It is never too late to start
Source https://changingaging.org/disrupting-ageism/are-we-selling-convenience-or-isolation/
We accept, without thinking much about it, that some housing will be set apart and restricted to people over the age of 55. Indeed, the entire senior living industry is founded on this deliberate policy of age segregation. We also know that the number of older Americans is large and growing larger every year. Everyone, […]
The post Are We Selling Convenience or Isolation? appeared first on ChangingAging.
Source https://changingaging.org/disrupting-ageism/are-we-selling-convenience-or-isolation/
We accept, without thinking much about it, that some housing will be set apart and restricted to people over the age of 55. Indeed, the entire senior living industry is founded on this deliberate policy of age segregation. We also know that the number of older Americans is large and growing larger every year. Everyone, […]
The post Are We Selling Convenience or Isolation? appeared first on ChangingAging.
Journal of the American Geriatrics Society Research Summary
After a hospital stay, many older adults will be discharged to a skilled nursing facility to recover. The goal of this type of short-term nursing care is to help patients regain their ability to function and perform their daily activities to the best of their ability so they can return home, if possible.
Cognitive impairment is when you have difficulties with memory and your ability to think and make decisions. Some studies have examined how cognitive impairment can affect recovery for nursing home residents. But recently, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) added new ways to measure patients’ abilities to perform their daily routines in nursing facilities and other after-care settings.
So far, studies have not examined how skilled nursing care residents who have cognitive difficulties perform on the new self-care and mobility measurements. Researchers designed a new study to fill that knowledge gap. Using new measurements, it examines changes in residents’ self-care and their ability to get around. The study was published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Participants in the study were Medicare Part A beneficiaries who stayed in a skilled care facility between January 1 and June 30, 2017, but who had not stayed in one in 2016. The study included 246,395 skilled nursing home stays.
The researchers used these measures of self-care and mobility:
These items were scored by health professionals in the nursing homes when residents were admitted and discharged. They used a scale to measure residents’ mobility. The scale ranged from 1 (Dependent: Helper does all of the effort) to 6 (Independent: Resident completes the activity by themselves with no assistance from a helper).
The average length of stay in the nursing facilities was 24 days and most residents were between 65 and 84 years old. Sixty-eight percent of residents had no cognitive impairment when they were admitted to the nursing facility, 18.3 percent had mild impairment, 11.8 percent had moderate impairment, and 1.7 percent had severe impairment.
About 20 percent of the participants had an active diagnosis of a fracture, 30 percent had diabetes, and 27 percent had psychiatric mood disorders. Almost half the participants experienced some urinary incontinence and half had fallen in the last six months.
The researchers learned that the participants’ cognitive status significantly affected their scores. Residents with severe cognitive impairment scored lower than those who were cognitively intact. When they were discharged, residents with severe cognitive impairment scored about one point higher than when they were admitted. This is compared to residents who had no cognitive problems, who scored about two points higher when they were discharged.
Nearly all of the residents who had no cognitive difficulties at admission improved their ability to get around. In contrast, 87 percent of those with severe cognitive impairments improved.
The researchers concluded that residents with more severe cognitive problems didn’t improve as much in terms of self-care and mobility as did residents who were cognitively intact when they were admitted. The researchers thus suggested that residents with cognitive impairment may need additional support and more intense rehabilitation to make the same gains as residents who are cognitively intact.
This summary is from “Relationship between functional improvement and cognition in short-stay nursing home residents.” It appears online ahead of print in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The study authors are Lacey Loomer, MSPH; Brian Downer, PhD; and Kali Thomas, PhD, MA.
Journal of the American Geriatrics Society Research Summary
After a hospital stay, many older adults will be discharged to a skilled nursing facility to recover. The goal of this type of short-term nursing care is to help patients regain their ability to function and perform their daily activities to the best of their ability so they can return home, if possible.
