Scales For You

About two years ago, I decided I wanted a house dog.  I went to see some new Chihuahua puppies to choose the one I wanted.  The runt of the litter seemed to relax when I held him, went to sleep in my lap, and immediately bonded with me.  I tried to convince myself that I didn’t really want a dog to care for (especially since my husband was talking against the idea), but the vision of that little runt of the litter just wouldn’t let me be.  I decided to babysit the puppy for a week to see how we would adapt.  He would cry out in the night, I would run to his bed, love him and play with him, and get him back to sleep.  This happened about every two hours the first night, but gradually decreased until by the end of the week, he was sleeping through the night.  I promised him that if he would just let me sleep, I would love and care for him.  After that week, I paid for him, bought all the necessities, and settled in to be a dog owner.  Since that time, he has bonded with my cat and my husband, so all is fine now.

I have decided that my extra pounds on my body have bonded with me about like that little Chihuahua.  I’ve had them so long, lost them for a short time, added them again, etc. until I think they love me just like my little dog.  They know I’ll care for them.  I know this sound ridiculous, so once again, I’ll step on my bathroom scales and resolve to lose weight.  However, if I fail, I know my pounds love me and want to stay with me.

Body Mass Index (BMI) is used as a screening tool to identify possible weight problems for adults.  It is not a diagnostic tool.  A healthcare provider would need to perform further assessments which might include skinfold thickness measurements, evaluations of diet, physical activity, family history, etc.  Since overweight and obese individuals are at increased risk for many diseases and health conditions, it is important to get the proper screenings to detect problems early.  The formula for BMI is:    weight (lb) / [height (in.)]2 x 703

Unless you’re a math whiz, it’s much easier to get some body mass index scales to figure it for you.  If your BMI is below 18.5, you’re considered underweight; 18.5 - 24.9 normal; 25.0 - 29.9 overweight; and 30.0 and above is obese.    www.holladaypartners.com  has body mass index scales at the lowest price ever.

I’ve been scanning a lot of pictures into the computer.  My ex daughter-in-law offered to let me borrow her pictures and scan them.  It has been exciting since my house burned a few years ago, and these are pictures taken earlier.  I have seen myself dressed in clothes that I had forgotten about, seen pictures hanging on the wall that I painted, and seen myself when I weighed a lot less.  Oops!  That’s the difficult part.  How did I manage to put all that extra weight on in just a few years. 

The beginning of the year is always a good time to make resolutions.  The holidays will soon be over, so the excuse of all the food at all those parties will no longer be feasible.  An electronic scale added to my bathroom will remind me that I need to start eating less and exercising more.  Or maybe, I can eat just as much food if I’ll eat fruit and vegetables instead of all those desserts.  Pictures bring back memories, some good and some bad.  I plan to look better in next year’s Christmas pictures!

Have you heard of “polypharmacy”?  It has been defined as “the  taking of five or more medications at the same time.”  Someone else added that it might be “the taking of any medication that is not needed.”  Bad medication results have been estimated as the fourth or fifth leading cause of death in hospitals.  Since doctors are so specialized, many people go to one doctor for one condition, another doctor for a different condition, and get prescriptions from both.  In addition, herbs and over-the-counter drugs are often added into the mix.  Sometimes side effects to medications being taken cause misdiagnosis, thus often adding even more prescriptions.  In addition, medicines that were not taken when prescribed are often taken at a later day because of self-diagnosis.  These medicines all interact with each other, sometimes with serious consequences.

Obesity brings on additional problems.  Carrying extra pounds causes the body’s organs (including the heart) to be overworked, increasing health risks.  If we are serious about wanting to be healthy, we need to plan and eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly.  A large capacity bathroom scale can help us get started, regardless of how much we weigh.  Documenting our weight each week will help determine our progress.  If we eliminate all unnecessary medication, eat a healthy diet, and exercise regularly, we can prevent health problems and improve our outlook on life.  A large variety of scales are available at www.holladaypartners.com at the lowest prices ever.

Christmas is lots of fun, but lots of work, too.  We had ours this weekend, in fact, we had two yesterday and two today.  That’s a little too much fun! It was exciting to watch the grandchildren (most of them are teenagers now) really participate in the fun and games we played.  Now, they’re leaving and I have to put the house back together.  I don’t have to do it all in one day though, I can take my time.

That’s the way I need to think about my excess weight.  I don’t have to lose it all in one day, one week, or even one year.  I can take my time.  As long as the scales show a decrease each week, the weight will slowly disappear.  By eating more fresh fruit and vegetable, less fried food and fast food, drinking more water and fewer colas and getting more exercise, the weight should melt away.  It sounds easy, but we all know it takes determination and will power.  A new bathroom scale will be helpful.  They come in many colors, sizes and styles to fit any decor.  Also, they are now digital and electronic, which means more accuracy and precision. 

