Regardless of where you are in your fitness journey, you may have wondered how often you should be working out. Is it better to skip the gym a few days each week? Or will you reap more benefits from an every-day commitment?

While you need at least one rest day a week, you can develop a smart plan to work out 6 days a week.

Credit: RossHelen/Moment/GettyImages

Everyone's different. But if you want to work out six days a week, you need to consider a few things. For one, how your body manages stress. "Training stress boils down to volume and intensity (i.e., how much and how hard you train)," says Geoff Tripp, CSCS, certified personal trainer and head of fitness at Trainiac, who recommends a mix of hard, medium and easy workouts each week to optimize results and reduce risk of injury.

Your ideal weekly training volume also depends on how long you've been exercising consistently, Tripp says. Generally, the longer your workout history, the more stress your body can handle. Conversely, a newcomer will likely need time to build a fitness base and should be careful about doing too much too soon, Tripp says.

But if you're ready to commit to six sweat sessions in a week, the following tried-and-true tips along with an exercise plan designed by Tripp will help you heed your body's signs (always listen to what it's telling you!) and train safely and efficiently.

When you hit the gym six out of seven days, not every gym session should be a high-impact, high-intensity experience. "Your workouts don't always have to be stressful on your body to see results," says Tripp, adding that lighter days are important too.

That's because taking an active recovery day think: yoga, hiking or mobility training is like pressing a reset button for your body. "It's actually the time between your hard efforts where adaptation takes place," Tripp says

He recommends planning at least one full rest and/or recovery day a week, which will help your body absorb the training stress and ultimately, improve your fitness level.

"Doing the same cycle of workouts at the same intensity won't lead to long-term fitness gains," Tripp says. That's because your body will eventually adapt to the stress. And when that happens, your progress slows, and you're likely to hit a plateau and become burned out.

To continue making gains, variation is key. Switching things up with cross-training varying strength, cardio and HIIT sessions adds balance to your week and keeps things interesting, Tripp says. What's more, a little variety in your weekly workouts also increases weight loss and lowers your odds of injury, according to the American Council on Exercise.

How often you should exercise and which muscle groups you should train all depend on your individual fitness goals. That said, concentrating on the same set of muscles during every workout isn't a smart strategy.

For instance, six days of upper-body strength training is a recipe for too much stress and possible injury, Tripp says. Managing training stress on your muscles is essential. That's why, after a heavy strength session, Tripp recommends at least 24 to 48 hours of recovery so the body can repair tissues before taxing those same muscles again.

To train safely and effectively, your best bet is to alternate target muscle groups. So if you're doing upper body on Monday, make Tuesday your leg day. This gives your guns ample time to recuperate and grow stronger.

This sample one-week plan by Tripp is designed to give you a balance of hard, medium and light days as well as to maximize your fitness gains through a variety of strength, cardio and HIIT workouts.

Continue reading here:
Want to Work Out 6 Days a Week? Heres How to Do It Without Burning Out - LIVESTRONG.COM

With less than three weeks until Selection Sunday, a pair of teams have completely turned their seasons around and are in the at-large discussion despite significant early season struggles. Its worth noting that the committee no longer places additional emphasis on the last 10 or 12 games, so the ugly losses they took early are still weighing them down. Still, with a weak bubble, Providence and UCLA are squarely in the mix.

The Friars lost at Northwestern in their third game of the season and proceeded to lose to Penn, Long Beach State, and Charleston over the course of seven days in November. All four of those defeats fall in Quad 3 or Quad 4 and are actually Providences only non-Quad 1 losses. To offset that poor performance, the Friars have compiled seven Quad 1 wins, headlined by home wins over Creighton and Seton Hall, a sweep of Marquette, and a road win at Butler.

As for UCLA, the Bruins took an early home loss against Hofstra and lost six of seven games at one point, including defeats at home to Cal St. Fullerton and on the road at Washington State. Following that stretch, UCLA sat at just 8-9 on the season. Mick Cronins club has rallied to win nine of its last 11 games, including a road victory at Arizona and a sweep of Colorado. A NET ranking in the mid-70s shows there is still work to do, but all three of UCLAs remaining games come against tournament contenders as the Bruins will host the Arizona schools before playing at USC to close out the regular season.

