As modern day Americans, we do not have to be concerned about weather conditions making food unavailable. We have 24-hour grocery stores and shelves stocked with options. We can be thankful for this every day. As a result, our Thanksgiving celebrations can be more than feasts. This is particularly dangerous for those who are trying to alter their approach to food.

While overeating can make one sluggish, disappointed in one’s self, and unhappy with appearance, giving thanks will help you focus on the positive things in life and improve outlook and mood. This year, instead of recognizing the day by raising your fork, try one (or all) of these tips.

1. Give Back – Serve at a soup kitchen or shelter or make a donation to your favorite charity (the Fatherless Foundation is mine). Giving to others can give you perspective on just how blessed you are.

2. Focus on Your Family – This year my family gathering will be missing members that have died in the last year, at least one of which was not expected when we gathered last year at the same time. Certain members of the family will need our hugs, comfort, and distraction, and I will be investing in them. I am very thankful for my family and would rather have a conversation with one of the kids and make sure all is well with them than watch any Cowboys game.

3. Write Thank You notes – Have you personally thanked the people who have made a difference in your life in the last year? Be the first of the holiday season and make sure your message stands out by sending Thanksgiving thank you cards rather than Christmas or holiday cards. This is a fabulous idea for business owners.

4. Make Your List and Check it Twice – Before you make your gift list and think about those things you want or how much money you are going to spend, focus on the blessings you already have and list all the things for which you are thankful. Review this list frequently to maintain a positive attitude.

If you try one (or all) of these tips, even if you run out of pumpkin pie or your team never sees the end zone, you will likely have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

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Four Ways to Celebrate with Thanks Instead of Turkey

It’s not just in the U.S. – this is a worldwide debate. A Scottish couple lost custody of two of their six children because they failed to reduce the kids’ weight following warnings from Scottish social services.

In another case, a South Carolina mother lost custody of her 14-year-old son in May – he was 555 pounds. Jerri Gray didn’t help her case when she missed a court date to examine whether she should retain custody. The boy is currently living with his aunt. His mother, who was arrested, is facing criminal child-neglect charges.

“It’s happening more than the public is aware of, but because these cases are usually kept quiet [due to child-privacy laws], we have no record,” says Dr. Matt Capehorn, who sits on the board of the U.K.’s National Obesity Forum.

Authorities insist that removing children from their parents is a last resort. And since childhood obesity can lead to a host of adult health problems (diabetes, hypertension, heart disease), there is merit to the idea of putting on par with child abuse.

“Children are vulnerable. If they’re given food and told to finish what’s on the plate, they’ll eat it, and without exercise get bigger and bigger,” says Tam Fry, chairman of Britain’s Child Growth Foundation.

But there is some support for the idea that it’s not a black and white issue.

“It’s unfair to blame solely the parents, when there’s a myriad of other factors influencing a child’s weight,” says Dr. Dana Rofey of the University of Pittsburgh. Rofey runs a weight-management clinic, which is often called on during custody battles where squabbling divorced parents blame each other for making their child obese.

(via: Yahoo)

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Is Childhood Obesity Abuse?

As the mother of six children, and a weight loss success story herself, Carmen is all too familiar with managing a household, her health, and the needs of the other busy bodies in her home. She’s a real mom who gets it, who has figured out how to make it all work, and will help you find your way there, too.

Sign-up now, and then learn more about the Mom to Mom Newsletter.

Each month you can expect to see family-friendly recipes, ways to get fit together, and learn about activities that bring the family closer together. Proving good health depends on more than just what you’re eating, it’s about the happiness and well-being of the whole family.

Look for your first Mom to Mom Newsletter before Thanksgiving, as Carmen helps you prepare to celebrate and offer thanks in a more healthful way.

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Announcing New Mom to Mom Newsletter

Plus, as a bonus, all four family members receive a makeover by Rachael’s own fashion and style guru Gretta Monahan, who revamps their looks and wardrobe to highlight their new slimmer selves.

