Getting Help Through an Eating Disorder Program

Navin — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:54:58 +0000

Although trite and irreverent, the above “attention grabber” is technically correct. For anyone suffering from Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge Eating Disorder, an accredited eating disorder program is essential and life-saving. Without recovery, these people will probably die from the medical complications of their condition. The primary obstacle to recovery via an eating disorder program is the secrecy that always prevails in these disorders.
Sufferers are extremely reluctant to change their pathological eating behavior. Denial of the problem is pervasive and they very rarely seek professional help through an eating disorder program. Most sufferers enter treatment either at the insistence of friends and family, or by physicians when they experience a heart attack, kidney failure, or another medical complication of eating disorders.
How can an Eating Disorder Program Help Me?
The first and most essential step is to stop denying that you have a problem and admitting to yourself and trusted others that you need professional help. An eating disorder is not something you can “fix” by yourself. You need a very structured, on-going eating disorder program, most likely an in-patient program. You need to be hospitalized for maximum benefit from the eating disorder program; being treated as an out-patient gives you ample opportunity to not follow the instructions of the program and thereby failing to recover.
Hospitalization is definitely indicated if your weight is so low from anorexia, it’s life-threatening, or if you are binging and purging (vomiting) several times a day due to bulimia.
Eating disorder programs are very comprehensive. Since the great majority of people who suffer from eating disorders also suffer from depression and/or anxiety, you will be evaluated by a psychiatrist to determine if antidepressant and/or an antianxiety medication would benefit you. All eating disorder programs provide intensive nutritional counseling.
You will, simply, learn how to eat in a normal and healthy manner. You will receive extensive medical treatment for the medical complications, often severe, caused by anorexic and/or bulimic behaviors. If you’re bulimic, you’ll have your teeth evaluated by a dentist. Constant vomiting causes the enamel on your teeth to erode from stomach acids, leading to massive tooth decay and loss.
No eating disorder program is complete without intensive psychotherapy by a team of therapists who habitually treat eating disorders. Individual therapy helps you express the distressing feelings of fear, loneliness, anger, sadness and others that you’ve been self-medicating with food or self-starvation. Your program will include daily group therapy sessions.
You need to know that you’re not alone in your troubles, and receive help and support from others who have “been there.” In group, you can speak rather than remain silent about your disorder. Family therapy is also important in eating disorder programs especially for teenagers.
Parents want to understand your disorder and help you overcome it. With adults, your spouse or relationship partner can also be a tremendous source of support. Most important, in a recovery program that involves friends and/or family, they will learn to immediately recognize the signs that you’ve relapsed back into anorexia and/or bulimia and assist you in seeking aftercare support to get back into recovery.
After you’re discharged from the hospital, eating disorder programs strongly recommend your participation in support groups. These support groups for anorexia, bulimia and binge overeating are run by those who are in long-term recovery, not by professionals. Your continuation of aftercare services is vitally important to prevent relapses. Your in-patient program can help you find a support group that is effective for you.

Increasing your Fitness Level and Achieving your Fitness Goal Using a Heart Rate Monitor

Navin — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:57:22 +0000

A heart rate monitor is a device that can be used for measuring the real time heart rate of an individual. There are two basic components of a heart rate monitor; the chest strap and wrist receiver/watch.

Using a heart rate monitor can be a great aid in exercise and workout routines. It allows an individual to prevent the occurrence of injury and/or stress, while maintaining a proper balance between their health and exercise routine.

Heart rate monitors can improve your level of fitness by monitoring and recording your heart rate as you exercise. With the use of a heart rate monitor you can view your heart rate at any time and determine the intensity level of your workout.

An individual should exercise caution, keeping your heart rate too high, for too long, could result in medical complications.

Please make sure you have consulted with your physician before starting any new exercise routine. Your physician will help you determine your heart rate zones and help you determine the length of time you should exercise in those zones.

In addition to consulting with your doctor, another good rule of thumb for determining your maximum heart rate is subtracting your age from 220. This will be the maximum rate in which you do not want to exceed. Then depending on your fitness goals, you want to determine the “heart rate zone”.

For example, if you are just starting out, you may want to exercise around 50% – 60% of your maximum heart rate. As you progress and improve, consider 60% – 70% of your maximum heart rate, which would be a good zone for those of you with weight management as your goal.

If you are looking to improve your overall fitness level, the aerobic zone is around 70% – 80% of your maximum heart rate. These zones are all great places to start. Then consider three cardiovascular workouts per week, with duration of approximately 30 minutes.

This again will vary by your physicians advice, you fitness level, and your fitness goals, but should be a good place to start. Monitoring the above mentioned zones would not be possible without your heart rate monitor, which makes it an excellent choice when considering a new fitness program.

You heart is a muscle and while you exercise it gets stronger. During your aerobic or cardiovascular exercise, the muscles in your body are being used extensively for the length of time you workout. As you workout, your muscles will need more oxygen and this is supplied from the lungs through the blood.

Omron HR-100C Heart Rate Monitor

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As your muscles need more oxygen, your heart pumps faster in order to meet the demand of your muscles, and this is when the heart rate monitors come into action. If you are working too hard, your heart and your body may not be able to keep up with the demand you are placing on it. This is cause for alarm, and should be prevented.

A heart rate monitor will allow you to monitor your heart, and slow down as necessary to prevent injury. On the other side of this, you can increase your efforts, if you notice you are not working out hard enough, or staying in your “zone”.

Using this device will not only improve your fitness and prevent injury, but it will also help you maintain proper health.

The other benefits of a heart rate monitor are as follows:

Improves your level of fitness by monitoring your heart rate. Monitoring your heart rate keeps you in the “zone”.
Prevents injury by monitoring your heart rate, if your heart rate climbs too high, you can slow down accordingly.
It helps in monitoring you overall level of fitness. You can see improvements with time, and makes your progress measurable.
It motivates and helps us with better performance.
It makes your goals easily achievable and measurable.
Most heart rate monitors will count the calories burned during exercise, especially important if you are counting calories to lose weight.
It allows for effective and efficient exercise.

Heart rate monitors are easily used and are portable. These devices are commonly used by fitness trainers and athletes as a superior way in measuring performance and exercise.

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Getting Help Through an Eating Disorder Program

Increasing your Fitness Level and Achieving your Fitness Goal Using a Heart Rate Monitor