The bubble is starting to thin out a bit, but these are the definitely two of the more interesting profiles I can recall as we head into the final weeks of the season.

Before looking at the one seeds, I wanted to give a quick reminder about how the NCAA selection committee classifies wins based on the NET Rating.

A breakdown of the four tiers:

Tier 1: Home vs. teams ranked 1-30 / Neutral vs. teams ranked 1-50 / Road vs. teams ranked 1-75 Tier 2:Home vs. teams ranked 31-75 / Neutral vs. teams ranked 51-100 / Road vs. teams ranked 76-135 Tier 3:Home vs. teams ranked 76-160 / Neutral vs. teams ranked 101-200 / Road vs. teams ranked 136-240 Tier 4:Home vs. teams ranked 161-351 / Neutral vs. teams ranked 201-351 / Road vs. teams ranked 241-351

One Seeds

Saturday saw three of last weeks one seeds drop games, but given the separation theyd already created and Marylands loss at Ohio State on Sunday, things remain unchanged with the exception of Kansas assuming the top overall seed.

Its worth noting that San Diego States home loss to UNLV falls in Quad 3, which caused me to take a closer look at Dayton for the final one seed. For now, I left the Aztecs on the top line, as their four Quad 1 wins (neutral court vs. Creighton and Iowa, road at BYU and Utah State) are far better than Daytons (neutral court vs. Saint Marys, road at Richmond, VCU, and Saint Louis). That said, Daytons only losses came in overtime against Kansas and Colorado on neutral courts, both of which are better than SDSUs home loss to the Rebels. Daytons trip to Rhode Island on March 4th is the Flyers toughest remaining test and could provide another Quad 1 victory, while the Aztecs have just two games left (home vs. Colorado State, at Nevada) before the Mountain West Tournament.

The Bracket

The projections below are based on all games played through February 24th, 2020.

Last Four In:

USC The Trojans dropped both games on the mountain road trip to Colorado and Utah, leaving them perilously close to the cutline. They have a solid neutral court win over LSU and eight road/neutral victories, but a home loss to Temple and a general lack of wins against top-end teams are cause for concern. All three of USCs remaining games are at home, as the Trojans welcome the Arizona schools this week and close out the season by hosting UCLA. Going 2-1 in those games feels like a must.

Providence I touched on the Friars earlier, and I ultimately gave them the nod due to their quantity of quality wins compared to other bubble teams. They are off until Saturday when they travel to Villanova, and then they close the season with home games against Xavier and DePaul.

Cincinnati The Bearcats penchant for overtime games came back to bite them last week, as they fell at home to UCF in double-OT, which was Cincinnatis fourth straight overtime game. They bounced back to beat Wichita State on Sunday, but the UCF defeat saddled UC with a fourth Quad 3 loss. Oddly enough, the Bearcats are 6-0 in Quad 2 contests and also have a home win over Houston, who they face on the road this weekend.

Oklahoma Saturdays blowout road loss at Oklahoma State pushed the Sooners into the Last Four In, as theyve gone just 5-8 after a 11-3 start. As I mentioned above, the committee doesnt put additional weight on those games, but it definitely signals a team headed in the wrong direction. A home victory over West Virginia is OUs only win over a team safely in the field, with the next best wins coming on a neutral court against Minnesota and on the road at Texas. The Sooners do have eight wins against the top two quadrants, and they have no losses in Quad 3 or Quad 4. A tough week awaits with a mid-week date with Texas Tech followed by a trip to Morgantown.

First Four Out:

Stanford The Cardinal bounced back to sweep their trip to the Washington schools. Stanfords two most notable victories have come at home against Oregon and on a neutral court against Oklahoma, while the road win at UCLA is looking better. A road loss at Cal doesnt help matters though, which means the Cardinal need to keep winning as they welcome Utah and Colorado to Palo Alto this week.

