Dr. Rippe's Blog

Did you know that about one of every five American adults over aged 18 is involved in taking care of a loved one who is ill or disabled or has other special needs. And even if you aren't currently caregiving, the chances are great that most American adults at one time or another during our lives will have to care for someone. Many "boomers" (like my wife and I) have slipped into the "sandwich generation"--while we are still caring for our own children, we must also think about assisting parents as they grow older and also face health challenges. Most of us must continue to work while providing this extra care, too. Such circumstances are stressful by their very nature.

Fortunately, there are some excellent resources and online communities that may provide helpful information and support. I'd like to share several of these with you because it's never too early or too late to start checking out some basic tools and resources.

www.familycaregiving101.org is a project of the National Family Caregivers Association and the National Alliance for Caregiving. It provides information on stages of caregiving, resources on how to manage and opportunities to share with others.

www.thefamilycaregiver.org is the website of the National Family Caregivers Association. It provides a library of resources and information on public policy and advocacy. You can sign up to be part of their caregivers community.

www.caregiver.org is the website of the Family Caregiver Alliance. It provides information on caregiving and public policy and research and sponsors several online groups,

What goals for balance are you working on or would you like to be working on? More physical activity on a regular basis?  Better balanced nutrition? More time for relaxing and destressing? How are you coming along?

One of the greatest barriers to taking steps to take care of ourselves is feeling that we are not worth the effort. Over the years, I've counseled hundreds of individuals who really want to make changes for the better in their lives but are stymied or tripped up by deep-down feelings that they are not worth the effort. Sometimes, they have not even acknowledged this self-doubt to themselves.

To each I have said, You are worth the life you want. As a living, breathing citizen of the planet you have equal worth with any other person. I can assure you of that, but each of us must accept that truth for ourselves. That can be very tough. If you struggle with such issues, you might take a brief moment each day to focus on something you have done well or that you enjoyed and affirm that accomplishment. Just saying to yourself each day, yes I am worth it, can boost your feeling of worth. So affirm daily one positive thing--and remember, yes, I am worth it.

When I mention weight loss diets that focus on single foods, you probably know what I'm talking about. For example, the "grapefruit diet" and the "cabbage soup" diet are two of the oldest. And they have many variants--just Google either term and see how many hits you get. Each season there are several new diet books or programs that claim to have found a new way to lose weight quickly by targeting a particular food or food group. Will such diets help you lose weight?  In the short-term, yes--almost any diet that reduces the calories (energy) you consume each day will enable you to lose weight. Proponents of such diets may claim all sorts of reasons why such diets work, but research shows that the main reason they work is that if you follow their plan you consume fewer calories daily than your body burns.  If you have to eat mainly grapefruit or cabbage soup all day, for example, who wouldn't consume fewer calories, at least after a day or two.

Of course, that example is an extreme. Most diets that focus on limiting intakes of certain food groups do include more food groups than one or two. The question to consider, however, is whether the diet is helping you adopt a balanced nutritional approach to healthful eating that you can maintain for the long-term? Is it helping you learn to prepare tasty, balanced recipes that you and your family can enjoy after you've met your weight loss goals. If it doesn't, then you may experience successful weight loss in the short-term but not be able to maintain that loss over the long-term. Then it's back to another diet. Such weight cycling, or "yo yo dieting," over time tends to make it harder to lose weight and sustain that loss. The loss of muscle tissue along with fat tissue through such dieting, particularly if you don't get regular physical activity, slows metabolism.

When you're looking for a weight loss diet, I recommend that you look for a plan that will help you reduce energy by about 500 calories a day, while maintaining balanced nutrition. You can use the Balanced Eating Plan on this website to design such a plan customized to your individual likes and needs. Also don't forget to get regular physical activity. Walking daily will help you keep your metabolism revved up while you lose weight.