Many people are under the assumption they have to look like a model and wear a size 3 before they are considered a healthy weight.
Erika Katz joins To Your Good Health Radio to share how being a healthy weight does not necessarily mean you have to be skinny.
Don't miss this segment for tips on how to become your healthy weight... not skinny.
A Healthy Weight Doesn't Necessarily Mean Skinny
Guest
: Erka Katz, Author
From the Show: To Your Good Health Radio
Summary: If you're under the assumption that being skinny is the only way you can be healthy, think again.
Air Date: 1/22/15
Duration: 10
Host: David Friedman, DC
Transcription:
RadioMD Presents:To Your Good Health Radio | Original Air Date: January 22, 2015
Host: David Friedman, DC
Guests: Erka Katz, Author
Chews-4-Health presents To Your Good Health Radio. Here are Melanie Cole, MS, and Dr. David Friedman.
MELANIE: Our next guest is a parenting and beauty expert. She's a regular guest of Fox and Friends, the Today Show and The Doctors and she's a contributing writer for The New York Post, Parenting and Good Housekeeping, just to name a few.
Welcome to the show, Erika Katz.
Here's Dr. David Friedman.
DR. F: Hello, Erika.
ERIKA: Hey, how are you?
DR. F: Welcome. Hey, welcome back to the show. Great to have you here.
ERIKA: Thank you.
DR. F: I know body image starts for girls at a young age with their first thin and shapely Barbie doll and then it continues as a teenager with the sexy pop star role models and this ideology continues as adults. How can women find a healthy medium?
ERIKA: It's difficult to find a healthy medium because we all want to look like that certain person that we think is beautiful and it's different for each woman. Not everybody wants to look like the same person. So, it's really important to try to look like somebody, if you're trying to do that, that is actually realistic. I mean, if you're 5 feet to try to look like somebody who's 6 feet, it just doesn't make any sense.
DR. F: Right.
ERIKA: You also have to have realistic goals for yourself and think about what is healthy for you and is what you're trying to achieve healthy, good for you and will it really make you feel better? Because often, when we have something going on in the inside, we think that changing something on the outside is going to make it better. So, you have to really work on your mind and your body at the same time.
DR. F: Yes. You bring up a good point on the emotional part. People talk about the importance of exercising and eating right, but I think that there's an emotional component that isn't addressed enough and it might even be the reason why they can't lose the weight. They're stressed; they're worried. They don't get enough sleep. It wreaks havoc on their hormones, making them crave more food and maybe gain more weight. What's your opinion on how to really address this emotional problem, whether it be that they're just not happy with themselves and we look at them and they're find or they really do need help?
ERIKA: Well, you have to think that when you get at a desk all day and you get stressed, you'll get pain in your shoulders. Now, you haven't exercised, but you'll get pain in your shoulders and often that's stress and you're holding stress. Likewise, we hold emotion in our body as well. So, sometimes you just need to cry. Sometimes you just need to talk it out and get whatever is bothering you out on the table and then the weight loss can start. So often, when you see these television shows where these people lose all this weight. Do you notice how they're always crying? There's an emotional component. They're not just crying because it makes good television. They're really crying because they're not just losing weight, they're losing other things as well. So, whatever's going on in your life, whether it's your relationships or your children or your work or whatever it is, try to face it head on and deal with it and try to let it go. Then, at the same time, when you're dieting or you're exercising, that will go hand in hand to help the weight come off. It's very difficult to do it when you have so much going on that you're not letting go. I also think vitamin supplements are a great way to help you lose weight because. For instance, I take a Vitamin B supplement every day. What it does is, Vitamin B, when you get stressed, your body starts to use up the Vitamin B and, over time, you're having a harder and harder time dealing with your stress. If you have a lot of Vitamin B in your body, it helps you deal with stress and your body doesn't lose all that Vitamin B, because you keep replenishing it. I find that it helps keeps my stress levels more manageable and helps with my weight as well.
DR. F: That makes sense. I had a patient whose mother's love language was cooking. This was how she expressed her love and she became overweight. Her love language now for her children is cooking and giving and desserts, so she had to really come to terms with that transferred love language which is, "Hey, it's your love language, but it's not loving your body. You're going to end up sick." This woman has high blood pressure now and cholesterol. So, you have to address that issue. There are other issues why people are overweight. It's not just because they're not working out. They're not eating right. It could be, like you said, there's some emotional problem there and some baggage or resentments that they need to get out and just have a good cry.