Richmond The Spiders have just one loss outside of the top two quadrants, which came against Radford on a neutral floor. Their top wins came at Rhode Island and on a neutral court against Wisconsin, but those are the only victories over teams anywhere near the at-large discussion. A 7-3 mark in true road games adds to their case, but the unbalanced schedule has limited Richmonds opportunities to get additional quality wins since the Spiders drew Dayton and Rhode Island just once in A-10 play. Last weeks loss at St. Bonaventure kept them from entering this weeks projected field, and the Spiders can ill afford to lose either of their games this week (at George Washington, home vs. Massachusetts).

UCLA As mentioned above, it just feels like UCLAs NET ranking is too high right now, but in contrast to a number of other bubble teams, the Bruins are certainly moving in the right direction. This weeks home games with the Arizona schools will go along way toward determining UCLAs fate.

Memphis The Tigers halted a three-game losing streak with home wins over East Carolina and Houston, with the latter giving Memphis a much-needed Quad 1 victory. A neutral court win over NC State helps for bubble purposes, but Memphis also has a trio of Quad 3 losses. Throw in the loss of James Wiseman and the injury to DJ Jeffries, and this is a tough profile to sort out. The Tigers close with three of their final four games on the road, including this weeks road trips to SMU and Tulane.

Conference Breakdown:

Big Ten (10): Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers, Wisconsin

Big East (7): Butler, Creighton, Marquette, Providence, Seton Hall, Villanova, Xavier

ACC (5): Duke, Florida State, Louisville, North Carolina State, Virginia

Big 12 (5): Baylor, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, West Virginia

Pac-12 (5): Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Oregon, USC

SEC (4): Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, LSU

American (3): Cincinnati, Houston, Wichita State

West Coast (3): BYU, Gonzaga, Saint Marys

Atlantic 10 (2): Dayton, Rhode Island

Mountain West (2): San Diego State, Utah State

America East: Vermont

Atlantic Sun: Liberty

Big Sky: Montana

Big South: Radford

Big West: UC Irvine

Colonial: Hofstra

Conference USA: North Texas

Horizon: Wright State

Ivy: Yale

MAAC: Siena

MAC: Akron

MEAC: North Carolina A&T

Missouri Valley: Northern Iowa

Northeast: St. Francis (PA)

Ohio Valley: Belmont

Patriot: Colgate

Southern: ETSU

Southland: Stephen F. Austin

SWAC: Prairie View A&M

Summit: South Dakota State

Sun Belt: Little Rock

WAC: New Mexico State

Follow Andyon Twitter (@andybottoms) for more thoughts on college hoops and to receive an update whenever new brackets are posted.

Filed to: 2019-2020 bracketology

Original post:
Bracketology: NCAA tournament projection as of February 25, 2020 - Inside the Hall

This probably isnt the first time youve heard that strengthening your core is, well, at the core of all fitness. Having core strength is not only vital when doing ab exercises, but also to have good posture, avoid lower back pain, and improve your entire gym experience.

Without a strong core, your exercise routine will have you overcorrecting with other muscle groups and possibly doing more harm than good (for example, if you find your lower back arching when youre doing a push-up).

Once you have stable posture and active stabilizer muscles, all the other movements you do, like squats, deadlifts, lunges, push-ups, etc are already cued up with stability and core strength, explains Logan Dube, the Director of Education at Steve Nash Fitness World. Thats why we like using them in warm-up.

Whether your goal is to get a six-pack for the summer, to set a strong core foundation, or to alleviate your lower back pain, pursuing a rock-solid core is something your body will thank you for. We asked Logan to share her five top core and ab exercises to get us there.

Ab exercise/Shutterstock

How To:For a five-step routine to work out all areas of your abs, Logan suggests starting with the Dead Bug exercise.Lay flat on your back and doing reps where you lift each leg and the opposite arm at the same time.

My recommendation, and what we teach students and trainers in our certification programs, is that core muscles are all about stability. If you think of your pelvis, spine and rib cage/shoulders, its really important that the muscles around and attached to those bones can give you stability, Logan explains.

