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What can I do if I’m not losing weight naturally?

November 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment

People approach losing weight in different ways, but in the vast majority of cases the best way to lose weight is to eat a healthy, balanced diet and increase the amount of exercise you do. Weight loss in most cases boils down to a simple equation, which involves the amount of calories you take in through eating and the amount of calories your body uses. If you take in more than you use, you will put on weight.

If you want to lose weight, the first thing you need to do is to look at your diet and your exercise regime. If you eat a lot and do not exercise much, changing your lifestyle habits will probably have a huge impact. You may never have thought about counting calories before, but it is a good idea to add up an average day to see how you compare with recommended guidelines, which suggest a daily intake of around 2,000 calories for women and 2,500 for men.

Dieting and exercise

Health eating and exercise will help you to lose weight, but it may be a steady and slow progress. If you are finding that you are struggling to lose weight, or you feel like you are working very hard without any results, see your GP. If you have been eating sensibly and exercising on a regular basis and you have still not lost weight after a significant period of time, your GP may suggest other methods.

Weight loss surgery

Weight loss surgery is a major operation and the decision to have surgery should not be taken lightly. Doctors only recommend weight loss surgery, which includes gastric bypass surgery and gastric band surgery, in extreme cases and when an individual has already tried dieting and exercise without any success. Weight loss surgery is not always available on the NHS and some people will be advised to have surgery at a private hospital.

Gastric band surgery is designed to limit the amount you eat by shrinking your stomach. A band is fitted to the top of the stomach, causing you to feel full after eating only a small amount of food.

Gastric bypass surgery works by reducing the amount of food the body absorbs and the stomach is also made much smaller, which means that you feel full after eating a small meal.

Weight loss surgery is not suitable for everyone and it is not a quick-fix solution. It is a major surgery which carries risks and it should always be considered in great detail before a decision is made.

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The sense of touch

February 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The sense of touch, unlike other senses, is not restricted to one area of the body; the whole body can experience the sense of touch.

How does touch work?

The sense of touch is to be found in the base layer of the skin, which is known as the dermis. The dermis contains specialised nerve endings, which pass on details about the items we feel or touch via the nervous system. The nerves transmit messages, which travel up the spinal cord to the brain. The brain then processes the information and allows us to understand what we are touching or feeling. Certain parts of the body have greater sensitivity than others as they contain additional nerve endings.

The sense of touch is very important; it allows us to experience different textures and feelings and protects us against things which may harm us. The nerve endings can detect whether things are hot or cold, for example, so if we sense that something is very hot, we will avoid picking it up so we don’t get burnt.

Stimulating the sense of touch

We experience a huge range of different feelings and come across many different materials and textures as we get older. To stimulate the sense of touch and provide a sensory experience for babies and young children, you can encourage them to explore their sense of touch by introducing them to different materials and textures, encouraging them feel different objects and materials and giving them toys, which have different patches of material and different textures. You can buy activity mats, for example, which may have beanbags, Velcro, velvet and plastic areas.

Bodily contact is also an important example of touch. We experience this from a very early age as babies when we start to form bonds with parents and relatives through close bodily contact and cuddling.

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For all those considering a breast reduction

February 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

A breast reduction surgery is generally very safe, especially when compared with its significant medical benefits. But, like all cosmetic surgeries it does come with certain risks. As with any other surgery, it is important to consider the risks of bleeding, infection and complications related to anesthesia, which are relatively uncommon, but noteworthy. In addition to these general risks there are certain factors which are specifically associated with breast reduction, and which candidates should be aware of before cosmetic surgery.

The most commonly reported permanent side effect from breast reduction, is significant and noticeable scaring. This can be reduced to some degree by encouraging prompt healing, and use of scar reducing creams. These scars are typically well hidden by bras and bikini tops, but should be taken into consideration. Women also report that after breast reduction their nipples are no longer symmetrical, this may have to do with a slightly off centre placement, slight differentiation in final size, or one residing higher in the breast than the other. Many women also report a loss on sensation, or ongoing numbness in the nipple and breast. Women who have had breast reduction surgeries are not capable of breast feeding because milk ducts are removed.

In very rare cases, blood flow to the nipple is permanently interrupted, resulting in tissue death. In these cases the nipple and areola will be removed and reconstructed from tissue barrowed from other areas of the body.

Because of increased risk of serious complication, breast reduction is not recommended for women who intend to have and breast feed children, who have hard to control or uncontrolled diabetes, who have or have had breast cancer, or who have cellulites.

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