Changing Lifestyle

Archive for February, 2012

Hi Prof G.

My son’s wedding is in five weeks, wonder if you can suggest some quick tips to jumpstart my weight loss?…Joann V.

Joann… Hi.

Congratulations! You are going to look and feel terrific… to help there are a number of quick tips we’ll share in the next two blogs… not to overwhelm, here’s three to get started. 

More next time…

G.

Cut down your size

Downsize your food, and you’ll downsize your dress size. Portion control is one of the oldest weight-loss tricks in the book, but it gets a bad rap as being difficult. It’s not. Pile your plate with your normal portion sizes, then take a quarter away and save it for later. The next day, take half away. In a few days you won’t notice you’re eating less. Practice this simple trick and you’ll slim your waistline in no time.

 Sleep

Burning the midnight oil can sabotage your weight loss efforts. Research has found that lack of sleep affects the hormones that increase appetite. Another reason to hit the snooze button? Getting an extra hour of sleep every night may also help you avoid your late-night snacking habit, plus, you’ll have more energy to work out.

 Cut the Carbs

There’s a reason celebrities don’t eat bread and pasta in the days leading up to an awards show. Those carb-laden foods may be tasty and filling, but they also add bulk in the way of water retention. By dramatically cutting back on carbs you’ll reduce the water your body is holding and beat bloat.

A recent e-mail…
Dr. C, a quick question. More and more I’m hearing the term, “Presenteeism” at work and I’m not really sure I know what it means. Can you explain?
Thanks
Josh

Josh,
Hi!
I’ll begin by asking that you picture the following conversation between a floor supervisor (Linda) and her manager (Estelle)
“Linda, can I see you for a moment.”
As Linda steps into Estelle’s office,
“Lin, I noticed Tom has been unusually down the last couple of days, what’s going on?”
“I know… it’s been since Monday… his dog died.”
“Dog?”
“Yeah…had it for 10 years… he’ll snap out of it.”
It took Tom almost four full days to adjust to his loss and Estelle was keenly aware of the amount of money in productivity that had been lost.

Josh… in a nutshell, Tom’s job performance or more succinctly “lack” of performance is what is meant by “presenteeism”. A spin-off from the word absenteeism, it simply means “being at work” but unable to “work” while there. It’s becoming a problem for companies because, using our example, what really could Tom’s boss do?
Could she suggest that Tom see a psychiatrist or psychologist? After all, it was his dog! Whether a dog, sick child, argument at home, rising expenses, all of us face daily situations that are in constant need of attention. Very few full blown psychological issues begin with any one of these problems; instead it’s their unattended accumulation which creates a feeling of being overwhelmed by life. Considering, “life” for many is more than one-third consumed by a job, this “feeling” often manifests at work in negative emotional responses, such as sadness, anger, and tension.
The problem is that while people care about Tom, or Mary, or Sal, or Sue… the company cannot afford the time or money lost while employees deal with “life issues”. Yet, it is still something which should be talked out, not because there is something “unbalanced” with the employee but because their state of mind can escalate to a major psychological or physiological concern. Fortunately, Changing Lifestyle and its team of mental wellness professionals can help.
Changing Lifestyle, a not-for-profit organization, is a group of mental health professionals who promote wellness rather than “illness”. The fundamental flaw of most mental health providers is the emphasis on the diagnosis and treatment of the “ill” in significant life issues. The goal of Changing Lifestyle is to present a more reasonable, less threatening model, for people who wish to better deal with and master life and job issues as well as the anxiety and loss of productivity associated with them.
The mental health professionals of Changing Lifestyle are committed to teach and counsel people in strategies to promote problem solving, behavioral change and personal growth.