weight loss is never easy

We all want to change something about ourselves. There is always something that we want to change in life.  Dealing with something that we want to make different is not always easy but we have to figure out the best method to make it happen.  Many people are trying to change the way that they look and their weight.  This is going to be a very challenging idea and something that takes a lot of willpower. 

How many times have you tried a diet and failed?  This can be very disappointing.  It is hard to realize that you are not losing the weight that you want and be the size that you have dreamed about.  However, with the right state of mind and a little bit of help, you can make your dreams a reality.  

The one thing that you can do is make sure that you keep a positive mind and always keeps telling yourself that you are better than someone that quits.  You are someone that is important and that should give your diet the best possible try that you can. Being positive is all part of making a diet work for you.  

Make sure that you are serious about your weight loss plan. You need to know that there is no room for failure and that you are going to make this happen for you.  Sometimes we may not be able to succeed at a diet because there is something else going on in our life.  Maybe we have a problem that lies deep beneath that we are having a hard time dealing with.  If this happens we need to seek help for it and get started on a good method of healing.

Staying focused is something that is very important too.  There are many reasons why we need to be sincere and realize that this is something that we really want to do.  Being controlled is something that is a necessity when we want to drop weight and make ourselves seem healthy.  We need to know what we have to do in order to make our goal a reality and be the weight that we want to be.  

Take some time to listen to your heart and what you want to be.  Are you ready for the challenges that come along with dieting and not being a failure?  Is this something that you are physically and emotionally ready to do?  Make sure that you are strong and able to handle this type of process.  Being ready for the challenge is something that you should realize so that you are not losing sight of what the impertinence is.  

If things are not going your way you need to figure out a plan to make it right.  Make sure that you are checking out the options that you have and all that is going on.  Give yourself time to make your weight loss a goal that is going to happen for you.  There is no need to pressure yourself into something that you are not ready for.  

Remember you are not a failure you are a success story.  As long as you have dreams and goals set for yourself you are going to make it all happen.  Giving your best shot and keeping sight of what is important will give you the help and the reinforcement that you need.  Just be positive and never give up on yourself.  

Patterns of loneliness and social isolation

The research shows that patterns of loneliness, social isolation, and social engagement in retirement and how they relate to factors, including age group, sex, marital status, and living arrangement. Associations with perceived happiness, life satisfaction, and depression are also shown.

Social engagement is a fundamental aspect of the human condition. Social isolation reflects the absence of social engagement and social connectedness within a family, friendship, and community social networks. It is a multifaceted concept that is commonly defined as a low quantity and quality of contact with others and considers the number and types of social network contacts, feelings of belonging, sense of engagement with others, and related attributes.

These social dimensions have gained attention in the gerontological literature, given that social networks comprised of family and friends tend to shrink with age, resilience declines, and one’s ability to live independently in the community becomes challenged in old age. In addition, social isolation has been linked to higher health care utilization and poor health in older age.

While social isolation typically pertains to the objective social contacts in an individual’s social network, loneliness is the subjective perception that intimate and social needs are not being met. Thus, social isolation and loneliness share conceptual and empirical dimensions, but they are also unique. For instance, a person with moderate social connections may feel lonely; and conversely, an individual socially isolated may not feel lonely because they prefer this arrangement.

Subjective perceptions of loneliness and objective assessments of social isolation are both important correlates of health and well-being in middle and later life, including mental health, frailty and chronic illnesses, and mortality

The analyses reveal that:

·       Social isolation is a multifaceted concept as indicated by the variation in associations across different measures.

·       The percentage of individuals reporting being lonely at least some of the time is higher among women of all ages than for men, and this percentage rises with age only for women.

·       The preference for more activity is high overall but declines across the age groups.

·       The mean number of community activities (range = 0 - 8 activities) hovers around 4 over the age groupings, the mid-point on the scale, but it is slightly higher for women than for men.

·       The mean scores in the Social Support Scale range between 78.81 (women 45-64) and 82.78 (men 65-74); thus, reflecting relatively high levels of social support across all age and sex groups.

·       The percentage of persons reporting being lonely some or all of the time is highest among the non-married/non-partnered groups: widowed, divorced/separated, and single in that order. In addition, loneliness is higher among married women than married men, but this sex difference reverses for all other non-partnered groups. Rates of reported loneliness decrease over the three age groups, except for married women.

·       The desire for more participation in activities is highest among the divorced/separated marital status group and exhibits a strong inverse association across age groups.

·       Perceived loneliness is considerably more prevalent among persons living alone versus those who live with somebody. This pattern is more pronounced among men and is maintained across age groups with only slight variations.

·       The preference to participate in more activities is highest for middle-aged persons (45-64) compared to 65-74 and 75+ age groups, and this pattern is consistent across living alone or not.

·       Individuals reporting that they are lonely at least some of the time are considerably less likely to report being happy and this trend decreases with age. Those who report being rarely or never lonely also report high levels of happiness; this finding is constant across the age and sex groups.

