Welcome To The South Jersey Health & Fitness Group

Getting healthy is something everyone strives for but few accomplish in the long term.  If it were a piece of cake (pun intended), Americans would not spend $35 billion dollars a year for weight loss products.  If we ate only foods that are good for us, the fast food businesses would have to change or cease to exist.  In a way, a lifestyle change is a lot like falling in love, it takes time and commitment.  The purpose of this group is to discuss ways to bring about healthy change in our lives.  In group meetings held in Voorhees NJ, we might discuss the latest “hot” diet or taste the latest diet food.  We’ll share our experiences in person and on this blog about what works and what doesn’t. What’s medical and what’s quackery. Depending on the direction of the group, there may be guest speakers or group hikes.

While one of the main focuses of the group is weight control, there are many other areas about healthy living that can be explored. No diet or products will be pushed.  I am not a medical professional so I will not give medical advice.

The world is changing. Medical costs are through the roof. We are paying more for medical plans and receiving less.  And According to the American Heart Association, We lose one American every 37 seconds to cardio vascular disease.  They also state that 1 in every 3 adults in this country have high blood pressure.  The American Diabetes Association tells us that there are 23.6 million Americans with diabetes with nearly 25% of them not even knowing they have it.

We all know people with these diseases. We may even have them ourselves.. I do.  There is only one solution.  Make the commitment to change your lifestyle. .  It won’t be quick or easy but we didn’t get “unhealthy” overnight. With the exception of surgery, there is no quick fix.

So why join the group? It’s proven fact that lifestyle changes are most effective when attempted as part of a group or buddy system.  So come and join us, you might make some new friends, learn a few things and most importantly, get started on the road to good health.

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Our SparkPeople Group Page

http://www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/groups_individual.asp?gid=31590

10 Tips to Lower Blood Sugar Naturally

By Laurie Sanchez, Lifescript Staff Writer
Published June 30, 2010

It’s the Holy Grail for people with diabetes – checking your blood sugar and seeing the numbers right in line. Can lifestyle changes help? Yes, says Jill Weisenberger, Lifescript’s nutrition expert, and other top diabetes doctors. Check out their 10 tips to lower your blood glucose…

If you have diabetes, lowering blood sugar isn’t just a short-term goal: Doctors believe that it consistently helps prevent or delay diabetes complications, including kidney, eye and nerve diseases.

Most of these diseases require 10 or more years to develop, but “it’s still worth aggressively managing blood sugar levels to slow the onset of complications,” says Edward Geehr, M.D., Lifescript Chief Medical Officer.

Here are 10 tips to keep your readings on target:

1. Spread out your meals.
“I always tell my patients to spread their food out over the day, keeping carbohydrates consistent,” says Jill Weisenberger, M.S., R.D., C.D.E., and Lifescript’s nutrition expert. “Don’t eat small meals so you can save up for a big dinner.”

Avoid fasting or skipping meals, even on weekends or other days when your schedule is hectic. It’ll give your body enough time to regulate blood sugar levels and keep them even.

How many carbs per meal are ideal?

“It’s tailored to each individual,” says Weisenberger, who factors in medication, hormones and other key information for each patient.

A typical starting point is 45 grams per meal for women and 60 grams for men (15 grams per snack). From there, make adjustments according to your blood glucose readings.

2. Eat more food with resistant starch.
Resistant starch — found in some potatoes and beans — bypasses the small intestine, gets metabolized by the good bacteria and then acts as dietary fiber in the large intestine, Weisenberger says.
Even after your next meal, your blood sugar will be lower,” she says. “It’s called the ‘second-meal effect.’”

You’ll find it in a potato that has been baked and then cooled, but not in a warm potato. So a half-cup of potato salad will bring on better blood sugar readings than the same amount of warm mashed potatoes.

Black and kidney beans also have natural resistant starch.

3. Bring on the beans.
Can something as simple and inexpensive as beans really help with diabetes control?

Yes, according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA). Beans digest slowly, resulting in only a small rise in blood glucose levels. Several studies have shown that eating 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 cups of cooked beans daily improves diabetes control.