Hip Bridge exercise/Shutterstock

How To: Next up is the Hip Bridge, where you hold your arms on the floor and have your feet planted at an angle while keeping your core elevated.

Theres more to core-strengthening exercises than meets the eye. Logan says, These exercises are crucial because of how the different core muscles are layered and what their specific jobs are. In all five of these exercises, you keep your pelvis, spine and rib cage stacked and braced so movement, if any, happens at the hip joint (like in the Hip Bridge).

Side Plank/Shutterstock

How To: The Side Plank is one of the hardest core exercises, but it definitely pays off. Do this one by balancing on the edges of your feet while keeping your torso off the ground.

Logan also stresses that although having a six-pack is top of peoples mind, strengthening your core is a crucial foundation.

We incorporate core activation exercises into the warm-up of all workouts. You could use similar exercises in a stand-alone workout, especially if you prefer shorter workouts more days per week. Especially for beginners, its important to be able to do these exercises properly before moving onto those six-pack exercises!

Plank/Shutterstock

How To: The Plank involves you lying on the ground, keeping your back straight, and staying elevated on your elbows.

Logan says that each of these workouts activate different layers of the abs. Muscles like the transverse abdominus help set and brace the position of your pelvis and spine ensuring that you dont injure your back.

In the second layer, Logan explains that internal and external obliques help brace but they also create and resist rotation.The third layer is more superficial, and is effectively what gives you a six-pack.

Bird dog exercise/Shutterstock

How To: The Bird Dog exercise has you alternating pressure on your knee and opposite arm, staying balanced while keeping your core strong.

People with low back pain are often weak in one or all of these five movements. And learning to do these and slowly building up endurance really helps reduce and even eliminate back pain, says Logan.

Logan is just one of the experts you may meet atSteve Nash Fitness World and Sports Club, BCs largestfitnessprovider.The gym has over 24 clubs and each year, and through its Success Stories campaign, recognizes a member who (often with the help of a personal trainer) has used exercises like those recommended above to transform their life.

Jason was out of shape from spending long hours at a desk, so his trainer at Steve Nash Fitness World started by coaching foundational movements: squats, lunges, push and pull exercises. Since joining, hes improved his performance in sports and made great progress towards his weight loss goals.

A different client, Karen, was able to make a remarkable recovery after a freak accident that left her with a broken hip. After getting back in the gym within a month of the surgery, her trainer gave her hope that she could get back to her previous state. Karen benefitted from learning appropriate variations of the foundational movements like squats, lunges, deadlifts, and push-ups so that she could train safely and build her confidence. It didnt take too long until she was doing exercises she never imagined being able to do! says her personal trainer, Daniel.

Cant wait to strengthen your core? Find your closest Steve Nash Fitness World and Sports Club location so you can get started today!

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5 best exercises to strengthen your core, according to a personal trainer | Etcetera - Daily Hive

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Our spending habits and our weight are very closely related. Many of us dont realize it but there might be a direct link between our financial health and physical health. Studies have found that adolescent women who struggle financially also tend to be overweight. One might see how that can be true. I know that Ive often sought comfort in an entire bottle of wine and double cheeseburger when I felt stressed about money. I know that, when times have been hard, I leaned into being totally financially screwed, and would go out for an expensive and indulgent meal with friends. It was almost my way of giving my situation the middle finger, but it left me with bloat and a $200 dinner bill.

On the flip side of things, when I have wanted to save money on food but havent had the time to cook for myself, Ive picked up fast food, which naturally isnt great for my waistline. Its easy to see how our feelings surrounding money can affect our eating habits, and visa versa. They say the way you do one thing is the way you do everything, and I think if youre a bit irresponsible with money you may also be irresponsible with food, or the other way around. But you can dig yourself out of these habits, and its amazing how just a little jumpstart of better eating and/or spending habits can show results quickly. Those results can motivate you to stay on track, and suddenly youll find that your efforts towards your weight loss goals positively influence your money goals, and the results just grow and grow.

