So I married a man that loves to eat. Big deal! All men love to eat, but so do women.The difference is, the man stops eating the crap and loses the weight. However, the woman stops eating the crap and keeps the all weight!

I walk past a Bakery and think my scale should register 5 pounds less just because I didn’t go in and indulge. I seriously think this– but, of course, I’m always disappointed.

These are my thoughts that run through my cluttered brain (not on a daily basis, but an hourly one!). If they obsess me,(who can stand to lose a couple of pounds), I can’t even begin to imagine what goes through the minds of those who suffer with being severely overweight. The lovely souls suffering with this are categorized as “Bariatric”.

It’s sort of like when my middle son was young,  he was thick and chunky, they termed him ”husky”. Now,  you try and find “husky” clothes!

Today,  adults are having the same problem. Yes, we know they should all lose weight and look absolutely like everyone else ,but truth be told, different cultures actually prefer various body types and sizes.With that being said, it is still a health problem for the morbidly obese person and should be addressed from many aspects.  I do not proclaim to be an expert on weight loss, I can only proclaim to know (and tried) every diet known to man!

However, as these people still need to tend to their personal, mobility and sleeping needs, it’s important to let them know that yes, there are wonderful products that are manufactured today to meet their needs. The important thing is to check on 2 things: the weight capacity and also the dimensions. Something might be weight tested for you, but also size-wise might not fit.  Nobody want to get stuck on a toilet seat and have to call for help!

It doesn’t matter if you are in a wheelchair due to injury, disability, illness or weight problems because you can still stay strong and fit by regularly practicing tailored chair exercises. Not only will these workouts give your heart and muscles a good workout, but exercise can also help ease depression and stress while boosting self-esteem and confidence.

Although there are some challenges which come with mobility issues, you can overcome your physical limitations by thinking about exercise creatively which allows you to find fun ways to stay fit. If you have claimed on your www.aviva.co.uk/health-insurance/ due to an illness, then exercising might help you along the road to recovery.

When you exercise, your body releases chemicals which boost your mood, make you feel energized and enhance your self-esteem. Sometimes inactivity can cause your mood and energy levels to sink which is why it is so important to exercise when you can.

The truth is, regardless of your physical condition, your age or your overall fitness, there are so many ways you can overcome your mobility issues to reap all the excellent physical and mental benefits which come with exercise. But what type of exercises can you do?

You should try combining three different types of exercise into your workouts. If you can, incorporate cardiovascular exercise, weight training and flexibility.

• Cardiovascular exercises are anything which slightly raise your heartbeat. Many people with mobility problems find exercising in the water very good because it supports your body weight.
• Strength training exercises such as weight lifting help you to build strong muscles which in turn increases your bone mass and improves your balance. Those who have limited mobility in their legs will be able to focus on the upper body.
• Practicing flexibility exercises helps to keep you supple which increases your range of motion. In addition, it can help reduce pain or stiffness as well as reducing the risk of injury caused by strained muscles.

Like many ideas, Medicare sounds like a fantasy on paper, in theory.  A benefits package to help support the elderly and disabled sounds formidable, an idea that few would argue – after all, who doesn’t want to help the elderly, our parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles that have served us for the majority of their lives?  In a perfect world, Medicare would work seamlessly and benefit those for whom it was created but unfortunately, this is not the case.

Medicare is a deeply complex program with a seemingly endless list of ever-changing and ever-expanding rules and regulations.  For large hospitals and institutions, training and hiring the right individuals to code and to keep up with the nuances of the program is only a small bump in the road.  However, small practices do not have access to the same resources or personnel and thus suffer great losses each time the program is amended.  For instance, a small practice in which two doctors see a handful of patients each day may spend countless hours preparing documents and ensuring that they meet Medicare’s guidelines which in turn, takes away from the amount of time each can spend working directly with patients.