Beans also are an excellent source of folate, which is linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, a common diabetes complication. Eating 1-3 cups of cooked beans a day will lower total cholesterol 5%-19%.

Sneak beans in soups and salads, or eat them as a side dish.

But introduce them gradually into your diet, the ADA says. Chew thoroughly, drink plenty of liquids to aid digestion and take enzyme products such as “Beano” to avoid gastrointestinal distress.

For convenience, go for canned beans, which require less preparation time and are as healthy as dried.

4. Cook up cactus.
The paddle-shaped nopal cactus (also known as “prickly pear”) slows carbohydrate absorption and lowers post-meal blood glucose readings in people with type 2 diabetes, according to some studies. In Mexico, nopal is used for treating the disease.

According to a 2007 article in the journal Diabetes Care, the cactus is very high in soluable fiber, and, when eaten with other foods, slows the rate at which sugar from the meal enters the bloodstream
Nopal, popular in central Mexico, is boiled, grilled, fried or mashed and added to soups and stews.

It’s available in supplements, but be careful: Some people experience gastrointestinal distress, and it hasn’t been studied extensively in the U.S. as an oral extract. Always talk to your doctor before trying this or any other supplement.

5. Get more sleep.
Poor or limited sleep affects body chemistry and getting more shut-eye helps with blood sugar control, Weisenberger says.

People who get fewer than 6 hours a night consistently are 4.5 times more likely to get abnormal blood sugar readings than those who slept longer, according to a study by the University at Buffalo, N.Y. Adults typically need 7-9 hours a night.

Lack of sleep is also linked with other health conditions, including heart disease, stroke and cancer.

More than a third of people with type 2 diabetes have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), where a collapsed airway causes a person to repeatedly stop breathing during sleep, according to James Herdegen, M.D., director for Sleep and Ventilatory Disorders at the University of Illinois in Chicago.

“Studies have demonstrated that type 2 diabetics who also suffer from OSA can dramatically reduce their glucose levels by getting treatment,” he says.

OSA can be treated with a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), a mask worn during sleep that sends air through the airway to keep it from collapsing.

Check out more sleep disorders here.

6. Lose a little weight.
Carrying around those extra pounds causes insulin resistance, keeping the blood sugar lowering hormone from working.
Your weight-loss goals don’t have to be enormous either, Weisenberger says. Some of her patients have seen improvements in blood glucose readings with only a 5-pound loss.

7. Manage stress.
When you’re stressed out, your body creates a lot of stored energy – glucose and fat – so cells can use it when called into action.

In diabetics, this extra energy doesn’t make it to the cells, so glucose piles up in the blood and results in high readings, according to the ADA.

How can you burn off tension?

Yoga and meditation have helped lower blood sugar levels in her patients, Weisenberger says.

The ADA also recommends creating your own stress-relieving routines: talking with a supportive friend, taking a warm bath or shower, watching an enjoyable movie, listening to music or taking a walk.

8. Get moving.
Exercise normalizes blood glucose in people with type 2 diabetes (but not type 1).

“In type 2, exercise helps improve insulin resistance,” says James Beckerman, a Portland, Oregon cardiologist. “The end result is lower blood sugars.”

But exercise is important for both types because it helps prevent heart attack, stroke or diminished blood flow to the legs.

Because exercise can immediately reduce blood sugar levels in type 2 diabetics, work with your health care team to determine the right amount of activity and timing for insulin.

A combination of resistance and aerobic exercise may be the most beneficial, Beckerman says.
9. Fidget more.
That’s right. It’s OK if you can’t sit still.

Mayo Clinic researchers studied how thin people burn calories and found that they have more “spurts” of daily activity, such as fidgeting, than heavier people. Just how much? Up to 350 more calories per day.

Add these short bursts of activity to your daily routine:

Park your car at the back of the lot and walk to the store’s door.

Return your grocery shopping cart to the supermarket door.

Walk to your neighbor’s house instead of calling her.

Walk your outgoing mail to a farther mailbox.

