Life after the diet? Help!

[WilliamC3]

- Hello, My name is William, I am currently a Chiropractic student at Palmer Chiropractic. I am no where near the weight that I want to be at and definitely do not want to be portrayed as a hypocrite when going into practice. A little of my history. . . I am a graduate of UF after which I joined the Peace Corps, stationed in Guyana South America. It is funny, I have pretty much been overweight all my adult life, yet over there I lost weight instantly without trying at all. 50 lbs in about a couple months, the lowest going to my ideal of about 195 (I'm about 272 right now). Coming back to states after about a year and a half was very very difficult, but it was in that time that the most profound event ever occurred, I accepted Jesus as my savior and received the Holy Spirit. That of course was a total turn around from where I was going, hell to heaven, and I thank God for it. After returning I worked at a community mental health company for a year and a half, got married, enrolled at Palmer, and my wife is about to have a baby (a true blessing). Unfortunately after returning back to the states with a different life style, diet, and previous bad habits, I gained the weight back, bit by bit, year by year. The biggest jar is not how I look or feel, but in that I want to help people overcome their health obstacles while pointing them to Christ in my practice, that means I must overcome my own obstacles myself (and thus why I am here).
- I have done some research, and after some consideration on how the body works a low carb diet seems to be the best option in the short term for me. I am planning to go on the Stillman diet for one month. My concern is this: I do not want a repeat of losing the weight and then gaining it back. So after the short-term effects of the low carb diet are over what do you do? Is there a book or resource that I can use to guide that stage? Any suggestions would be appreciated :help: ? The long term effects of losing this weight greatly outweigh whatever health risks the anti-lowcarb group says; however, one thing they say that sticks is that you could gain the weight back once you have lost it. I would like a plan that would prevent this as well as point me to a template to build a new health related lifestyle, any suggestions?

Thanks and God Bless,
-William :)

[ValerieL]

William, you will gain weight back after you lose it if you return to your old eating habits. You do need to determine how you are planning to eat for the rest of your life. Stillman's is a pretty strict diet, I can understand why you are not planning to stay on it forever.

The benefits of low-carb are NOT short term and neither does the low-carb way of eating need to be. At it's most basic and most liberal, it's a way of eating that rejects sugar and refined/white starches and grains. If you want to read more about maintenance living with a low-carb lifestyle, try reading Atkins for Life (http://www.amazon.com/Atkins-Life-Complete-Controlled-Permanent/dp/0312315228) by Dr. Atkins.

[treefrog]

In addition to Atkins for Life, another good book is The Protein Power Lifeplan (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0446678678/qid=1148257855/sr=1-3?s=books&v=glance&n=283155).

And Val is right, unless you make a change in your eating habits for life, you will gain the weight back.

Good luck to you. And good for you, for wanting to be a good role model for your patients.

[shortstuff]

"one thing they say that sticks is that you could gain the weight back once you have lost it. I would like a plan that would prevent this as well as point me to a template to build a new health related lifestyle, any "

William, this is quite true. However, this statement is true of ANY diet you follow to lose weight. Once you have lost your weight, if you go back to your old way of eating, you will regain the weight you have lost. This is for ANY diet, not just a low carb diet.

If you make a lifestyle change, then you should have no problems keeping your weight off. Low carbing is a lifestyle. It's chosing healthy fruits, vegetables, proteins, healthy fats (yes, saturated fat is healthy), nuts and seeds. It's ditching the starchy foods that truly are not healthy for us.

As for books, there are a plethora of books to chose from for low carb dieting advice. Go to Amazon.com and type low carb diet into their search engine. You'll find a lot of information and a lot of books; some books are by doctors and/or nutritionists and others are by lay people who have had great success in improving their health by following a low carb lifestyle.

My best to you, shortstuff

[Kisal]

Welcome, William! Nice to meet you! :wave:

I recommend that you read several low carb books, and choose a plan that offers clear instructions for Maintenance. Also, choose the plan that best fits your lifestyle, and that you believe you can follow for the rest of your life.

