|
1577
West Ridge Road
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2280
East Avenue
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|
Rochester,
NY 14615
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Rochester,
NY 14610
|
|
Phone:
(585) 865-7446
|
Phone:
(585) 473-4913
|
|
Fax:
(585) 865-7531
|
info@employeehealthsystems.com
Some individuals
look at "the perfect body" as symbolizing their self-worth.
Many equate becoming thin with the attainment of happiness, not realizing
that "happiness is an inside job." Food gets tied up with
one's identity and how loveable one feels. This can lead to chronic,
unsuccessful, and frustrating attempts at dieting.
However, dieting has a 95% failure rate. People who maintain their lower weight over a long period of time follow very different principles than do chronic dieters. Dieting is a short-term strategy that fails to teach new behaviors and attitudes towards food, body concept, and weight. Diets typically eliminate eating binges by superficially restricting food intake through the use of special menus. This usually results in overeating, accompanied by feelings of depression and guilt.
Diets
do not help you understand your particular triggers to overeating or
assist you in learning to overcome the habit of reaching for food as
a means to medicate emotions, fill a void, and so forth.
It makes
no sense to endure the pain of a diet if the pounds are eventually going
to return. In contrast to repeatedly placing yourself on diets that
require sacrifice, willpower, and struggle, staying at a healthy weight
for a lifetime depends on making changes that you can sustain over the
long haul.
Whereas
successful weight losers eat whatever they like in moderation, dieters
typically end up bingeing on foods they have pre-established to be "bad"
or forbidden forever. People who are successful at losing weight and
maintaining their new weight know that there are no "bad"
foods. Rather, they are aware that it is the number of calories consumed
in proportion to the number of calories burned that determines one's
weight. Individuals who maintain their weight loss know that they don't
have to eat a whole pie today because they can choose to eat a slice
of pie both today and in the future.
Unhealthy
habits of any kind are best changed slowly. Successful weight loss programs
give the body time to gradually withdraw from the substances it has
come to prefer. Suddenly reducing your intake of the foods that have
become addictive for you will lead you to crave them. With a more gradual
approach, your body can learn to be satisfied with less of these foods
and to substitute more healthful foods in their place. If you lose weight
slowly, eventually you will likely want to maintain your diet and exercise
changes because these new habits will feel good. Your progress gains
momentum week by week until your new behaviors become automatic and
effortless.
by Alisa K. Phelps, PhD, Licensed Psychologist
Values
According to a new study by Public Agenda, a non-profit research organization, parents don't feel that they're doing a very good job teaching their children essential values
* While 83% of parents say it's vital to teach self-control, only 34% believe they've succeeded.
* While 77% believe that money management is important, only 28% feel they have been successful in conveying this knowledge to their children.
* Ninety-one percent call "honesty" essential, yet only 55% believe they have succeeded in teaching it.
* Seventy-four percent believe that "independence" is important, but only 38% believe that they're raising children with this trait.
*
And while 84% say that "courtesy to others" is an essential
characteristic, 62% believe they've been successful in imparting this
virtue.
The
study surveyed 1,607 parents of children aged 5-17 and crossed all demographics
including race, income level, urban vs. suburban and single parent vs.
two-parent families.
Other
findings of the study:
* 79% of parents fear that their children might become involved with drugs
or alcohol
* 76% fear that someone might physically harm or kidnap their children
* 76% fear the negative influence of other kids on their children
* 73% fear the effects of negative messages in the media (materialism,
sexual promiscuity, self-absorption)
* 66% fear their children might not be applying themselves in school
by Employee Services
Stress
experts offer a range of activities and relaxation techniques to help
unwind.
"An
avalanche of research reveals that aerobic exercise promotes health and
energy" and is an antidote for anxiety and stress, says David Myers,
a social psychologist with Hope College in Holland, Mich.
Herbert
Benson, an associate professor of medicine with Harvard Medical School,
pioneered the "relaxation response" in the 1970's. It focuses
on muscle relaxation and 10 to 20 minutes of controlled breathing. A word
or phrase is repeated silently when exhaling to keep the mind from wandering.
He
also mentions yoga, tai chi, qi gong (meditative movements and breathing
exercises) and chanting rituals.
Jonathan
Davidson of Duke University Medical Center, co-author of The Anxiety
Book; Developing Strength in the Face of Fear (Riverhead $24.95),
discusses what he calls "serenity techniques." They include:
Visualization.