If you are struggling both with your weight and your finances, its time to stop seeing these two as separate and unrelated. They are very much related. Here are spending habits that can lead to weight loss.

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When you dine at happy hour, a couple of good things happen. First of all, the restaurant saves money by making happy hour portions smaller. That may seem cheap of them, but its good for your waistline, while giving you those better prices. Also, there is a cutoff time on those great prices, so you wont just keep ordering all night long.

See the original post:
Spending Habits That Can Lead To Weight Loss - MadameNoire

Did you know that having a big breakfast can prevent risk of obesity and high blood sugar rather than having a large dinner?As per the findings of a recent study published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, researchers at the University of Lubeck in Germany have found that the body appears to be better at processing food in the morning.According to the researchers, our body expends energy when we digest food for the absorption, digestion, transport and storage of nutrients.This process, known as diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT), is a measure of how well our metabolism is working and can differ depending on mealtime.

"Our results show that a meal is eaten for breakfast, regardless of the number of calories it contains, creates twice as high diet-induced thermogenesis as the same meal consumed for dinner," said the study corresponding author, Juliane Richter, from the University of Lbeck in Germany.

"This finding is significant for all people as it underlines the value of eating enough at breakfast," Richter added.

For the results, the researchers conducted a three-day laboratory study of 16 men who consumed a low-calorie breakfast and high-calorie dinner, and vice versa in a second round.

They found identical calorie consumption led to 2.5 times higher DIT in the morning than in the evening after high-calorie and low-calorie meals.

The food-induced increase of blood sugar and insulin concentrations was diminished after breakfast compared with dinner, the study said.

Originally posted here:
Follow this eating pattern to lose weight quickly - Times of India

Dar es Salaam. Tanzanias former beauty Queen Wema Sepetu has reacted to the speculations about her health following her drastic weight loss.

Her fans have been trying to explain the weight loss, with some even suggesting that she could be ailing, something that Wema responded to by taking HIV test live online just to prove that she is okay.

But even with that, many are not yet satisfied.

In a recent press conference during the launch of her latest film, the subject emerged again.

There is no doubt health is everything in life but these days you look slim compared to what people were used to , causing lots of questions. Please tell us the secret, one journalist posed during the event.

A smiling Wema quickly responded: I am fit, I am not suffering from anything. The body that you see today is the one I have always craved for.

She went on to add that her current slim body size is what got her famous when she contested for Miss Tanzania and won in 2006.

People knew me as Miss Tanzania with this kind of body size and shape then I gained weight, then they got used to me and they started saying I am over weight. I think there will come a point when they will get used to it, she said.

Wema insists she is comfortable with her current self, saying he drastic weight loss is as a result of dieting, taking medicine and starving just to attain what she termed as English-figure.

See the original post here:
Wema Sepetu: I have lost weight because I wanted to - The Citizen Daily

SALT LAKE CITY Remember that 10-game win streak the Utah Jazz had in December and January? Remember when the team won 19 of 21 games that included that streak?

Thats not the team that youve seen over the last three games and it certainly isnt the team that played Monday night.

Right now thats not who we are, coach Quin Snyder said after the Jazz lost 131-111 to the Phoenix Suns. Who you are is who you are now, not who youve been, or what youre going to do, or what you can do. Its what you do. What we did tonight wasnt good. Obviously thats an understatement on a lot of levels.

The Utah Jazz had just forced Phoenix into a shot-clock violation midway through the fourth quarter, picked up a couple points off free throws from Rudy Gobert, then chased the Suns around forcing two bad shots from Devin Booker.

It was consecutive, well-played defensive possessions. But it was two of too few during an embarrassing loss at Vivint Arena on Monday night.

Royce ONeale came away with the rebound after Bookers miss and the sequence of events that followed encapsulated the Jazzs night and the way theyve been playing of late.

Unaware of who was around him or how close they were, ONeale was picked off near mid-court as a trailing Ricky Rubio came from behin,d and poked the ball away, not only preventing any sort of Jazz fast break, but taking the possession away from them altogether.