You might want to visit your local library and check out "Living the Low Carb Life," by Jonny Bowden. In it, the author compares 17 different low carb plans, and offers suggestions about the types of people who might be most successful on each plan.

[TimesTwo]

If you do Stillman's to lose the weight and then switch to a maintenance plan, you will not have learned how to eat for life. Following the different phases of a plan like Atkins or South Beach, by the time you transition into maintenance you will have already learned how to eat to maintain your weight.

[WilliamC3]

(To Times 2) I would agree with you if I were by myself, but when you combine faith and belief in Jesus Crist with obstacles you overcome. I know that He is with me on this. I've done my research and have experimented before so I know what to expect, and have tried other things before, but I wasn't ready (my mind was not made up and focused).
Be careful about who you write negative responses to, you never know if you're comments might be taken in a destructive way. For myself, as a future Dr., and just as a person, opposing someone when the are trying to change for the better is harmful, yet supporting those in those changes can lead to success. A fitly spoken word is like apples of gold in frames of silver. Negativity will get you no where.
-William

[leaddog66]

Hey William!

First of all I agree with everyone else,the change you need to make will have to be for life. For that reason you need to find a plan you can live with and continue to carry out for the rest of your life. I do think you can go more strict and then loosen up later, but not everyone will agree with that.

Second, I also am relativley new to this site. You will at times read responses that are hard NOT to take as destructive criticism or negative. I have recieved them myself and it is frustrating. All you can do is believe that it wasnt meant that way and turn the other cheek. Try not to let other people affect your attitude and you will be fine.

Keith

[connie7]

TimesTwo was in no way being negative, rude or disrespectful. She was merely making a valid point. You need to be less sensitive if you're going to make it as a chiropractor. JMHO.

[neverwhere]

I cannot stand the negativity that you will sometimes see either. But I do not think timestwo meant it that way at all. Please dont be offended.

She is simply suggesting that you do a plan that gives you a slow transition into the maitenence stages. Part of it is learning how to eat, but the other part is also not shocking your system into a suddenly different way of eating. I dont know much about stillmans but I do know it is particularly strict, and going from one extreme to a regular woe might pack on the pounds, set off cravings, etc etc. If you gradually enter your lifetime matinence, you will learn exactly what and how much you can eat to maintain and feel good, and also for optimum menu enjoyment, which is important too.

Your faith is admirable, and will help you feel strong and give you hope and power on your journey. But you also need to take body chemistry into consideration.

Good luck, keep us posted! :wave:

[jschwab]

(To Times 2) I would agree with you if I were by myself, but when you combine faith and belief in Jesus Crist with obstacles you overcome. I know that He is with me on this. I've done my research and have experimented before so I know what to expect, and have tried other things before, but I wasn't ready (my mind was not made up and focused).
Be careful about who you write negative responses to, you never know if you're comments might be taken in a destructive way. For myself, as a future Dr., and just as a person, opposing someone when the are trying to change for the better is harmful, yet supporting those in those changes can lead to success. A fitly spoken word is like apples of gold in frames of silver. Negativity will get you no where.
-William

Keep mentioning your journey. There are a number of people on this site who have been able to lose a tremendous amount of weight with help from their faith, many of them Christian. There is a program that works with any diet plan that is Christ-focused, but I don't remember the name of it. I think you will succeed!

Janine

[MandaSue]

Not much to add, just wanted to reiterate that this is definately a way of eating for life. Using this "diet" to drop some weight, then going back to your old way of eating will ultimately cause you to gain all the lost weight back.

I think timestwo was just being honest with you, which what she said is exactly true.

Good luck!

[OtherCher2]

If you do Stillman's to lose the weight and then switch to a maintenance plan, you will not have learned how to eat for life. Following the different phases of a plan like Atkins or South Beach, by the time you transition into maintenance you will have already learned how to eat to maintain your weight.

The above is the best advice you received to your question. TimesTwo was by no means being rude or disrespectful. I do Stillman's occassionally to get over a plateau and then go back to Atkins OWL. Learning how to eat to maintain my weight has been my biggest challenge after years of yo-yo dieting. On this board all any of us can do is tell you what works/worked for us.

