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Health, Food & Diet
- Sugar content in alcohol - best & worst
- Coconut oil: the science
- Guilt free snacks
- 5 Post workout recipes
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- Teatox – Whats it all about?
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- Summer Fruits – What’s Hot, What’s Not
- The Professional Athlete Diet
- What is a Cleanse Diet?
- Losing Weight Without a Fad Diet
- Cheat Days: Worth it?
- Light Milk: Healthier than Full Cream?
- Protein Shakes – Do they really work?
- All About the IIFYM Diet
- 8 Superfoods You’ve Never Heard Of
- 5 Surprising Facts About Coffee
- The Changes Your Body Goes through When you Quit Sugar
- The Truth About Soft Drinks
- Does Detoxing Actually Work?
- Natural Alternatives to Sugar
- Replacing Artificial Sugars with Natural Energy
- Sugar in Caffeinated Drinks
- Diets 101 – The Bloodtype Diet
- Delicious Sugar Free Recipes
- The Low-Down on Artificial Sweeteners
- The Health Benefits of Smoothies
- The Aztec Diet
- Breaking Sugar Addiction
- Organic vs Non Organic Foods
- Spices of a Sunburnt Country
- 7 Healthy Kids Lunchbox Snacks
- The Great Weight Debate
- Sneaking Vegetables into your Children’s Food
- Fast or Feast? The Guide to the 5:2 Diet
- Nutrition tips for the everyday cyclist
- Creative, Fun (and healthy!) Christmas food ideas for kids
- Medical Spotlight: Heart Disease
- What's for Breakfast
- Coconut Oil – why you should make the switch
- Healthy Fast Food Options
- Salt – Friend or Foe?
- Changes to your body during pregnancy
- Spotlight on Sugar – how much sugar is in your favourite drinks?
- Five Surprising Facts about Food and Nutrition
- The Secret Sugar Hidden in Your Favourite Foods
- Are saturated fats and cholesterol really the bad guys?
- 5 Foods to Help Fight Pain
- The Importance of Potassium and Sodium
- Nutritional Truths About Sushi
- Slim Shakes and Diet Pills
- What are Macrobiotics?
- The Ketogenic Diet and Epilepsy
- Winter Foods To Keep You Warm
- What’s in season for Winter?
- Feeding fitness: Eating and exercise tips for breastfeeding mums
- Breast Milk versus Formula
- Foods that Speed Up the Ageing Process
- Beat the Winter Blues
- The Raw Food Diet
- Severe Nut Allergies: The Signs
- How to Make a Better Lunch Box for Kids
- Foods and Asthma
- Kids and Food Allergies
- The Lowdown on Homeopathy
- What is involved in traditional Chinese medicine?
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- Diets 101: Mediterranean v Sonoma Diets
- Autumn Foods – What’s in Season?
- 5 Bad Habits Healthy People Have
- 5 Under-Appreciated Foods With Surprising Health Benefits
- Happy Valentines Day, Every Day! The Benefits of Chocolate
- Diets 101: Jenny Craig vs Weight Watchers
- Spice up your Life
- 5 Simple Fixes for Bad Eating Habits
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- Don’t worry – Eat happy! 5 mood enhancing foods
- What’s in Season for Summer?
- The Fruit Superhero
- How to beat the bulge this festive season
- The best snack ideas that leave you guilt free
- Dairy – Good or bad for your health?
- What’s in Season for Spring?
- Is fasting good for you?
- Diets 101 – Atkins and Dukan Diets
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- Why is fish oil good for you?
- Five foods for a healthy brain
- Recipe for the perfect breakfast shake
- Minimize the Effects of Alcohol on Your Health
- Diets 101 – Paleo & Ferris
- Die Diet Die!
- Eating Out – Restaurant Junkies
- 4 healthy habits you can build in just a few weeks
- 7 Nutritional Beliefs That Are Wrong
- 3 Kids Snacks To Replace The Happy Meal
- Monday’s medical myth: chocolate causes acne
- Monday’s medical myth: food additives cause childhood behavioural disorders
- More Than Meats The Eye
- Weight-loss TV, patience is not its virtue
- All About Eczema
- 10 Ideas on How to Stay Healthy in a Stressful Work Environment
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Sports & Fitness
- Crossfit – What’s all the hype about?