Cognitive impairment is when you have difficulties with memory and your ability to think and make decisions. Some studies have examined how cognitive impairment can affect recovery for nursing home residents. But recently, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) added new ways to measure patients’ abilities to perform their daily routines in nursing facilities and other after-care settings.
So far, studies have not examined how skilled nursing care residents who have cognitive difficulties perform on the new self-care and mobility measurements. Researchers designed a new study to fill that knowledge gap. Using new measurements, it examines changes in residents’ self-care and their ability to get around. The study was published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Participants in the study were Medicare Part A beneficiaries who stayed in a skilled care facility between January 1 and June 30, 2017, but who had not stayed in one in 2016. The study included 246,395 skilled nursing home stays.
The researchers used these measures of self-care and mobility:
These items were scored by health professionals in the nursing homes when residents were admitted and discharged. They used a scale to measure residents’ mobility. The scale ranged from 1 (Dependent: Helper does all of the effort) to 6 (Independent: Resident completes the activity by themselves with no assistance from a helper).
The average length of stay in the nursing facilities was 24 days and most residents were between 65 and 84 years old. Sixty-eight percent of residents had no cognitive impairment when they were admitted to the nursing facility, 18.3 percent had mild impairment, 11.8 percent had moderate impairment, and 1.7 percent had severe impairment.
About 20 percent of the participants had an active diagnosis of a fracture, 30 percent had diabetes, and 27 percent had psychiatric mood disorders. Almost half the participants experienced some urinary incontinence and half had fallen in the last six months.
The researchers learned that the participants’ cognitive status significantly affected their scores. Residents with severe cognitive impairment scored lower than those who were cognitively intact. When they were discharged, residents with severe cognitive impairment scored about one point higher than when they were admitted. This is compared to residents who had no cognitive problems, who scored about two points higher when they were discharged.
Nearly all of the residents who had no cognitive difficulties at admission improved their ability to get around. In contrast, 87 percent of those with severe cognitive impairments improved.
The researchers concluded that residents with more severe cognitive problems didn’t improve as much in terms of self-care and mobility as did residents who were cognitively intact when they were admitted. The researchers thus suggested that residents with cognitive impairment may need additional support and more intense rehabilitation to make the same gains as residents who are cognitively intact.
This summary is from “Relationship between functional improvement and cognition in short-stay nursing home residents.” It appears online ahead of print in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The study authors are Lacey Loomer, MSPH; Brian Downer, PhD; and Kali Thomas, PhD, MA.
Source https://www.theminimalists.com/closet/
By · Follow: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
The average American tosses 88 pounds of clothes each year. Yet we keep buying more when we actually need less.
Pull any article of clothing from the back of your closet, the bottom of your dresser, the bin in your basement. When’s the last time you wore it?
Last month?
Last year?
Last decade?
Whenever I feel the urge to hit the mall to go clothes shopping, I head to my closet instead to try on the clothes I already own.
Am I unhappy with this shirt? These pants? Those sunglasses? If so, why do I still own them? And if I am, in fact, satisfied, why do I feel the need to acquire more? Am I trying to fulfill a need that doesn’t exist?
The lure of consumerism is real. Most objects appear more fashionable, more necessary, more urgent when they’re on a mannequin, model, or retail display. But the clothes in your closet serve the same purpose: cover, warmth, style.
Every time I go shopping in my own closet, I’m inspired by the results. Either I find an item I forgot I owned and start wearing it again, or I stumble across that oversized orange sweatshirt I’m eager to donate. Either way, my checking account is grateful.
Then, whenever I genuinely need something new, I feel good about my purchase because I ask the right questions, and because I’m meeting a material need, not a primal impulse.
The post How to Go Clothes Shopping appeared first on The Minimalists.
Source https://www.theminimalists.com/closet/
By · Follow: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
The average American tosses 88 pounds of clothes each year. Yet we keep buying more when we actually need less.
Pull any article of clothing from the back of your closet, the bottom of your dresser, the bin in your basement. When’s the last time you wore it?
Last month?
Last year?
