Healthy Weight Loss for the New Year
Sacramento, Calif. – As health care providers, we fully recognize that excess weight leads to higher rates of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and other serious health conditions. But we are equally aware of the tragic consequences of a nation striving to look like supermodels, unable to accept their own unique bodies.
Eating Disorders and Health Problems
This constant striving directly leads to millions of women (and some men) suffering from eating disorders and often irreversible health problems, in addition to the obvious emotional and psychological damage that tens of millions of "normal" women endure as they live often joyless lives, struggling with society's relentless demand that they be thin.
There is a huge difference between making positive changes to live a healthier life and making changes out of shame about one's body in pursuit of cultural acceptance. We unapologetically say that if a patient had to choose between being a little heavy and being at peace, or being thinner and consumed with weight and appearance-and the disgust a woman often feels toward her own body-being overweight may be the better choice. What is happening in America today to the psyches of American women (and some men) is sheer madness.
As practitioners, we are left in a quandary: encouraging our patients to make positive changes in diet and lifestyle habits and, yes, to lose fat if necessary, while at the same time vigorously advocating that patients love and accept themselves today, however far they may be from their ideal body composition.
Health cannot be achieved through hating our bodies, but only by embracing ourselves exactly as we are today, even if we are far from our ideal body composition. Enough chaos exists in our hectic lives without creating battles with our own bodies.
Harmony Within Ourselves
It is imperative to our health and happiness that we live in harmony within ourselves and that we shower ourselves with positive self-talk, even as the media floods our senses and emotions with images that reinforce the idea that we are not enough.
Advertisements abound that are designed to manipulate vulnerable people into feeling inadequate in comparison to the skinny, beautiful models portrayed in the media. The effects are toxic not only to our minds but also to our bodies, and this must change.
Tune In to Your Body
Take at least five minutes every day to sit in silence and tune in to your own body. From a place of nonjudgment, listen to how you talk to yourself, and ask whether those are truly the messages you want to believe about yourself.
Parents, never talk about your dissatisfaction with your weight in front of your children; this teaches kids that their bodies are something that should be changed.
It is time for the American people to stand up and be counted-to say no to the exploitation of women. It is time for American women to be liberated from this travesty. It is time for American men to tell their wives, girlfriends, sisters, and mothers that they want their loved ones to be healthy and happy, and that they should not buy into fat phobia. The lives of current and future generations of American women hang in the balance.
We are attempting to continue the dialogue on this critical issue of our time, and we welcome your suggestions.
Explore additional topics from Sacramento Naturopathic Medical Center with Dr. Godby, ND, MA and his team at Natural Wellness.
As a naturopathic doctor for the last 20 years, I have witnessed the power of a preventative lifestyle and naturopathic medicine to transform the health and lives of thousands of patients.
Sacramento Naturopathic
2530 J Street, Suite 100
Sacramento, CA 95816
Phone: (916) 446-2591
sac-nd.com/dr-dennis-godby-nd-ma