It seems like Christmas today since this is the day my family will be here to celebrate.  We all met at my brother’s this morning for a country ham breakfast, and tonight they’ll be at my house for turkey and all the trimmings.  Tomorrow, we meet with my husband’s family and have turkey, ham and a variety of other food and tomorrow night the ladies at church meet to swap ornaments and eat finger foods.  Now tell me how I’m expected to think about healthy eating with all this going on around me, plus I’m doing all the cooking for tonight and a lot of it for tomorrow.  It seems that Americans, especially the ones in the south, celebrate every occasion with food.  No wonder obesity is at epidemic stages in our country.  Surely there’s some other tradition that we could start that would eliminate a lot of the unnecessary (and detrimental) eating of food.

I’m making another resolution–I make one every year at this time–to start cutting back on food after the holidays.  I’ve got a good weighing scale that will tell me if I’m being successful or if I’m just fooling myself.  If you need scales, you’ll find a variety in many styles, colors and sizes at  www.holladaypartners.com  

Have you ever thought about comparing budgeting your money you are spending with budgeting your food you are consuming.  A new VISA study found that American “misplace” about $3,000 in cash every year.  It may go for gadgets such as iPods, iPhones or Blackberries or just things we want for our kids.  In order to stop this “mystery spending”, we must review our purchases regularly so we can see quickly what we’re spending, then set a budget and stick to it.  This will help eliminate impulse buying and help us start to save. 

Doesn’t this sound a lot like dieting.  We “misplace” food by eating-on-the-go, snacking, eating while reading or watching television, and eating when we’re not hungry because someone else is eating or providing food.  In order to stop this “mystery eating”, we must document what we eat so we can see quickly what we’re consuming, then set a food plan and stick to it.  This will help eliminate impulse eating and we can start to lose the excess weight.  We will need scales to measure our food portions and scales to weigh ourselves in order to make this process work.  A variety of scales in many colors, sizes and styles are available at  www.holladaypartners.com   These are quality designer scales that will match any decor at the lowest prices ever.  Check them out.  You’ll be glad you did!

Over and over we’re told not to eat fat.  We see low-fat, no-fat, lite, etc. describing food products that are supposedly good for us.  It would be nearly impossible to remove all fat from our diet, and it would not be healthy.  Some fatty acids are essential nutrients, meaning the body can’t produce them from other compounds and needs to consume them in small amounts.  All other fats that the body requires are non-essential and can be produced in the body from other compounds.  Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble, meaning they can only be digested, absorbed, and transported in conjunction with fats.

For women, a body fat of 10-12% is essential, 14-20% is considered a healthy range for athletes, 21-24% is healthy for fitness, 25-31% is considered an ‘acceptable’ range and anything above 32% is considered obese. For men, 2-4% body fat is essential, 6-13% is an athletic body fat range, 14-17% is considered a ‘fit’ range, and 18-25% is acceptable. Anything above 26% for men is considered obese.  So, how do you find out what your body fat is?  A body fat scale can take your height and weight and immediately give you the percentage of body fat in your body weight.  This information is essential to  plan your diet and exercise program to maintain a healthy body.  Check with   www.holladaypartners.com for a body fat scale at the lowest price ever.  Get started toward a healthier lifestyle today.  You’ll be glad you did!

I read an article recently about encouraging children to eat more veggies.  One of the suggestions was to plant a garden together, either in a window box, deck containers or the backyard.  I remember helping my parents plant a large garden each year, gathering the produce, and canning and/or freezing it for use later in the year.  We dug sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, stacked peanuts, picked green beans, butter beans, okra, squash, cucumbers and tomatoes.  We always had vegetables on the table at every meal.  However, as life got busier and fast food and processed food became available and somewhat affordable, I somehow got distracted and find that I don’t always get the recommended amount of vegetables daily.  I’m not sure which health problems I have contributed to, but it’s easy to see that I’m not currently at the recommended body weight.  I’m either considerably overweight or I’m much too short for my weight.  In addition to health problems, I also have a wardrobe problem.  Either I’m gaining weight or my clothes are shrinking.

I’m going back to Weight Watchers as soon as the holidays are over.  I need a new set of bathroom scales, but they’ll need to be large capacity scales.  I know Weight Watchers will weigh me each week and document it, but I like to weigh at home, too.  It’s difficult to admit that I don’t have enough will power to do this on my own, but i’m now ready to do that.  I heard Oprah saying on television last week that food was her drug of choice.  I know exactly what she meant.  I’m addicted to food–not just any food, but good-tasting, sweets and fried foods.  A good variety of scales are available at www.holladaypartners.com   The large capacity bathroom scales will soon be in my home.  I’m serious about this.

Did you know that people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have a 10-fold increase in the caloric need for breathing?  According to Dr. Samuel A. Allen, a pulmonologist at William Beaumont Hospital in Troy, Michigan, healthy people burn about 36 to 70 calories each day by breathing, people with COPD burn about 360 to 700 calories.  I like food and like to eat.  The more calories I can use, the more food I need to eat.  However, I don’t want to have to burn more calories breathing.  We take breathing for granted and don’t pay much attention to it until we have a breathing problem.  I can’t imagine expending 10 times more energy on breathing.  I need to pause right here and thank God for my lack of breathing problems.

Excess weight often contributes to breathing problems.  A good set of digital bathroom scales can help measure our weight.  Any diet plan will help more if we weigh weekly and document the progress.  You can find a variety of bathroom scales in many sizes, colors and styles to match any decor in the lowest prices ever at www.holladaypartners.com.