Rachael then dishes up a delicious and healthy pasta meal that is loaded with all of the right stuff.

Check your local listings for show times.

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Tune In: Rachael Ray Hosts a Family Who Lost 500 Pounds

Is it easier for you to avoid over-eating by avoiding a food entirely or to indulge in a very small portion? Do you have more will power to avoid or more won’t power to stop? I think the key component to my uncle’s thinking was maintaining a positive self-image. He felt more in control in this situation with total avoidance. He applied his will power to remaining in control rather than applying won’t power against over-indulgence. Such quips are used for entertainment and to make one think. In this case, it may be an easy phrase to keep in mind to empower you to sticking with your food plan.

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Will Power vs. Won’t Power

One example is the hectic schedule that most of us keep. Say what you will about the idealism of the ’50s, with mom at home doing the housekeeping. One of the benefits was that there was a home-cooked meal. That’s still a very real possibility, even with both parents working. But it’s certainly more of a challenge.

A study by Cornell University researchers examined the dietary problems we face when people work hectic hours and don’t take the time to make home-cooked meals. The researchers found that parents who work long and unusual hours are more likely to grab fast food on the way home, or buy prepared meals.

“Long work hours and irregular schedules mean more time away from family, less time for household food work, difficulty in maintaining a regular meal pattern and less opportunity to participate in family meals,” says Carol M. Devine, PhD, RD and colleagues in their report.

Some of the researchers’ findings are fairly elementary:

“Structural work conditions among parents – such as job hours, schedule, satisfaction, and food access – are associated with food choice coping strategies with importance for dietary quality.”

That’s a fancy way of saying that when people are busy and don’t have easy access to healthy food; they go to fast-food drive-thrus or easy microwaveable foods when they get home, so they don’t have the added work of cooking.

The Cornell University researchers surveyed 25 men and 25 women in upstate New York. Here are some of the more interesting findings:

• About 25 percent of both groups said that they had no access to healthful, reasonably priced, good-tasting food at or near their place of work.
• Fathers who lacked access to reasonably priced, good-tasting food at work were more likely to miss lunch, eat while working or in the car, and were less likely to pack a lunch.
• Close to 75 percent of the parents had at least one fast food meal a week, and at least one take-out meal a week.
• Only 56 percent of fathers and 40 percent of mothers had more than five home-cooked meals a week.

(via: WebMD)

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Busy Parents Don’t Make Enough Home-Cooked Meals

Research recently published by British scientists suggests that there may be some connection between childhood obesity and the parent of the same sex. Eating disorder theory has centered around the father-daughter relationship, where as this obesity research focuses on the mother-daughter and father-son relationships. The connection does not seem to be the same for mother-son and father-daughter relationships. This discrepancy points to a behavioral cause for obesity more than a genetic cause. A genetic cause would not show the gender discrimination.

This research may open up some new ways of fighting the epedimic of childhood obesity. Parental modeling may be given more and more importance. What do your children see you do? Does your behavior encourage them to achieve good health?

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Obesity Linked to Familial Behavior

The week of June 15 is Men’s Health Week at DietsInReview.com, just in time to celebrate the special men in your life. TB joins as a Men’s Health guest blogger. TB is a certified Music Therapist who decided to take on the challenge of being a stay-at-home dad after baby #4 arrived. Losing weight was easy compared to the challenge of maintaining over a 75 pound loss while watching his children and trying to keep peace in the house. 

Staying home with children makes for an interesting struggle when trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle.  The biggest challenges faced by this SAHD are finding time to exercise, being home all day, and lack of motivation.

Instead of exercising on equipment and lifting free weights, chasing the kids and playing lifting games using the kids as weights has replaced formal exercise. Make time for yourself if formal exercise is necessary. This alone time is sometimes needed as well to ensure your sanity.

