faulker053

I got carded yesterday in the middle of the afternoon. Yes, in spite of my grey hair and my approaching 50 th birthday, I was forced to show my ID. This was not to buy a Chardonnay or a 6-pack, but rather to purchase something taken in much smaller doses—cough medicine. In spite of my visible maturity, the drug store required me to prove I am of legal age for such a purchase, given risks of using these products to produce methamphetamine. Fair enough. But here's what struck me. At this same pharmacy, just 2 weeks ago, they were giving out samples of Senna laxatives, those natural-yet-lethal stimulants, which are anything but safe, especially if taken beyond the very limited time frame recommended. Use beyond the limited 7 days can result in dependency and can impact potassium balance with major consequences to your heart and other muscles. It’s not recommended in pregnancy or for nursing woman at all, nor for kids. And they certainly aren’t helpful for weight loss, y...

I'd much rather be hiking ... It's hard enough starting at a new gym. Generally, I dislike going to gyms, preferring instead to enjoy a long bike ride, a hike or a cross-country ski or snow shoe when weather permits. But living in New England, there are times, like now, when conditions are simply not favorable for either of those activities. So off to the gym I went, attending my first spin class of the season, at a new gym with a new instructor. And I could barely get through it. No, I am not that out of spin shape—although those cycling muscles certainly needed a workout. Rather, I was feeling my blood pressure rise as I sat through the marketing pitch and endless misinformation by this supposed promoter of health—the spin instructor. I'm still headachy from it, so in truth, I am blogging to air my annoyance and frustration. You know me be now—I am not shy to share my opinions, particularly those I feel strongly about. But this was a challenging setting. Jane, I...

Reactions to the NY Times article and the Pediatrics study on teens and muscle-enhancing behaviors. I'm bothered by something I read. "Compared with a sedentary lifestyle of video games and TV, an obsession with working out may not quite qualify as a health hazard", as stated in last week's NY Times article . While the article brought to light the silent struggle many boys deal with—or rather, don't deal with—their obsession with weight training, dietary modification and steroid use to achieve the 'perfect' body—it failed big time in educating readers about when to be concerned, and what we can do to prevent this unhealthy trend. But this is not just about boys—the Pediatrics article identified that girls, too , are taking steroids and more frequently protein shakes to increase muscle mass while pushing activity. Yes, teens, both boys and girls, have become more focused on increasing their muscle mass. "Strong is the new skinny" is a curren...

Preventing the Damage After the Wedding It's hard to know what disturbs me most about the NY Times article Bridal Hunger Games printed yesterday. Was it the hopelessness of women who don't fit into their ideal image of what a bride should look like—willing to take dietary change to extreme measures to achieve short term “success”? Or my fright at the willingness of MDs and nurses,  helping health professionals, whose “first do no harm” mantra has clearly been dismissed?  Or maybe it's the NY Times itself for creating a piece that seems more like an advertisement for unhealthy weight loss schemes, rather than a balanced report on the pitiful state of our culture and the consequences of being lured into quick weight loss schemes? Pressure on women for their “big day” abounds, and it's been addressed before on this blog  http://dropitandeat.blogspot.com/2011/09/wedding-diet-guaranteed-to-change-your.html . But let's take another look, from the perspective of the newl...

Imagine the disappointment! Didn’t you want to believe it? “Finally, a diet pill I can endorse! Check out this link”, with yours truly as the sender. Yes, my Twitter account was hacked, or hijacked, as they say. Someone managed to get into my account dispensing a bunch of tweets as if they had come from me. And this was just one of the creative gems they sent.  Now, if you have been reading Drop It And Eat for a while, I suspect you were a bit skeptical. And hopefully, you even had the wisdom to stop yourself from clicking and perpetuating the myth. Maybe you even believed it, but knew it would be trouble, a slippery slope, getting into diet pills. You knew it was too good to be true. Perhaps you feel addicted to hope—hope for a solution to your daily eating struggle—for assistance with binge eating, obesity, or body dissatisfaction, in spite of a normal body size. Yes, at times a pill may seem like the only answer. But, dear readers, there are no pills, no magic bullets. Nev...