died off early, the species can survive with only a few studmuffins.

My advice is to live a relatively healthy lifestyle, enjoy life, and don’t worry about your weight. Becoming your personal best is a great goal, since not everyone was meant to be thin.

Click here to get a FREE copy of Dr. Abby's Book!

Dr. Abby Bashes "The Bead Diet"

Originally posted @diet.com

Have you heard of “The Bead Diet?” According to their website, www.accuweight.com, people lose 15 pounds a month, with most people losing more.

This three part program includes applying pressure to tiny beads behind the ear (acupressure), performing “Chi Gong Breathing,” and a crazy food plan.

Acupressure is designed to trick the body into feeling full, by creating balance through the hypothalamus. This part of the brain governs fullness and the amount of food eaten.

“Chi Gong Breathing” is supposed to harness the life force, “chi,” to improve health and longevity, and increase feelings of peace and harmony. They also claim that it enhances energy levels, attention, concentration, and mental alertness.

Next comes the food. There is no specific information on the site, but I’ve been told that for two days you eat milk products, and for two days fruits and veggies. The site promotes lots of artificial sweetener.

The nutritional balance of the food, along with acupressure, supposedly tricks the body to ignore the reduction of calories. This prevents starvation mode. The body uses stored fat for energy, resulting in weight loss and amazing medical results. If you exercise and feel faint, they suggest a bit of honey in water, and a sugar-free electrolyte drink if necessary.

They encourage eating between noon and 6PM because the body needs nutrition during those hours. Eating outside those hours might cause the body “to cannibalize itself using not only fat, but muscle, organ mass and negatively affect your metabolism.” YOWZA!

Finally, after losing all the weight you want, they promise maintenance within 3-5 pounds of goal, apparently your new set point.

Does this sound too good to be true? Even if everything goes according to plan, the claim of maintaining that level of success sounds preposterous. It would be more believable if they provided some decent research confirming this. After all, they have been operating for 11+ years, yet there is not a single follow-up study on their website.

The only study cited followed 16 subjects on the plan for 13 weeks. They lost an average of 46 pounds. Since when is sixteen subjects considered strong science, especially without any follow-up???

We all know that most people can lose weight on any fad diet, but few people can keep it off without developing an eating disorder; ie. preoccupation with food and weight. I believe the two part system of dieting to lose weight, and then trying to maintain the loss, is what has failed. There needs to be one way of living, which strives towards health and fitness.

Click here to get a FREE copy of Dr. Abby's book, Your Final Diet

"Dr. Abby's Diet Resolutions"

Originally posted @diet.com

New Years, New Years Resolutions,

Time for cleansing absolutions.


Diets, diets, everywhere,

Wash the fat from way down there!


Fat from cakes and nog and such,

Such a glutton, ate so much!


Why oh why am I so fat?

“Cuz on my ass I simply sat.


Gimme this and gimme that,

More o’ this, and more o’ that.


But is it time for deprivation?

Oh no, please, such aggravation.


Time to try out something new,

Something easy, here’s a clue.


Compensation, compensation!

Beats that ugly deprivation.


Health at every size is great!

Be your best, with no self hate.


Tweak your choices,

Mouth rejoices.


Dark chocolate bits

For antioxidant hits!


Eat when hungry, stop when enuf,

And exercise to make you buff!


Take my advice,

To deal with the vice.


Dr. Abby’s Diet Revolution

Is certainly the best solution!

Click here to get a FREE copy of Dr. Abby's book, Your Final Diet

Dr. Abby's Lessons From Summer

Lessons of Summer - Originally posted on diet.com

As summer draws to a close, I am reflecting on some weight-related episodes that captured my attention.

One little girl was absolutely tortured trying to get her skinny body into the water. She sucked her belly in tight, and ribs poked through the thin layer of skin covering her frame. Her anguish gave me a shiver.

I suggested she splash water on her arms and legs, to help adapt to the temperature change. Her mom flashed a smile, and said, “That’s what happens when you have negative body fat!” I quickly suggested that thin was not always better.

A few weeks later, a thin woman on the beach complained to me that so many people discuss dieting, exercise and weight loss with her, when she has no interest whatsoever. It seems they admired and disdained her, for being naturally thin and active. She was never weight-conscious, yet always enjoyed eating healthfully, and running. It’s the way she is wired; a very active person who needs to move.

I pondered her situation, and wondered if we might view the human species as diverse by design. Might we imagine that fat people are not flawed, but potentially useful because they store fat more effectively than thin people? Perhaps in the cave-men era, if food was over there, we might send a quick runner to get it, while fat people waited in the cave to cook it!

If food was scarce, perhaps fatter people would survive longer, since fat is stored energy. This would ensure survival of the species; survival of the fattest? Perhaps in this nuke-threatened culture, this could once again be useful.

By this time, my new friend and I were dripping with sweat, so I suggested we take a dip. She refused, saying she just likes to be hot. As I walked through the water, the coolness reminded me of the thin little girl’s anguish, and the curious remark of my new friend. I instantly realized that she must be cold all the time, due to low body fat, and it was wonderful to feel warm – whereas cold water must have been as torturous to her as the little girl.

The moral? Let us not judge ourselves or others, but simply appreciate our differences, while striving to become our personal best.

