It happens every year. Skinny people on a diet. And you know from your own observations of your workplace or peer group, that some thin person wants to lose 5 pounds following the ketogenic or intermittent fasting diet. A report from the CDC says that about one in four dieters are of normal weight or underweight. I personally believe this is understated.

So with the New Year upon us, I am asking my skinny friends what they are going to do differently. And you bet they are doing something. Some of it includes what I think are more balanced ideas such as wineless weekdays, exercise more, or eat healthier. Others are more extreme, like going on a cleanse and doing intermittent fasting. Me? I am that person who hits the pantry at night for no reason other than habit. And, for some reason, it is not as simple as telling myself, “STOP going to the pantry at night.” But with the 2020 upon us, and with over half of Americans making their New Year’s Resolutions around wellness, I have the decision, power and strength to create a new ritual with the support of all my friends in America with over half of all American adults playing the same game! I’ll replace that habit with a warm beverage so I still get the reward without the mindless calories. 

In short, here’s how the skinny people on a diet story ends. They will each lose three to five pounds of weight they technically did not need to lose. The irony is that skinny people stay in their normal weight range anyway, regardless of diet (and the bigger irony is that so do most of us—a blog to follow on how to change that). This is also true for me because I am one of the lucky people who has a lifetime of healthy habits. And, it is true for skinny people in general, because many already have incredible self-discipline around healthy lifestyle habits. These are healthy rituals we can all learn, by the way. This is simply a game played to test self-discipline, to shake up the day to day, to prove to oneself that they “can”, and to make health improvements that there is always room for. And, the results are the same for a skinny person on a diet as for anyone else. Those are to feel good, feel stronger, feel more in control of our choices and it makes us better in other parts of our lives as well. Powerful!

Fifty-five percent of New Year’s Resolutions are health related for all Americans—overweight or not. Depending on the report, only one in eight to one in 10 will stick with their New Years’ Resolutions. I encourage you to beat the statistic! Most people start to waiver mid-January and the rest of us by early February. The general pattern for any of us to waver on a diet is about six-weeks anyway. Something about six-weeks. Knowing that may be helpful.

Why do we waver? It comes down to your meaning and motivation. What is your WHY and can you wake up and feel motivated every day to stay on track? Meaning and motivation is the key for anything in your life that you want to change. Tie it to what you value. It must be a strong motivator.

For those of you interested in how to go about succeeding with your New Year’s Resolution, here is a short article I wrote a couple of years ago titled 5 Tips for New Year’s Resolution Success. I believe you can be one of the 90 percent of those who succeed. Do it! Because you have it in you to make the changes you want for you in your life. 

I wish you all a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year. Happy 2020, Kathryn


©Kathryn Scoblick
©Health Inspires, LLC
Healthinspires.com

The FDA is currently testing samples of the diabetes drug metformin for the carcinogen—N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). There was a recall of heartburn and blood pressure medications in the last two years contaminated with this same substance. 
 
Metformin is generally the first medication prescribed for people with type 2 diabetes, and the fourth most prescribed drug in the U.S. More than 30 million people in the U.S. have diabetes, and 90 to 95% are type 2. 
 
As we investigate a possible carcinogenic contaminate for a drug used to manage diabetes—I think it’s also important to create awareness of known human carcinogens that many of us may consume or are exposed to often, either knowingly or unknowingly. Here are a few that may sound familiar to you and if they are not, for your enlightenment then.
 
List of known human carcinogens:

• Alcoholic beverages
• Acetaldehyde (from consuming alcoholic beverages)
• Tobacco, smokeless
• Tobacco smoke, secondhand
• Tobacco smoking
• Wood dust 
• Benzene (plastics, gasoline, paints, detergents, etc)
• Estrogens, steroidal (estrogen replacement therapy in postmenopausal women, for example) 
• Processed meat (consumption of)
• Solar radiation (yep, from the sun)
• Diesel fuel pollution (it’s in the air)

 
Probable human carcinogens:

• Nitrates and Nitrites
• Very hot beverages (above 65 degrees Celsius)

 
Additionally, most of us know that obesity and overweight are related to chronic disease including diabetes and cancer. But “knowing” does not always correlate with making change, yet awareness may move the needle in a positive direction.
 
What we know is that:

1. Smoking causes type 2 diabetes. Smokers are 30-40% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than nonsmokers. About 15 percent of the US population still smokes, and tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of cancer and cancer deaths.
2. Weight gain and BMI are central to the formation of rising incidence of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Not all overweight people become diabetic and the mechanisms continue to be studied. Yet, most patients with type 2 diabetes are obese.
3. Cancers associated with obesity make up 40% of cancers diagnosed in the United States. That is, overweight and obesity are associated with increased risk of 13 types of cancer. As a matter of fact, 55 percent of all cancers diagnosed in women and 24 percent in men, are associated with overweight and obesity. It is the excess body fat that increases your risk for several cancers, yet all of the mechanisms are still not clearly understood.
4. More than 30 million Americans have diabetes and more than 84 million US adults ( 1 in every 3 adults) have prediabetes. For those with pre-diabetes, studies show that if you lose five to 10 percent of your body weight, it is likely that you can turn back the clock and never get diabetes! And if you have diabetes, you can lessen your medications and manage the disease better.
5. Adults with diabetes are nearly twice as likely to die from heart disease or stroke than people without diabetes. Add on the risk of kidney failure and blindness.

 
It’s unfortunate that some grow up in environments that do not promote health. And we know that healthy habits created in our youth are much easier to carry into adulthood than trying to break less healthy habits as adults. To make healthy changes,  we must start with something that we are willing to do to build upon. Here is a list of suggestions.

1. Go for at least a ten minute walk. Start any exercise that appeals to you. Start today.
2. Choose a piece of fruit or bright colored veggie for a snack instead of packaged processed foods.
3. Take a 20 minute nap if you are tired instead of junk snacking or drinking a mid-day coffee.
4. Eliminate soda. Or start reducing consumption. Stop buying Starbucks sugar laden beverages! Replace it with something healthier so you still get the reward without the junk. 
5. Drink water. 
6. Call a friend, walk with a friend, have a walking meeting rather than meeting for coffee.
7. Fifty percent of people who quit smoking do so cold turkey. The other half who quit used a quit program. Both sides have support of some kind. It’s possible!
8. Drink less alcohol. If you don’t drink, don’t start. 
9. Eliminate lunch meats and make sandwiches from leftover meat such as chicken and green leafy salads. Choose whole wheat or whole grain breads. 
10. Try eliminating processed food for at least one day to create self-awareness of what foods you might be consuming more than you are aware of. Then decide what you are willing to change. Food tracking helps here as well.
11. Add leafy greens to meals. Make leafy greens a meal. Toss in other bright veggies, beans, small amounts of nuts or seeds, avocado. 
12. Cook healthy meals ahead of time so healthy food is available when you get hungry. It absolutely needs to be available. 
13. Here are one and two of my personal favorites to have around. 
14. Chase a dream. It will put your mind on healthier things, make you happy and give you less time to do less healthy things. 

 
We can reduce our cancer risk by taking healthy steps toward a healthier tomorrow. Find what motivates you and tie it to something you value. There are strong reasons to help cultivate health, but they have to be strong meaningful reasons to you. Find your why. 
 
©Health Inspires, LLC
©Kathryn Scoblick 
www.healthinspires.com