[Demokat]

Keep mentioning your journey. There are a number of people on this site who have been able to lose a tremendous amount of weight with help from their faith, many of them Christian. There is a program that works with any diet plan that is Christ-focused, but I don't remember the name of it. I think you will succeed!

Janine

If faith helps support people making a diet/lifestyle change, more power to them. There are practical aspects to successful weight loss also, one of which is chosing a plan and sticking to it, as TimesTwo alluded to above. The combination of the spiritual and the practical is what leads many people to success.

[TimesTwo]

(To Times 2) I would agree with you if I were by myself, but when you combine faith and belief in Jesus Crist with obstacles you overcome. I know that He is with me on this. I've done my research and have experimented before so I know what to expect, and have tried other things before, but I wasn't ready (my mind was not made up and focused).
Be careful about who you write negative responses to, you never know if you're comments might be taken in a destructive way. For myself, as a future Dr., and just as a person, opposing someone when the are trying to change for the better is harmful, yet supporting those in those changes can lead to success. A fitly spoken word is like apples of gold in frames of silver. Negativity will get you no where.
-WilliamIf you'd "done your research", "experimented", and knew "what to expect" then you wouldn't have asked what comes after the weight loss phase.

Your question was if there are any plans or books that explain how to avoid gaining the weight back.

Yes. I suggested Atkins or South Beach.

[EmmaB]

This reminds me of a story (mods, if this is considered inappropriate religious discussion, please remove):

The river in a village was about to burst its banks and drown everything. A faithful man remained at his house by the river. A car pulled up to the house and the occupants shouted to the man, "We can squeeze you in. Hop in!" The man replied, "No thanks, God will save me!" The water level kept rising and some people in an inflatable boat rowed by and shouted to the man, "Hop in! You’re going to drown!" The man replied, "No thanks, God will save me!" Now the whole town was under water. The man made it to the roof of the house where a helicopter hovered nearby and the pilot shouted to him, "Grab the rope and climb on board!" to which the priest replied, "No, don’t worry about me. God will save me!"

The man drowns and he goes to heaven. When he meets God, he asks him, "I’ve been your humble servant all my life. I helped the poor and did good deeds. Why didn’t you save me?" And God replied, "What do you mean?! I sent you a car, a boat and even a helicopter and you still said no!"

[Demokat]

Good joke, but be prepared to put on your flame-retardant suit, Emma.

[EmmaB]

But the thing is, it's not a joke. It's just a reminder that, even with faith, we all need to help ourselves to succeed as much as possible. It's actually posted on a lot of Christian sites as an inspirational text.

[TimesTwo]

I agree with Emma... The OP needs to do his own work too. It's not just going to fall into your lap.

[Kristine]

This reminds me of a story (mods, if this is considered inappropriate religious discussion, please remove):

:lol: I almost posted the same story. I have another one to add.

A man who had always been generous and faithful was at his wit's end. He had lost his job, accumulated a lot of debt, and was about to become homeless. He prayed for intervention. God came to him in a dream and promised him, "my son, because of your kindness toward your fellow man, thusly will you be rewarded in your time of need. You will win the state lottery."

The man was elated... but he didn't win that week. He didn't win the next week, either. Weeks and months went by with no lottery win. His downward spiral continued until his premature death.

When he met God, he asked with disappointment, "what happened to my lottery win?" To which God replied, "you were supposed to meet me half way - you needed to buy a ticket!"

Welcome aboard, William. You'll find your "lottery ticket" and "rescue helicopters" in the form of the aforementioned LC books, as well as the insight and experience of your fellow forum members. :wave:

[Demokat]

But the thing is, it's not a joke. It's just a reminder that, even with faith, we all need to help ourselves to succeed as much as possible. It's actually posted on a lot of Christian sites as an inspirational text.

