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Local Woman Loses Half of Her Body Weight Without Surgery

By Kay Quinn

ksdk.com

Weight loss may sometimes seem like an unattainable goal. But a local woman has lost half her body weight!

Here's how she shed the pounds...

When Karen Ebbesmeyer turned 40, she decided to get a check-up that she'd been putting off for years. During that physical, Karen's doctor told her if she didn't lose weight, she wouldn't live to see her youngest daughter graduate from high school.

"The doctor told me that I was basically a walking time bomb," says Ebbesmeyer. "I just went home and cried and cried because I had been on diets, I tried many diets."

She'd tried low-carb and diet meals. Two years ago, Karen weighed 275 pounds. "I've even tried diet pills and knowing the affect that they could have to your heart and nothing worked."

Then, this working mother of four started walking on a treadmill, she immediately felt better and now walks at least three miles a day. She also realized that if she was going to be successful her next step was to start eating healthier.

Her biggest challenge? Giving up soda.

"Yes, it was diet, but I was drinking two to three two liters a day by myself trying to compensate for not eating," says Ebbesmeyer.

Now she drinks only water and eats a lot more vegetables.

"If we opened one can of vegetables a week we were doing good."

In February, she reached her goal weight of 148 pounds. Karen went from a size 24 to a size 6.

"I look at my old clothing, and at old pictures of myself and I think oh my goodness, how did I let myself get to that point. But, it happens it happens to a lot of people."

She also never wants to go back...

But she believes with portion control, losing half your body weight is not an impossible dream. And, she hasn't given up all of her favorite foods. Ebbesmeyer still enjoys pizza and Mexican food. And she still cheats from time to time.

"Nobody's perfect!" says Ebbesmeyer. "We're all going to cheat."

But she sticks to the plan, and to her portion control.

"Now I don't even want to call it a diet," says Ebbesmeyer. "It's just a new lifestyle."

And she hopes to inspire others.

"If I can do it anybody can do it!"

I Love My New Body...

By Julie Van Rosendaal

At age 7, I started a cupcake company. At 12, I won a chili competition. After college I launched a low-fat cookie business and wrote a bestselling cookbook, One Smart Cookie. But while I knew how to prepare healthy meals, I seldom followed my own advice.

At 330 lbs., I was making a ritual out of punishing myself with strict diets, my whole life, I would start a new diet every Jan. 1st,” she says. If that didn't work, "I would started a new diet every Monday morning, or after my birthday, or after Christmas.

At a New Year’s Eve party in 1997, I caught a glimpse of myself in a full-length bathroom mirror. Mortified, I locked myself in the bathroom for an hour. The next day, I vowed to lose weight. The difference this time: Was I’d do it on my own terms. I realized that instead of finding a new diet to try, I would have to figure out what worked for me.

Moderation became my mantra. I’d have pizza for dinner, but only one piece. I didn’t eliminate any foods from my diet; I just started eating more fruits and vegetables, whole grains and lean meats.

And of course I exercised regularly.

My first month, I lost 10 lbs. A year and a half later, I had gone from a size 28 to a size 10. I didn’t know what it was like being thin, but now at 165 lbs stretched over a 5’11” frame, I get a thrill every time I board a plane because I no longer need a seat belt extender.

I love my new body and the way I feel, and I'm going to do everything I can to keep it that way.

Julie Van Rosendaal is the author of: One Smart Cookie, Starting Out: The Essential Guide to Cooking on Your Own, and Grazing: Portable Snacks and Finger Foods for Anytime, Anywhere.

Daily Weigh-Ins Helped Andrew Perry Lose 45 Pounds


Size Change: 36 waist jeans to 29

Job: Data analyst for a financial company

Personal: 49 years old, married, and father of twin nine-year-old daughters.

Pounds Lost: 45

Time to do it: 9 years


Maintained Weight: Past two years

Healthy Habits Added: Running and track. He started out being able to run 100 feet. He's completed two New York City marathons and regularly runs 800 meters in track meets.

Trigger Foods: Chocolate cherry cordials. His kids gave him two boxes, which are now safely tucked out of reach on top of his refrigerator for occasional treats. "Otherwise I'd eat the whole box at once."

