Women Helping Women in Addictions
Health
Diet No More
Jun 27th
Two months ago I listened to a women, Geneen Roth, on Oprah Winfreys show who addressed women’s compulsiveness with food. She states we are obsessed with food – in eating too much to not eating enough. I watched the program then ran out the next day and bought her book “Women Food and God” (talk about compulsive behavior). It has been over two months now and I have just opened the book. Geneen Roth’s book supports the idea of not dieting ever again. Throw out our ideas about diet along with our diet books, diet recipes, and all that diet brainwashing.
My whole life has been surrounded with a diet lifestyle and all of the latest diet fads for the year. I have tried every means in the world to loose weight. In the 60’s and 70’s it was easy to find a doctor to write you prescription’s for weight loss. I just recently found out that people are still getting shots from pregnant women’s urine. I tried this diet fad in the 70’s, the hormone shot from pregnant women’s urine – how desperate is that. The fasting diet I tried for 21 days straight, some people fast way into three to six months. The lemonade fast is another which people push off as a cleansing drink of maple syrup, cayenne pepper and lemons - this is a cleansing but is used purposely for loosing weight. A doctor put me on a prune diet, it consisted of eating 6 prunes along with water for two meals, and eating only one meal a day. Throughout the years I have tried the traditional weight loss programs as Weight Watchers, Jeannie Craig, Nutrisystem, Herbal Life, Atkins, The Zone Diet, LA Weight Loss, Mediterranean Diet, Overeaters Anonymous, and many more. Of course you can’t pass up the advertisements declaring weight loss through their carbohydrates/fat blockers, hoodia pills, protein powders, cookies, oatmeal muffins, slim drinks, and other supplements. I have food plans from various programs calculating calorie intake, carbohydrates, fats, sodium and sugar intake. For all the plans, documentation and calculations I had to maintain, you would have thought I was a bookkeeper. Don’t forget the cabbage soup diet, grapefruit diet, and hospital diets claiming weight loss of 7 to 20 pounds within days. My eating plans changed from total vegetarian meals to eating nothing but meat from the book – Eating Right for your Blood Type.
For forty years my eating and dieting lifestyle has been manic. What is the message I have been telling myself and relaying to others with this caotic lifestyle. It is not only myself that has experienced this merry-go-round, it is my four children who I took for the ride. They will interpret their own experience and may or may not be affected. How different is food and diet from any other addiction of alcohol, drugs, and gambling. In my view, there is no difference with my addiction of food and dieting than a person struggling to stay clean from drugs or alcohol. I have not lost my family, job, and friends but I could have easily lost my life.
I am a diabetic and have other health issues due to my living a unhealthy lifestyle. I can honestly say it is just currently that I am living a healthier lifestyle with exercise and eating. What is different today, like no other day, is that today and day by day I will live a Diet No More lifestyle. To all my family, friends and website followers I will blog my views, feelings, and experiences throughout each chapter of Geneen Roth’s book “Women Food and God”. I hope to hear from you with your own experiences and views on the subject of compulsive eating and dieting. Those who wish to jump on the band wagon, come on board – lets conquer this together with Dieting No More!
Treating Depression – Alternative Medicine and It’s Benefits Compared to Prescription Drugs
May 17th
Treating depression? Alternative medicine can help without all the problems associated with taking antidepressants. In this article, you’ll learn how taking the natural path to health can lift your mood and help you reclaim your life for good.
Before we talk about natural remedies, let’s take a closer look at prescription drugs. Although these medications do work for a certain segment of the population and some people seem to do well on them, others just can’t tolerate the side effects. Worse yet, they add a sense of anxiety to the mix because no one really knows the long term effects of these drugs on the brain. For these reasons and others, many people are looking for a treating depression alternative to drugs.
An excellent alternative is natural remedies. These remedies are made from medicinal herbs that have been used for centuries to relieve depression. In addition to being time-tested, these herbs have also proven effective in clinical trials. Further study of the restorative qualities of these herbs has shown that certain herbs work better together.
For instance, you may have heard of St. John’s Wort. While this herb works to elevate mood and produce feel-good neurotransmitters in the brain, it is much more effective when combined with another herb called. Passion Flower. Taking these herbs together in a proven formula that delivers the same dose every time is an effective treating depression alternative to prescription drugs.
While using alternative medicine can help you turn your life around, it is important to take other measures once the supplement has you feeling more energetic and motivated to make small changes in your life. First, take a close look at your diet. Make sure that you are eating lean protein, lots of fresh vegetables (especially leafy greens), fresh fruit, whole grains and nuts. Since the chemicals in processed foods can adversely affect your moods and leave your body starving for nutrition, slowly substitute healthier foods over time if you have been eating a diet that is mostly made up of junk food.