ERIKA: Sometimes, it's really the best thing. Of course, there are always genetic factors. You'll see families where everybody's overweight and there's something going on there. That's really a very difficult thing to combat. But, often, when you see a family that has weight issues, if you go to their house and you look in the refrigerator or you look in their pantry, you see a lot of processed foods, you see a lot of frozen foods, you see a lot of poor choices. So, one thing I actually recommend in my book Bonding Over Beauty is a bonding activity that you can do with your daughter is go shopping together. Go to local markets. Buy fresh food. Get some recipes. You don't even have to buy cookbooks. They're all online. Get recipes that you can make at home. Try to transform your pantry and do it together because when you do it together, you're not fighting so much. It's really tough if mom is always doing grocery shopping for everybody. Then, this kid wants ice cream, this kid wants chips and you can have kids with very different needs, so it's important to actually take your kids with you and have them help you make healthy choices and make them together. So, everybody will eat what you buy instead of just stuffing the pantry so that the kids leave you alone.
DR. F: Like you said, we've become such a sedentary nation. When I was a kid, I went outside every chance I could get. I played kickball, soccer, baseball. Today's kids play sports on the couch doing video games.
ERIKA: Terrible.
DR. F: They sit for hours on social media and obesity is at an all-time high. What advice can you offer parents to combat these gadgets?
ERIKA: Well, the thing is, if your children are young, then I would try not to give them the gadgets, because once the cat's out of the bag, it's hard to take the gadgets back. So, if you have young children and they're 2, 3, 4 years old, a lot of parents like to say, "Oh, look. My 2-year-old is so brilliant, they can navigate the iPad." Well, a monkey can navigate the iPad. It doesn't mean they're brilliant. It's nothing to brag about. You don't want your 2-year-old on the iPad. You want your 2-year-old using their imagination and being physical and being active and things like that. Sitting using the iPad is really not good for them. Then, when they're 10 and you tell them, "You can't have the iPad," they go nuts because they're addicted to it.
So, if you have young children, I would keep them away from all forms of social media, from iPads, from the iPhone as long as you possible can. If you have kids that are tween and teen, you can set up hours when they can use it. I know in my house, I take the phone away at a certain hour so they're not looking at it before they go to bed. But, you know, video games are a big problem because these kids, they're playing them for hours all afternoon instead of riding a bike or going to the jungle gym. So, what I suggest is you structure the kid's day as best you can. So, if they get out of school at 3:00, then maybe they're in karate at 4:00; they're in baseball at 4:00; they're ballet at 4:00 to 6:00. Then, they have to come home and they have to do their homework from 6:00-8:00. It really cuts down on the screen time. So, the more you can get them out of your house doing something that's structured in an organized place, the better off you are and the less screen time you'll have because really, the screen time is what's killing them.
DR. F: Exactly. I saw a parent ordering groceries on her iPad instead of going to the grocery store with her kid and it's just getting so they don't even walk around the aisles any more and get the exercise, at least, of walking when you get your food. So, you bring up such good points. You need to really stop putting these electronics as our gauge point in life and just get out a little bit and get away from these computers, laptops and cell phones. Great stuff.
ERIKA: Yes, I think it's really important to do and it's very difficult to parent when you're also looking at your screen all the time. So, I tell parents, you know, in school they say, "Stop, look and listen"? Parents need to stop, look at their children and listen to what they have to say and communicate and really look at their child. When you're on that phone all the time or you're in front of the computer when you're child's talking, they're learning from your example. So, if you want them to limit their screen time, you need to limit yours as well.
DR. F: You bring up a good point there because we have to live by example as well. You can't keep your kids from using iPads at the dinner table when you're using yours. That's a great, great point.
MELANIE: It is really great information and thank you for sharing it, Erika. To learn more about Erika Katz or to get her book, Bonding Over Beauty, you can go to ErikaKatz.com. That's ErikaKatz.com.
You can follow her on Twitter @BondOverBeauty. And, for our daily health tweets, you can follow us at Dr. David Friedman.
