We spend billions of dollars a year on diet pills, medical weight loss programs, gym memberships, and support groups. We read food labels avidly to determine the number of carbs, fats, and calories contained in something we know we'd be better off without. We count up our daily points and salivate at the thought of the desserts we're allowed on our latest regimen.
The key is our relationship with food. There is just so much of it available: fast food outlets clog our streets, television commercials and 24 hour cooking channels whet our appetites, super chefs tempt us to labor long hours in the kitchen to create our own culinary masterpieces. The different diets all have one enormous component in common -they continue this infatuation with food. What can I eat? How many carbs? How many calories? What is allowed? How can it be made to taste as good as possible?
Our behaviors continue, even the self-destructive kind, because we receive some pleasant reward known in psychology as reinforcement. We continue to overeat because of the emotional satisfaction of devouring good tasting food. We will never slim down until we find satisfaction in something other than food. Young lovers forget to eat because they are consumed with other passions. Gamblers neglect meals because the psychological thrill is in their games. Alcoholics and drug addicts almost never eat because their primary relationship is with their drug of choice. Corporate ladder climbers and entrepreneurs are slim because they are so emotionally invested in their careers and business that nothing else matters.
To pare off fat, we have to focus on something other than food. Focus on some aspect of your life: your family, your community, your job, sports, social welfare, sex, school, hobbies, anything important to you, and you will start to regard food as something that has to be consumed to stay alive but also as something that interferes with your life, to be avoided except when absolutely necessary.
Psychologically distance yourself from food and one day the commercials, the endless burgers and fries, and watching people eating in public will seem totally alien as if a parallel world exists with which you have no connection.
It is then that you will be on the way to controlling your weight.
While many Americans are not completely enamored with the idea of eating at fast foods everyday, these individuals are still getting fatter. Do we have a plague on our hands? Or does it have something to do with the way America has been consuming its calories?
According to the Center for Disease Control or the CDC in the United States, the majority of the adult population in America is now ill with obesity. The figure is alarming, which is why we should do something about it now.
According to the CDC around 60% of adult Americans now fall into the category of mildly obese to morbidly obese. Even with the country-wide recession, this figure is not budging. The problem seems to be much deeper than economics.
The factors
According to the National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute, the problem with overweight individuals in the United States is a mixture of social, cultural, psychological and genetic factors.
Let us try to discuss each of these factors to shed light on this alarming development in the American population.
1. Social - there are two extreme poles with regard to weight in America. One pole states that the ideal body figure should be stick-thin, and thus, food in general should be avoided.
This pole has resulted in the production of anorexics and bulimics. The other pole has a ?no-care? attitude, and says that we should eat all we want because we have full rights to our own bodies.
Both extreme poles are problematic, dangerous and unfortunately, wildly popular. This means that teenagers as well as adults are espousing ideas from both these poles, and both are being damaged by this kind of thinking.
2. Cultural - America has a bipolar personality with regards to weight and weight control. The culture of the thin wants women to be as thin as possible, forgetting that nutrition is still a big part of how humans survive on a day-to-day basis.
The fast food culture on the other hand, encourages convenience, glossing over the number of calories and the harmful effects of too much cholesterol and body fat. Again, both these extreme poles are harming the populace.
3. Psychological - some Americans might be finding comfort in overeating. The human psyche was designed in such a way that if it cannot cope with pressure, it finds ?comfort activities?. One of these popular ?comfort activities? is eating.
Chocolates, sugary foods and crunchy junk foods all fall into the category of comfort food. They fall into the category because they are easily available, tasty and come in large quantities.
4. Genetic - though this is something that medicine cannot completely alter, genetics also plays a part in the rising number of obese adults.
The premise here is simple- if your parents were obese, you would be predisposed to be obese as well. If you become obese, your children and your children's children will be predisposed to obesity too.
It's a vicious cycle that we should try to stop by remedying obesity now.
Both Virginia Bola & Stewart C 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.
Virginia Bola has sinced written about articles on various topics from Employment, Lose Weight and Interview Questions. Dr. Bola is a psychologist and an admitted diet fanatic, specializing in therapeutic reframing and the