"Imagining yourself taking a hot bath, strolling a beach, or sitting
in a quiet meadow can markedly shift both your mind state and physiology
toward stillness."
Progressive
muscle relaxation. This technique achieves "deep relaxation by
gradually tensing and then releasing muscle groups through-out the body;
eyes, jaw, neck, shoulders, arms, back, chest, abdomen, pelvis, buttocks,
legs and feet." Take a slow, deep breath when allowing the muscles
to relax.
Spirtual
growth and prayer. Consider whether spiritual activities might help.
They could include religious services, joining a spiritual community,
regular prayer or a deeper commitment to a spiritual life.
Worry time. Set aside 15 to 30 minutes to actively worry about problems from the past 24 hours. "At any other time during the day when you start to worry, say to yourself "STOP". Save it for worry time."
A
new study shows that the number of Americans who binge drink has increased
by 35% since 1995, Reuters reported. The study defines binge drinking
as consuming five or more drinks at one sitting. The findings are based
on a survey of more than 200,000 adults conducted by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. Men accounted for 81% of the 1.5 billion
binge drinking episodes in 2001. In addition, 70% of binge drinkers
are over the age of 25. The study found that binge drinking is responsible
for nearly half of the 100,000 alcohol-related deaths each year, and
binge drinkers are 14 times more likely to drive than those who drank
but not to excess. The report also linked binge drinking to sexual assaults,
domestic-violence incidents, and other crimes.
The study is published in the January issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Despite
losing millions of dollars in federal highway grants, 17 states have
refused to lower their blood alcohol limit from 0.10% to 0.08% in drunk
driving cases. Since 1998, when highway-safety regulators linked federal
grant money to a 0.08% blood-alcohol limit, the majority of states have
complied. Among the states that remain at 0.10% are Delaware, Minnesota,
Nevada and South Carolina. Law-makers in those states argue that the
federal policy is counterproductive and misguided. They also claim that
federal officals have failed to show that 0.08% laws save lives.
EAP Digest Spring 2003
Beating Some Common Aftereffects of Growing Up In a Dysfunctional Family
Many
people who grow up in less than ideal families find themselves experiencing
problems, emotions, and relationship patterns far into their adult years
that are similar to those they experienced in childhood. A family environment
that encourages children to feel worthwhile and to believe that their
feelings and needs are important is likely to lead to the ability to
form healthy relationships in adulthood. On the other hand, if a family
fails to provide for a child's emotional and physical needs or if parents
limit the child's self-expression, common adult consequences are the
development of low self esteem, unsatisfying relationships, and the
feeling that one's needs are not important.
There
are a variety of ways that families may be dysfunctional. One or both
parents may have addictions such as alcoholism, drug abuse, compulsive
eating, workaholism, and/or gambling. Parents may threaten or apply
physical violence as a means of controlling children. Children may be
forced to witness violence or to participate in aggressive behavior
towards other family members.
A
common type of dysfunctional family pattern occurs when children are
not provided with adequate or appropriate emotional nurturance and support.
Parents may be excessively intrusive or overprotective. Alternatively,
they may be distant and uninvolved with their children. Parents may
punish their children by emotionally withdrawing or by refusing to communicate
with or listen to them.
Parents
in dysjunctional families may reject some of their children, while giving
others preferential treatment. Excessive limitations and demands may
be placed on children's time, behavior, and/or their choice of friends.
Alternatively, parents may give their children no structure of guidelines.
Finally, parents may restrict children from openly communicating with
family members.
When
any of these behaviors or combination of behaviors occurs, children
may experience a denial of their sense of reality about what is happening
in the family. Parents may make statements that contradict what is actually
happening. Additionally, parents may ignore , discount, or criticize
the feelings and thoughts of their children. If parents trivialize or
minimize the behavior or words of their children, this communicates
the message that their children's contributions are not important.
by Alisa Phelps, Ph.D. Psychologist
The above articles were gathered from a variety of news sources.
Employee Health Systems 2003
|
1577
West Ridge Road
|
2280
East Avenue
|
|
Rochester,
NY 14615
|
Rochester,
NY 14610
|
|
Phone:
(585) 865-7446
|
Phone:
(585) 473-4913
|
|
Fax:
(585) 865-7531
|