Grid View

Booker, also behind the Jazz, was waiting at his own 3-point line, wide open with no one to impede his shot. He missed the trey, but the Jazz players that were near the basket were completely devoid of any sense of defense as Mikal Bridges flew in for an easy put-back jam.

With that, the Suns were leading by 15 with less than six minutes to play and the crowd slowly started trickling out of the arena as the Jazz lost their third straight game at home.

Its more than a lack of execution, but a lack of commitment to the things you need to do to win, Snyder said. Were going to keep getting the same result if we dont focus and execute on the defensive end.

After losses to San Antonio and Houston on Friday and Saturday the Jazz said that they werent matching the opponents energy level, that they werent focused, that they lacked the intensity level needed to win.

On Monday after a loss to a Suns team that they absolutely should have beaten, the Jazz were out of excuses.

Theres nothing else to say, Donovan Mitchell said. I can give yall a thousand reasons, but weve just got to go out there and do it. Otherwise well be home in May.

Thats where the Jazzs mindset is right now. They do not recognize the team that they are. The defensive identity that once ruled the Jazz locker room has seemingly disappeared and has Jazz players questioning who they are.

If the last three games are an indication of what the Jazz are capable of, the answer is that they are incredibly mediocre. They can hang in with teams but they dont have the defensive answers to pull out wins down the stretch and they tend to fall aspart as the game wears on.

Though Joe Ingles isnt willing to say that the team has lost its identity, he too feels the weight of the losses.

When you play the way weve been playing, theres a lot more bad than good right now, Ingles said. Its draining. ... Its just embarrassing.

Whatever seems to be the reason for the Jazzs defensive lapses and breakdowns seems to be intangible and that is what is most frustrating for the players. They know that theyve been able to beat good and bad teams alike and they know they have the talent and ability, but for an unknown reason things just arent clicking.

The Jazz are now winless since the All-Star break, a time thats usually looked at as a rejuvenating period for teams so that they can come back to the last part of the season with fresh eyes and renewed energy.

Instead the Jazz have come back from the break without energy, and without a commitment to the things that made them a playoff contending team.

And, as Ingles said, night after night of teams coming into Vivint Arena playing freely, getting where they want when they want, and doing it with a smile has drained the life out of the Jazz.

The team has run out of excuses and there are no more breaks to be had. They have to figure out what the problem is and they have to do so quickly.

The opponents wont always be the Phoenix Suns, a young and hungry team who is lucky to get wins against the better teams in the league. On Wednesday the Jazz will host the Boston Celtics, a 39-17 team that is as capable as any team in the league right now.

Read more from the original source:
Utah Jazz lose to Phoenix Suns and lose their defensive identity - Deseret News

In her documentary Miss Americana, music icon Taylor Swift disclosed her history of eating disorders. Her revelation underscores the fact these disorders do not discriminate. According to the advocacy and awareness organization Eating Disorders Coalition, they strike all genders, races, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Despite their prevalence the problem is worldwide myths about eating disorders abound. Such as that they are a choice. They are not. Or theyre not a big deal. They are. Or that a person with an eating disorder is always severely underweight. Not always.

As a licensed psychologist and psychology professor, I find its common for my clients and students to say A little food helps me with my anxiety or Im not thin enough to have an eating disorder. Such beliefs often prevent people from recognizing they have a problem. More is involved in an eating disorder than food, or body image. Someone gripped by one is attempting to regulate some very difficult and complicated emotions.

What is an eating disorder?

Eating disorders fall into three basic categories: disorders of restriction, or anorexia; bingeing, known medically as binge eating disorder; and bingeing followed by compensation such as self-induced vomiting which is called bulimia.

Unpacked further: Restriction means limiting calories so much that weight loss is more than expected for a given height and weight. This does not necessarily mean the person will appear emaciated. Someone who was at the 90th percentile for weight, for example, could still be considered anorexic if they reduced their weight to the 70th percentile.

Bingeing is more than simply overeating. Its out-of-control eating, leading to extreme feelings of fullness and guilt, typically within a couple of hours after a meal. By bingeing, a person can check out of life circumstances to focus only on food.