Oh, yes, I got the gyst, but I was just warning you that people can be a little sensitive, even when the message is clear and not offensive. :)

[Shami]

William,
welcome to low carb. You came here with question and everybody tried to answer the best they could. I didn't read any negative answers here. As a man of GOD, you should be way more open minded and AT LEAST hear other people advice, even if you are not agree with it, ESPECIALY when you are asking for advice. Good for you for accepting JESUS in your life and I am sure That alone give you inner strength, but being over weight has nothing to do with will power, one of the key point DR Atkins was making in his book, as you probably read, since you said you did research. I just had one question for you. There are millions of over weight people in this country. So you think all these people became over weight because they don't have faith???!!!
Good luck with your new carrier.
Best of luck to you

[MandaSue]

Loved the stories. I was trying to come up with a tactful waying of conveying the same message, but you folks have done an excellent job.

My mother's favorite saying..."God helps those, who help themselves". It's true...God will give me the common sense to not put bread in my mouth because it makes me fat, however he's not going to whack it out of my hand for me.

[WilliamC3]

Asking for more information from people who have "done it" can always help. I do not believe that it will fail if I start on a more extreme one first than work my way back to more of a maintance type thing, that is an pattern that has worked for me before in other areas. I am sorry for any harshness in the reply, and I realize that you meant good behind what you said.you will not have learned how to eat for life.
Sounded to much like you will fail, apologies.
-William

[WilliamC3]

William,
There are millions of over weight people in this country. So you think all these people became over weight because they don't have faith???!!!

Interesting question, do I think that it means that they don't have faith, of course not. However, I do think that the current state of our health in America is spiritually related. For example, the word says the love of money is the root of all evil, obviously relating to greed. You could relate that to almost anything, but to be relevant to the website: food. Now a days the animals we eat are pumped with antibiotics, growth hormones, and then inflated with inflammatory grains to fatten them up before they are sold, so that the producer can earn more per pound. Now, we eat all that stuff that they have pumped into the animals, literally eating their greed. As a population in America we start to have negative side effects that pop up making something like obesity a endemic. Now I am not blaming the cattle producer for fattening his or her cows, because the responsibility ultimately lies with what we choose to buy; however, greed (which is a spiritual thing) becomes real through their practices. You could take this and apply it to pesticides, white flour, processed foods, preservative additives, and on and on. Almost every food that is considered affordable is contaminated in some way. All these things contribute to the physique of this country.
God specifically makes the obstacles we are to overcome in our lives. Faith is the intangible substance that makes this possible. For myself, and I would like to think, for many people who are overweight the control and discipline that arise from handling something that is a day to day issue can only increase our faith when we use it to overcome that obstacle.

[Demokat]

Interesting question, do I think that it means that they don't have faith, of course not. However, I do think that the current state of our health in America is spiritually related.

If by spiritually-related you mean that people are distressed, overwhelmed, and depressed about the current state of affairs, and use food as a salve, then you're right.

Now I am not blaming the cattle producer for fattening his or her cows, because the responsibility ultimately lies with what we choose to buy.

The responsibility also lies with the FDA and dietary powers that be, as well as government which subsidizes agribusiness and large-scale meat production.


God specifically makes the obstacles we are to overcome in our lives. Faith is the intangible substance that makes this possible. For myself, and I would like to think, for many people who are overweight the control and discipline that arise from handling something that is a day to day issue can only increase our faith when we use it to overcome that obstacle.

Obstacles, such as weight gain, often stem from depression, metabolic disorders, or the stress from our day to day lives. Control and discipline come from setting a strategy to lose weight and executing on it. If praying helps you maintain that mindset, that's great. I have faith in myself to be successful, which is something that is very important to weight loss also.

[WilliamC3]

If by spiritually-related you mean that people are distressed, overwhelmed, and depressed about the current state of affairs, and use food as a salve, then you're right.

From the our perspective, as a consumer, I can see your point, it is also related to other areas, such as greed, lack of morality, or care or concern over what is right and wrong. It is en vogue these days to say that everyone is entitled to their own view of what is right and wrong and no one should impose their view of what is right upon another. Now aside from the impossibility of this idea (by saying that no one should do this people are stating that it is wrong and imposing their values on others defeating their original statement), it creates a atmosphere of moral ambiguity that allows people to act out on their own interests without a personal check in place. If producers and consumers were truer to their conscious than we would not have all of these harmful products on the market and correspondingly all these health problems also. I can think of hundreds of examples from medication to vaccinations.

