Build your own support team

Share

Many of us grew up with less-than-ideal levels of acceptance and encouragement. That reality generally follows us into our adult years and can play havoc with our ability to make healthy, wise choices for ourselves. Why else are we running into a life coach at every corner these days? Now that there's some accepted wisdom on how to combat the consequences of poor early conditioning—and that wisdom has become teachable—understandably women want to share the knowledge (and hope to make a living by doing so).

I'm just reading a very interesting book called “8 Minutes in the Morning for Extra Easy Weight Loss.” In it author Louis stresses the importance of asking for help—connecting with others, improving your ability to reach out—as a critical weight loss aid. Which is, of course, the idea behind Weight Watchers' group meetings and weigh-ins and so on. It's also a big factor in the 12-step approach. But in this book, he tells you how to create your own team from among people you know.

No money, no need to go out of the house to meetings (which can get pretty tough for already-overburdened working women). I got it out of the library, and I'm enjoying the really simple exercises (I've been doing aerobics for over 25 years and I won't change that) that you do first thing in the morning. It's a fresh approach to eating right and exercise. Recommend reading.

No Comments

Barbara Payne, November 18th 2007 | Posted in aerobics, exercise, life coach, lose weight, weight loss, weight loss aid

A weight loss pill that works? Ask who says so

Share

Yes, Virginia, at last there is a weight loss aid that really helps–even if you’re not grossly overweight. At least that’s what a researcher at the University of Kentucky says about a new weight loss pill you can buy in stores in the U.S. as of today.

It’s called Alli and works not by curbing your appetite, but by blocking your body’s absorption of fat. Of course, the catch is you have to be on a low-fat, weight-loss type of diet for it to help. For 16 weeks they compared a group of mildly to moderately overweight (as opposed to obese) patients who took a placebo and dieted with a similar group that took Alli and dieted.

My only issue with this report is that, although they say how much weight the Alli patients lost (7 to 15 pounds), they don’t say how much more that was than what the control group lost. Now when I see an important statistic like that missing from a report, it gets me wondering about who paid for the study. This especially after studying a press release the other day from the Better Sleep Council that was supposed to be about getting better sleep, I concluded it had to have been funded by the National Mattress Council or somebody–because it kept harping on “get a new mattress more often” as a big solution for sleep problems.

So if you’ve got a friend who’s looking for any kind of help to lose weight, suggest she try this pill. That way you can see how it works for her and find out how much money you have to spend before you try it yourself.

No Comments

Barbara Payne, June 15th 2007 | Posted in Alli, Better Sleep Council, mattress, obesity, overweight, sleep, weight loss, weight loss aid