Although experts say that losing weight simply requires burning more calories than are consumed, putting this principle into practice is far from simple. If it were this easy, the more than 50 percent of Americans who are overweight would find it relatively easy to exercise willpower. According to William W. Hardy, M.D., president of the Michigan-based Rochester Center for Obesity,
to say weight control is simply a matter of pushing away from the table is ludicrous. Nature is a CHEAT. Sure, calories in minus calories out equals weight, but people of the same age, sex, height, and weight can have differences of as much as 1,000 calories a day in “resting metabolic rate” – this may explain why one person’s gluttony is another’s starvation, even if it results in the same readout on the scale. And while people of normal weight average 25-35 billion fat cells, obese people can inherit a billowing 135 billion. A roll of the genetic dice adds more variety: at least 240 genes affect weight.
Remember that weight loss doesn’t happen easily for everyone. Not only is it more difficult for some, but it may actually require considerably more effort, more supportive friends and relatives, and extraordinary efforts to prime the body for burning more calories and depriving it of others. Being overweight or obese does not mean you are weak-willed or lazy. As scientists unlock the many secrets of genetic messengers that influence weight gain and loss and other variables, as well as increasing their understanding of the role of certain foods in the weight loss equation, dieting may not be the same villain in the future that it is today.
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Your body temperature is a good guide to the state of your metabolism. To test your thyroid function you need to measure your basal body temperature, which is your temperature at rest. First get a thermometer. There are some good electronic ones on the market which only take a minute to register the temperature and bleep when they have done it.
- Put the thermometer by your bed before you go to sleep.
- When you wake in the morning, put the thermometer in your armpit and leave until it bleeps. Your temperature needs to be taken with you lying as still as possible. Do not get out of bed or have a drink before you take your temperature.
- Record your temperature in the same way over three mornings. It needs to be taken at the same time each morning.
- If you are still having periods, you need to do this test on the second, third and fourth day of your cycle. Your body temperature rises after ovulation so it would not give a clear picture of what is happening to take your temperature later in the cycle. Your basal body temperature should read between 36.4 and 36.7°C (97.6 and 98.2°F).
If the temperature is low, it would be worth speaking to your doctor or health practitioner about possible problems with your thyroid.
Weight gain also often follows a hysterectomy. I have seen women who have put on at least 12.7kg (2 stone) after this operation. This level of weight gain is also often linked to taking HRT, so make sure you have eliminated all possible causes for the weight gain.
Once you have checked these possibilities there are a number of other ways to try to lose weight. First try a food-combining regime based on avoiding eating proteins and starches together at the same meal. The theory is that both protein and starches need different enzymes to be digested, so there will be a ‘fight’ as both cannot be digested effectively at the same time. This theory does not seem to have been proven scientifically and yet people get very good results by trying it. This ‘fight’ can cause bloating and weight gain because the undigested food is being stored and not properly assimilated. Women who have lost weight using food combining often choose to eat this way permanently as they feel it gives them more energy and fewer digestive troubles. The easiest way to understand this method of eating is to follow a few simple rules.
1. Don’t mix starchy foods with proteins.
2. Eat fruit on its own.
3. Don’t have milk with either starch or protein.
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The realization that migraine is a disorder causing a vast amount of unnecessary suffering has led to an increased interest in the subject. Specialist centers have been set up with the support of the Migraine Trust for treatment and research of acute migraine attacks in London (the two clinics serving this purpose are the Princess Margaret Clinic and the Charring Cross Hospital Migraine Clinic). In addition to offering treatment of the acute attack, these and other clinics provide consultation facilities for general practitioner referrals, so that all sorts of treatment methods are tried and many trials undertaken.
Perhaps the most important function of the migraine clinic is to deal with and study the acute attack which, surprisingly, is rarely seen by most hospital doctors. In the clinic, tests can be performed on those with an acute attack which, it is hoped, when pieced together will give a better idea of what happens during the acute attack. This insight should help in the development of more appropriate treatment.
These studies are also important in the assessment of treatment. For instance, the recognition that tablets taken during an attack do not always help led to the measurement of levels in the blood of aspirin taken during an attack; these were shown to be lower than when taken at any other time. It was this finding that confirmed the slowness of emptying of the stomach and the consequent recommendation to use Maxolon to stimulate the gut and aid absorption, so making the levels of ingested drugs higher.
The advantage of grouping patients with the same disorder together is that it allows the clinic staff to concentrate on specialized areas and makes research easier. The facility for treatment of acute attacks helps not only patients but research workers. However, in countries where patients visit a specialist, a neurologist, directly rather than being referred on from their general practitioner, there is not such a demand for such clinics. This means that research workers do not have the opportunity of studying patients during an acute attack.
A town (or catchment area of population) has to be of a particular size in order for such facilities to be viable, e.g. about a quarter of a million people is probably the smallest size for this purpose. Alternatively, there needs to be a large concentration of commuter workers in the area (as there is in the City of London where the Princess Margaret Clinic is situated).
In the United States there are several organizations operating such clinics which, although privately run, are fully used.
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