This is not the only way that both patients and physicians alike suffer due to the convoluted processes associated with Medicare.  Medicare attempts to enforce a “one size fits all” policy regarding the types of treatments that are approved.  As most should know by now, such gross generalizations are never effective and one size hardly fits all.  Instead of offering patients individualized treatment plans, physicians often choose a treatment that is covered in lieu of a treatment that might be better suited for the patient but that is not covered under their insurance.  What Medicare deems “medically reasonable and necessary” may not always be the appropriate treatment but deviating from this path may come with a hefty price tag for all parties involved.

Trying to simplify an already complicated plan with even more labyrinthine amendments and procedures is senseless at this point.  As physicians in small practices struggle to meet the requirements in fear of being investigated for fraud, even for simple errors and honest mistakes, Medicare patients jump through hoops in order to provide proof of their ailments and simply begin the drawn out process of getting “medically reasonable and necessary” treatment.  While Obamacare might not be the panacea for healthcare reform, at least we can acknowledge that a reform might be both “reasonable and necessary”.

Statistics show that upwards of 25 billion dollars are spent on marketing pharmaceuticals each year in the United States alone – and a figure that seems to be on the rise. It suffices to say that pharmaceutical companies spend more annually on marketing drugs than they spend on conducting research. While it may seem like companies are simply trying to notify the public that a new drug or treatment has been approved, one that may potentially improve more than a few lives, some claim that pharmaceutical companies have the sole aim of making a profit using any means necessary. In fact, the United States and New Zealand are the only two countries that currently permit direct-to-consumer advertising (DTC advertising): directing pharmaceutical advertisements at the patient rather than the doctors or other healthcare professionals; all other western countries have banned this type of advertising.

This alone could be enough to make one question the motives of the pharmaceutical industry, and perhaps it should. Like any other advertisement you might see on TV, on the internet, or in magazines, pharmaceutical ads aim to push a product on you by stretching the truth and glorifying the positive effects of the product and exhale its side effects in a single, rushed breath at the last second of the ad (or better yet, slap it on the last frame of the ad in the most miniscule print possible).

As unsettling as this might be for some, these ads seem to be here to stay for now. If you think that a drug being marketed on your TV may benefit you, be sure to do your own research and keep open dialogue with your doctor to examine the possible side effects of the drug, how long it has been on the market, and whether or not another option would be better-suited for your needs, but do not let the “disease mongering” provide a diagnosis for you.

Many holistic or alternative health practices have been around for ages. Acupuncture has been traced back to ancient China, maybe even as far back as the Stone Age. Like acupuncture, many alternative practices are based upon traditions or superstitions that still play a large role in a given culture. The core beliefs behind the majority of these practices are based upon the idea of a perceived imbalance of energy or spirit – the Japanese concept of Reiki, the Hindu concept of Chakras, and the Chinese qi are a few examples. Proponents of these practices argue that these ancient tactics work just as well or even better than modern medicine in treating and curing disease or illness – after all, why would such a practice still exist if it were obsolete?

The prevalence of alternative medicine is still on the rise and some reports indicate that more and more people seek doctors or specialists that offer these types of treatments; the trend is even stronger for parents seeking holistic care for their children. While there is no harm in trying acupuncture, herbal remedies, meditation, or yoga, we must simply keep in mind that there are in fact, alternatives to alternative medicine. Many herbal supplements and remedies are not FDA approved and are generally frowned upon due to the lack of scientific evidence to back their lofty claims – but this doesn’t mean that it won’t benefit a single individual somewhere out there.

Medicine is ever-evolving and growing, branching out and even looking back into it’s own past in order to look for answers. If alternative medicine appeals to you, try it but keep in mind that there are people taking advantage of this trend and are more than willing to rip you off with a fraudulent claim and a flawed product. Lastly, try to seek out somebody that practices CAM, Complementary and Alternative Medicine, as this practice combines alternative methods with evidence-based methods, giving you a look at both sides of this coin.