Last decade?
Whenever I feel the urge to hit the mall to go clothes shopping, I head to my closet instead to try on the clothes I already own.
Am I unhappy with this shirt? These pants? Those sunglasses? If so, why do I still own them? And if I am, in fact, satisfied, why do I feel the need to acquire more? Am I trying to fulfill a need that doesn’t exist?
The lure of consumerism is real. Most objects appear more fashionable, more necessary, more urgent when they’re on a mannequin, model, or retail display. But the clothes in your closet serve the same purpose: cover, warmth, style.
Every time I go shopping in my own closet, I’m inspired by the results. Either I find an item I forgot I owned and start wearing it again, or I stumble across that oversized orange sweatshirt I’m eager to donate. Either way, my checking account is grateful.
Then, whenever I genuinely need something new, I feel good about my purchase because I ask the right questions, and because I’m meeting a material need, not a primal impulse.
The post How to Go Clothes Shopping appeared first on The Minimalists.
Source https://changingaging.org/blog/a-telling-disconnect/
I think what I saw was this 18-year-old’s inability to imagine herself aging into someone who looked like us. And I get that. It’s hard to imagine when you’re 18 and your body’s perfect, blooming, unblemished, perky, that you’ll ever look like someone decades older.
The post A Telling Disconnect appeared first on ChangingAging.
Source https://changingaging.org/blog/a-telling-disconnect/
I think what I saw was this 18-year-old’s inability to imagine herself aging into someone who looked like us. And I get that. It’s hard to imagine when you’re 18 and your body’s perfect, blooming, unblemished, perky, that you’ll ever look like someone decades older.
The post A Telling Disconnect appeared first on ChangingAging.
Source: https://www.aarp.org/health/dementia/info-2018/glenner-town-square.html
Teresa Pascual celebrates her 100th birthday at Rosie’s Diner, where people with dementia can gather for a dose of reminiscence therapy. … Mary Patterson bounds through the entryway of Glenner To……
Source: https://www.aarp.org/health/dementia/info-2018/glenner-town-square.html
Teresa Pascual celebrates her 100th birthday at Rosie’s Diner, where people with dementia can gather for a dose of reminiscence therapy. … Mary Patterson bounds through the entryway of Glenner To……
EIT Health focusing on digital biomarkers and mental & brain health (Health Europa):
“Announcing the second year of their innovation programme, Wild Card, EIT Health, a network of best-in-class innovators backed by the EU, are looking to challenge talent to deliver real solutions to the healthcare market. This year, Wild Card will focus on two challenges: mental and brain health and digital biomarkers in diagnostics … the EIT Health Wild Card programme application window is open until 10 February 2019.
Looking at two major key issues that impact citizens’ health in Europe, this year’s hopeful candidates must present their experience, sk…
EIT Health focusing on digital biomarkers and mental & brain health (Health Europa):
“Announcing the second year of their innovation programme, Wild Card, EIT Health, a network of best-in-class innovators backed by the EU, are looking to challenge talent to deliver real solutions to the healthcare market. This year, Wild Card will focus on two challenges: mental and brain health and digital biomarkers in diagnostics … the EIT Health Wild Card programme application window is open until 10 February 2019.
Looking at two major key issues that impact citizens’ health in Europe, this year’s hopeful candidates must present their experience, sk…
As people age, it seems like they must start worrying about all sorts of health issues that would never have occurred to them when they were younger. That’s true when it comes to your kidney function as well. Before you start having issues, it’s a good idea to understand what causes poor kidney function in the elderly and what your treatment options are.
As you age, you have a higher risk of urinary tract and kidney diseases. The bad news is that kidney disease can be quite serious if not addressed quickly. The good news is that the right treatment and early detection can increase the function of your kidneys.
One of the most common causes of decreased kidney function in elderly patients is diabetes. Diabetes can cause damage to the kidney’s nerves and blood vessels even if your diabetes is well controlled.
