Common Sense...Part 2...

Feeling a bit frustrated at the moment. Since my last post about Common Sense, it seems more and more that we are looking for an artificial, quick fix, and easiest way to drop weight in our society and the need to be skinny is just as rampant, but so too is our obesity levels in the western world.

I like to sit and read nutritional studies that have been done and the results online, where today I was reading one on Combination phentermine and topiramate for weight maintenance: the first Australian experience (www.mja.com.au). An interesting issue of prescribing medication and giving patients VLED (Very Low Energy Diet). As you read the article the number of patients that ceased the medication due to adverse side effects was interesting, and yet those that managed to continue and looking at the results at the end where initial weight was lost, but after an amount of time that weight was regained.

I understand that for those who are morbidly obese there needs to be something drastic done in order to start the weight drop, but if we could get down to the bottom of why people become so obese, or even looking at the other end of the spectrum of weight to those who are dangerously thin. How do we put into action the psychology, diet, exercise into place for society to see that these are the changes that need to be made, and not relying on the medical field to find the answers with drugs and surgery.

What is phentermine?
Phentermine is a stimulant similar to an amphetamine. It acts as an appetite suppressant by affecting the central nervous system.
Phentermine is used together with diet and exercise to treat obesity (overweight) in people with risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes.
Important information
Do not use phentermine if you are pregnant or breast-feeding a baby.
You should not take phentermine if you have a history of heart disease (coronary artery disease, heart rhythm problems, congestive heart failure, stroke), severe or uncontrolled high blood pressure, overactive thyroid, glaucoma, a history of pulmonary hypertension, if you are in an agitated state, or if you have a history of drug or alcohol abuse. (Drugs.com)

Topiramate is used alone or with other medications to treat certain types of seizures including primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures (formerly known as a grand mal seizure; seizure that involves the entire body) and partial onset seizures (seizures that involve only one part of the brain). Topiramate is also used with other medications to control seizures in people who have Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (a disorder that causes seizures and developmental delays). Topiramate is also used to prevent migraine headaches but not to relieve the pain of migraine headaches when they occur. Topiramate is in a class of medications called anticonvulsants. It works by decreasing abnormal excitement in the brain. (Medline Plus)

So why is it we are coming to the point of mixing drugs that are used for other illnesses to try and combat obesity and reduce weight. Why can't we go to the basics where the proportions we eat, the exercise we get has more of a positive outcome than popping pills. We spend so much money on medications and quick fixes for weight loss, and I have heard excuses from people saying it costs too much for healthy food, than junk food, but the way westerners are going we will be paying billions of dollars to pharmaceutical companies to give us pills to be healthy, and loose weight,  when really all it could take is healthy eating and moving our bodies daily to bring weight down, building strong muscles, bones and organs.

Surgery is also an option for morbidly obese people, which in situations can help, though I still believe that psychological counselling is a must before and after. For someone who has always eating large amounts of food, and then to go to eating no more than a palmful size of food, is a massive change and one that needs to be dealt with on many levels. It would be no different from girls with anorexia being tube fed to be kept alive, and not having these girls go through psychological treatment for their issues wouldn't allow these girls to change and become healthier, and believe me not everyone makes it through on both sides of the weight scale.

In order for me to understand why I was sacrificing so much of my life by not eating and over exercising I spent many a time in my psychologists office talking, and time at home thinking and writing, till one day when it all came to the surface to why I was like I was...yes I made the necessary changes in my life, which meant cutting off relationships to immediate family members in order for me to start living a healthier life of gaining weight. I guess I am wanting others to see that there are reasons for why we do things and the way we treat our bodies. I believe we need to look at weight loss and gain on such a psychological level as well as diet, and exercise, if we learn about the reasons why we do things, it should help in the way we treat it.

Have a great day/night

Hayley xx