Hi Everyone,
On Friday, March 1, 2013, as I was scanning the descriptions of shows I might want to watch I came across the description for Dr. Oz. It was about women who use laxatives to lose weight.
I have heard of this, women drinking teas and women getting their colons cleared out before they have a big date or event. Since the latter generally requires leaving their homes and finances, this is not an option for most women. It is no wonder that a lot of women use laxatives. Apparently teas just don’t cut it.
According to Dr. Oz, there are over 17 million people in the US who use laxatives on a regular basis to lose weight. One woman, who has been using laxatives for years, looked pretty bad. (I thought of using a pun but decided otherwise.) She was down to 76.5 pounds! Most ten year-olds weigh more than 76.5 pounds!
After years of her downing 30-40 laxatives a day and losing weight, her husband of 17 years divorced her. The woman has no strength. And she is getting little to no sleep. How could she? With her taking all of those laxatives, she is going to the bathroom 3-5 times a night!
She can barely take care of herself, let alone her two children under the age of 12. And to top it all off, she is taking the strongest of the 4 kinds of laxatives there are. Here is a breakdown,
1) Fibre supplements-are like fruits and vegetables
2) Osmotic- draws water from your body
3) Stool softeners- are what people are given while in the hospital before or after an operation
4) Stimulants- irritate the intestinal wall because they are the strongest.
With continuous use of stimulant laxatives you could get seizures, destroy several feet of your colon, get kidney damage and/or a heart attack. Given the options, I would rather have the extra weight.
So how did all of this start? Well, the woman had the bright idea of taking laxatives before she eloped. Noticing a difference in her weight, she asked her then husband something like do I look fat and he said something like, she could lose a few more pounds. Back to the laxatives she went to lose more weight. All of which were bought over the counter.
Another woman by the name of Tennie McCarthey also abused laxatives to the tune of 100-125 PER DAY!!! And both of her daughters were abusing laxatives too! Tennie has since created, Shades of Hope, which is an organization that battles eating disorders and laxative addictions.
The point of this blog is threefold. Firstly, love your body for what it is while you (learn) to love yourself. Secondly, someone at some point in all of our lives is going to ask us if they look fat whether they are trying on clothes, or butt naked. BE PREPARED! Have a nice way to say something to ease their mind because it will happen. People can be very sensitive when it comes to their weight.
I weigh less than I should and I am sensitive about my weight. (I will be blogging about his at some point, I am sure.) And thirdly, if you know or think that you know someone in your life who is using laxatives to lose weight or has an eating disorder try to help them help themselves. A lot of people know what they are doing to themselves yet cannot stop themselves. Remember, this is an addiction.
If you want to lose weight, or are having a problem in that area, drink LOTS of water, get (more) fibre in your diet and eat nuts. It’ll help. I did the above when I was having my digestive problems before I changed my diet. I also have a shot of Jagermeister before bed. A shot of sherry does the trick too. Like those people in the movies.
For anyone who would like to cleanse their body in a healthy way, please read my blog called, Has My Vanity, and it is not what you would expect. Here’s the link, http://arebelsrant.com/has-my-vanity/
Thank you for reading, A. Rebel’s Rant! ;D
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