Curious about Sensa?

I have been curious about the weight loss product called Sensa and while looking it up on the internet, I found this great article/review on WebMD. FYI check it out! http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/truth-about-sensa

Sedentary Disease

The financial cost of obesity related disease is $150 billion annually in the US and is expected to double in less than 9 years.

Until the 1970's Americans had no struggles with expanding waistlines.  What has brought about this sudden change?  On average, Americans consume only 100 calories more per day than during the 1960's, according to the National Institutes of Health.  Alarmingly, American's burn 600 to 700 calories less per day than during the 1960's.  Do the math, that is 1 pound of weight gain per work week.

The reasons for this decreasing daily calorie burn should be obvious to everyone: 2 hour sitting work commutes, sedentary sitting computer related desk jobs, 500 cable channel televisions: America is literally sitting itself to death!

While the healthcare reform experts and special interests groups point fingers in all directions, true leadership is not recognizing the obesity problem, educating the nation or enacting reforms designed to solve this problem.  An emphasis on disease prevention versus treatment would be much more effective financially and clinically.  While there is no doubt that many of the healthcare reforms currently contemplated are necessary, an approach instituting "movement" and "nutrition" back into the lives of Americans would have a much greater impact, drastically cutting the costs of healthcare.

More than 58 diseases are directly related to obesity in this country, including the top three killers, heart disease, cancer and stroke.  Two out of every three American adults are overweight with 50% of this number clinically obese.

Innovative products have entered the market place, from the Trek Desk (http://www.trekdesk.com/), which is used in conjunction with a treadmill to Body Togs, (http://www.womenspersonalfitness.net/) wearable weighted sleeves worn on your arms and legs to increase calorie burn.  Use your bike (check out:  http://www.terratrike.com/ ) instead of your car whenever possible, or consider walking!  Don't forget to walk your dog, go to http://www.puplife.com/.

Limit Trans Fat

Trans fat is so prevalent in our diets that it's almost impossible to avoid consuming a few grams.  Trans fat may contribute to our cell's resistance to insulin, and this resistance may in turn lead to obesity.  By changing the way our cells behave, trans fat also contributes to cancer and diabetes and heart disease.  In a study conducted by Harvard University, researchers determined that healthier people ate no more than 2 or 3 grams of trans fat per day.  Consider the following suggestions:

• Read food Labels! If it has the word, "partially hydrogenated" in the ingredients, don't eat it.
• Keep total fat intake between 20 and 35 percent of calories, with most fats coming from polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids in fish, nuts, flaxseed oil, walnut oil, avocados, and vegetable oils.   These fats may help lower your blood cholesterol level when used in place of saturated fat.
• Use olive oil for cooking and salads. Nutritionists are also taking a fresh look at coconut and palm oils, which may have cancer-fighting benefits.
• Avoid fried foods in restaurants.  Some food chains are making the move away from using trans fat.
• Reduce your intake of processed foods, and look for those made with healthy oils.  When you buy a muffin premade at the grocery store, if it's not packaged, there's no way to read the ingredients.  Just assume it contains trans fat, probably made with partially hydrogenated fat of some kind. Eat an apple instead.
• Watch portions. If food contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fat, the FDA will allow it to carry a trans-fat-free label, so check the ingredients label to see if "partially hydrogenated oil" is listed.  Limit portions to limit trans-fat intake.

Overeating and The Brain

The brain tells us when we are hungry. Specialists think of the stomach as our second brain because our intestinal track actually produces more neurotransmitters or chemicals that work on our brains than the brain does it’s self. So, the body is really one system. Think of your brain as the super computer that is running every thing and it is all inter-connected.

But does the brain tell us to overeat? Sometimes it does, if people have damage to certain parts of the brain, they can have faulty signals. The prefrontal cortex comprises 30% of the human brain and acts as the supervisor of the brain. The prefrontal cortex is not fully developed until age 25. When it is weak or damaged, it is like the supervisor in your head is taking a break. So when your inner child is having a tantrum, wanting that 3rd piece of cheesecake, there is less control over the situation. If your prefrontal cortex is not working right, nothing in your life is going to be right. So head injuries can affect overeating as well as low blood sugar. If you don’t eat breakfast and provide your brain with the proper nutrients it requires to operate well, you are going to make bad decisions about food the rest of the day. If you don’t sleep well, you will have lower blood flow to the brain, so sleep is equally important.

In the studies that have been done by specialists, including Dr. Daniel Annen, being healthy is critical to thinking right. In fact, as a body’s weight goes up the actual size of our brain goes down, so judgment changes and reasoning goes down. Also, if you’ve had a brain injury, overeating goes up. If you’ve been eating badly for a long time, you become addicted to the bad foods like fat, sugar and salt. When you put them in certain combinations, they actually work on the heroin or morphine receptors in the brain.