There are several other causes of kidneys not functioning properly. Elderly people, especially women, are more likely to get urinary tract infections as they age. If untreated, the infection can spread to the kidneys. In addition, older adults are more likely to have urinary incontinence issues than younger adults.
Urinary incontinence is uncontrolled leaking of urine from a person’s bladder. This can increase the likelihood of having a urinary tract infection which, in turn, increases the likelihood of kidney damage.
Most people know that high blood pressure can damage your heart, but you might not realize it can cause damage to your kidneys as well.
Finally, renovascular disease, which is the narrowing or even blockage of the renal artery, can reduce the blood supply to your kidneys and reduce function. It is the most common reason for kidney failure in senior adults.
There are treatments for low kidney function in elderly. The goal of this treatment is to correct what is causing your kidney disease by reducing protein in your urine, controlling phosphorus levels, controlling your diabetes, reducing blood pressure, and improving your cholesterol levels.
Your doctor may attack your kidney disease from several different directions at the same time. The first step is to look at your medications and determine if you are taking any that need to be reduced or discontinued completely.
Some of the medicines that can cause issues are:
Your doctor may also have you take iron pills, vitamin D supplements, or medicines that will lower phosphate levels.
In addition, you doctor will take a close look at your diet to determine how much protein, potassium, and phosphorus you are taking in daily. All three might need to be reduced.
If the decreased kidney function in elderly is due to a fluid or electrolyte imbalance, it can be dealt with by changing your water intake or consuming additional electrolytes. For more serious kidney issues, temporary dialysis may be necessary to avoid severe complications.
For those concerned about or dealing with kidney malfunction in elderly loved one, it’s important to make sure they are eating right, are not overly medicated, and keeping their doctor informed of any urinary tract infections or incontinence issues sooner rather than later. It’s the best way to keep a small issue from becoming a much larger one down the line.
As people age, it seems like they must start worrying about all sorts of health issues that would never have occurred to them when they were younger. That’s true when it comes to your kidney function as well. Before you start having issues, it’s a good idea to understand what causes poor kidney function in the elderly and what your treatment options are.
As you age, you have a higher risk of urinary tract and kidney diseases. The bad news is that kidney disease can be quite serious if not addressed quickly. The good news is that the right treatment and early detection can increase the function of your kidneys.
One of the most common causes of decreased kidney function in elderly patients is diabetes. Diabetes can cause damage to the kidney’s nerves and blood vessels even if your diabetes is well controlled.
There are several other causes of kidneys not functioning properly. Elderly people, especially women, are more likely to get urinary tract infections as they age. If untreated, the infection can spread to the kidneys. In addition, older adults are more likely to have urinary incontinence issues than younger adults.
Urinary incontinence is uncontrolled leaking of urine from a person’s bladder. This can increase the likelihood of having a urinary tract infection which, in turn, increases the likelihood of kidney damage.
Most people know that high blood pressure can damage your heart, but you might not realize it can cause damage to your kidneys as well.
Finally, renovascular disease, which is the narrowing or even blockage of the renal artery, can reduce the blood supply to your kidneys and reduce function. It is the most common reason for kidney failure in senior adults.
There are treatments for low kidney function in elderly. The goal of this treatment is to correct what is causing your kidney disease by reducing protein in your urine, controlling phosphorus levels, controlling your diabetes, reducing blood pressure, and improving your cholesterol levels.
Your doctor may attack your kidney disease from several different directions at the same time. The first step is to look at your medications and determine if you are taking any that need to be reduced or discontinued completely.
Some of the medicines that can cause issues are:
Your doctor may also have you take iron pills, vitamin D supplements, or medicines that will lower phosphate levels.
In addition, you doctor will take a close look at your diet to determine how much protein, potassium, and phosphorus you are taking in daily. All three might need to be reduced.
If the decreased kidney function in elderly is due to a fluid or electrolyte imbalance, it can be dealt with by changing your water intake or consuming additional electrolytes. For more serious kidney issues, temporary dialysis may be necessary to avoid severe complications.