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- Clean Out your Gym Bag
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- The Great Weight Debate
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- Pregnancy and Exercise: Is it safe?Pregnancy and Exercise: Is it safe?
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Parenting & children
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Health insurance
- How to Select a Health Insurance Provider
- What Private Health Insurance is Right for Me?
- Uncomplexicate
- Choosing a Healthcare Professional
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- First Time Mums – What to Expect
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- Healthcare: Public vs Private
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- Osteo vs. Chiro: What’s the Difference?
- Getting Health Insurance for the first time
- Australian Health Insurance: The top 10 things you need to know
Weight-loss TV, patience is not its virtue
Has anyone else noticed Australia’s obsession with weight-loss TV shows? I’ll admit it; I’ve been sucked into watching the amazing transformations that take place before our very eyes too. I mean, it’s hard to escape them, it seems there is one of these shows on almost every channel. And that’s in addition to the usual barrage of magazine covers, articles, blogs on the topic…you name it, it’s relentless!
It’s not to say that these shows don’t have their merit but when’s the last time you heard of someone losing 50kg in 3 months? No one I know. What about you? Seems to me these shows bear no resemblance to real life at all. Shouldn’t contestants (and viewers) be taught to exercise in a way that fits into a normal person’s daily routine, between work, family and social obligations? Achieving weight-loss, health and fitness as part of total life balance is probably one of the biggest challenges people face in their daily lives, yet you won’t find solutions for that on weight-loss TV.
I suppose it can be likened to the obsession with celebrities. We all know it’s not ‘real’. The airbrushed, macro-chef’ed, laser’d, trimmed, topped up, filled and botox’d to point of self-abuse is, thankfully, unattainable to most of us. But doesn’t it create an enormous amount of pressure to be this twisted version of ‘perfect’?
Weight-loss ‘reality’ TV shows are acting as a catalyst for the unhealthy attitudes that dictate the views we not only have of ourselves but sometimes the judgement we cast upon others too. In the face of a negative body image epidemic, and that’s not just obesity but eating disorders too, they just don’t care. Imagine if all the viewers of these shows went for a walk instead of watching? Together, we could smash all those crazy weight-loss records on mass: 50kg+ in an hour!
It appears that the holistic approach to weight-loss a path that has been trodden one too many times. Is it old news? Obviously, people are bored by it. Sure, we understand; it just doesn’t get ratings or sell magazines anymore. But we are now at the point of watching these poor people very publicly bear their heart and souls in a risky quest to try to over-come extreme obesity and life-long psychological issues in ‘5 mins’…just so we can enjoy some ‘light’ entertainment. You have to admit; it’s kinda weird.
Chatting to a friend the other day and he was telling me that he was at home with his family, on a weeknight, as usual, cooking dinner and a weight-loss show happened to be on the telly. He and his wife were explaining to their 8-year-old daughter why it is bad to be overweight and important to be healthy etc. She nodded and agreed, stating ‘don’t worry Dad I want to be skinny’. Not exactly the perspective we want to be teaching our kids, is it?
So instead of promoting a healthy, balanced approach to life, it seems that these shows are just another part of the unhealthy-body-perfect-pie that is feeding the dangerous attitudes toward body image in our homes and communities. It is one thing to be overweight and need to lose weight in order to avoid serious health conditions such as high cholesterol, heart problems and even stroke; it is quite another to think you can’t do it unless you get the chance to go on TV fat camp. Furthermore the overemphasis and hyperbole is leading us to lead to believe that even if you are not obese you need to follow a diet to ‘look thin’.
In a survey conducted by Mission Australia it found that body image and weight related issues are the #1 concern facing young people in Australia today. Healthy attitudes start in the home, where the TV is. So with that in mind; I know what I’ll be doing…switching off the box and at the same time switching on a healthy attitude toward myself, my kids, my family and my friends.