MEET EMMA BRITTON

Emma and I have been working together for some time now and I'm thrilled to bits that she has taken some time out of her busy schedule to put together a couple of articles for us.  Emma is a complete inspiration!  I hope you enjoy her company too!

Emma Britton, 33, lives in Bridgwater, Somerset with her partner John. Emma qualified as an exercise to music teacher in July 1998 and has been teaching exercise and fitness since then and in January 2002 launched Emma’s XL Exercise Company. 

As well as teaching aerobics classes for all shapes and sizes in the community, including a class exclusively for ladies who are size 16+ only, Emma has also worked in the field of exercising special population’s i.e. older people, people with medical conditions, those with mental health issues and her favourite area of work – people who are overweight and/or inactive. Emma now works full-time in a media role but continues to teach aerobics classes in the evenings and takes every opportunity to promote the benefits of being fit, happy and healthy regardless of weight, shape or size. 

Emma is unusual as a fitness instructor in that she is a dress size 18/20 and weights approximately 16 stone which means that in the opinion of the medical profession she is classed as “obese”. 

Emma encourages people of all ages, shapes and sizes to be more active and enjoy the many benefits of regular exercise which she is keen to point out is not just about losing weight! If that was the case – she would be a size 8 and not a size 18!

Personally she has adopted exercise as a way of maintaining her good health without worrying about dieting which she tried many times without success in her late teens/early twenties resulting in very negative experiences, low self-esteem and even periods of depression.

 “I enjoy, relish and love the lifestyle I have adopted over the last 10 years where I now eat what I want including healthy choices and not so healthy choices but all in moderation, I exercise regularly and more importantly I have developed a level of self-acceptance and self-confidence realising that I am never going to look like a model, develop a six-pack stomach or rid myself of cellulite and stretch marks BUT I can lead a healthy, fit, happy and active life regardless of my size and the way society views me as an overweight person!”. 

Emma appears regularly in the media and is renowned for her unique approach to being a larger size but fit and healthy and her ambition is to spread this unusual but increasingly researched and proven concept to all sizes around the UK.

Many people automatically associate exercise with weight loss which is actually a myth as successful and more importantly maintainable weight loss requires much more effort than a gym membership! So, as I am very happy with my size 18/20 body, I love my curves and the fact that I ditched dieting years ago - I prefer to concentrate on the many other far more important benefits to our physical and mental health that regular moderate physical activity brings:

 1.   exercise reduces the initial risk of disease e.g heart disease, hypertension, stroke

2.   exercise can help in the management of disease e.g diabetes, arthritis, back pain

3.   exercise helps to lower bad cholesterol and increase good cholesterol in our blood

4.   exercise promotes regular and good quality sleep patterns

5.   exercise increases bone strength and reduces the risk of osteoporosis

6.   exercise improves your muscle tone

7.   exercise increases your stamina

8.   exercise improves your strength

9.   exercise can increase your flexibility making everyday tasks easier

10. exercise improves your balance

11. exercise can reduce depression and improve your mood

12. exercise can boost your self-esteem and body image

13. exercise promotes a healthy immune system and helps ward off colds and infections

14. exercise encourages social interaction

15. exercise can reduce stress/anxiety and promote relaxation

16. exercise boosts your energy levels

17. exercise promotes better posture

18. exercise maintains independence in later life

19. exercise can be fun!

Reason 20.

However, THE most important reason to exercise is to do with the most essential muscle in our body. We only have one, it works as a pump, it has been working for us 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year since before we were born and hopefully for many years to come and without its constant and regular pumping action we don’t live! 

KEEPING OUR HEART HEALTHY IS THE MAIN REASON

WE SHOULD ALL BE EXERCISING! 

We are constantly bombarded with the message that obesity is reaching epidemic proportions in this country! However many people are unaware of the many other benefits of regular exercise that all add up to a happier, healthier person regardless of their weight, size or shape!

(c)

XL Emma - Emma Britton
Emma’s XL Exercise Company
E: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it / W: www.xlemma.co.uk

This piece is adapted from Weight Management Without Dieting by John P Foreyt PhD and G Ken Goodrick PhD previously adapted from Nutrition Today, March/April 1993 - Fat Is The New Black is most grateful to John P Foreyt for his permission for us to bring this article to your attention.

The recognition that the treatment of obesity based on caloric restriction (dieting) has only short terms benefits has raised the question of how a health professional can convince patients that restrictive dieting is counterproductive. This article details an innovative alternative approach to weight management without dieting.

In April of 1992, the national institutes of Health held a conference to determine the state of the art in obesity treatment. One of the conclusions to come out of this conference was that treatments based on calorific restriction, or dieting, had only temporary effects. Researchers have known for decades that most persons treated with restrictive diets will regain lost weight (Goodrick and Foreyt, 1991). Congressmen Wyden (D., Oregon) chairs a committee to investigate the weight-loss industry, and the government is being pressurised to regulate the claims of diet-based treatment programs ***lets hope this isn't only happening in the USA - Vicki*** Women's magazines are now featuring articles explaining why dieting is counter productive in weight management. Yet dieting is still extremely popular, and the weight of Americans continues to increase ***and people in the UK and in New Zealand and Australia and this is now some 12 years after this report! - Vicki***

What is a health professional to do when patients present themselves with both a desire to lose weight and a belief that dieting is the way to achieve weight loss? How does one convince patients that restrictive dieting is counter-productive to their goal of losing weight? Is there a non-dieting approach that can be used? To answer these questions, we discuss the psychology of dieting and describe our approach to weight loss without dieting.

Psychology of Dieting

Starting at about the beginning of this century, Western industrialised cultures began to place increasing importance on being thin. Thinness and one's value as a human being became inextricably linked, especially for women. This resulted in discrimination against the overweight, who came to be judged on the basis of their appearance rather than upon their character. "Fatitism" which is similar to racism in that it is based on prejudice, had devastating effects on the psychological health of the overweight. This has led to the situation today in which unloved and unhappy overweight individuals believe that they can get love and achieve happiness only through weight loss. The tragedy for the overweight individual occurs when the desperation to be thin coincides with the belief that diets are effective (Brownell, 1991).

Diets do not work for a variety of reasons that involve complex physiological and psychological mechanisms. The psychological mechanisms involve changes in fatty acid synthesis, increased fuel mobilisation, reduction in energy expenditure, increased fat storage, restraint of lipolysis and increased energy efficiency (Berdanier and McIntosh 1991). The resulting effect is exactly the opposite of what the dieter intended to achieve. The psychological mechanisms involved in the maintenance of dieting behaviour are particularly insidious. They lead overweight individuals to believe that dieting would work, if only they had more willpower. This belief is fostered by the testimonials of diet program graduates which appear in advertisements. In the first few days or weeks of calorie restriction mood may be elevated and energy increased. Weight is lost. This gives the impression that dieting does work. Soon, dieting takes its toll and the calorific restriction leads to uncontrollable cravings, especially for high fat foods. Relapses are often characterised by reports of an inability to control behaviour or think logically about food.

Cycle of the Psychology of a 'dieter' (From Foreyt and Goodrick, 1992)

I am fat, unloved with low self esteem THEREFORE I want to be loved and happy THEREFORE I must lose weight to be happy THEREFORE My whole life depends on being thin THEREFORE I try hard to achieve unrealistic goal weight THEREFORE My self control is low due to previous failures THEREFORE I lose weight but then regain THEREFORE I feel I am a failure THEREFORE My self esteem is further damaged THEREFORE My self control is low due to previous failure THEREFORE My self esteem is damaged THEREFORE I become more isolated and lonely THEREFORE I am fat, un loved with low self esteem ...............