Do some sit-ups or pushups during TV commercials.

10. Eat breakfast.
We’ve all heard that breakfast is the day’s most important meal, and this is especially true for those who have diabetes. After fasting 8-12 hours, your body needs food to balance blood sugar levels and injected insulin from the previous night.

Besides, eating breakfast can help overweight people with type 2 diabetes shed extra pounds.

Of the 4,000 participants In the National Weight Control Registry who maintained at least a 30-pound weight loss for about 5.5 years, almost all said they ate breakfast daily.

So what’s the best breakfast? One with carbohydrate, protein and fiber, according to the ADA.

Good options are cereal or an English muffin, low-fat milk or yogurt and fruit. (Save high-fat foods, such as bacon, sausage and eggs, for special occasions.)

And think beyond the breakfast box: Leftover chicken breast with fruit is just fine too, the ADA says.

What if you’re not usually hungry for breakfast? Then make your previous night’s meal smaller, so you’ll wake up hungry, the ADA says. It will spread your carbohydrates more evenly throughout the day, leading to better blood-sugar control.

Still unsure?
For more advice, speak to a diabetes educator or other member of your health care team and visit the ADA Web site at www.diabetes.org.

How Much Do You Know About Diabetes?
In the United States alone, 23.6 million people have diabetes. And 5.6 million of them don’t even know it. Unfortunately, misinformation about diabetes is rampant – and mixing up the facts about this disease can have dire consequences. Are you confused about diabetes? Test your knowledge with our diabetes quiz.

Check out Health Bistro for more healthy food for thought. See what Lifescript editors are talking about and get the skinny on latest news. Share it with your friends (it’s free to sign up!), and bookmark it so you don’t miss a single juicy post!

From WebMD – 24 Ways to Lose Weight Without Dieting .

(1) Time Your Meals
Set a timer for 20 minutes and reinvent yourself as a slow eater. This is one of the top habits for slimming down without a complicated diet plan. Savor each bite and make it last until the bell chimes. Paced meals offer great pleasure from smaller portions and trigger the body’s fullness hormones. Wolfing your food down in a hurry blocks those signals and causes overeating

(2) Sleep More, Weigh Less
Sleeping an extra hour a night could help a person drop 14 pounds in a year, according to a University of Michigan researcher who ran the numbers for a 2,500 calorie per day intake. His scenario shows that when sleep replaces idle activities – and the usual mindless snacking – you can effortlessly cut calories by 6%. Results would vary for each person, but sleep may help in another way, too. There’s evidence that getting too little sleep revs up your appetite, making you uncommonly hungry

(3) Serve More, Eat More Veggies
Serve three vegetables with dinner tonight, instead of just one, and you’ll eat more without really trying. Greater variety tricks people into eating more food – and eating more fruits and vegetables is a great way to lose weight. The high fiber and water content fills you up with fewer calories. Cook them without added fat. And season with lemon juice and herbs rather than drowning their goodness in high-fat sauces or dressings.

(4) When Soup’s On, Weight Comes Off
Add a broth-based soup to your day and you’ll fill up on fewer calories. Think minestrone, tortilla soup, or Chinese won-ton. Soup’s especially handy at the beginning of a meal because it slows your eating and curbs your appetite. Start with a low-sodium broth or canned soup, add fresh or frozen vegetables and simmer. Beware of creamy soups, which can be high in fat and calories.

(5) Go for Whole Grains
Whole grains such as brown rice, barley, oats, buckwheat, and whole wheat also belong in your stealthy weight loss strategy. They help fill you up with fewer calories and may improve your cholesterol profile, too. Whole grains are now in many products including waffles, pizza crust, English muffins, pasta, and soft “white” whole-wheat bread.

(6) Eyeball Your Skinny Clothes
Hang an old favorite dress, skirt, or a smokin’ pair of jeans where you’ll see them every day. This keeps your eyes on the prize. Choose an item that’s just a little too snug, so you reach this reward in a relatively short time. Then pull out last year’s cocktail dress for your next small, attainable goal.

(7) Skip the Bacon
Pass on those two strips of bacon at breakfast or in your sandwich at lunch time. This simple move saves about 100 calories, which can add up to a 10 pound weight loss over a year. Other sandwich fixings can replace the flavor with fewer calories. Think about tomato slices, banana peppers, roasted red bell peppers, grainy mustard, or a light spread of herbed goat cheese.

(8) Build a Better Slice of Pizza
Choose vegetable toppings for pizza instead of meat and you’ll shave 100 calories from your meal. Other skinny pizza tricks: go light on the cheese or use reduced-fat cheese and choose a thin, bread-like crust made with just a touch of olive oil.

(9) Sip Smart: Cut Back on Sugar
Replace one sugary drink like regular soda with water or a zero-calorie seltzer and you’ll avoid 10 teaspoons of sugar. Add lemon, mint or frozen strawberries for flavor and fun.

The liquid sugar in soda appears to bypass the body’s normal fullness cues. One study compared an extra 450 calories per day from jelly beans vs. soda. The candy eaters unconsciously ate fewer calories overall, but not so the soda drinkers. They gained 2.5 pounds in four weeks.

(10) Sip Smart: Use a Tall, Thin Glass
Use a tall, skinny glass instead of a short, wide tumbler to cut liquid calories — and your weight — without dieting. You’ll drink 25-30% less juice, soda, wine, or any other beverage.

How can this work? Brian Wansink, PhD, says visual cues can trick us into consuming more or less. His tests at Cornell University found all kinds of people poured more into a short, wide glass — even experienced bartenders.

(11) Sip Smart: Limit Alcohol
When an occasion includes alcohol, follow the first drink with a nonalcoholic, low-calorie beverage like sparkling water instead of moving directly to another cocktail, beer, or glass of wine. Alcohol has more calories per gram (7) than carbohydrates (4) or protein (4). It can also loosen your resolve, leading you to mindlessly inhale chips, nuts, and other foods you’d normally limit.

(12) Sip Smart: Go for Green Tea
Drinking green tea may also be a good weight loss strategy. Some studies suggest that it can rev up the body’s calorie-burning engine temporarily, possibly through the action of phytochemicals called catechins. At the very least, you’ll get a refreshing drink without tons of calories.

(13) Slip Into a Yoga State of Mind
Women who do yoga tend to weigh less than others, according to a study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. What’s the connection? The yoga regulars reported a more “mindful” approach to eating. For example, they tend to notice the large portions in restaurants but eat only enough to feel full. Researchers think the calm self-awareness developed through yoga may help people resist overeating.

(14) Eat at Home
Eat home-cooked meals at least five days a week to live like a thin person. A Consumer Reports survey found this was a top habit of “successful losers.” Sound daunting? Cooking may be easier than you think. Shortcut foods can make for quick meals, such as pre-chopped lean beef for fajitas, washed lettuce, pre-cut veggies, canned beans, cooked chicken strips, or grilled deli salmon.

(15) Catch the “Eating Pause”
Most people have a natural “eating pause,” when they drop the fork for a couple of minutes. Watch for this moment and don’t take another bite. Clear your plate and enjoy the conversation. This is the quiet signal that you’re full, but not stuffed. Most people miss it.

(16) Chew Strong Mint Gum
Chew sugarless gum with a strong flavor when you’re at risk for a snack attack. Making dinner after work, at a party, watching TV, or surfing the Internet are a few dangerous scenarios for mindless snacking. Gum with a big flavor punch overpowers other foods so they don’t taste good.

(17) Shrink Your Dishes
Chose a 10″ lunch plate instead of a 12″ dinner plate to automatically eat less. Cornell’s Brian Wansink, PhD, found in test after test that people serve more and eat more food with larger dishes. Shrink your plate or bowl to cut out 100-200 calories a day – and 10-20 pounds in a year. In Wansink’s tests, no one felt hungry or even noticed when tricks of the eye shaved 200 calories off their daily intake.

