Tag Archives: overweight

Obesity Affecting Our Police Force

Obesity has become such a problem in America that it’s even affecting our police force. I recently read a story about police officers who are failing their physicals, having to retake them. To be honest, considering what we expect from police officers I was very surprised. Their physical is not that difficult, in light of what we expect them to do for our cities and towns, in protecting us. These fitness exams consisted of push-ups, one and a half mile run, obstacle course and a flexibility test. For someone who is going out to serve and protect, this really doesn’t … Continue reading →

Overweight in Alabama

Every so often, I see a news story that just brings me up short. This one caught my eye today. Apparently, the state of Alabama is trying to crack down on obesity by hitting its employees where they live – their pocketbooks. That’s right – if you work for the state of Alabama and you’re overweight, you’ll soon be paying $25.00 more per month for your health insurance as opposed to the employees who are not overweight. This adds up to $300.00 more per year. The state is calling this a financial incentive to lose weight. I haven’t decided yet … Continue reading →

Weight a Minute! Dressing for My Body Type

Being a large woman, and living with the mindset that I’m going to lose all my weight someday, I’ve never wanted to spend money on clothes. In the first place, it’s disheartening to shop for clothes that are labeled several sizes higher than what you really want to be, and in the second place, who wants to spend money on fat clothes? So for the last few years, I’ve spent very little on myself, having a few nicer outfits for church and business, and the rest of my wardrobe consisting of T-shirts and knit pants. Hey, I’m a mommy – … Continue reading →

When Your Spouse’s Appearance is Slipping

Time, stress, marriage, and children all take a toll on our looks and emotions. There are those few exceptions when we see someone who looks better after aging than before. However, in reality it is just usually that they have taken better care of themselves or have more time and money to spend on themselves than the rest of us. With time, we often see weight gain, hair loss, hair color changes, wrinkles, flab, loss of figure, and more. After marriage, we often worry less about our appearances and become comfortable around our spouse. Fixing up for him/her is not … Continue reading →

Are You in Denial About Your Overweight Child?

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A recent poll showed that half the parents who had overweight or obese kids simply didn’t realize their kids weighed too much. Now it is one thing to look in the mirror and deny that we’re getting heavier but what on earth are we doing to our kids if we turn a blind eye? Dieticians believe that parents are in denial about their kids’ weight because they don’t want to have to change their own eating and exercise habits. What does that say about us as parents if we aren’t willing to teach our kids good healthy habits for a … Continue reading →

Are You an Overweight Mom? Get Some Sleep!

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Do you crave starchy foods all day? Are you hungry all the time? Is your diet failing because you just can’t stop eating? It could be that you simply aren’t getting enough sleep. According to Dr. Joseph Ojile of the Clayton Sleep Institute, there is a direct connection between poor sleep and obesity. In fact, the National Sleep Foundation has found poor sleep habits to be such a part of obesity that they want obesity therapists to consider this issue in the fight against obesity with as much importance as diet and exercise. The proof came in 2004 when a … Continue reading →

Dear Heather … My Husband Thinks It’s My Fault

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Dear Heather I get so frustrated with my husband sometimes. I’m overweight. I have been since my second child was born. With my son, the weight just fell off, but in the last couple of years I haven’t lost that pregnancy weight with my daughter. I don’t like how I look, honestly, I feel very chunky and ungainly these days. I gained over 50 pounds and I only lost about 10 after our daughter was born and then quickly regained that 10 pounds. A couple of days ago, I was feeling pretty frustrated and my husband said, and I quote, … Continue reading →

If You Don’t Trust the Mirror, Take a Good Look at Your Dog!

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We all know that people tend to find pets who are similar to them in some way. I have a Rhodesian Ridgeback who likes to lay around all day, refuses to be rushed and will tear the stuffing out of anybody or any thing that threatens our family. I guess I’m a little bit like that. You see, we love to compare ourselves and our pets’ good qualities but what we often overlook are the other qualities. Some of us (not me) have such high self-esteem that we don’t actually see what is in the mirror. We see the picture … Continue reading →

Metamucil and Weight Loss

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OK, I’ll admit that the topic of fiber in our diets is something you might expect to find in a health blog by a vegetarian but this definitely belongs in a weight loss blog. Truth be told, I am a carnivore. I don’t have the discipline for a vegetarian diet. I believe human beings were given canines so that we too can rip into meat. After 39 years of living in this skin of mine, I have discovered that my body runs a whole lot better when it is running on a combined fuel of protein and vegetables. (Sadly, I … Continue reading →

Do You Act Fat?

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I had the weirdest conversation with someone the other day. I was standing outside my daughter’s dance school and I was chatting with a couple of the other mothers. To put it into perspective, one of the women was a size 6 or 7 and the other I would hazard was somewhere around a 14 or 16. She wore my size. Both women look good and while I would hazard that the woman who wore my size was a little on the overweight side, she didn’t appear fat as we define it in our culture. Now, bear in mind, I … Continue reading →