Dr. Abby Aronowitz
www.DearDrAbby.com

Dr. Oz's 16 Tips for Summer Weight Loss

An article about Dr. Oz's summer weight loss plan was featured on AOL on May 3rd: 
Dr. Oz's 16 Tips for Summer Weight Loss
by Norine Dworkin-McDaniel 

His main points were: 
- See yourself looking fabulous.
- Take a "before" picture in your swimsuit.
- Hang your favorite summer outfit where you'll see it every day.
- Let your family in on what you're up to.
- Kick off your efforts with a token gift to yourself. (i.e. walking shoes or pedometer)
- Take advantage of longer days. (physical activity)
- Skip the elevator.
- Have sex.
- Eat breakfast.
- Cut 100 calories a day.
- Have a drink.
- Snack before you eat your meals.
- Fill your plate with summer fruits and vegetables.
- Eat dessert in the afternoon.
- Have wine with dinner.
- Dine outside.

Abby's comment:

Dr. Oz’s inexperience in the field of weight management is glaring to any professionals who have been in the trenches for years.  Perhaps when the devastating stories of people regaining weight lost from his plan start pouring in, it will reshape his understanding about the biology and psychology of this issue.

Nearly 100% of people who lose weight gain it back, and many of those who keep it off develop eating disorders to maintain an unnaturally thin weight. Research suggests that yo-yo dieting can adversely affect blood pressure, lipids and insulin sensitivity.

A hundred years ago, as a psychologist specializing in weight loss, I often suggested that people imagine themselves looking thinner.  Regardless of its motivating factor, it did not help people to keep weight off, and for many people it is a biologically unattainable image.  Yes, the same strategies that work for sports psychologists work for weight management, but focus must be on the “process” not the goal.

Imagining crossing the finish line is not as empowering as imagining yourself performing excellently.  So, it is better to imagine living a healthy lifestyle, than imagining your body at a certain weight.  Your body will land at it’s healthiest place, which may not be thin, if your 7000 fat genes do not direct it to be thin.

Those fat pictures and summer outfits begin taunting people at some point, since weight gain is much faster than weight loss.  Been there, done that, with thousands of patients, regardless of what diet they did to lose weight.  Going public insures greater humiliation and shame when weight is inevitably regained.

If you follow many of Dr. Oz’s other suggestions, without an eye on weight loss, you may actually become healthier – regardless if weight is lost.  But if weight loss is the goal, it taints everything, and sets you up for failure.  I also advocate exercise, chocolate, wine, skipping the elevator, having sex, fruits and veggies, and snacking before meals.  Most were discussed in my book, Your Final Diet, back in 2004.  These add pleasure, health and control, regardless if weight is lost.

Dr. Oz is a great showman, and probably a great surgeon.  Perhaps he should stick with what he knows!

Dr. Abby Aronowitz
www.DearDrAbby.com

New Alarm Bells About Chemicals and Cancer

The New York Times ran an op-ed called:
New Alarm Bells About Chemicals and Cancer
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF on May 6, 2010

"The President’s Cancer Panel is the Mount Everest of the medical mainstream, so it is astonishing to learn that it is poised to join ranks with the organic food movement and declare: chemicals threaten our bodies. The cancer panel is releasing a landmark 200-page report on Thursday, warning that our lackadaisical approach to regulation may have far-reaching consequences for our health. "  Read more here: 
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/opinion/06kristof.html

Abby posted the following comment:

I am a psychologist specializing in weight management, and my work encourages “health at every size, naturally.”  We are bombarded with messages about getting healthy by losing weight, but if the focus was truly on health, then we would be encouraging nutrient-dense foods, free of chemicals, instead of “diet food.”   For instance, artificial sweeteners and artificial fats seem to disrupt the body’s natural mechanisms of hunger and satiation – which are key to maintaining a healthy weight.

Thinking more broadly about health - and what enters our bodies -  would lead to creative thinking, such as tax rebates to homeowners who refrain from using chemical fertilizers, pesticides and other toxins.  What about giving rebates to homeowners and townships that stop mowing lawns, stop cutting down trees, and allow natural local diversity to reclaim the land?  We have interfered with the earth’s natural filters, and cancer is probably the result.  Losing weight does not help with any of this, but getting back to nature seems to help.

In fact, cancer and weight have an interesting connection, but not what we have been led to believe.  Weight gain in our country is correlated with relative food abundance, which has allowed us to reach maximum heights, weights and IQs.  Higher weights were correlated with more cancer, but so were higher heights!

Higher weights and heights suggest that more “robust” people live long enough for deadly cancers to develop, whereas lowest incidents of cancer were found in countries with lower heights and weights – and much earlier death rates.  Cancer simply did not have time to develop, ostensibly because of worse nutrition, health, and early death!  The idea that being overweight leads to most types of cancers is simply not true.

Furthermore, having some weight on your body seems to protect the body from many illnesses, and assure better recoveries.  Not only does fat offer some reserves during times of stress, but it may also contribute towards certain immunities and protect against bone fractures.   Population studies around the world consistently find highest death rates for extremely thin and extremely fat people, with lowest death rates for the overweight.

Environmental impact on health is an essential consideration.  I was thrilled to read about the President’s Cancer Panel supporting organics.  Organic food tends to be much more nutritious than inorganic foods, and focusing on health instead of weight loss is the way to go!

Thank you.

Dr. Abby Aronowitz
www.DearDrAbby.com