With bulimia, a binge is followed by an action to compensate for the calories consumed. Purging is one of them, but there are others, including exercise, particularly when its taken to an extreme. Although exercise is often overlooked as a form of compensation, a person addicted to it has more than three-and-a-half times the likelihood to be diagnosed with an eating disorder than a person a without one.

It should be emphasized that not all of these disorders always result in weight loss. Those with binge eating disorder and bulimia may be at or above expected weight.

The root of an eating disorder

Eating disorders arent about managing weight. Rather, theyre a way to manage emotions. When my clients describe what its like to restrict themselves from food, they often talk of being empty and feeling numb to the world.

Take someone dealing with a trifecta of guilt, shame and embarrassment. Bingeing is exceedingly effective at burying these emotions. So is compensation, a tool to give the sufferer a break from the emotional turmoil. The relief they receive is a reinforcer, and its extraordinarily powerful. Purging, overeating, compensating it all feels good. Very quickly, the pattern is repeated.

Some answers

Simply changing eating patterns wont work. Instead, sufferers must first identify the feelings theyre experiencing. Then comes a search for better strategies to deal with those feelings. In the interim, nothing feels as good as the eating disorder. But slowly, as healthy behaviors take over, they become more reinforcing than the disorder.

With Feb. 24 marking the beginning of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, theres one thing you need to remember if you know someone with an eating disorder. They are experiencing significant emotional pain; the eating disorder is an attempt to communicate that pain. If food or exercise appears to be running the life of a family member, friend or colleague, you can help by focusing on them and their lived experience and not exclusively on the food.

[Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend. Sign up for our weekly newsletter.]

Michele Patterson Ford, Lecturer in Psychology, Dickinson College

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Image: Reuters

Originally posted here:
Ask Taylor Swift: Eating Disorders Feed On Emotional Pain - The National Interest Online

Warning: some things discussed in this personal essay may be triggering to those with a history of disordered eating.

Like many people, I fell prey to diet culture at a young age. When I was just 7, my pediatrician innocuously asked, "So, what do you normally have for lunch?" I told him that my lunch was pretty standard: a sandwich, an apple, some cookies for dessert. He suggested that I "lay off the cookies" for a bit, because even though I had a strong and muscular body from swimming, he was concerned about how much I weighed. Pictures of me at this time in my life show a young girl who is not overweight in the slightest, but that did not stop me from feeling like something was wrong.

Throughout high school, I dabbled with diets and diet pills, and by my first year of college, I had a full-blown eating disorder. I was obsessive about counting calories. Between that and excessive exercise, I quickly shrunk to a weight that meant I was malnourished and underfed. Looking back, the number of compliments I received was stunning. Meanwhile, I was suffering. I would often cry at restaurants when I didn't think there was anything "healthy" on the menu, and I found myself frequently lying to friends and family to keep this painful secret. When I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression about a year into my eating disorder, one of the first things my psychiatrist addressed was how little I was eating. I started to gain weight back once I was in outpatient therapy.

The thing about disordered eating for me is that it exists in extremes. I use food to manage my emotions, and while at first I relied on starving myself and compulsive exercise, once I was no longer severely restricting my food, I turned to binge eating. This started a dangerous pattern for me. For years, my body would cycle: I would count calories and exercise excessively before swinging back to binge eating. My body was confused, tired, and damaged from years of not knowing what to expect.

Related: Why I Refuse to Diet in a World Obsessed With Dieting

Several years ago, after spending most of my life counting calories and obsessing over the number on the scale, I discovered intuitive eating. It sounded too good to be true: a non-diet that relied on me trusting myself and my body? That didn't seem possible. Still, exhausted by years of consuming obsession, I began to explore the principles, and most of all, learning to trust my body.

It takes work and conscious effort to stop living in this diet mentality where there's a quick plan to help you lose weight, and every food is labeled "good" or "bad."

