Yes, you can say goodbye to diets forever. At last, permanent weight loss can be a reality. There’s a new weight loss system that is about to change the face of weight loss. It’s new, it’s revolutionary and it’s called ‘The Slim Habit’. Read more…
Mail this postPopularity: 33% [?]
You have probably noticed that the diet industry is never shy about coming up with new ideas or new fads, trying to convince us that they have the answer to the best way to lose weight. There is always some new potion, pill or plan popping up trying to catch our eye. Read more…
Mail this postPopularity: 33% [?]
What do you think the phrase ‘We’re all creatures of habit’ means? Can it be true? Does this mean that habits control our lives? Actually, we would be totally lost without habits. Habits help us to run our lives more efficiently. They help us to manage and survive in our world. Read more…
Mail this postPopularity: 32% [?]
Many people who want to lose weight will ask themselves the question do I need to exercise to lose weight? This is a common question and the answer to that is relatively simple. Losing weight requires a combination of factors and exercise is one of them. It is needed along with proper diet and nutrition. With no exercise your body cannot make the most of its calorie burning ability. If you are only Read more…
Mail this postPopularity: 38% [?]
Ministry of Food – Passing on the Power of Behaviour Change Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food is an inspired initiative. It’s also great to see the power of celebrity being used in such a constructive way. It’s a very acceptable mixture of altruism and self-interest. More power to his arm! Read more…
Mail this postPopularity: 23% [?]
If you’re looking for information on how to get slim quickly, keep reading. Today, millions of people are unhappy with being overweight and are searching for a way to become slim for life without fad diets, pills, or quick fixes. In this brief article, I’ll show you how I personally lost over 50 pounds and have managed to keep it off nearly 1 year later.
I’m going to be brutally honest here — if you Read more…
Mail this postPopularity: 13% [?]
There’s a new government backed initiative in the UK called Change4Life, which has been aimed at trying to reduce obesity. It has been targeted at nine towns, which have been designated as ‘healthy towns’. Is this another initiative that is going to ‘tinker at the edges’ of the problem or is it going to make a real and lasting difference? Read more…
Mail this postPopularity: 8% [?]
ITV News is featuring the South Yorkshire town of Doncaster in its series of news specials on obesity. Why? Because Doncaster has one of the highest levels of obesity in the country. Doncaster has become a blighted community, blighted by the curse of obesity.
Obesity is a far more serious problem than many people think. Why? Because it’s socially contagious. You are 60% more likely to become obese if your friends or family are obese. Being obese can become socially acceptable, it can become the norm in a community. It is already a contagion that is putting healthcare resources under severe strain in Doncaster. If its spread across the country is not checked, the NHS will soon be unable to cope. Scarce resources will be allocated to diseases, the causes of which are entirely preventable.
What is even more alarming is the insidious nature of obesity. It slowly destroys the heart of a community. It disables people physically making even the simplest tasks a chore, and it reduces brain function. Perhaps we are all destined to be like the people on the spaceship Axiom in the Pixar movie Wal-e! Let’s hope we come to our senses before then.
So what’s the answer? There is only one possible answer and that is that the community has to change. It has to change its behaviour. The catalyst for that change must be the community itself. How does it change? By learning new eating and lifestyle habits – slim habits.
The drivers of change have to be groups within the community, ‘slimpals’, if you like, who set the example. As obesity’s socially contagious, there is no reason why being slim can’t be contagious too! Correctly managed and given the right publicity and resources, the spirit of change could catch on very easily.
The publicity that Doncaster is receiving from ITV could be used to get people’s attention and to generate enthusiasm. It will need a coordinated plan to implement the program, but it is an opportunity that shouldn’t be missed. Doncaster could well become the slimmest and fittest town in the country – why not!
A speaker and writer on diet and how to get slim, John McPhie is committed to helping people to change their behavior and lose weight permanently by learning new eating and lifestyle habits. Learn more about how to lose weight permanently – visit http://www.slimhabit.com. For your FREE Slim Habit A-Z Calorie Counter Click here
Mail this postPopularity: 9% [?]
When it comes to obesity, Doncaster is a community in crisis. The town has one of the highest levels of obesity in the country. Unless people can be persuaded to change their eating and lifestyle habits, the great people of Doncaster are going to become a blighted community. It’s not something they deserve. Read more…
Mail this postPopularity: 9% [?]
Doncaster used to be famous for coal mining and railway engineering. Today it is famous for having one of the most overweight communities in the United Kingdom. Obesity related health problems cost the local health authority £91millon ($148m) every year, which equates to nearly £1400 ($2,300) per person. So what is wrong with Doncaster? Why are so many people overweight or obese? Is it just bad eating and lifestyle habits?
Bad eating and lifestyle habits are the root cause of the problem, but there is another element which actually exacerbates the situation. It’s the fact that obesity is socially contagious.
What has developed in communities like Doncaster is a fundamental change in social norms. To be overweight or obese in Doncaster is not seen as different or out of the ordinary. In fact it has a very high degree of social acceptability.
A recent study in the US found that you have a more than 60% chance of becoming obese if your friends are obese. It’s easy to understand why. A new norm is established. You feel comfortable in the company of other obese people. A bond is created within your social network and you feel safe from criticism.
Families also set their own norms. If bad eating and lifestyle habits are a part of the family ‘culture’, and being overweight or obese is accepted, or not the subject of comment or criticism, the contagion easily spreads to friends within the family social network.
The television company ITV is doing a six month investigation into obesity, starting in Doncaster. They have certainly chosen a challenging place to start. Highlighting the problems of Doncaster is extremely helpful, but it would be unfair to suggest that they can come up with a solution to the town’s problem, and it’s unlikely that this is their intention, but a solution needs to be found – urgently.
So where might a solution lie? There are two areas which could provide the answer. The first is in influencing individual behaviour and the second is in providing example and social support.
As far as the individual is concerned it’s not about going on a diet. A diet will help to reduce weight, but diet weight loss is only short-term weight loss, the weight will come back again. It’s about changing behaviour. Without behaviour change there can be no lasting weight loss. Getting people to change their behaviour by learning new eating and lifestyle habits – slim habits, is the only way to achieve permanent weight loss.
Why are habits so important? Because they influence and dictate our behavior. They allow us to carry out routine tasks automatically, without thinking. Every day we set our brains on autopilot and allow our habits to run our lives. We learn our habits, good and bad, through repetition and practice, They become ‘hotwired’ onto our brain where they stay forever. We can’t change them or get rid of them, but we can learn new habits to supersede them. Learning new habits is the simplest and most effective way to change behavior. They are the key to permanent weight loss.
To change the established norm of a community is a huge challenge. It will take time and perseverance, but by establishing a nucleus of people willing to change their behaviour and set an example, and by getting them to recruit others to their cause who want to make change, it is possible to make progress: couple that with a system of social support within the groups, and the likelihood of a new norm being established in Doncaster becomes more than just a possibility.
For Doncaster, doing nothing about this problem is not an option: the financial cost to the community unsustainable and the personal cost to individuals is unacceptable. A slim and healthy future is there for everybody in Doncaster who wants it. The secret lies in making change. In changing behaviour and learning new eating and lifestyle habits – slim habits.
Henry John is a writer and speaker and on weight loss. He is also the author of the weight loss program The Slim Habit. www.slimhabit.com
Mail this postPopularity: 7% [?]
