Weight and Television Commercials

I had dinner last night with my son Brian who not only is on our sales and marketing team but also has been on the Serotonin-Plus program. Brian made the observation last night that virtually every commercial on television is tempting viewers with 5 dollar P-zones from Pizza Hut, 5 dollar foot longs from Subway, McDonalds Big Macs etc. Certainly, these commercials must work very well because they keep running them. Moreover, the ease of getting home delivery has been enhanced by internet ordering or even just touching your I-phone.

Brian suggested DVR-ing your favorite shows and skipping the commercials. This will eliminate the "temptation" that these commercials invoke. These companies are very smart in their advertising campaigns and they know how to appeal to the hedonistic parts of our brains. If we do not see their commercials, we may not feel the "Mac attack".

obesity as a disease

I am responding to a comment yesterday in response to my entry about the 147 billion dollars a year being spent on obesity-related health problems.

The writer queried as to why, if the government is so concerned about these excessive health care expenditures related to obesity conditons, does it not cover obesity treatment. Alcohol,and drug addiction programs are available through government intervention, so why not obesity?

I share this concern and I think the point here is that obesity is mistaken for some syndrome which is under an individual person's control, whereas the other addictive problems such as alcohol are viewed differently.
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I believe that weight issues are very freequently present because of neurochemical imbalances and other physical issues that are NOT under someone's "control". I believe that virtually everyone who is overweight does not want to be this way, and this crosses racial, gender and socioeconomic diffeerences. As a matter of fact the % of obesity has risen in higher socioeconomic groups at a faster rate than other groups.

Obesity is a DISEASE in and of itself, Yes, it causes other disease states, similar to alcoholism being a disease, yetr causing other disease states such as liver failure. We, as a nation need to treat obesity as a disease and offer treatments for it. If we do not become more aggressively involved, there will be no answer to healthcare reform because expenditures on comorbidities will bankrupt any system put in place.

weight loss and Americans

Yesterday on the front page of the USA Today newspaper was an article detailing the extent of how obesity is costing America billions of dollars in medical care. Americans who are 30 pounds or more above a healthy body weight are costing the country 147 BILLION dollars in obesity-associated medical problems in 2008 and this is DOUBLE the amount from 1998. Obesity accounts for 9.1% of healthcare expenditures whic is up from 6.5 % in 1998.

Obesity is the biggest reason for healthcare cost increases and most of this 147 BILLION dollars is being paid by taxpayers as over 50% of the obesity-related expenditures are taking place in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

As the President and our elected officials are working through healthcare reform, it is imperative that the obesity epidemic must be addressed and steps taken to reverse this trend. Otherwise, the entire system will collapse from lack of money to pay for the services and medications required.

weight loss and microwaves

The prevalence of obesity has risen dramatically over the past several decades and there are multiple reasons as to why. The growth of fast food restaurants, more sedentary life style due to computer usage and many other issues have been postulated to contribute to this growing health problem.

I am not certain it is a coincidence that the advent of the microwave seems to correlate with the rising obesity epidemic. It is quite simple to pop a premade, prefab dinner or lunch into a microwave and have a hot dish ready in 5 minutes. Pizzas, lasagna, hot pockets and snack foods such as popcorn are at your fingertips within a 5 minute period. Convenience and decent taste make these microwaves meals and snacks an easy choice at times, especially when you are busy.

Some of these meals carry nice sounding titles such as "Weight Watchers", "Lean Cusisines" etc...but....check the calorie counts and it has been our experience trhat peole who rely on these meals do not see the type of aggressive weight loss results that you desire.

Technology such as the internet and microwaves have made our lives much easier. But it has come at a price..and that price has been worsening health as a nation.

weight loss and supermarkets

First, congrats Suzanne on not reaching for that 5th french fry at the beach!

I was checking out of the supermarket and I was noticing that virtuallyt every check out lane had an incredible array of candy bars and hogh-caloric snack foods staring you down. I started thionking of the time when "children-friendly" check out lanes were in vogue because a number of people were complaining that when checking out, their kids would harangue them for candies, reach for them etc.

Well, certainly things have noit changed much. The Three Musketeers are still greeting you on virtually every check out lane.

Do supermarkets have a social responsibility to remove all of these? Do thje fast food chains have a social responisbility to remove the value meals and combos/supersizes from their offerings?

These are businesses and they are trying to make money. Make no mistake about it, these businesses know full well the psychological aspects of positioning these snacks in front of you when you check out.

It is our own responsibilty to go shopping when we are not in a "hungry" mode and NOT be tempted by the various snacks at the checkout lane. These businesses create jobs and it would be bad for the economy to have them not succeed. However, this does not mean that we cannot control our own actions.

weighy loss and happiness

Many patients tell me that when they achieve significant weight loss their global sense of "happiness"improves dramatically. Feeling better physicially and feeling better about how you look goes hand in hand with increasing "happiness". The road to this goal is paved with barriers, saboteurs, etc., but the end result leaves you feeling happier in many ways. If we all know that the happiness levels improve, then why is America 65% overweight?

Instinctual human behavior patterns explain part of this. Intellectually, we know that losing weight is "good for us", but to some extent we are an immediate gratification species, and when a good looking food source appears, it is very difficult for us to say "no".

Always try to mentate the reasons why you want to lose weight and try to focus on your current "happiness" level now and how that would change when you reach your weight loss goals. This will provide you with impetus to "just say no" when those high-caloric food sources appear.

weight loss and alcohol

Last evening I was at a social function/business mixer and I was introduced to a number of people as a "weight loss doctor". The social function had free wine and beer and most people were talking with a drink in hand. I was asked about our weight loss program and whether alcohol could still be compatible with our plan.

Here is the issue about alcohol: In addition to the calories the alcohol contains, there is a general metabolic slowdown that occurs in people who consume alcohol regularly. The chronic use of alcohol will slow down your weight loss efforts. A glass or two of wine a nite seems innoculous, but when it comes to losing weight, it is not innocuous at all.

Having an occasional drink is compatible with our plan, but I would ask you to take a step back, assess your current alcohol usage, and realize that for you to lose weight you must curtail that usage.. Fuerthermore, to keep the weight off, you need to maintain thatreduced alcohol usage. Also, alcohol tends to reduce inhibition and control, and eating behaviors may change as well.