Remember, these are great shows with really great information. If you missed any of them, you can listen any time on demand or on the go at ToYourGoodHealthRadio.com. That's ToYourGoodHealthRadio.com. You can listen to Dr. Friedman with his innumerable wit and wisdom. It's great. Share it with your friends.
Like it on Facebook. You know the gig. This is Melanie Cole with Dr. Friedman. Thanks so much for listening and stay well.
[END OF RECORDING]
RadioMD Presents:To Your Good Health Radio | Original Air Date: January 22, 2015
Host: David Friedman, DC
Guests: Erka Katz, Author
Chews-4-Health presents To Your Good Health Radio. Here are Melanie Cole, MS, and Dr. David Friedman.
MELANIE: Our next guest is a parenting and beauty expert. She's a regular guest of Fox and Friends, the Today Show and The Doctors and she's a contributing writer for The New York Post, Parenting and Good Housekeeping, just to name a few.
Welcome to the show, Erika Katz.
Here's Dr. David Friedman.
DR. F: Hello, Erika.
ERIKA: Hey, how are you?
DR. F: Welcome. Hey, welcome back to the show. Great to have you here.
ERIKA: Thank you.
DR. F: I know body image starts for girls at a young age with their first thin and shapely Barbie doll and then it continues as a teenager with the sexy pop star role models and this ideology continues as adults. How can women find a healthy medium?
ERIKA: It's difficult to find a healthy medium because we all want to look like that certain person that we think is beautiful and it's different for each woman. Not everybody wants to look like the same person. So, it's really important to try to look like somebody, if you're trying to do that, that is actually realistic. I mean, if you're 5 feet to try to look like somebody who's 6 feet, it just doesn't make any sense.
DR. F: Right.
ERIKA: You also have to have realistic goals for yourself and think about what is healthy for you and is what you're trying to achieve healthy, good for you and will it really make you feel better? Because often, when we have something going on in the inside, we think that changing something on the outside is going to make it better. So, you have to really work on your mind and your body at the same time.
DR. F: Yes. You bring up a good point on the emotional part. People talk about the importance of exercising and eating right, but I think that there's an emotional component that isn't addressed enough and it might even be the reason why they can't lose the weight. They're stressed; they're worried. They don't get enough sleep. It wreaks havoc on their hormones, making them crave more food and maybe gain more weight. What's your opinion on how to really address this emotional problem, whether it be that they're just not happy with themselves and we look at them and they're find or they really do need help?
ERIKA: Well, you have to think that when you get at a desk all day and you get stressed, you'll get pain in your shoulders. Now, you haven't exercised, but you'll get pain in your shoulders and often that's stress and you're holding stress. Likewise, we hold emotion in our body as well. So, sometimes you just need to cry. Sometimes you just need to talk it out and get whatever is bothering you out on the table and then the weight loss can start. So often, when you see these television shows where these people lose all this weight. Do you notice how they're always crying? There's an emotional component. They're not just crying because it makes good television. They're really crying because they're not just losing weight, they're losing other things as well. So, whatever's going on in your life, whether it's your relationships or your children or your work or whatever it is, try to face it head on and deal with it and try to let it go. Then, at the same time, when you're dieting or you're exercising, that will go hand in hand to help the weight come off. It's very difficult to do it when you have so much going on that you're not letting go. I also think vitamin supplements are a great way to help you lose weight because. For instance, I take a Vitamin B supplement every day. What it does is, Vitamin B, when you get stressed, your body starts to use up the Vitamin B and, over time, you're having a harder and harder time dealing with your stress. If you have a lot of Vitamin B in your body, it helps you deal with stress and your body doesn't lose all that Vitamin B, because you keep replenishing it. I find that it helps keeps my stress levels more manageable and helps with my weight as well.
DR. F: That makes sense. I had a patient whose mother's love language was cooking. This was how she expressed her love and she became overweight. Her love language now for her children is cooking and giving and desserts, so she had to really come to terms with that transferred love language which is, "Hey, it's your love language, but it's not loving your body. You're going to end up sick." This woman has high blood pressure now and cholesterol. So, you have to address that issue. There are other issues why people are overweight. It's not just because they're not working out. They're not eating right. It could be, like you said, there's some emotional problem there and some baggage or resentments that they need to get out and just have a good cry.
