An alarming trend is on the rise in the form of “fat acceptance” movements. This isn’t about being healthy, no matter what your current weight. There is, in all seriousness, a concentrated effort to normalize — and even advocate — for a life of obesity.

There are many reasons why people may feel this is a sensible alternative to diet and weight loss. Unfortunately and perhaps obviously, there are reasons why this trend is doing more harm than good.

A Lack Of Motivation To Be Healthy

The first consequence of fat acceptance, in all sincerity, is a healthy diet. It is certainly possible to eat well and take care of yourself at a higher weight level. Many people even mistakenly assume that someone who is obese cannot be eating healthy foods or watching their calorie intake. This isn’t true at all; what is true is when one makes the conscious effort to ignore nutrition, weight gain is the likely result.

In addition, some assume because they accept themselves as they are, they shouldn’t worry about fitness or regular exercise. Fitness is something people of every weight should take seriously. You can be thin and out of shape, so don’t assume a healthy weight equals a healthy lifestyle.

We are all charged with taking care of the body we have in whatever way we can. You can love yourself as you are and still do what you can to eat better quality foods and be sure to get in weekly exercise routines.

Failure to Address Self-Esteem Issues

It’s like trying to convince everyone that a red 2002 Mustang is really an old yellow Volkswagen. You can’t do it, and people will look at you strangely if you try.

The way society is set up, looks matter. The farther you are from what’s socially acceptable regarding image, the more hurtful others’ reactions can be. Nevertheless, you are more complex and beautiful than what is on a scale. And if you are true to yourself — and love of all of yourself, not just your weight — then it shouldn’t matter what other people think.

Yes, Obesity Is Bad. No Movement Will Change That

One of the reasons people are talking themselves into accepting their obesity is because of the misguided attempt to label the word “obese” as public prejudice and to completely side-step the very real health issues associated with being morbidly overweight. The movement to accept being obese may feel good until you realize that instead of accepting your weight, you may be accepting a lower quality of life attributed to complications caused by being overweight. And that’s not something that anyone should have to accept.

As a result, carefully consider the positive effects of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Regular exercise and a nutritious diet will have you looking — and feeling — better.

A match between Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blackbelts Gabriel Vella and Romulo Barral at the 2009 World Jiu-Jitsu Championships. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I never could get into gym life. I knew weightlifting and aerobic training improved my strength and stamina, but I never found either particularly motivating — a death sentence for any exercise regime. Don’t get me wrong: weight training and aerobic gym classes are excellent exercise; they just didn’t work for me personally.

My training motivation comes less from seeing improvements in my health and more from learning a new skill. So martial arts were a much better choice for me. I found I enjoyed the traditional structure and ritual of the karate dojo, and the belt system provided a built-in goal setting system. Besides, after a few months training I got to play with tonfa, Bo sticks and other weaponry, which impressed the hell out of my inner child.

Like other exercise programs, martial arts aren’t one-size-fits-all. Fortunately, dojos and donjons are easy to find across the country, whether you live in Los Angeles, California, or are staying in one of the Dover, Delaware hotels. Below are some of the more commonly taught martial arts, each with its own benefits and philosophy.

Aikido

Aikido forgoes attack, focusing solely on defense. The art relies on transforming your attacker’s motion and movements into controlling counter-techniques. Attacks are taught only as a means to practice defense.

Jiu-Jitsu

Another Japanese art, Jiu-Jitsu is a grappling art focusing on throws, holds and ground fighting. A subset of Jiu-Jitsu, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is very popular, and teaches tactics where a smaller person can defeat a larger, stronger individual by taking the fight to the ground, using choke holds and joint locks to control the opponent.

Judo

Judo evolved from Jiu-Jitsu. Also a grappling art, judo has become a popular Olympic sport, and emphasizes immobilizing and subduing an opponent without causing significant damage.

Taekwondo

A Korean art, taekwondo emphasizes the use of kicks, capitalizing on the greater reach and strength legs have over arms. Sparring and competition are important aspects of the art, with safety gear worn for protection.

Karate

While most people think of karate as Japanese, the art developed in the islands of Okinawa. Practice includes set forms (kata), prearranged drills and sparring. Karate dojos may include instruction in traditional Okinawa weapons such as the sai and tonfa.

Kung Fu

Kung fu, more correctly known as wushu, describes a wide range of fighting styles from China. Popularized in the west by Bruce Lee, kung fu schools vary widely in their philosophy, training focus and forms. Some styles mimic graceful animal behavior, some on external strength, and other on cultivating internal “qi,” or inner energy. If you’re a fan of weapons training, kung fu offers a broad range of weapons, from long swords to three-sectioned staffs.

Muay Tai

Muay Tai is a Thai art known for vicious elbow and knee strikes from close quarters and clinches. Full-contact Muay Tai is a powerful fighting style with connections to Chinese and India martial arts. The art places great emphasis on conditioning and strength.

Mixed Martial Arts

Mixed martial arts (MMA) are full contact schools, which borrow striking and grappling techniques from many different schools.  Some purists deny MMA qualifies as a martial art, but the fighting style is often brutally effective.

Photo credit: Oleg Sidorenko

Being in recovery shouldn’t affect your ability to live a full life. For many people, however, alcohol and other drugs are a large part of traveling. Your vacation is a time to unwind and blow off steam, but there are ways to do it that won’t compromise your sobriety. In this article, we look at some ways to make the most of your time abroad without relapsing.