It was not an easy journey. Years of under-eating followed by periods of binge eating meant that I was deeply out of touch with what it felt like to be hungry and full. Beyond that, I had spent so many years adhering to diet plans that told me how many calories to consume, what foods were "safe," and how much I should be eating each day that I no longer knew what my body actually liked or wanted. I felt unable to feed myself at first. One of the principles of intuitive eating is allowance, which means that you allow yourself to eat the things you want without restriction. The idea is that once food is not forbidden, you no longer feel obsessive.

My process is imperfect. It takes work and conscious effort to stop living in this diet mentality where there's a quick plan to help you lose weight, and every food is labeled "good" or "bad." It can be hard to learn to trust your body, and reject things like counting calories and lists of approved foods. That said, healing is possible. I now know when I'm hungry and full, and I trust my intuition. I no longer spend weekends meal prepping for hours to try to keep myself from eating "bad" foods - I let myself have what I want, I eat when I'm hungry, and I stop when I'm full. I genuinely love to exercise, but I don't force myself to do it for hours on end, or shame myself for skipping a day.

I've gained weight from my lowest weight, but none of the things I feared - that I would constantly overeat or crave only foods I had always deemed "unhealthy" - have come true, and I'm working hard to accept and even love my body. Learning to trust my body is something I will work on every day for the rest of my life, but it's also one of the best things I've ever done for my mental health. Without spending hours counting calories, I have more brain space to write, to create, and to live a life that is not bound to or by food. Intuitive eating has helped me learn to appreciate my body, knowing that it is good and worthy of my love and attention no matter what I'm eating, when or how much I'm moving, and whatever the number says on the scale.

Read more:
After Years of Obsessively Counting Calories, I Finally Learned to Trust My Body - Yahoo Lifestyle

Geordie OG star Marnie Simpson has revealed she lost more than three stone in weight after giving birth to her son Rox.

The 28 year old new mum said she weighs less now than she does before she fell pregnant.

And the reality star's weight loss is down to her cutting out sugar and eating healthily to help treat her chronic UTI.

Marnie, who has been praised for speaking out about the rare condition, opened up in an exclusive chat with OK! online about how her chronic UTI caused her to drop from around 13 stone during pregnancy to around nine and a half stone after labour.

When asked about her weight loss, which she has shown off on her Instagram since giving birth to Rox, Marnie's boyfriend Casey Johnson said: That was the illness, because she couldnt eat anything sugar

To which Marnie clarified: I couldnt eat anything with sugar in, and everythings got sugar in. My doctor was like: Look, youve had no immune and antibiotics arent really the best thing to

Casey added: They kill your immune system. New mum Marnie explained: They get rid of all the good bacteria.

The best thing about fighting this [chronic UTI] is your own immune. So, your immune system needs to be the best it can be.

So she [Marnie's specialist] told me to cut out all sugar, drink loads of water, eat loads of fruit, eat loads of greens which Ive never done in my life.

So, I was in so much pain, that I was treating my diet like medicine. Thats how I was looking at it.

Marnie, who is starring alongside Casey in the new Geordie OG series, continued: I was terrified to eat anything bad and I was constantly eating spinach and asparagus and greens and I wouldnt have anything else.

So I just dropped weight really quickly after the birth but it wasnt even something I meant to do.

Marnie explained how she had mixed emotions about losing the post-baby weight in such a way.

She said: It was just off the diet. Its bitter-sweet really. I tried for years to lose weight when I met Casey. It would take something like this for me to actually stick to a diet!

Im smaller now than before I was pregnant. I was about 10 stone four or five before I was pregnant. And I think Im about nine stone [now].

And it's not just the reality star who has lost weight since the birth of her son Rox, as Casey revealed he has also shed the pounds after eating healthily alongside Marnie to support her.

Casey: But, even Ive lost a stone by eating what shes eating. I was 12 stone and now Im 11.

Marine: Its cos hes eating good as well!

Geordie OGs premieres on Wednesday 26th February at 9pm, on MTV!

Excerpt from:
Marnie Simpson reveals her chronic UTI caused her to lose more than three stone in weight after pregnancy - OK! magazine