Secret Weapons: Weighing himself daily and monitoring body fat; reading food labels and watching portion control. He still measures out cereal, nuts and any other food with concentrated calories and a small portion size. He always has something slightly sweet, such as a cup of tea with a little honey, before leaving the office so that he's not ravenous when he gets home.

What He Can't Live Without: Physical activity, especially running. and... brownies.

Favorite Snacks: Trail mix.

Biggest Struggle: "Controlling myself, especially with stress eating." Also, "It's hard to stop thinking of yourself as a fat person. I am a formerly fat person."

Previous Weight Loss Attempts:"I've read practically every diet book available. And I've tried them all, with no long-term success. Any diet plan that's moderately organized just doesn't work for me."

What Worked This Time: Slowly changing his habits. "I decided not to eat anything from a box and nothing frozen. I lost 10 pounds, then plateaued there and had to take it up a notch. I tend to lose weight in clumps."

What Motivated Him to Succeed: A photo of him celebrating after the Yankees won the 1996 World Series. " I was huge!"

Rewards Along the "Weigh": New running shoes, a jacket and starting blocks for meeting running goals.

Benefits of Weight Loss: "I now eat more fruits and vegetables, and I've been able to stop taking my cholesterol lowering medications."

thewashingtonpost.com

Does Caffeine Cause Dehydration?

A review of the research by scientists at the University of Connecticut, and others, does not confirm that long-held belief.

They found, that caffeine consumed in moderate amounts had only a mild diuretic effect on the body. And that there was no significant difference in the amount of urine, and the levels of electrolytes lost by the body, after ingesting caffeinated beverages.

So, does that mean that we can drink as much caffeine as we want?

Absolutely Not!

Caffeine is absorbed through the lining of the stomach, which increases your stomach acid production and may put you at greater risk for developing a stomach ulcer. Caffeine acts as a stimulant for the central nervous system, which can make you hyperactive and restless, alter your heart rate, and may interrupt your sleeping patterns leading to an increase in insomnia. And too much caffeine may increase a pregnant woman’s risk of miscarriage.

Most of us don’t know how much caffeine we consume on a daily basis. Did you know that many over-the-counter medications contain caffeine? Caffeine can also be found in chocolate. And, ever wonder why those very popular “energy” drinks make you feel so good? You guessed it! They are loaded with caffeine and lots and lots of sugar.

So, enjoy a cup or two of coffee with your breakfast in the morning. But, think twice before having another one, or an energy drink before your workout, and try not to eat too much chocolate right before bedtime-try a warm glass of mik instead.


Related Article: Working more, Sleeping less

Riding, walking to work builds fitness into day

By Judy Fortin
CNN

Lois Fletcher started taking the subway to work nine months ago to save money. It turned out to be an excellent way for her to lose weight -- more than 30 pounds to be exact.

By walking the mile from the train station to her job, Lois Fletcher has built exercise into her daily routine.

Five mornings a week, the 53-year-old mother of three boards a commuter train in suburban Atlanta, Georgia, and heads downtown. She then walks about a mile to her office at the American Cancer Society, where she works as a computer specialist.

"My doctor has been encouraging me to exercise for quite some time," Fletcher said. "I've never been able to fit it into my schedule. Now it is part of my daily commute."

Like millions of mass transit riders around the United States, Fletcher realizes that leaving her car behind and getting on a train is good for her physical and mental health.

Fletcher acknowledges she's overweight. When she started walking to and from the train station, she weighed close to 300 pounds. She suffers from diabetes and was taking medication for hypertension.

She was surprised to see all that walking was paying off: "At first I started to see changes in the way my clothes fit, and then when I got on the scale I found I had indeed lost weight."

"Here's somebody in her work clothes, granted with tennis shoes on, getting good exercise," observed Fletcher's colleague, Colleen Doyle, director of nutrition and physical activity for the American Cancer Society. Doyle herself makes the same trek from the subway station to the office. Going to a gym isn't the only way to get regular exercise, she said.

Doyle said she sees more and more people who are killing two birds with one stone and meeting daily physical activity recommendations by walking or biking to work.