·       Persons who express a desire to participate in more activities tend to report lower levels of happiness than those who have no desire for more activities, regardless of age or sex category.

·       Individuals who report being lonely at least some of the time report lower life satisfaction than those stating that they are rarely or never lonely.

The Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging Report on Health and Aging in Canada Income and Working in Retirement

There are important insights on income and working including:

·       For the age group 55-59, rates of complete retirement for women vary considerably by province, from about 20% in British Columbia to about 30% in Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador. Comparable differences continue for ages 60 to 64 but start to fade for ages 65 to 69.

•      The same provincial variation applies for retirement rates for men albeit with somewhat lower retirement rates below age 65.

•      For both women and men, the total (partial plus complete) retirement rates of retirement by ages 70 to 74 vary relatively little by province although considerable differences remain in the partial retirement rates.

•      In a question that allowed multiple responses, no single reason received a majority of responses. The fourth most common reason was health, given by about a quarter of all women and men retirees, and of these, reasons of physical health were more commonly reported than those of mental health.

·       Taken as a percentage of those retired, about 20% of women and 30% of men. “unretire” for some period. A significant minority of each group say they did this for financial reasons but including their earnings only 5% of the unretired report that their standard of living is inadequate

·       Unretirement employment is mostly part-time, particularly for those who worked part-time before retirement.

·       Women and men who are completely or partially retired at younger ages are much more likely to have at least one restriction in Instrumental

·       Activities in Daily Living (IADL). However, this difference between those who are retired and those who are not is quite small for ages 60 to 75.

·       Income differences within age groups narrow as age increases. The income distribution in the CLSA sample is very similar to that from the 2011 National Household Survey that was associated with the Census.

·       Overall, close to 80% of retirees said they managed very well or quite well, while 17% responded “get by alright” and only about 3% responded that they don’t manage very well or had financial difficulties.

A Report on Health and Aging in Canada 1

There is a very large study of 50,000 Canadians aged 45 to 85 taking place now. The study is on Aging and is one of the biggest and most thorough studies on the health and well-being of the country’s aging population. Today and tomorrow, I will highlight a number of the key findings of this report.

The researchers out of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre and the Research Centre on Aging of the Université de Sherbrooke published a report called ‘The Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging Report on Health and Aging in Canada: Findings from Baseline Data Collection 2010-2015 (pdf file)’. The report examines physical, mental, and social aspects of aging based on data from participants, who are followed every three years.

Findings from Baseline Data Collection 2010-2015

 As a country, where the average life expectancy is 80 for men and 84 for women, people are living longer. The addition of these extra years of life is a good sign in itself. They demonstrate Canada’s high standard of living, innovative public health, and high-quality health care. But we have to make sure that these extra years are worth living: More time to work and contribute wealth and wisdom to society, as well as more time to enjoy with family and friends.

Around the world, the population is aging. In 2017 for the first time, the population of Canadians 65 and older was larger than the number of children under 15. It is easy to look at aging as a challenge for the individual and for society and indeed there has been a tendency to look at aging as a set of physical symptoms, organ by organ, illness by illness, and tallying the personal, social and financial burdens imposed on families and societies.

Aging has been presented as simply an issue of decline and loss. The perception of what it means to be in one’s 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s has not kept pace with modern medicine, and neither have our ways of optimizing the extra years that modern public health and medicine have given us. If we end seeing aging only in cycles of deterioration and dependence, we can capitalize on the concrete features of aging and fund policies and plans that support not only existing longer but also living well. The likely continuing participation of older adults in society will be wasted if a change in the understanding of a certain negativity of aging does not take place.

One of the many pressing policy implications of an increasingly aging population in Canada is on health and social care affordability. Conservative forecasts suggest that the proportion of the Canadian population aged 65 years or more will increase over the next 20 years to approximately 23% to 25% of the Canadian population, or almost 10 million Canadians, by 2036.

 This increase is unprecedented. Total health and social care expenditures in Canada now exceeds $300 billion with health care alone at approximately $211 billion, the largest expenditure item in provincial budgets. As the baby boom generation moves toward retirement or enters second careers (an emerging phenomenon), the challenges, and opportunities that Canada faces in supporting a diverse and multi-ethnic aging population will intensify. The baby boomers’ shifting lifestyle choices make them one of the most compelling demographics to study. A challenge for health and social policymakers is the lack of strong evidence to inform public health and social policy decision making that is directed toward preventing morbidity and improving the health of Canada’s aging population.

The target sample size of the CLSA was 50,000 participants; in 20 5, the CLSA completed recruitment and baseline data collection from  5,338 community-living women and men aged 45 to 85 years from across Canada. Participants were asked to provide a core set of information on demographic and lifestyle/ behavior measures, social measures, physical measures, psychological measures, economic measures, health status measures, and health services use. CLSA participants undergo repeated waves of data collection every three years and will be followed for at least 20 years, or until death (or other reasons for termination of participation)