For those concerned about or dealing with kidney malfunction in elderly loved one, it’s important to make sure they are eating right, are not overly medicated, and keeping their doctor informed of any urinary tract infections or incontinence issues sooner rather than later. It’s the best way to keep a small issue from becoming a much larger one down the line.
Club Industry was not involved in the creation of this content.
New software reduces 85 percent of daily administrative tasks performed by franchise facilities operating in the sports industry
INDIANAPOLIS – Sport, recreation and fitness franchises
Club Industry was not involved in the creation of this content.
New software reduces 85 percent of daily administrative tasks performed by franchise facilities operating in the sports industry
INDIANAPOLIS – Sport, recreation and fitness franchises
Source http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tinybuddha/~3/K–uIgoi7Nc/
I’ve spent so much time on the dieting hamster wheel that I am almost too ashamed to admit it. Throughout my teen years I went from one crash diet to the next. When this proved more than unfruitful and disappointing, I changed strategies.
The next twelve years I spent searching for the “right lifestyle” for me, which would allow me to shrink to an acceptable size, be happy and healthy, and make peace with my body.
You can probably guess that I never found such a lifestyle. And I’m sure that it doesn’t exist for me. I’m still making peace with my body, but now I know this is internal work. No diet or size can bring me to this place.
I first became aware that I was fat when I was four. We had this kindergarten recital, and regrettably, my costume didn’t fit, so I was the only one with a different dress. It was horrible. It didn’t help that my mother was very disappointed in me.
Years later, I started dieting at the ripe age of ten.
In my teenage years my focus was mainly on losing as much weight as possible, as quickly as possible. It was exhilarating to get praise from my mother and grandmothers. They were so happy that I was taking charge of my weight and that I could show such restraint and will power.
I sometimes went months on almost nothing eaten. Eventually, I’d start to get dizzy and nauseous, and I’d get severe stomach aches. I was hospitalized multiple times for gastritis. But no one made the connection between my eating and these conditions.
When the pains were severe, I knew I needed to get back to eating more regularly, and then the weight would return. You wouldn’t believe the disappointment this elicited in the ones closest to me. If only I could eat like a normal person, but not be fat.
I was told hundreds upon hundreds of times that if I didn’t find a way to lose the weight, I’d be lonely, no one would like me, I’d have trouble finding a boyfriend, and I’d have almost no chance of getting married. This was so heartbreaking. And I believed every word of it.
It became a major focus of my life to get my body in order, so I could be a ‘real’ girl.
When I turned twenty, I learned that my weight was all my fault. That I wasn’t doing enough. That I just wanted results, without doing the work. And that “there’s no permanent result without permanent effort.” So, I decided to find the sustainable lifestyle change that would lead me to my thin and better self. This was just another wild goose chase.
No matter what I did, the pattern was the same: I would lose ten to thirty-five pounds in about six months. And then—even if I doubled my efforts in terms of eating less and training more—I would start gaining weight and return to close to where I started.
Even though it was soul crushing, I didn’t give up. Not even for a day.
I was convinced that I just didn’t know enough, or hadn’t found the right diet for me, the right exercise, or the right combination. Or that maybe I was just doing things wrong, for some reason.
I hired trainers, dieticians, the whole shebang. It didn’t help.
This lasted more than ten years and took a lot of money that could have been spent better.
I was convinced that I was missing something. Obviously, the professionals knew what they were doing, and there was something wrong with me.
When I got married, even though my husband and I were planning to wait a couple of years before having children, the pressure to prepare for pregnancy was on.
I went into crazy researcher mode and read every book on the best diet for pregnancy and ensuring healthy offspring.
It was 2016 and keto was in (as it still is now). I was convinced that keto was the way to go.
This was a turning point for me. First, because I was so determined to succeed at this point, and second, because keto is one of the most restrictive diets in existence.
I became super obsessed, and for two years. I couldn’t see that things were going wrong. Very wrong.
