Some Teens are Having Bariatric Surgery

Teenagers who are obese might have the option of having bariatric surgery. Previously, this type of weight loss surgery was only offered to adults. Although it isn’t the best choice for every teenager, there are some teens who can greatly benefit from it. The New York Times reported in February of 2017 that the number of adolescents who are overweight or obese has leveled off in recent years. But the number who are severely obese – heavy enough to qualify for bariatric surgery – has nearly doubled from 1999 to 2014. Previously, 5.2 percent of adolescents were severely obese. That … Continue reading

Spring Babies Have Slightly Higher Risk of Anorexia

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that tends to start when someone is in their teen years. Teens, (and adults), who have this psychological disorder have a distorted body image, which causes the person to be overly preoccupied with controlling their food intake. Researchers have found that babies that were born during the Spring months have a slightly higher risk of developing anorexia nervosa. Anorexia will usually present itself when a person is a teenager. This mental disorder generally affects more women than men, but men can be affected by this disorder as well. This disorder starts with strict dieting … Continue reading

Finding a Midwife

We had decided to go with a midwife shortly before we starting trying to conceive. After reading “A Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth” by Henci Goer and several other similar books, I started looking for midwives in our area and there weren’t any! The closest midwives were at least two hours away. So I called them up and we took a day to visit them (they were 20 minutes from each other). Talking to the different midwives was a great experience. They answered all my questions and I really felt prepared to go with either of the two … Continue reading

Yummy Mushrooms

I’m a big fan of mushrooms and try to forget the fact they really are fungi and think of them as vegetables. Unlike the Romans who believed mushrooms were a gift from God only to be used on special occasions, I use mushrooms a lot. When they are cheap I buy them in large quantities. I tend to put them in just about every casserole or crock pot meal I make as well as using them in pies, enchiladas, salads, quiche, and just about anything else I’m making or simply on their own. A trick my son-in-law taught me is … Continue reading

Confessions of a “Foodie” Mom

Okay, here goes. Like Mary Ann said, I’ve often kept my weight loss efforts from people outside the immediate family. I figure if I succeed, they’ll notice, and if I fail, they won’t know I tried. (Hmm…I suspect that’s why some kids don’t try in school….maybe we adults are not so different from children after all.) But, sometimes accountability to someone else is easier than accountability to ourselves (I know that’s sad, but true.) So now I will be accountable to all of you. I’m a 40-year-old mom with three kids; the youngest is a kindergartener. I have been writing … Continue reading

My Forced Weight Loss Journey – How It Started

I used the word “forced” in the title when I guess no one can be truly “forced” to lose weight. But, let me tell you a bit about my history and why I felt this was forced. When I was younger, I was very active, but like many of us, I became more and more sedentary as the years went on. I married for the first (and only!) time at 36 and right before I turned 40, I realized if we were going to have any children, we had better get started! I was very lucky in that we got … Continue reading

Dear Heather .. I Was Diagnosed with Diabetes …

Dear Heather, I went to the doctor recently because I’ve been tired all the time, I got the shakes and experienced a few other troubling systems including incontinence and severe thirst. During the course of the general exam, she asked me a lot of questions and I’ll admit it, I’m overweight and I could probably stand to lose about 75 pounds or more. She recommended a few tests and when all was said and done, she told me I had diabetes. It’s Type II, the kind you get when you’re in bad physical shape like I am and when you’ve … Continue reading

Hormone Replacement Therapy: Risks and Precautions

Considering hormone replacement therapy? Here are some things to think about. The FDA recommends that certain women do not use hormone replacement therapy: Women who might be pregnant Women with a personal history of breast or ovarian cancer Women with a personal history of certain forms of endometrial cancer Women with a personal history of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, heart attack, or stroke Women who have active liver disease. (Though women with liver disease may be able to use hormone replacement therapy in patch form.) If you fall into those categories, talk to your doctors about alternative, non-hormonal treatments … Continue reading

Thrush in Pregnancy

Many pregnant women experience thrush during pregnancy. Thrush is also known as a yeast infection. If you have never experienced this before, the symptoms include redness, itching and white patches on the affected area. Pregnant women generally experience thrush in the vagina, but it can grow in the mouth as well. There are a few things that are known to contribute to thrush. One is the use of antibiotics. These medications save lives, but are being over used in our society. The antibiotic kills the natural defense we have to candida, which is yeast or thrush. The absence of this … Continue reading

Kids and Growth Hormones

Many people wish they could be taller… and I’m one of them. Thanks to my mother’s short genes I am destined to be under runway model stature for life—and I’m fine with that. I don’t have to contend with people calling me “shrimp,” “midget” or “shorty” (at least not to my face), but some children must bear these brutal taunts on a daily basis. I remember one of them. My classmate Bryan. He was my date for the Valentine’s Day Ball our freshman year in high school. He was one of the sharpest, funniest and thoughtful kids in the entire … Continue reading