The responsibility also lies with the FDA and dietary powers that be, as well as government which subsidizes agribusiness and large-scale meat production.

That is ideally what they were created for, right? But are they doing their job? No. Over 40% of the income that the FDA receives is from pharmaceutical companies paying fees to get a drug approved. This is a serious conflict of interest and the line is blurred to the point where pharmaceutical employees are also employed and directly active in the approval of proposed medications. The leading cause of death in America is properly prescribed medications, if you can remember the scandals (Viox, thimeserol, to name a few). These drugs killed 100s of thousands of people, yet we can turn on a T.V. and see adds that herald the next cure for sleep deprivation and genital warts with a micromachine mouth describing the potential side effects. This stuff is tested on our population. They do not know what it can do so they release it for free in the last stage of FDA approval (that is why you can get medication samples for free at you Dr.s office, we are the guinea pigs). Check out http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2502546838698762400&q=prescription+for+disaster&total=30&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0
(Above is a serious look at the FDA)
www.mercola.com/townofallopath/townofallopath.htm shows a funny yet serious illustration of this also.
So the question is what can we do about this? I mean we can point fingers all day and take the medications and vaccines, get mercury fillings in our teeth and say that it is their fault while we decay inside and out. Or we can become educated concerned consumers who vote with our dollar and our lifestyles to change this country. Chiropractic (if practiced properly) is ideally fitted for this, since it focus is on helping to promote healing in the body with nonsurgical, nonpharmaceutical, and noninvasive techniques while focusing on whatever is unbalanced in the patient to prevent further occurrences. Don't get me wrong, the medical field has it's place if a person where to come in with a broken arm I would send them to and orthopedist or a MD, they are trained in emergency medicine and correspondingly we have the best medical treatment for emergency situations in the world. However, we are still rated as last among the industrialized nations in health care? You have to ask yourself the question why is that?

Obstacles, such as weight gain, often stem from depression, metabolic disorders, or the stress from our day to day lives. Control and discipline come from setting a strategy to lose weight and executing on it. If praying helps you maintain that mindset, that's great. I have faith in myself to be successful, which is something that is very important to weight loss also.

If I trust myself I'll fail.
Peace,
-William

[MandaSue]

These drugs killed 100s of thousands of people, yet we can turn on a T.V. and see adds that herald the next cure for sleep deprivation and genital warts with a micromachine mouth describing the potential side effects. This stuff is tested on our population. They do not know what it can do so they release it for free in the last stage of FDA approval (that is why you can get medication samples for free at you Dr.s office, we are the guinea pigs).



If I trust myself I'll fail.
Peace,
-William


Actually the docs offices get those free samples from the reps, so that they can provide a free "trial" to the patient. If the patient likes it, then the doc will use it more and the patient didn't have to pay for the "trial dose". Win-win.

If the patient doesn't like it, then they are offered a different "free sample", again not at their cost.

The motivation is to get the sample out there to people, it's not about "testing it on the population". There is no data recorded from free sample meds at doc's offices.

Curious why if you trust yourself, you'll fail. If you don't have trust in your own person, you certainly can't have it for others, nor expect others to find trust in you.

[RobinB]

But the thing is, it's not a joke. It's just a reminder that, even with faith, we all need to help ourselves to succeed as much as possible. It's actually posted on a lot of Christian sites as an inspirational text.