There were both physical and psychological signs. I just didn’t have the mental capacity to notice them. And regrettably, there wasn’t anyone around to point out that something was amiss. My environment was, and still is to some extent, more conducive to disordered eating behavior than to recovery.
On the physical side:
On the psychological side:
It was a torturous time. And even though my focus was on being my healthiest self, I had never been sicker in my life. I was suffering deeply.
I can’t tell you I had a sudden realization about the errors of my ways. As I said, my whole environment supports the dieting mentality, and I had much more support in my dieting efforts than I do now in recovery. But still, I am managing.
I started seeing a therapist because I was lashing out at my husband, and I wanted to control my emotions better. By digging deeper into the issues underlying my anger I found a deep sense of inadequacy and not being enough. In the process of unravelling, I was able to make the connection that my problems with food stem from the same place, and I started working on them.
There are a few things that helped me most.
The first is meditation. Meditating has made a huge difference in my life because it’s enabled me to distance myself from my thoughts, and stop believing everything I think. This was huge.
It was important for me to observe this nasty, critical voice and to realize that it’s not mine. It sounded more like my mother. To distance myself from the voice and the emotionally charged image of my mother, I started seeing it like a mean, old witch. By associating a funny image with this chatter in my head, I was able to acknowledge it was there but go about my life, without engaging too much with it.
This has helped me treat myself much more kindly. And by being kinder to myself I started to accept myself more. I am human and not perfect. In some situations, I still start berating myself. But I catch myself quickly and don’t fall into the rabbit hole.
Second, I reached out for support from some trusted friends and started to go out more and observe other people. To my surprise, most people were not on the brink of death just because they ate pizza a couple times a month or because they enjoyed a drink or two.
Also, I started reading more books written by fat activists, and they have been of great help. They are full of humor, compassion, love, and understanding. They have helped me feel less alone, and I’ve benefitted immensely from their recommendation to normalize your view of your body by looking at images of other fat people.
For me, seeing other women of my size and finding them gorgeous and beautiful helped me accept myself more. Taking more pictures of myself, and getting used to how I look, was also huge for me. Because it’s very different from looking in the mirror. In the mirror you can look at just certain parts of your body and not pay attention to others. In a photo, you don’t have much choice.
This can be really hard at first. But it gets so much better.
Also, I found new ways to move my body and enjoy myself, and rekindled my passions for types of exercise I used to enjoy. This has made it so much easier for me to appreciate my wonderful body. I feel grateful for all I am able to do, every single day.
Choosing what to eat is still a battle sometimes. The disordered voices in my head are not abolished, as I said. But now, I can choose not to pay attention to them or believe them.
So now, when I am debating between pizza and fish with salad, I do a couple of things differently than before.
First, I ask myself what do I really want, and why. If I see that I am leaning toward the fish, but only because it’s “better for me,” I remember the sad person I was before. I remember how bad I felt when my life was ruled by rules. And then I clear the rules from my head and imagine what will taste better for me in this moment. And choose that option.
Of course, I don’t always eat pizza. I strive for balance and make healthy choices on the whole. The point is I don’t constantly deprive myself.
What helps me not fall into my old patterns is remembering the way I feel now. I know that despite being heavier, I haven’t felt happier and freer in my life. Not having that constant anxiety is my motivation.
It’s very hard, but I couldn’t be happier that I am going through this journey. I am connecting to myself, my body, and my wishes in a way I was never able to before. And I feel this is the most valuable experience.
I hope that if you’re battling with the same demons, you’ll win. I am rooting for you. And yes, it is possible.
Vania Nikolova, PhD, is the head of health research at RunRepeat.com. She uses her academic knowledge and experience with an eating disorder to shed light on why dieting is bad news.
Get in the conversation! Click here to leave a comment on the site.
The post How Healthy Eating Becomes Unhealthy appeared first on Tiny Buddha.