Doyle said 30 minutes of moderate exercise at least five days a week will not only help people manage their weight and blood sugar levels, but may also help prevent some cancers by controlling hormone levels.

The Cancer Society isn't the only organization encouraging the mass transit exercise trend. The Atlanta Clear Air Campaign is helping commuters such as Fletcher log their progress using an online calculator. The program offered Fletcher added incentive to take mass transit by paying her $3 a day so long as she recorded her daily mileage on the train.

Subway riders from Los Angeles, California, to suburban Washington are getting information on the benefits of taking mass transit and walking to their destinations.

Doyle encourages Fletcher and others to walk faster. Doyle also suggests incorporating strength-training exercises into a workout routine to build strong muscles and bones. She adds eating a healthy diet that includes fruits and vegetables and whole grains goes a long way toward improving overall health.

Now that she's found a way to exercise, Fletcher plans to focus on her diet in order to achieve her goal of dropping 90 more pounds.

She credits her daily walks with changing her life. "It's amazing how a small change in your lifestyle can have huge benefits in my quality of life," she said. "I feel better and now I can see how I can drop the rest of the weight."

This is a great companion piece to "Is Your Dedication to Exercise..."

Not all of us have eating disorders, but many of us engage in activities
that are contrary to our ultimate goal of being healthy and fit individuals.

Starving Themselves, Cocktail in Hand

By SARAH KERSHAW

Published: March 2, 2008
The New York Times

Manorexia, Orthorexia, Diabulimia, Binge Eating Disorder.

All are dangerous variations on the eating disorders anorexia and bulimia, and have become buzzwords that are popping up on Web sites and blogs, on television and in newspaper articles. As celebrity magazines chronicle the glamorous and the suffering, therapists and a growing number of researchers are trying to treat and understand the conditions.

The latest entry in the lexicon of food-related ills is drunkorexia, shorthand for a disturbing blend of behaviors: self-imposed starvation or bingeing and purging, combined with alcohol abuse.

Drunkorexia is not an official medical term. But it hints at a troubling phenomenon in addiction and eating disorders. Among those who are described as drunkorexics are college-age binge drinkers, typically women, who starve all day to offset the calories in the alcohol they consume. The term is also associated with serious eating disorders, particularly bulimia, which often involve behavior like bingeing on food — and alcohol — and then purging.

Anorexics, because they severely restrict their calorie intake, tend to avoid alcohol. But some drink to calm down before eating or to ease the anxiety of having indulged in a meal. Others consume alcohol as their only sustenance. Still others use drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine to suppress their appetites.

“There are women who are afraid to put a grape in their mouth but have no problem drinking a beer,” said Douglas Bunnell, the director of outpatient clinical services for the Renfrew Center, based in Philadelphia.

The center, like a small but growing number of eating-disorder and addiction-treatment facilities, most on the West Coast, offers a dual focus on substance abuse and eating disorders.

Dr. Bunnell, the past president of the National Eating Disorders Association, said the obsession with being skinny and the social acceptance of drinking and using drugs — along with the sense, lately, that among celebrities, checking into rehab is almost a given, if not downright chic — are partly to blame.

“Both disorders are behaviors that are glorified and reinforced,” Dr. Bunnell said. “Binge drinking is almost cool and hip, and losing weight and being thin is a cultural imperative for young women in America. Mixing both is not surprising, and it has reached a tipping point in terms of public awareness.”

Psychologists say that eating disorders, like other addictions, are often rooted in the need to numb emotional pain with substances or the rush provided by bingeing and purging. The disorders are often driven by childhood trauma like sexual abuse, neglect and other sources of mental anguish.

Manorexia is the male version of anorexia. Orthorexia is an obsession with what is perceived as healthy food — eliminating fats and preservatives, for example. But people with this condition can dangerously deprive themselves of needed nutrients.

Diabulimia refers to diabetics who avoid taking insulin, which can cause weight gain, in order to control their weight. Despite the name, the disorder does not typically involve purging.

Binge Eating Disorder refers to obsessive overeating, especially of foods high in salt and sugar, that does not involve excessive exercise or purging to compensate for the high caloric intake.