Dr. Julian Bales, Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at West Virginia University Health Science Center, is on the front line of an experimental approach for the treatment of obesity. The approach targets the brain and not the stomach.

Deep brain stimulation is the insertion of electrodes deep in the brain’s hypothalamus, the part that controls our appetites. Neurosurgeons have spearheaded a FDA approved study to see if this could possibly have a benefit for patients with morbid obesity, the most severe form. It works by placing electrodes on both sides of the brain into the hypothalamus, one into the part that is the satiety center which makes you feel full and the other side is the appetite center where the drive for eating is located.

These electrodes have contacts on them that go through these areas, with a pacemaker type generator inserted under the skin. From the pacemaker, they are able to change the settings, and affect the appetite drive those patients have.

In the first series they did, they have learned that the procedure can be done safely, with no side affects and they can affect the urge to eat! They believe it will be well tolerated. They do not have all the results yet, and are now trying to fine tune the settings to see if they can get the weight loss desired by the doctors and patients.

Make the Decision for Good Health



Suzy had trouble deciding what exercise she should do to start her weight loss program. She claimed she really didn’t like to exercise. She wavered at the grocery store when picking out the foods she would buy for herself and her family. “Will they complain and give me trouble if I don’t buy the usual junk foods?” she thought to herself.

Was Suzy feeling fear of the unknown or just plain indecision. The answer is, she was feeling both. Fear of experiencing backlash from her family, fear of failure (“Am I a joke trying to make these changes?”) and fear that the pain of perceived deprivation would be too great to endure.

Suzy had not yet made the “definitive decision” to change her and her family’s lifestyle for better health.

Make the Decision to:

• Buy and eat only wholesome, healthy foods in modest quantities.
• Find a way to get active, mixing what you like to do with what you can do and commit to doing it daily or as often as possible.
• Learn as much as possible about the most healthy way to live your life. "Knowledge is Power!"

After you have "Made the Decision," everything else will fall into place.

Fanaticism for Health

While in the kitchen with my husband, he stated he wasn’t very hungry and didn’t want to eat much. I announced with my finger in the air, “Eat less and live longer! That’s a great slogan,” I realized. “I’ll write that down and use it in my Blog and Website!” But my husband said, “You better watch out. You don’t want to scare people away with your fanaticism.”

That made me stop to take notice. I’m not talking about becoming anorexic. I’m talking about:

When you eat less you carry less excess body fat which is a contributor to disease.
When you eat less, studies have shown an increase in life expectancy.
Becoming a fanatic about such an important topic as nutrition and health is a good thing, not bad. The outcome is much better than with the opposite, apathy.

Weight Loss Begins in the Mind

Losing weight is more about how the dieter thinks about food than food itself. Lasting weight loss success involves planning and the right mindset.

Terminating a life long pattern of turning to food for feelings other than hunger is vital for any weight loss plan (lifestyle change) to work. Filling emotional needs with emotional solutions and using food for physical nourishment only, is key to any effective weight loss plan. Seeking comfort, security, love or solace in appropriate ways allows the dieter to manage their food intake intelligently and effectively.

Tips for Successful Weight Loss
The successful dieter plans for success well before starting a weight loss plan. Just as a star student prepares for finals, the dieter who prepares for success before beginning will reap a higher level of achievement. A mind that has been prepared for change is better able to work with that change. Choose a weight loss start date of less than 30 days (not to be confused with procrastination) to begin both physical and mental preparation.

• Eliminate all foods from the household cupboards that are not on the healthy eating list. (A local homeless shelter will make good use of them.) Begin stocking only foods compatible with healthy eating.
• Learn to read food labels and consider purchasing whole, unprocessed foods instead (found mostly on the outside isles of the grocery store.)
• Since water is a staple for every effective weight loss program, plan for a way to have it nearby at all times. You will need to use this water as a replacement if you are a pop drinker.
• Monitor thoughts for negativity or victim mentality. Such thoughts will sabotage success. Take note of the urges to "make yourself feel better by eating" and acknowledge what emotions you are feeling at that time.
• Begin thinking of nurturing things that are not food related that you can do to "make yourself feel better." Some examples may be, walking, riding your bike, talking with a friend, reading, listening to music, etc. Make a list of these things and start implementing these alternatives.
• Pamper the body, mind and spirit with personally meaningful non-food activities or things. Don't forget meditation or prayer. Affirmations also can help you to "change your mind."

You will undoubtedly experience discomfort during this process. Just remember that these steps you are taking will eventually become new habits and the discomfort will subside with practice and time. Just like the cigarette smoker who stops smoking. Eventually, the pain and discomfort subsides as life goes on, only leaner and healthier.