Source http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tinybuddha/~3/K–uIgoi7Nc/
I’ve spent so much time on the dieting hamster wheel that I am almost too ashamed to admit it. Throughout my teen years I went from one crash diet to the next. When this proved more than unfruitful and disappointing, I changed strategies.
The next twelve years I spent searching for the “right lifestyle” for me, which would allow me to shrink to an acceptable size, be happy and healthy, and make peace with my body.
You can probably guess that I never found such a lifestyle. And I’m sure that it doesn’t exist for me. I’m still making peace with my body, but now I know this is internal work. No diet or size can bring me to this place.
I first became aware that I was fat when I was four. We had this kindergarten recital, and regrettably, my costume didn’t fit, so I was the only one with a different dress. It was horrible. It didn’t help that my mother was very disappointed in me.
Years later, I started dieting at the ripe age of ten.
In my teenage years my focus was mainly on losing as much weight as possible, as quickly as possible. It was exhilarating to get praise from my mother and grandmothers. They were so happy that I was taking charge of my weight and that I could show such restraint and will power.
I sometimes went months on almost nothing eaten. Eventually, I’d start to get dizzy and nauseous, and I’d get severe stomach aches. I was hospitalized multiple times for gastritis. But no one made the connection between my eating and these conditions.
When the pains were severe, I knew I needed to get back to eating more regularly, and then the weight would return. You wouldn’t believe the disappointment this elicited in the ones closest to me. If only I could eat like a normal person, but not be fat.
I was told hundreds upon hundreds of times that if I didn’t find a way to lose the weight, I’d be lonely, no one would like me, I’d have trouble finding a boyfriend, and I’d have almost no chance of getting married. This was so heartbreaking. And I believed every word of it.
It became a major focus of my life to get my body in order, so I could be a ‘real’ girl.
When I turned twenty, I learned that my weight was all my fault. That I wasn’t doing enough. That I just wanted results, without doing the work. And that “there’s no permanent result without permanent effort.” So, I decided to find the sustainable lifestyle change that would lead me to my thin and better self. This was just another wild goose chase.
No matter what I did, the pattern was the same: I would lose ten to thirty-five pounds in about six months. And then—even if I doubled my efforts in terms of eating less and training more—I would start gaining weight and return to close to where I started.
Even though it was soul crushing, I didn’t give up. Not even for a day.
I was convinced that I just didn’t know enough, or hadn’t found the right diet for me, the right exercise, or the right combination. Or that maybe I was just doing things wrong, for some reason.
I hired trainers, dieticians, the whole shebang. It didn’t help.
This lasted more than ten years and took a lot of money that could have been spent better.
I was convinced that I was missing something. Obviously, the professionals knew what they were doing, and there was something wrong with me.
When I got married, even though my husband and I were planning to wait a couple of years before having children, the pressure to prepare for pregnancy was on.
I went into crazy researcher mode and read every book on the best diet for pregnancy and ensuring healthy offspring.
It was 2016 and keto was in (as it still is now). I was convinced that keto was the way to go.
This was a turning point for me. First, because I was so determined to succeed at this point, and second, because keto is one of the most restrictive diets in existence.
I became super obsessed, and for two years. I couldn’t see that things were going wrong. Very wrong.
There were both physical and psychological signs. I just didn’t have the mental capacity to notice them. And regrettably, there wasn’t anyone around to point out that something was amiss. My environment was, and still is to some extent, more conducive to disordered eating behavior than to recovery.
On the physical side:
On the psychological side:
It was a torturous time. And even though my focus was on being my healthiest self, I had never been sicker in my life. I was suffering deeply.
I can’t tell you I had a sudden realization about the errors of my ways. As I said, my whole environment supports the dieting mentality, and I had much more support in my dieting efforts than I do now in recovery. But still, I am managing.
I started seeing a therapist because I was lashing out at my husband, and I wanted to control my emotions better. By digging deeper into the issues underlying my anger I found a deep sense of inadequacy and not being enough. In the process of unravelling, I was able to make the connection that my problems with food stem from the same place, and I started working on them.