That's so true! :agree:

[WilliamC3]

Curious why if you trust yourself, you'll fail. If you don't have trust in your own person, you certainly can't have it for others, nor expect others to find trust in you.
I'll get back to you with descriptions and references from reputable sources concerning the stages of FDA drug approval and the "fast track" that they have available for drugs. But to address why I cannot trust myself is this. . . It goes back to faith I trust Jesus and His Holy Spirit that is within me. If I do things of myself, that is motivated by my own goals, my own gain, and my own selfishness, then nothing but favorable results for me will be produced. That is why I cannot trust myself. God is not just an idea He is an ever present part of my life that doesn't just remain dormant and watch what I do, say, or even think. It says in the scripture, John 18:8-11, that the Holy Spirit is come to reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. It goes further to explain what that means: of sin because they believed not on Jesus, of righteousness because Jesus goes to the Father, of judgement because the prince of this world is judged. It also says in Proverbs 3:12 For whom the LORD loveth He correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. The meaning behind these shows that God is present in the believer's life to guide them and to correct them in every decision they make. So though I do not trust actions that come from myself I do trust God and what He would desire me to do in His will. This will always point me to actions that will bear goodness, peace, and unselfishness. Now I am not saying that I do not make mistakes that I have to apologize and stop doing the wrong action, if I did this then it would take away the need of correction which implies that there is something that needs to be corrected. I am saying that if I trust God good will come of it.
This is a spiritual thing and to most it will seem foolish; however, it is true and has been the case of my life since I have received Jesus. The foolishness of God is wiser than man. How can people trust me, because I trust God, I have a moral code that is living and is practiced in my life. Of course time will tell the truth, but I am not afraid of standing for what is right.
-William

[TimesTwo]

I'll get back to you with descriptions and references from reputable sources concerning the stages of FDA drug approval and the "fast track" that they have available for drugs.I'm a registered pharmacy technician in Virginia, and I've never heard of this. I'm awaiting your sources.

[WilliamC3]

I'm a registered pharmacy technician in Virginia, and I've never heard of this. I'm awaiting your sources.
Sorry about the delay in reply, we had Part I of out boards recently and that seemed to blot out a lot of tasks. Here is a reference describing the fast track policy: http://www.fda.gov/cder/guidance/105-115.htm. If you put "fast track" as a word find it will take you to the desired description on the page (that is the most legit source that I can find, given that it is directly from the FDA itself). If you google fast track and other drugs you'll eventually come across a link that will talk about dangerous drugs that have been pushed ahead using this program (such as: http://breathing.com/articles/prescription-drugs.htm). . .
The thing is this, pharms are companies that are profit driven. I remember talking with a pharm rep when I was working at a mental health facility during one of their presentations to out clinic. He said in a frustrated manner, "I wish all these regulations that are being applied to our products would be lifted so we could be free to do business." I replied, "But you are dealing with peoples lives here." He stated back that, "We are a business, what other business that you know of have to deal with all this red tape." (general gist of the conversation). Now you cannot base your opinion of a system based upon one of its members, yet to me that summed up the pharms perspective nicely, meaning pharms are companies that are profit driven and have specific plans that deal directly with peoples lives. Some would go as far to say that the are repeating the process planned obsolescence borrowed from manufacturers, meaning that the current state of health care is actually planned to keep the population sick and therefore purchasing more drugs. It is the pursuit of the pharm companies to supply a short term patch for symptoms without getting to the cause of the disorder, "Take two and call me in the morning." That increases the most profit by making people come back for more.
What is written here is nothing new. Check out: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/0595357636/ref=cm_cr_dp_synop/102-7314013-6969724?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&n=283155&s=books&customer-reviews.start=1#RWB9YPKE4HF7D

[sjtmiller]

- Hello, My name is William, ... I would like a plan that would prevent this as well as point me to a template to build a new health related lifestyle, any suggestions?

Thanks and God Bless,
-William :)

Atkins is a way of eating for life.

No "diet" is going to get you through the maintenance part... you need a "way of eating for life".

Don't know enough about Stillman to know if that will do that for you.

There's a lot of "diets"... and there's a lot of "eating plans for life".

You're going to have to find one that YOU can live with.

[BluePants]

Hi, welcome to ALC, its a great site, with lots of supportive folks.
Have you ever done a support board before, cause everthing is in print, black and white with no emotions, no facial expressions, no winks, ;) and so you might be reading into something that's just not there.
Like, on this board being told YOUR A BIG FAT LOSER, is a compliment that we all aspire to. :lol:
I always thought about joining the Peace Corp, what a great job, for hardly any money.
Welcome again, glad to meet you and I know you'll find this a great board and will meet lots of new friends.

