Community Magazine May 2013

Excess weight and obesity are the major causes of many commonplace illnesses, such as type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, heart disease, many cancers, and a host of other problems. According the Center for Disease Control, excess weight and obesity, along with inactivity and a sedentary lifestyle, are a close second to cigarette smoking as the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Keeping your weight in check – and consequently your health in balance – is thus included in the Torah commandment, “You shall be exceedingly careful to take care of your soul” (Devarim 4:15), which our tradition interprets as an obligation to maintain one’s physical health. For most people, weight gain happens over a long period of time. It’s not difficult to consume 50 calories a day more than you need or use. That will give you a five-pound gain per year. Keep that up for a number of years, and you’ll become obese. So how do we take it off and keep it off? Each person has his or her own individual tendencies regarding weight loss, but the general rule to follow is this: fewer calories taken in and more calories expended. In order to lose weight and keep it off, we need to change our bad habits. Most people who are overweight and out of shape share two common habits: they eat whatever they want whenever they want, and they lead a sedentary lifestyle. And like most bad habits, they have been going on for many, many years and have thus been entrenched within their daily conduct. Reading about a proper diet or consulting an exercise specialist about a balanced and productive exercise program is the easy part. Executing these plans is a different story. It takes real work and commitment to break habits that may have been a part of your life for 30, 40 years. Yet, these changes can change the quality of your life. In a recent interview with the mental health editor of Medscape , Judith S. Beck, PhD, Director of the Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research and Clinical Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, gave some solid tools for behavior modification for the purpose of weight loss. “Dieters need a great deal of education about dieting, food, eating, and maintenance. ALAN FREISHTAT 66 Community magazine