Let's say you are stressed, frustrated, angry, sad, lonely, tired or depressed. You want to feel better and you find yourself mindlessly reaching for food. You eat quickly, paying little attention to the type of food or how much you're eating. At some point, what you've just done registers physically, mentally and emotionally. You feel disgusted, angry, guilty, upset, discouraged with yourself and resign yourself to believing that this unhealthy habit will never change.
There are a few things happening here. First, you're trying to find a fast, easy way to self soothe which doesn't require any thought or pre planning. It's easy, it temporarily numbs the pain, calms the anxiety, reduces the anger, keeps the fear down and provides a temporary distraction so you don't have to evaluate, fix or solve your problem. Yes it keeps you overweight, but it also provides an opportunity to remove yourself from feeling, thinking and dealing with your fears, doubts and insecurities. You may even be unaware that you do this or you may not know why you've chosen this coping strategy. What you do know however is that eating emotionally leaves you overweight and unhappy.
There are many reasons why we may eat emotionally, ranging from staying with conditioned behaviors we were taught to having poor coping skills or outlets to help us handle our problems and ourselves in a more effective way. While it seems natural to want to kick the emotional eating habit in order to lose weight, many of us may need to consider why we may feel the need to keep the weight on.
Weight provides a protective barrier. Remember when you would hide behind your mom's leg when you were scared? Our extra layers of weight may be providing that same security. For many, losing weight may leave us feeling insecure or uncertain because our role may change once the weight is lost. Expectations by others and ourselves may change as a result of weight loss success and we may feel that we are expected to accomplish more, perform or behave differently as a result. This feeling can generate fear and it may seem easier to stay with what is familiar than to venture into the unknown.
The extra weight also keeps us out of the game of life, giving us an excuse to avoid something rather than risk failure. With the weight, you may justify being rejected, overlooked or disregarded as being a result of the excess weight rather than deal with the pain of not being liked, wanted or valued.
Yet another reason why we may keep the weight on is to punish someone or to test someone's love for us. Maybe you dislike your husband's, partner's, parent's or coworker's comments, criticism or judgment about your weight. Keeping the weight on may be your passive/aggressive way of talking back.
Finally, for some of us, keeping the weight on is a way to test our spouse's love for us and we use it to see if the relationship will withstand the weight. When you're overweight yet confident, loving and supportive, relationships can survive almost anything. When you're negative, pessimistic and using your weight as a testing tool, you may want to consider what the real reason is that you're putting your relationship through this test.
It takes some real soul searching to look deep within and try to understand what the excess weight provides. Does it provide security, protection, an excuse to avoid a perceived failure? Whatever the reason, it's important to discover and understand why you've chosen to keep the weight on. Now try to see if you're trying to punish anyone other than yourself, if it's rational and worthy of continuing. If you discover something traumatizing or it feels too difficult for you to handle alone, get the help and support you need to get you through. By uncovering the reason for your weight, you're taking the first step to doing anything to change it.
Very often, excess weight is an outward sign that something is going on inside. For many moms, excess weight provides nothing more than a lack of energy, frustration and larger clothes. For others however, the excess weight provides much more. It's up to you to determine what the extra weight is giving you and what price you're willing to pay to keep it there.
DNA testing has exploded in the scientific, medical, and judicial world over the past few years as a sure-fire way to find out one's identity. This type of testing answers questions regarding one's lineage, who committed crimes, as well as thousands of other scientific advances that come from these small strands of genetic makeup. Almost every cell found within the human body contains DNA and other living organisms also contain DNA. The thing that makes DNA so unique, and so helpful, is that no two people, with the exception of identical twins, have the exact same DNA. Siblings, parents, and children may all have similar DNA but they will never have an exact match. Because of this, scientists are continually finding more and more ways to use DNA and how this wonderful structure could be helpful in every day life.
DNA testing can be very helpful when a crime has been committed as it can point the finger at the exact person who committed the crime. By simply taking a DNA sample from the crime scene and matching it with a list of possible suspects, this eliminates any uncertainty and can prove, without a doubt, who was responsible for the crime. DNA tests, when used for these types of judicial matters, only test a very small portion of the entire DNA strand but just that tiny little piece of information is enough to convict an individual or to allow someone free who did not commit the crime but was thought of a suspect prior to the DNA tests.
DNA tests can also be extremely useful in legal paternity cases. If a woman gives birth to a child but is no longer in a relationship with the birth father, she is entitled to child support payments and if the man disputes the fact that he is actually the birth father, DNA tests can easily prove that he is the child's father and therefore, responsible for all child support payments. These DNA tests are incredibly accurate, up to 99 or 100 percent in fact, as when a child is born their DNA is made up 50 percent from the mother's side and 50 percent from the father's side. The way in which the tests determine paternity or exclude it is by testing one DNA sample from the child and one from the father. If there is any similarity, the test will generally come back as ?99% non-exclusion,? meaning that there is a 99% chance that the man is the father of the child. If there are no similarities between the two DNA samples, the test will come back ?100% exclusion?. Even a 99% chance of non-exclusion is enough for the court to determine paternity and force the man to begin or continue making child support payments.
Individuals that are considering DNA testing should get it done as soon as they can. This can help eliminate much of the heartache and struggle that one parent is left with when another is absent, or in criminal cases where some individuals may be punished for a crime that they didn't commit.
Both Debi Silber, Ms, Rd, Whc & Grojan Fabiola are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Debi Silber, Ms, Rd, Whc has sinced written about articles on various topics from self improvement and motivation, self improvement and motivation and self improvement and motivation. Debi Silber, MS, RD,WHC is a Registered Dietitian, Certified Personal Trainer, Whole Health Coach, Lifestyle Expert just for moms and the President of Lifestyle Fitness, Inc. For nearly 20 years, Debi has been inspiring and empowering moms to become physi. Debi Silber, Ms, Rd, Whc's top article generates over 2900 views. to your Favourites.
Grojan Fabiola has sinced written about articles on various topics from Home Improvement, Information Technology and Estate Planning. Want to find out more about or ? Visit this links and you will find. Grojan Fabiola's top article generates over 1830000 views. to your Favourites.