[TimesTwo]

Here is a reference describing the fast track policyHmm, yeah I thought this might what you were referring to. It allows people who have life-threatening illnesses to use a certain prescription while it's still in the early phases of being tested, before it's been approved by the FDA. It's very expensive and insurance rarely pays for it. The unapproved medication is available to very few people, who've run out of the more common options.

I believe you've misinterpreted what this is all about. Yes, drug manufacturers charge an obscene amount of money for these medications, but they do save lives and are a last resort for very sick people.

[WilliamC3]

Yes, drug manufacturers charge an obscene amount of money for these medications, but they do save lives and are a last resort for very sick people.(Have you looked at the links I posted? :q: )
- In emergent cases I would totally agree with you. I wouldn't want a broken arm or a MI to come into the clinic, they would definitely be referred to a hospital or other emergent situations. In a twisted way the fast track could be motivated by altruistic measures, but it is subject to the discretion of the secretary at the time. It is not a mind leap to suspect that the actual employees and the board of the FDA have ulteriorly motives for passing certain medications as we are talking about billions of dollars here, I am afraid that the misinterpretation does not lie in my part but by the part of those to whom the power is given :idea: . Regardless of how much is being charged for the medications at the user end they are being overused by our population in general. You have people thinking they can take a pill for anything that is wrong with them, instead of using the programing that has already been designed in their bodies for success and health. In emergency cases and as a last call certain measures and medications may be feasible; however, the medical community is extending that concept on the initial treatment of our population and not employing alternative preventative tactics of management.
- There are thousands of examples that can I can draw from. . . For example, statin drugs. Statin drugs inhibit a enzyme HMG-CoA that aids in the pathway that produces cholesterol from the liver. HMG-CoA is also part of the pathway that produces CQ10, which is used all over the body mostly in the electron transport chain part of the production of ATP. ATP is like the currency of the body, it is the energy that we in or metabolism, without it we could not live. Since statin drugs inhibit both cholesterol and the CQ10 at the same time the person who uses statin drugs can expect to have various side effects, ranging from decreased energy to even immune system dysfunction, as the low amounts of CQ10 would reduce the amount of ATP and low ATP means the body does not have sufficient energy to respond to the environment around it. A good management program to tackle cholesterol would be nutrition, with certain supplements that would aid in this process (keeping away from Red Yeast Rice as it works as a statin also), exercise (clinically proven to raise HDL), a low glycemic diet (proven to lower LDL and raise HDL), and chiropractic adjustments (proven to lower the blood pressure). In this case we are talking about preventative medicine and it is in this disparity that this country is lacking to the point that it is ranked as last among industrialized nations for quality of health care.

[WilliamC3]

Hi, welcome to ALC, its a great site, with lots of supportive folks.
Have you ever done a support board before, cause everthing is in print, black and white with no emotions, no facial expressions, no winks, ;) and so you might be reading into something that's just not there.
Like, on this board being told YOUR A BIG FAT LOSER, is a compliment that we all aspire to. :lol:
I always thought about joining the Peace Corp, what a great job, for hardly any money.
Welcome again, glad to meet you and I know you'll find this a great board and will meet lots of new friends.

Thanks for the welcome. The Peace Corps was a good experience, takes you out of your comfort zone and causes you to really ask some foundational questions about yourself. It is never too late :) , we had a couple that was upwards of 65 serve for two years in my group. Have you ever considered doing a mission trip?

[BluePants]

Thanks for the welcome. The Peace Corps was a good experience, takes you out of your comfort zone and causes you to really ask some foundational questions about yourself. It is never too late :) , we had a couple that was upwards of 65 serve for two years in my group. Have you ever considered doing a mission trip?
I have, but right now I am really busy with life, if you know what I mean. Someday.

[Goolu]

Welcome Welcome Welcome

[tdoty]

Welcome!! :wave: