THRT 1204 Winter 2021

THRT 1204: Homework Assignment #3 (Ch 6)

Due Feb 22, 2021 (12noon)

1. Case Study

Ray, aged 20, is desperately trying to lose the 11 kilograms he gained during his first year of college. During that
year, he spent much of his time studying, made little time for exercise, and often rewarded his hard work by
eating out with friends. Because he wants to lose the extra weight fast and look good on the beach, Ray goes on
a crash diet and begins an intense running and weightlifting program. After three weeks on his program, Ray’s
friends comment on how good he looks and, bolstered by their support, Ray decides to cut his food intake even
more and increase his exercise.

a. What are the risks associated with Ray’s program for rapid weight loss?
- May be harmful in promoting his physiological and psychological health
- Ray may be missing out on important nutrients
- Dieting rarely results in long term weight loss, the physiological and psychological stress, damage to
self esteem and other emotional disturbance are without purpose
- Dieting causes repeated cycles of weight loss and regain, changes in metabolic rates, increased risk
for cardiovascular problems and other health conditions
- Dieting contributes to the development of eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia nervosa
and compulsive eating or binge eating disorder
b. Is his thinking typical of people you know on similar “fast” weight-loss plans?

-Yes because many people believe dieting is the fastest way to reduce weight and some of my friends
are even willing to go on diet pills although they somehow know that is not the healthiest way to do it. A
lot of time, they are so busy with their work schedule and too tired to do any form of exercise so they
find short cut to achieve their goal in losing weight.

c. What are his motivations for losing weight and how do the opinions of others appear to influence
him?
- Wants to look good on the beach
- Friends comment on how good he looks

d. As a friend, what could you do to ensure that Ray doesn’t harm himself during his quest to lost
weight?
- Advise him to improve his eating habits by using a chart that identifies where, what, when, how
much, why, with whom as well as other activities he does while eating. Then advise him to choose to
eat well by making choices accordingly and to take it easy on his work out routines as not to over
exercising.

e. What role might a TR take with Ray?

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As a therapist, to encourage Ryan to recognise and tackle concealed or subconscious problems through
activities such as role-playing, use of props, directed visualisation, and a number of other active
interactions and transform negative thoughts that drive "unhealthy" habits.

f. According to Linda Bacon (see www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8vOtVUduBQ) what does body respect

mean? Why don’t diets work?
- The real crisis lies in the toxic stigma placed on certain bodies and the impact of living with
inequality—not the numbers on a scale. In order to reduce weight, many of us get so caught up in
searching for the perfect diet, exercise program, or surgical technique that we lose sight of our
original goal: improved health and well-being. Body respect encourages respect for all bodies, a
critical awareness of ourselves and of our belief systems, and compassionate, attuned self-care.
- Attempts to control your food consumption by willpower and control requires you to shut off
internal signals, leaving you far more susceptible to external signals. Dieters do not rely on usual
signs of fullness to regulate their consumption, because there are no restraints in place. When our
bodies are in control, we make decisions that help us feel good, eat what we want, whenever we
want. We're not resisting or fighting our environment. Instead, we've got natural brakes to make
sure we eat sensibly.

2. What is disordered eating? What is an eating disorder?

-Disordered eating refers to a wide range of abnormal eating behaviours including various actions seen in
individuals with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and BED.

- Eating disorder involve severe disturbances in eating behaviours, unhealthy efforts to control body fat and
weight as well as abnormal and unrealistic attitudes about a person’s body weight and shape.

a. What are the major types of disordered eating and exercise disorders? Briefly describe each one.
Disordered eating
- chronic restrained eating, compulsive eating, habitual dieting and irregular chaotic eating patterns
where hunger and satiety are ignored.

- Disorder eating habits and diets are the most common markers of the existence of eating
disorders. Disordered eating has been related to a decreased ability to deal with difficult conditions,
as well as an increased frequency of suicidal thinking and behaviour.

Exercise disorders
- anorexia athletica, overexercising, weight obsession
- Exercise that has messed with important activities. Exercise that extended more than three hours
a day and induced anxiety if the person were unable to exercise.

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3. Questions and Critical Thinking

a. Current Trends in Obesity: There are many factors that contribute to obesity being both a personal
and public health concern. Looking around “your world” – at home, on campus, and in the
community, what factors do you see affecting the general levels of obesity? What are a few of the
more serious problems that result?
- Some people eat more than usual when they are bored, angry, upset, or stressed.
- Not having area parks, sidewalks, and affordable gyms makes it hard for people to be physically
active.
- Oversized food servings increase calorie consumption, rendering more physical exercise required to
sustain healthy weight.

b. Weight Management Theories: A number of theories have been postulated about obesity and
weight management, in general. These include hyperplasia, set-point theory, hormonal theories,
psychosocial theories, metabolic and/or lifestyle factors. Review those discussed in the textbook,
provide a brief explanation of each, and explain which theories make the most sense to you. Do
any of the theories seem to apply to someone you know?

Heredity and Genetic Factors - For some individuals, a variation in GAD2 gene increases the
production of a chemical that boosts appetite and signals a person to eat and the Ob gene (for
obesity) that is believed to disrupt the body's “I've had enough to eat" signalling system and may
prompt individuals to keep eating past the point of being comfortably full.

Adaptive thermogenesis – Some individuals do not gain with extra calories due to the appetite
centre of their brains speed up the metabolic activity to compensate the added intake.

Hormonal theories - hormones include acylated ghrelin, leptin, and insulin, among others involved
in energy regulation such as hunger, satiety, and eating behaviours. Ghrelin is believed to be
involved in appetite stimulation. Leptin is believed to be involved with the satiety signal from the
brain, which tells us to stop eating because we are full. Leptin and ghrelin are also believed to be
influenced by lack of sleep. Lack of sleep decreases your capacity to know that you have had enough
to eat which likely to increase your appetite

Hyperplasia – refers to an increase in the number of fat cells, normally occurs during specific periods
of the growth process (infancy and the rapid growth period of puberty). It may also increase in
number when individuals are under chronic positive energy balance (that is, they continuously
consume more calories than they expend) and their current fat cells are "full." Hypertrophy
(increase in size of fat cells), and can occur at any time if calorie intake exceeds calorie output.
People who are obese with a large number of fat cells may find it difficult to maintain long-term fat

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loss because a stimulus may be released after the size of each fat cell has dramatically reduced,
resulting in an increase in appetite.

Set-point theory -The set point theory notes that the body retains its weight and body structure by
means of internal regulatory controls. We all have different settings that influence our usual body
weight. The hypothesis is that some individuals have a higher setting, which means that they
automatically stay at a higher weight, and others have a low set point, which holds them at a lower
average weight for their height. The hunger that happens from being far below the set-point will
cause binges. The primary concern of the set-point theory is that certain individuals will be
discouraged from having healthy exercise or lifestyle changes either when it appears that weight
loss is out of range or when it appears that these healthy behaviours are futile to retain healthy
weight.

Psychosocial theories - Food is often used inappropriately as a reward for good behaviour in
childhood or as a comforting mechanism for adults facing various stresses in their lives. Although
lower-fat, lower-calorie options are available at most places, people still have the gauntlet of
starchy, meaty delights and tasty high-fat fries to choose from. Children and youth are often
influenced by food-related messages permeate through media.

Metabolic rate – Metabolic rate fluctuates considerably. In general, the younger you are, the higher
your metabolic rate. The body has a number of self-protective mechanisms that signal metabolic
rate to speed up or slow down. If one choose to eat a very low calorie diet, the body will "reset" the
metabolic rate to a lower rate. Yo-yo dieting, which involves repeatedly gaining and losing weight,
lowers metabolic in the process. When one starts eating again after weight loss, the metabolic rate
is set lower, making it almost certain that one will regain the weight lost-especially if the previous
dietary habits are resumed. After repeated cycles of such dieting/regaining, one will find it hard to
lose weight and increasingly easy to regain it, and are likely to become fatter with each subsequent
attempt.

Lifestyle - Low levels of involvement in physical activity can be associated with low or insufficient
experience with physical education classes. The cultural dilemma of our physical activity level relates
to how we view it; many thinks that fitness and exercise are perceived as practise, not something to
enjoy.

c. What do you see as the primary role of TR in weight management?

The primary role of TR is implementing the functional intervention and leisure education services to
help raise awareness of their connection to food and recognise any potential problems that could
lead to weight gain, overeating, poor self image and ultimately examine and transform negative
thought patterns (or thoughts) that also drive "unhealthy" habits.