Stay Away From All-inclusive Resorts

For families traveling together, all-inclusive resorts are a convenient way to travel without having to worry a lot about logistics. But between the free drinks, college kids eager to party and the swim-up bars, the temptation to drink can be too much. Avoid the big resorts and stay at a local hotel or homestay. You’ll save money and see another side of life in your destination.

Take a Cultural Vacation

The best way to avoid drinking while on vacation is to fill your day with other activities. Skip the beach and visit archeological sites, museums and cultural performances. If you’re at a loss as to what to do, there are many tourist organizations, such as NYC Sober Tours and TravelSober.com, which cater to those in recovery.

Stay Active

There are few things better for your peace of mind than doing yoga on the beach as the sun rises. If yoga’s not your thing, go for a hike or rent a bicycle for an afternoon. You can also use your vacation as an opportunity to take up something new; try taking a surfing lesson or salsa class.

Have a Support Team

If you’re traveling with family or friends, let them know that you will need their help. Ask your spouse to support you by abstaining as well. Having an eager travel partner can motivate you to try new things and will give you someone to be accountable to.

Eat

You’re on vacation – you should indulge yourself! Let your diet lapse for a few days. Try local specialties, tour community markets, take a cooking lesson. Food is one of the greatest pleasures life has to offer, and experiencing all its diversity can be uniquely rewarding.

Treat Yourself

Remember, you’ll be saving money by not drinking. Why not put that toward a distinctive souvenir? Find the perfect gift for yourself – it will be a unique and memorable reward for having made it through your vacation without succumbing to temptation.

Whether you’re a week out of rehab or have been sober for years, a vacation can be a stressful time in your recovery. It doesn’t have to be, though. If you are vigilant and make an effort to fill your time with activities, not only will staying sober be easy, you also will have a once-in-a-lifetime experience that is far more rewarding than a boozy week on the beach.

About The Author:

Adrienne is a blogger and aspiring writer. When she’s not blogging about tech and social media, you might find her practicing her French, whipping up some recipes she found on Pinterest, or obsessing over vintage postcards and stamps.

Are you craving chocolate yet?  What if I told you not to eat it and that it would make you fat?  Now how do you feel about eating it?  Are you mad-jonesing for it?

That’s what a recent study found.  A joint research team of the University of Western Australia and the University of Strathclyde in Scotland found that when a group of 80 women were presented with videos or images warning that chocolate could lead to obesity that they were more likely to crave it.  When shown images of thin models, their desire to eat chocolate increased while their food consumption desire decreased.

The study that appears in the journal Appetite, while interesting, highlights a problem we are probably all aware of but do little to acknowledge.  We want to do the things people don’t want us to.  There is a part of human nature that enjoys rebelling against a system of order.  And when people are dieting, the life of their eating habits is a system of order.

It is actually the lack of discipline relating to rebellion that is the reason why many diets fail.  Because diets, and worse yet fad diets, are short term solutions that are often not adopted as permanent lifestyle changes.  Any short term benefits of dieting are often lost very quickly when the diet ends and a person reverts back to their normal eating habits.

It’s the big changes to our habits that we have the biggest problem dealing with.  There is often a short-term immediate acceptance but in the long run we’ll naturally want to go back to an old way of doing things.

Instead of trying to make sudden sweeping changes to your habits consider small changes.  Nutritionists have seen better long-term results when people adopt smaller changes to their eating habits.

When you start small think of how many calories you take in each day.  Are you drinking three cans of soda a day?  Could you live with two?  Are you getting the fast food combo with large fries and a drink?  Maybe go medium instead, that is if you absolutely need to have that fast food meal.

Do you find yourself constantly snacking in front of your television or your computer?  What is it that you’re snacking on?  Is it cookies or chips?  When you sit down to browse your queued instant videos or check your email, consider putting a bowl of baby carrots in front of you.  Health experts have found that people have a tendency to reach for and snack on whatever is close at hand.  If what’s close at hand just happens to be a healthy fruit or vegetable snack it could be much better for your belly than a box of doughnuts.

Little changes to your fitness can be adopted as well.  It can be as simple as just parking your car a little further away from the entrance to the shopping mall.  If you’re walking up a few floors in a building take the stairs instead.  If you are going up thirty floors though it is probably just fine to take the elevator so you don’t show up at your business meeting sweating and huffing and puffing.  If you do have the gusto to climb thirty flights of stairs then go for it!

When you step into 2013 for the first time and think about that most common of mantras people like to attempt every time a New Year starts, think about taking small steps.  When somebody tells you not to eat chocolate because it will make you fat don’t just eat that chocolate out of spite.  Take small steps and pay attention to your habits when it comes to eating and you may find that positive change may be coming your way.

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I just found this health related video on YouTube … and thought you might enjoy it!

youtube.com/watch?v=HUAE5Sk_zk0%3Fversion%3D3%26f%3Dvideos%26app%3Dyoutube_gdata

“Taylor Time” www.Taylorbaldwin.com Fight holiday weight gain with these “Taylor Time” tips – Now that’s something to be thankful for!

Tell us what you think about this video in the comments below, or in the Battling For Health Community Forum!