Finally, find an exercise that you enjoy. Finding pleasure in movement is the only goal besides keeping your body moving for at least 30 minutes at a time. Allow yourself to experience the joy of motion and you will continue to exercise for life. Since exercise releases endorphins in the brain, it will work together with a natural remedy and a healthy diet as an effective treating depression alternative to prescription drugs or other methods.
Laura Ramirez helps others achieve health and wellness through her research. Learn more about her findings by going to www.cure-depression-naturally.com.
By Laura Ramirez
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Laura_Ramirez
Children Night Terrors!
May 7th
I have a soft spot in my heart for parents who are trying to find the answers for their children and their “Night Terrors”. I too was a parent of a nine year old child suffering from night terrors from the age of nine to twelve years of age. The night terrors started slowly from 5-10 minutes long then increased to 15-30 minutes each episode, sometimes two night terrors a night. The night terrors persist one to three times a week, the minutes per episode also increased to 20-30 minutes.
It started with nightmare symptoms, waking up screaming, saying a monster was chasing him, My routine would be to lie in bed with him talking and cuddling him back to sleep. The nightmares started to change to night terrors, he could not be comforted any longer. He would be wide eyed, jump out of bed and walk around the room mumbling on “get away, stop, go away”. Then there would be nights he would not speak, just cry and cry. He would have no recollection of his night terrors. During the earlier stages of his night terrors he had no recollections but the last stages of his night terrors he was beginning to have some memory with a sense of fear.
It was the last year of his night terrors which became more frightening to me because of his symptoms and the duration of his night terrors. His terrors would last 30 minutes, he was extremely agitated and verbal during the episodes. Many of his episodes had a look of fear and panic, and he let out a ‘blood curdling scream’, “YOU CAN’T HAVE ME”. His screams never changed “Someone is after me- I have to get away from him- you don’t understand- he can’t have me”. He would be screaming this over and over, and when asked who was after him, his reply would be “You don’t understand – I don’t want to die”. By then he was walking faster and faster from one end of the hallway to the other back and forth, as though he was running from someone. He would run throughout the house yelling, screaming “I am not ready to die”.
I would try to comfort him by holding him, his heart rate was rapid it seemed as thought his heart could jump out. He would be sweating profusely, fidgeting trying to get free from me, and yelling “he is after me, I have to get away”. He panic with fear, screaming, sweating, and walking throughout the house a full 20-30 minutes. I would be helpless, crying and just trying to comfort my son in helping him out of these night terrors.
My worst night terror experience was seeing my little boy tucked into the corner crying and screaming “I can’t take this any longer, I can’t take this any longer”. I had tried numerous times to get him to a doctor, and counselling. He would lock himself into the bathroom, and refuse therapy of any sort. He would say over and over “I am not crazy”.
It was soon after my becoming a hypnotherapist, that I had my son have a session with my instructor. It was not until after his two hour session that my son was completely rid of his Night Terrors. My son is a healthy young man today with only one side affect from his years of Night Terrors. He has difficulty sleeping in his bedroom, he usually sleeps in the front room with the television on. He is now living on his own working and going to school for his degree in computer drafting design -Night Terror Free.
Night Terrors in Adults and Children
May 6th
Night terrors in adults and children are interrupted sleep cycle of fear and panic. Night terrors, also known as sleep terrors, are not nightmares. The difference between nightmares and night terrors is that the nightmare occurs mainly during REM sleep and the night terror happens during non-REM sleep, usually after the first hour going to sleep. Most nightmares and dreams happen during the latter part of the sleep cycle.
Night terror symptoms in adults and children are similar, the person wakes up in a state of fear and agitation. Night terrors also known as sleep terrors can last 15 to 30 minutes. Usually the person has no knowledge of the night terror episode, however, others have reported from memory their night terrors.
Night Terrors are sleep disorders which affect adults, children and adolescents in different ways. Some adolescents grow out of night terrors as others will endure them most of their lives. Research studies stress that adult night terrors are less common than in children night terrors. There seems to be a large community of adults, suffering from night terrors, who would differ with the studies. Many adults are using the websites for support and help for finding answers in stopping their night terrors. Many of them have not sought professional help due to their embarrassment and not wanting to be labeled as crazy.
Adults and their family members report mild to extreme symptoms during night terror episodes. Besides symptoms of sweating, rapid heart rate, scared, confused, panicky, screaming, and crying some have night terror accidents. Night terror accidents range from bruises and cuts to jumping out of windows, breaking limbs, and other injuries while experiencing a night terror.
Night terror sufferers are looking at the triggers that may bring on their episodes. Triggers are bedtime schedules, over-tiredness, sleeping patterns, meals, drinking, stress, and other lifestyle changes. Some adults have sought psychotherapy, and other professional help and found the night terror episodes at a decline. Others have looked into homeopathy and other alternative therapies for the answers. I myself have found hypnotherapy as the answer in stopping my son’s night terrors.