(18) Get Food Portions Right
The top habit of slim people is to stick with modest food portions at every meal, five days a week or more. “Always slim” people do it and successful losers do it, too, according to a Consumer Reports survey. After measuring portions a few times, it can become automatic. Make it easier with small “snack” packs and by keeping serving dishes off the table at meal time.

(19) Try the 80-20 Rule
Americans are conditioned to keep eating until they’re stuffed, but residents of Okinawa eat until they’re 80% full. They even have a name for this naturally slimming habit: hara hachi bu. We can adopt this healthy habit by dishing out 20% less food, according to researcher Brian Wansink, PhD. His studies show most people don’t miss it.

(20) Eat Out Your Way
Restaurant meals are notoriously fattening, so consider these special orders that keep portions under control:

Split an entrée with a friend.
Order an appetizer as a meal.
Choose the child’s plate.
Get half the meal in a doggie bag before it’s brought to the table.
Complement a smaller entrée with extra salad for the right balance: half the plate filled with veggies.

(21) Reach for the Red Sauce
Choose marinara sauce for pasta instead of Alfredo sauce. The tomato-based sauces tend to have fewer calories and much less fat than cream-based sauces. But remember, portion size still counts. A serving of pasta is one cup or roughly the size of a tennis ball.

(22) Go Meatless More Often
Eating vegetarian meals more often is a slimming habit, according to WebMD’s “recipe doctor,” Elaine Magee, MPH, RD. Vegetarians weigh up to 20% less than meat eaters. While there are several reasons for this, legumes play an important role. Bean burgers, lentil soup, and other tasty legume-based foods are simply packed with fiber. Most Americans get only half of this important nutrient, which fills you up with fewer calories.

(23) Burn 100 Calories More
Lose 10 pounds in a year without dieting by burning an extra 100 calories every day. Try one of these activities:

Walk 1 mile, about 20 minutes.
Pull weeds or plant flowers for 20 minutes.
Mow the lawn for 20 minutes.
Clean house for 30 minutes.
Jog for 10 minutes.

(24) Celebrate
When you’ve kicked the soda habit or simply made it through the day without overeating, pat yourself on the back. You’ve moved closer to a slimming lifestyle that helps people lose weight without crazy or complicated diet plans. Phone a friend, get a pedicure, buy new clothes — or on occasion, indulge in a small slice of cheesecake.

Top 10 Habits That Can Help You Lose Weight

From WebMD
Top 10 Habits That Can Help You Lose Weight
Making little changes can make a big difference
By Kathleen M. Zelman, MPH
WebMD Weight Loss Clinic-FeatureReviewed by Michael W. Smith, MD
Weight control is all about making small changes that you can live with forever. As you incorporate these minor adjustments into your lifestyle, you’ll begin to see how they can add up to big calorie savings and weight loss. Here are my top 10 habits to help you turn your dream of weight loss into a reality:

1. Evaluate your eating habits. Are you eating late at night, nibbling while cooking, finishing the kids’ meals? Take a look around, and it will be easy to identify a few behaviors you can change that will add up to big calorie savings.

2. If you fail to plan, plan to fail. You need a strategy for your meals and snacks. Pack healthful snacks for the times of day that you know you are typically hungry and can easily stray from your eating plan.

3. Always shop with a full belly. It’s a recipe for disaster to go into the grocery store when you are hungry. Shop from a prepared list so impulse buying is kept to a minimum. Eating right starts with stocking healthy food in your pantry and refrigerator.

4. Eat regular meals. Figure out the frequency of your meals that works best in your life and stick to it. Regular meals help prevent bingeing.

5. Eat your food sitting down at a table, and from a plate. Food eaten out of packages and while standing is forgettable. You can wind up eating lots more than if you sit down and consciously enjoy your meals.

6. Serve food onto individual plates, and leave the extras back at the stove. Bowls of food on the table beg to be eaten, and it takes incredible will power not to dig in for seconds. Remember, it takes about 20 minutes for your mind to get the signal from your belly that you are full.

7. Eat slowly, chew every bite, and savor the taste of the food. Try resting your fork between bites and drinking plenty of water with your meals.