How do you stay away from the pantry when it haunts you all day? Plan your eating like you are working.  Continue to eat breakfast, planned snacks, lunch, etc. and don’t let yourself get into a habit of unscheduled snacking. Plan outings to get yourself away from the food by going to the local zoos, museums, libraries, etc.

Make sure you are doing this for yourself and your family. A good way to stay motivated is to look at the old pictures and remind yourself of how good it feels to be able to chase the kids around without getting winded. One rule I live by is to always “dress” daily. Don’t wear loose, baggy, comfy clothes and instead choose the dress-casual clothes that you would have worn while working.

There are several other challenges created while “working from home” including lack of adult interaction and planning menus. This stay-at-home-dad was never in charge of the menus before and that has created a huge obstacle; but if your family is anything like mine, we tend to repeat the same menus regularly so gourmet cooking is not a necessity. Going out to eat has definitely turned into a “special occasion” rather than a convenience as there really is no excuse now that Daddy is home to cook.

Make time to enjoy hobbies, connect with friends or get a part-time job as not having any adult contact can also wear on you.

Maintaining a huge loss is difficult, don’t get down on yourself if you have struggles as they are to be expected and you’ll have plenty of time to correct them as long as you don’t let them get you down.

Guest Blog Series: Look for the following badge on your favorite health sites to see if they have been a featured guest blogger on DietsInReview.com. See other posts in the Guest Blog series.

If you would like to apply to be featured as a guest blogger, please contact us.

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Weight Loss Struggles of a Stay-at-Home Dad

Good dads put family first, even at dad’s expense, right? Maybe not. Fatherhood responsibility continues to mount as more dads become increasingly involved in roles traditionally assigned to mom. Full-time and part-time stay-at-home dads are not uncommon these days. While dads accept this new role, they are also expected to keep up with their other responsibilities. Good fathers are committed with a smile and a sense of pride. Unfortunately, many give lovingly at the expense of their personal health.

Fathers who give unconditionally can find it difficult to find motivation for personal good health.  Nevertheless, for the whole family to be happy, the whole family must be healthy. Among all the hats dads wear, they must also be the example for healthy eating and lifestyle. Here’s how to find that motivation and follow through:

First, if you want to be a good dad, good health is a MUST. Your children and your wife are influenced by your actions, and your dedication to your health will be reflected in them as you set an example.

Second, recognize that humans are driven by the desire to gain pleasure and avoid pain. Putting off your health is a result of these associations. Time away from family or career are classic examples of pain associated with good health.

Third, learn to use pain/pleasure to your advantage. Reflect on the following points: If I continue to make poor health choices, how will this affect my family? How will they reflect my example? Will I be around to watch my children marry or to meet my grandkids? How will my example affect their health? How can I prevent this future reality by changing today?

Finally, take action and make it FUN. Include your kids and your wife. Go swimming or for walks. Instead of exercise, choose movement that excites you and brings you together as a family. Learn to cook together.  Make it fun so your family links pleasure to good health. Above all, remember that being a great dad and great husband requires you to be around for a long time.

Guest Blog Series: Look for the following badge on your favorite health sites to see if they have been a featured guest blogger on DietsInReview.com. See other posts in the Guest Blog series.

If you would like to apply to be featured as a guest blogger, please contact us.

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Four Reasons Why Dad’s Good Health is a Must

As a dance instructor, I know that even adults like to spin. It is one of the more difficult dance techniques to master, yet they want to learn. Repetitively I have seen intermediate follows walk off the dance floor after dancing with a more advanced lead glowing and excited to tell her friends how many times he made her spin.

Physical exertion releases endorphins that improve mood. Interacting with others in a fun way can build relationships. Take the lead from your kids or remember your own childhood and get out and play this summer. Challenge someone to a race, ride bikes, swim, hike, play ball, spin yourself silly… Recapture the joy of your childhood and connect with your children. It is quality time that is healthy for everyone and they will never forget.

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The Benefits of Joyful Play