There are a few things that helped me most.
The first is meditation. Meditating has made a huge difference in my life because it’s enabled me to distance myself from my thoughts, and stop believing everything I think. This was huge.
It was important for me to observe this nasty, critical voice and to realize that it’s not mine. It sounded more like my mother. To distance myself from the voice and the emotionally charged image of my mother, I started seeing it like a mean, old witch. By associating a funny image with this chatter in my head, I was able to acknowledge it was there but go about my life, without engaging too much with it.
This has helped me treat myself much more kindly. And by being kinder to myself I started to accept myself more. I am human and not perfect. In some situations, I still start berating myself. But I catch myself quickly and don’t fall into the rabbit hole.
Second, I reached out for support from some trusted friends and started to go out more and observe other people. To my surprise, most people were not on the brink of death just because they ate pizza a couple times a month or because they enjoyed a drink or two.
Also, I started reading more books written by fat activists, and they have been of great help. They are full of humor, compassion, love, and understanding. They have helped me feel less alone, and I’ve benefitted immensely from their recommendation to normalize your view of your body by looking at images of other fat people.
For me, seeing other women of my size and finding them gorgeous and beautiful helped me accept myself more. Taking more pictures of myself, and getting used to how I look, was also huge for me. Because it’s very different from looking in the mirror. In the mirror you can look at just certain parts of your body and not pay attention to others. In a photo, you don’t have much choice.
This can be really hard at first. But it gets so much better.
Also, I found new ways to move my body and enjoy myself, and rekindled my passions for types of exercise I used to enjoy. This has made it so much easier for me to appreciate my wonderful body. I feel grateful for all I am able to do, every single day.
Choosing what to eat is still a battle sometimes. The disordered voices in my head are not abolished, as I said. But now, I can choose not to pay attention to them or believe them.
So now, when I am debating between pizza and fish with salad, I do a couple of things differently than before.
First, I ask myself what do I really want, and why. If I see that I am leaning toward the fish, but only because it’s “better for me,” I remember the sad person I was before. I remember how bad I felt when my life was ruled by rules. And then I clear the rules from my head and imagine what will taste better for me in this moment. And choose that option.
Of course, I don’t always eat pizza. I strive for balance and make healthy choices on the whole. The point is I don’t constantly deprive myself.
What helps me not fall into my old patterns is remembering the way I feel now. I know that despite being heavier, I haven’t felt happier and freer in my life. Not having that constant anxiety is my motivation.
It’s very hard, but I couldn’t be happier that I am going through this journey. I am connecting to myself, my body, and my wishes in a way I was never able to before. And I feel this is the most valuable experience.
I hope that if you’re battling with the same demons, you’ll win. I am rooting for you. And yes, it is possible.
Vania Nikolova, PhD, is the head of health research at RunRepeat.com. She uses her academic knowledge and experience with an eating disorder to shed light on why dieting is bad news.
Get in the conversation! Click here to leave a comment on the site.
The post How Healthy Eating Becomes Unhealthy appeared first on Tiny Buddha.
Source https://seniorplanet.org/raisinghell-at-senior-planet/
Hell was officially raised on December 11th at OATS’ flagship Senior Planet Exploration Center in New York City. OATS welcomed a panel of five seasoned activists for their special #RaisingHell: 50 Years of Activism event. Organized by Isabel Magnus, Manager, Civic Engagement and Advocacy for OATS, the event brought together “hell-raisers” who discussed how the […]
Source https://seniorplanet.org/raisinghell-at-senior-planet/
Hell was officially raised on December 11th at OATS’ flagship Senior Planet Exploration Center in New York City. OATS welcomed a panel of five seasoned activists for their special #RaisingHell: 50 Years of Activism event. Organized by Isabel Magnus, Manager, Civic Engagement and Advocacy for OATS, the event brought together “hell-raisers” who discussed how the […]
