Many factors contribute to obesity; however, struggling with depression or eating disorders can make achieving a normal, healthy weight almost impossible. According to a four-year study involving almost 500 adolescent girls (ages 11-15), researchers found that those who were depressed or tried radical dieting were more likely to become obese than those who ate high-fat foods or sometimes binged.
That's because, explained researchers, harsh weight-control methods can promote weight gain, rather than weight loss. Such methods include:
Moreover, extreme dieting results in overeating or a shift in metabolism -- because the body doesn't know what's going on or when the next "normal" meal will come, it slows down.
Other Obesity Predictors
While eating high-fat foods, binge-eating or lack of exercise did not forecast future weight gain; the study revealed that whether or not a girl's parents were obese (explained not by genetics but by environmental factors such as what's lurking in the fridge) was a predictor of obesity.
And, aside from depression leading to overeating, another possibility for the depression-obesity link is likely caused by a lack of the happy chemical serotonin, which motivates people to eat a lot of carbohydrate-rich foods.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology April 2005 (Free Full-Text Article)
These results actually make perfect sense when you consider your body's natural survival response to low-calorie diets is to decrease its metabolic rate.
However, of even more immediate concern is that using such dieting methods can lead to more acute problems and even result in death.
If optimal health is the goal, the truth is that there are no short cuts or magic bullets that will help you or your children lose weight and keep it off. Healthy weight management starts with eating food that your body is meant to consume, with a particular emphasis on avoiding grains and sugars.
Optimizing body weight also necessitates that you and your family consume food portions according to your nutritional types, and follow a regular and appropriate exercise routine.
Perhaps the most important factor, especially for teens struggling with body image issues, involves addressing the underlying emotional component that contributes greatly to obesity, or even worse, the fear behind it. Rather than recommend antidepressants masquerading as cure-alls, I recommend energy psychology tools like the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT).
EFT is a form of psychological acupressure, based on the same energy meridians used in traditional acupuncture to treat physical and emotional ailments for over five thousand years, but without the invasiveness of needles. Instead, simple tapping with the fingertips is used to input kinetic energy onto specific meridians on the head and chest while you think about your specific problem -- whether it is a traumatic event, an addiction, pain, etc. -- and voice positive affirmations.
This combination of tapping the energy meridians and voicing positive affirmation works to clear the "short-circuit," or emotional block, from your body's bio-energy system, restoring your mind and body's balance.
A good first step for anyone dealing with obesity or psychological issues relating to body image is to review my free EFT manual and begin to learn this amazing technique in the comfort of your home. If you need more guidance in learning this technique, I recommend reviewing Gary Craig's EFT Practitioner Referrals.
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