Judy Van De Veen, 36, who lives in Gillette, N.J., became anorexic at 24. She said she starved herself, meting out small bites of low-calorie food for two months. Then she began bingeing and purging, throwing up entire boxes of cereal, whole pizzas and fast food from drive-throughs that sometimes cost her $80 a day.

She went into treatment, both inpatient and outpatient, for her eating disorder for several years in the late 1990s, with mixed results. In 2001, still struggling with bulimia, she took up drinking. If she ate while drinking, she said, she would purge, but then consume more alcohol to make up for the loss, because she wanted to remain drunk.

Many bulimics who drink use alcohol to vomit, experts on eating disorders say, because liquid is easier to purge. They also tend to vomit because they often drink on empty stomachs.

“In the beginning of my eating disorder I wouldn’t touch alcohol because it is so high in calories,” said Ms. Van De Veen, who later found herself regularly hospitalized for dehydration. “But I have the disease of more: I just want more no matter what it is.”

Two years into her drinking problem, she joined a 12-step program. She spent the next two years in and out of six residential rehab programs, spending about $25,000 of her own money because she didn’t have health insurance. But none of the programs were equipped to address eating disorders, so she binged and purged and her eating disorder raged.

Ms. Van De Veen said she has been sober for three years, but is still struggling with bulimia. She now has a 14-month-old daughter, Cheyenne, and she said that her pregnancy and support groups had helped her make progress on her eating disorder.

“I had an excuse to eat,” she said of being pregnant. “I didn’t care and I loved it.”

But she said the temptation to binge and purge is haunting her again.

Trish, 27, who has had an eating disorder for the last 10 years, recently checked into Renfrew, her fifth stint in a treatment center or hospital.

Like Ms. Van De Veen, Trish, who agreed to be interviewed on the condition that only her first name be used to protect her privacy, struggled with anorexia first and then found alcohol. Before she was admitted to Renfrew, she said she was blacking out from lack of food and suffering from excruciating stomach pain.

Trish, a nurse who lives in Ohio and works with cardiac patients, said she would starve herself through her 8- or 12-hour shifts, staring at the clock and fixating on when she could have her first drink. Drinking, she said, relaxed her when she had to eat in front of other people, a huge source of stress.

“Drinking helped me be less anxious,” she said. “It helped me be more of Trish. The two go together: If I drink more, I’m more into my eating disorder and vice versa.”

Studies show that binge drinking and alcohol abuse are on the rise among women, who are also more prone than men to eating disorders.

About 25 to 33 percent of bulimics also struggle with alcohol or drugs, according to a study published last year in the journal Biological Psychiatry. Between 20 and 25 percent of anorexics have substance abuse problems, the study found.

A growing number of researchers are examining the psychological and neurological links between eating disorders and substance abuse: Does eating a chocolate bar, or bingeing and purging, stimulate the same pleasure centers in the brain as drugs or alcohol?

Suzette M. Evans, a professor of clinical neuroscience at Columbia, recently began a study of the connection between bulimia and substance abuse, a field she said has been neglected.

“People are finally beginning to realize that food can function in the same way as drugs and alcohol,” Dr. Evans said.

As more patients seek treatment for both eating disorders and substance abuse, a complicated set of mixed messages can arise. The response to addiction is abstinence; but quitting food is not an option.

“We’re trying to get our patients to find effective behaviors and life skills,” said Dr. Kevin Wandler, the vice president for medical services at Remuda Ranch, which addresses both eating disorders and addiction at its facilities in Arizona and Virginia.

“Eating normally would be an effective behavior, but it’s easier to give up alcohol and drugs because you never need it again,” Dr. Wandler said. “If your drug is food, that’s a challenge.”

Trish left Renfrew on Feb. 22, after her second time in treatment there. She was determined, she said, to break her obsessions with weight, food and alcohol. Before she checked in, “I didn’t even have the energy to laugh,” she said. But as she prepared to go home, she had more hope than she has had in years.

“I will not live my life like this,” she said. “I’ve learned this time not to be ashamed. I want to love myself and I want to forgive myself.”

www.nationaleatingdisorders.org