Dr. Posner's Blog
The Serotonin-Plus Weight Loss Blog: The Weight of the Nation…Whose “Fault”?
May 16, 2012 - 0 Comments »
I started watching the HBO documentary last evening that started airing: ”The Weight of the Nation”. The 4 part series is discussing the nation’s obesity crisis from several aspects. Honestly, my first impression was that it is kind of boring…lots of recounting of statistics and some interviews with obese people focusing on the discrimination at the workplace. One of the topics discussed was the concept of “fault”. Is obesity the “fault” of the affected person? The series explained how obesity is due to a complex interplay of genetic factors and environmental issues. When you take a step back and think about it, pretty much every medical condition can be attributed to the same thing. Lots of smokers do not develop lung cancer. However, for the smokers who do, the “fault” is the smoking primarily of course, but ther e are some genetic predisposition factors that contribute, so to some extent the “fault” is also blamed on genetics. Concerning the obese person, where can the “fault” be attributed to? If cinnamon buns are in the shopping cart with Pepsi alongside it, an outside observer would attribute “fault” to the obese person doing the shopping. However, you do see a number of thin people with cinnamon buns and Pepsi in their cart. (Actually, one interviewed woman on the show said that random people who are strangers will actually come up to her in the store, take some items out of her cart and say “You don’t need those”). Posner’s take: Let’s forget about “fault” and move on to a solution. Blaming your genes or others blaming your emotional strength and makeup for the problem doesn’t solve anything. Lets all agree that the weight problem is some combination of genetic factors and environment so lets focus on the things we need to do to correct the situation. You cannot pick your parents and grandparents but you can pick what items go into your shopping cart. Let’s all spend more time thinking about solutions than playing the blame game.
The Serotonin-Plus Weight Loss Blog: National Awareness
May 15, 2012 - 0 Comments »
I spoke with a gentleman yesterday who owns a company that specializes in obtaining government contracts. My query was inspired by the burgeoning national awareness of the obesity crisis. I have not seen the first of the 4-part HBO series that started airing last night about obesity in the United States. The gentleman told me, when he checked his government contract data base, that very surprisingly, there was little-no activity on weight loss programs being brought to the military, Indian reservations, TSA (uh, has anyone besides me noticed that over 90% of TSA workers are overweight???), FBI, Federal marshals, etc. How can this possibly be? Obesity is costing the tax payers billions of dollars of money (government workers have great insurance) and yet, there are probably more government contracts being awarded to put toilet bowls in government buildings than addressing this issue? We, as a nation, must take much more aggressive steps to ward off what I believe will be a complete financial meltdown when the baby boomers start crashing and burning medically. Reducing obesity will dramatically reduce the costs to us, individually, and the tax payers, which of course are “us” as well. I am glad HBO decided to put these issues in the national spotlight and hopefully will inspire a more coordinated effort to provide solutions.
Reminder: The Event of all Events will take place May 19, 2012, 1230 PM Springfield Golf and Country Club. 8301 Old Keene Mill Road Springfield VA. Plan your day to be there!!!
The Serotonin-Plus Weight Loss Blog: “I Hate You”
May 14, 2012 - 2 Comments »
Nataliya was telling me a story the other day about a person who saw her, made a positive comment about her conditioning/shape, and then followed this with a “funny” line: ”I hate you”. This of course, was meant as a joke, but, unfortunately there is some truth to the “human nature” reaction of jealousy. If your neighbor or co-worker won the 250 million dollar lottery, would you REALLY be thrilled for that person? Or would a more likely reaction be : ”Damn it, that should have been me.” Not everyone in your world is “rooting” for your successful weight loss efforts. The people in your life that truly love you want the best of health and happiness for you, and there is no jealousy involved. These are the people that will support and enable your healthy efforts. However, not everyone in your world has this “unconditional” love for you and there will be some people who are rooting for your failure. Why? Because YOUR success highlights THEIR failure to some extent. So when you slim down to that weight that will make you a head turning knockout, there in fact will be some people around you (those that have told you that you are too skinny, a little dessert can’t hurt you, etc) who will, to some extent, “hate you”.
The Serotonin-Plus Weight Loss Blog: Mother’s Day
May 13, 2012 - 0 Comments »
I wish all of you a very happy and healthy Mother’s Day. My mom passed away about 6 years ago. She was a smoker her entire life. Had she not smoked, she probably would have been around more years to enjoy the company, warmth and love of her children, grandchildren, and now, a great grandchild. Smoking robbed her of this opportunity. Weight issues? The same. They rob the affected person of the most amazing quality time…love of the family unit. Next time you have in front of you a derailing for source that does nothing more than immediately gratify you, think twice about (cumulatively) what this robs you of. Make the smart choice. Choose life and love.
The Serotonin-Plus Weight Loss Blog: Regional Differences
May 12, 2012 - 0 Comments »
First, to Pam: GO RANGERS!!! (Uh, oh…Posner just had the crowd turn against him!)
Last night I hosted Kelly and Holly, 2 Physicians Assistants from a Dublin Georgia OB/GYN group that will be starting an SP center in their practice. We took them to dinner at the Springfield Golf and County Club (the sight of THE major social event next week) and the on the buffet table were fried chicken and fried catfish in addition to the salad bar, soup, a veal dish and vegetables. Before we went up for food, the ladies were telling me about how down south, one of the major obstacles in helping people lose weight is the types of fried foods that are “usual and customary”. It is true that certain regions are known for different types of foods and “down home Southern cooking” usually implies lots of fried foods and fatty foods. When you look at the state variation in obesity rates, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana are always in the top 3. We often eat in patterns that we developed in our younger years and we all need to be cognizant of the “home grown” food sources that derail our weight loss efforts. Now for the last question: Did Posner go to the dessert bar at the buffet? Answer: What happens in the Springfield Country Club stays in the Springfield Country Club.