ERIKA: Sometimes, it's really the best thing. Of course, there are always genetic factors. You'll see families where everybody's overweight and there's something going on there. That's really a very difficult thing to combat. But, often, when you see a family that has weight issues, if you go to their house and you look in the refrigerator or you look in their pantry, you see a lot of processed foods, you see a lot of frozen foods, you see a lot of poor choices. So, one thing I actually recommend in my book Bonding Over Beauty is a bonding activity that you can do with your daughter is go shopping together. Go to local markets. Buy fresh food. Get some recipes. You don't even have to buy cookbooks. They're all online. Get recipes that you can make at home. Try to transform your pantry and do it together because when you do it together, you're not fighting so much. It's really tough if mom is always doing grocery shopping for everybody. Then, this kid wants ice cream, this kid wants chips and you can have kids with very different needs, so it's important to actually take your kids with you and have them help you make healthy choices and make them together. So, everybody will eat what you buy instead of just stuffing the pantry so that the kids leave you alone.
DR. F: Like you said, we've become such a sedentary nation. When I was a kid, I went outside every chance I could get. I played kickball, soccer, baseball. Today's kids play sports on the couch doing video games.
ERIKA: Terrible.
DR. F: They sit for hours on social media and obesity is at an all-time high. What advice can you offer parents to combat these gadgets?
ERIKA: Well, the thing is, if your children are young, then I would try not to give them the gadgets, because once the cat's out of the bag, it's hard to take the gadgets back. So, if you have young children and they're 2, 3, 4 years old, a lot of parents like to say, "Oh, look. My 2-year-old is so brilliant, they can navigate the iPad." Well, a monkey can navigate the iPad. It doesn't mean they're brilliant. It's nothing to brag about. You don't want your 2-year-old on the iPad. You want your 2-year-old using their imagination and being physical and being active and things like that. Sitting using the iPad is really not good for them. Then, when they're 10 and you tell them, "You can't have the iPad," they go nuts because they're addicted to it.
So, if you have young children, I would keep them away from all forms of social media, from iPads, from the iPhone as long as you possible can. If you have kids that are tween and teen, you can set up hours when they can use it. I know in my house, I take the phone away at a certain hour so they're not looking at it before they go to bed. But, you know, video games are a big problem because these kids, they're playing them for hours all afternoon instead of riding a bike or going to the jungle gym. So, what I suggest is you structure the kid's day as best you can. So, if they get out of school at 3:00, then maybe they're in karate at 4:00; they're in baseball at 4:00; they're ballet at 4:00 to 6:00. Then, they have to come home and they have to do their homework from 6:00-8:00. It really cuts down on the screen time. So, the more you can get them out of your house doing something that's structured in an organized place, the better off you are and the less screen time you'll have because really, the screen time is what's killing them.
DR. F: Exactly. I saw a parent ordering groceries on her iPad instead of going to the grocery store with her kid and it's just getting so they don't even walk around the aisles any more and get the exercise, at least, of walking when you get your food. So, you bring up such good points. You need to really stop putting these electronics as our gauge point in life and just get out a little bit and get away from these computers, laptops and cell phones. Great stuff.
ERIKA: Yes, I think it's really important to do and it's very difficult to parent when you're also looking at your screen all the time. So, I tell parents, you know, in school they say, "Stop, look and listen"? Parents need to stop, look at their children and listen to what they have to say and communicate and really look at their child. When you're on that phone all the time or you're in front of the computer when you're child's talking, they're learning from your example. So, if you want them to limit their screen time, you need to limit yours as well.
DR. F: You bring up a good point there because we have to live by example as well. You can't keep your kids from using iPads at the dinner table when you're using yours. That's a great, great point.
MELANIE: It is really great information and thank you for sharing it, Erika. To learn more about Erika Katz or to get her book, Bonding Over Beauty, you can go to ErikaKatz.com. That's ErikaKatz.com.
You can follow her on Twitter @BondOverBeauty. And, for our daily health tweets, you can follow us at Dr. David Friedman.
Remember, these are great shows with really great information. If you missed any of them, you can listen any time on demand or on the go at ToYourGoodHealthRadio.com. That's ToYourGoodHealthRadio.com. You can listen to Dr. Friedman with his innumerable wit and wisdom. It's great. Share it with your friends.
Like it on Facebook. You know the gig. This is Melanie Cole with Dr. Friedman. Thanks so much for listening and stay well.
[END OF RECORDING]
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