I recently saw a post on Facebook with a picture of a young girl, no more than 6 years old, holding a sign that said that her father told her that he’d quit smoking if she could get 1,000 “Likes” for that post.  The last thing she wrote on the sign was, “I love my dad!”

My first reaction was that this is wrong on so many levels.  The father has put his daughter in the position of being responsible for his trying to quit smoking.  If she doesn’t get the 1,000 “Likes” he won’t even try – and to her young mind, it will be her fault!  When he gets sick from smoking & possibly dies before she graduates high school, she may feel guilty because her post wasn’t good enough.

I thought, if the story is to be believed, the father has no intention of quitting.  He just wants to use this as an excuse to continue smoking.  As I said before, motivation has to come from within for it to be effective.  You would think that if he loved his daughter, he wouldn’t need any more “Likes” than her encouragement to quit!  If she gets the 1,000 “Likes” how will that translate into motivation for her dad?  Can dad call any of them to get encouragement when he wants to light up?  Though in my experience this kind of motivation is extremely weak, perhaps this will do the trick for this father, and he’ll feel compelled to keep his word.

Naturally, I was curious about how many “Likes” she did get, so I clicked through to see the original post.  It was originally posted in the Spring of 2014 and when I looked at it, there were over 5.9 million “Likes” and counting!!    I imagine this huge response was on behalf of the girl so she wouldn’t fail.  The ball was in the dad’s court.  Unfortunately, nowhere did I see any update that the dad had quit smoking.  I hope he has.  I hope he found the motivation he needed not from the millions of “Likes”, but from the look of love in his little girl’s eyes and his hope of living a healthier life and being part of her life for as long as possible.  I hope that dad has quit smoking for good so that he & his daughter can enjoy many, many Father’s Days together.

What motivation has helped you adopt healthier habits around smoking, eating or exercise?  Please share your experiences on this blog!

For Your Health! – Dr. Bob

There are a number of reasons why people choose to lose weight.  Beyond these, there are definite health benefits to lowering your BMI into the normal range.  So if you are on the fence about whether to lose weight, the following might help you make up your mind.

Being overweight or obese increases the risk of developing many diseases and conditions including high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, high cholesterol levels, high triglyceride levels, osteoarthritis and gallbladder disease. It even increases the risk for endometrial cancer, breast cancer and colon cancer.

During pregnancy, obesity increases the risk of death for both the baby and the mother and raises the maternal risk of high blood pressure by a factor of ten. The woman who is obese during pregnancy has an increased risk of gestational diabetes and problems with labor and delivery. The infants of these obese women have a higher birthweight which leads to a higher rate of cesarean section with its higher rate of complications. These infants often have low blood sugar which can lead to brain damage and seizures. In addition, these infants have a higher risk of birth defects.

The attainment of a normal weight can lower these risks. A report from the Surgeon General stated that an overweight individual can reduce their risk of heart disease even by just losing 5-15% of their body weight. So there is definitely hope to improve your health risk.

A Simple Formula

Being overweight or obese is due to an energy imbalance. More calories are eaten or consumed than are used in the activities of the body. To lose weight you must do the opposite:

Formula For Weight Loss: Calories Out (Activity) > Calories In (Food Eaten)

Body weight is the result of heredity, environmental factors and individual behaviors. While you can’t change your heredity, you can alter your environment and your individual behaviors. That is where your power lies. You’ll lose the most the fastest when you eat less and burn more. So, an exercise regimen is an important part of the formula. After being cleared by your doctor, you will need to build up your routine, but it will be worth it!  In addition to helping you lose weight, exercise provides other health benefits including improving your cardiovascular fitness.

For Your Health – Dr. Bob