Those who use self-help books and strategies to improve the quality of their lives know that each field of self-improvement has its own jargon, terms, lingo, and slang.
Find the definitions, terminology, and language that each field of self-improvement uses to define itself here, as well as useful background research that will guide self-help enthusiasts in their quest for self-improvement.
The clinical definition of obesity, as defined by the guidelines established by the National Institute of Health, is the condition of having a body mass index (BMI) that is 30 or higher. A person’s BMI is a calculated ratio between their height and weight. It is estimated that at least 72 million Americans are overweight enough to be identified as “obese.”
Sodium is commonly referred to as “salt,” and is a mineral that is used to season and preserve food.
“Sodium obesity” is an informal and non-clinical term that describes the relationship between excessive consumption of sodium, and the effect that it has on the body’s propensity to form fat cells, and the inability of the body to easily burn those sodium rich and dense fat cells. Recent clinical studies have linked excessive sodium intake to salt toxicity and obesity, along with other diseases and medical disorders and recommend the use of salt detox strategies to reestablish a healthy sodium balance.
Description of the Connection Between Sodium and Obesity
Although the excessive intake of salt has been medically linked to a number of health conditions, it is because of the dramatic increase in obesity around the world that the connection between sodium and obesity is being studied.
A study jointly conducted by professors at the University of Helsinki and the University of Kuopio linked obesity and salt intake in a surprising way. A high consumption of salt, causes thirst, and for many people, a thirst for sweet beverages to counteract the taste of salt. So, the more sodium that is consumed, the more sweet drinks that are consumed, which increases daily calorie intake, which leads to weight gain and obesity.
The connection between eating salty foods and drinking sugary drinks is particularly pronounced in children, studies are now showing. Researchers at St. George’s University in London found that when the amount of salt was decreased in children age 4-18, the children naturally consumed fewer beverages containing sugar. The study estimated that if the amount of sodium in an average child’s diet was cut in half, their consumption of sugary drinks would decrease by two per week, saving them from both calories and an increased risk of developing Type II diabetes.
Examples of Low Sodium Diet Strategies to Combat Obesity
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Definition of Bullying Bulimia:
Bullying is the intimidation, humiliation, and abuse of a person as a means of control, aggression, and victimization. Bulimia is an eating disorder in which a person compulsively purges or burns off the food that they eat using extreme methods in order to prevent weight gain.
“Bullying bulimia” is a non-technical term that describes a growing number of adolescents, teens, and young adults who develop a bulimic disorder in response to being bullied by classmates and peers. The bulimia response to bullying is particularly common when the bully attacks are specifically focused on the bully victim’s weight.
Description of the Connection Between Bullying and Bulimia:
Since bulimia often develops as a result of poor body image and extreme stress, it is easy to see how people who are being bullied, particularly about their weight, would be at greater risk for turning to bulimic behaviors as a remedy to the extreme peer pressure and abuse they are receiving.
The Department of Neuroscience at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology conducted a study of bulimia patients who were undergoing outpatient treatment. The study concluded that there is an association between childhood maltreatment in the form of bullying and the development of a bulimic disorder.
In a separate study called “The Health Behavior of School-Age Children” coordinated by the World Health Organization, researchers concluded that bullying causes both short-term and long-term psychological damage. The most common immediate effects of bullying are depression, anxiety, and eating disorders.
Examples of Bullying Bulimia:
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Definition of Animal Free Diet:
An animal free diet includes vegetables, fruits, legumes, grains, nuts and seeds, but excludes all foods and food products that are wholly or partially derived from anmals. Known as vegans, people who adhere to a strict animal free diet refrain from eating meat, poultry, and seafood, as well as eggs, and dairy products. There are also many commonly used food ingredients like gelatin, rennet, whey, and casein that vegans do not eat because these food products are derived from animal sources.
There is some debate about whether honey is appropriate in an animal free diet, since it is a product derived from a living creature.
Vegans choose to eat an animal free diet for a variety of reasons, which include animal rights, health, and increasingly contaminated food supplies.
Description of How an Animal Free Diet Works:
A common concern about eating animal free is how to get an adequate amount of protein in the diet without the consumption of animal meat or animal products. Vegans derive an adequate amount of protein from eating certain vegetables, grains and beans. Oatmeal, quinoa, broccoli, brown rice, and almonds all contain proteins, for example.
A common source of protein for people eating an animal free diet is soy. Tofu, soy milk, and meat substitutes like veggie burgers, tofurkey, and textured vegetable protein are all products derived from soy beans.
Examples of Animal Free Food Swaps:
In order to get a healthy and balanced diet, vegans use creativity to create common foods with animal free ingredients. Here are some of the most common swaps that are used by people eating an animal free diet.
Examples of Famous People Who Eat An Animal Free Diet:
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Definition of Consuming Addict:
In the broadest terms, an addiction is the use of some type of external substance or activity to mask, soothe, or disconnect from emotions and feelings. There is a progressive loss of control in an addiction, and addicts find that the urge to partake of a substance or activity is stronger and more compelling than reason, even if the addictive choices cause extreme negative consequences.
Technically anyone who consumes any substance in an addictive way is a “consuming addict.” But the term “consumption addiction” is now being used in the U.S. (and other consumer-oriented countries) to describe the need, desire, constant craving and compulsion to acquire possessions. Whether these possessions are used, stored, hoarded, or discarded, the compulsion to acquire more or better possessions remains.
Those with a consumption addiction have been labeled as consuming addicts, shopaholics, debtaholics, and spending addicts. Specific names for the disorder include oniomania, compulsive buying disorder, compulsive hoarding, and binge buying.
Description of How Consumption Addiction Works:
The cycle of addiction is the same for a consuming addict as it is for a person addicted to alcohol, drugs, nicotine, sex, gambling, etc. Some type of stress triggers a desire for relief from uncomfortable feelings. That relief is sought in some type of external substance or activity, which temporarily masks, or deadens the discomfort. In the case of consuming addicts, the “drug of choice” is the acquisition of possessions, or simply the spending of money.
The feelings that were initially avoided eventually return, and are often also accompanied by additional feelings of guilt, remorse, shame, or depression associated with the spending or consuming activities. Spending or consuming is used once again to block the uncomfortable feelings, with the temporary “high of the buy” providing the same kind of temporary escape as is experienced by alcohol and drug addicts.
Eventually a psychological and/or physical dependence on acquiring possession or spending money is formed, which renders the addict powerless over the urge to consume. The cycle of consumption addiction is reoccurring and self-perpetuating unless some type of intervention occurs to break the cycle.
Examples of Consuming Addicts:
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