8. Don’t eat after dinner. This is where lots of folks pack on the extra pounds. If you are hungry, try satisfying your urge with a non-caloric beverage or a piece of hard candy. Brushing your teeth after dinner helps reduce the temptation to eat again.

9. If you snack during the day, treat the snack like a mini-meal. The most nutritious snacks contain complex carbohydrates and a small amount of protein and fat.

10. Start your day with breakfast. It is the most important meal of the day. After a long night’s rest, your body needs the fuel to get your metabolism going and give you energy for the rest of the day.

How to Lose Weight by Brushing Your Teeth

Sounds too simple but sometimes simple things work!
Besides, you’ll have fresher breath and cleaner teeth

From EHOW
By funmom970
eHow Community Member

InstructionsThings You’ll Need:
A toothbrush
Minty or really refreshing toothpaste.
Mouth wash helps too

Step 1
At the first sign of a snack craving, late-night or otherwise, re-think that snack while you go to the sink and brush your teeth. For some reason, brushing your teeth sends a signal to your brain that you are done eating, and you are less likely to want to eat after you brush. It really does work.

Step 2
Load up your toothbrush with a really minty toothpaste and brush thoroughly. Brush your tongue too, and rinse with mouth wash if you have some.

Step 3
I know it seems too easy, but you will see if you try it. You really are less likely to eat that sugary snack after you have freshened up your mouth. It’s funny the way the brain works.

Ten good reasons to keep a food diary

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/traineo/article3133667.ece

From Times Online
January 4, 2008
Ten good reasons to keep a food diary
Amanda Ursell

Amanda Ursell explains why just making a note of everything you eat can help you lose weight

Most of us don’t really make the connection between how we feel and what and how much we eat until we take the time to keep a food diary. A food diary is nothing more than a place where you jot down the food and drinks you consume throughout the day, with a little reminder of where you were when you ate them and how you felt at the time. A small notebook that you can put in your pocket or handbag is fine.

You may find it a bit of a nuisance to begin with, but keep a record as you go through the day rather than doing it from memory in the evening. Leaving it will inevitably lead to inaccuracies, however good your memory. Take a week or so of writing things down before making changes to your normal habits to get a realistic overview of your normal eating habits.

Here are 10 good reasons to keep a food diary

1. Nearly all of us underestimate what we actually eat

We don’t do this deliberately, but if you ask someone to recall what they ate yesterday, they will inevitably leave one or two things off the list. Studies in which people have stayed in a room for 24 hours while being constantly videoed show that on exiting the room, when asked to tell the researchers what they ate, still under-reported by about 300-400 calories, even though they knew they had been constantly observed. This “food amnesia” is just a fact of life. If you jot down what you eat as you go through the day, you will be able to get a clear understanding of your usual daily intake and use this to make small but significant changes to your future routine.

2. We also understimate what we drink

You will also be making a note of everything you drink. It is even easier to forget drinks when recalling your daily consumption than food, yet cups of tea and coffee add milk and sometimes sugar to your daily calorie total, and juices, smoothies and fizzy drinks do the same, yet “liquid calories” are something most of us just ignore.

3. Alcohol can contribute a surprising amount to your daily total

Include alcohol in your inventory, including the strength of the alcohol and the size of the glass because alcohol calories also count and can contribute a surprising amount to your daily total. Once you have recorded your total, work out the daily units within your consumption. Remember that a unit of alcohol is a 125ml glass of 9% alcohol by volume wine, a single pub-sized shot of spirits, and half a pint of standard strength beer or lager. Include any mixers you had with your drinks, such as tonic water and orange juice. Doing this will allow you to plan changes in your drinking habits.

4. It makes you think about serving size

When jotting down what you eat and drink, also estimate the size of your serving. It is really easy to plough your way through large servings and “seconds” without thinking. If you are having something like breakfast cereal, weigh the amount you usually serve and compare it with the standard serving suggested on the pack. Do the same with rice and pasta so that you begin to get an idea of how your servings compare with “normal” servings so that you can adjust the amount in the future. This is a learning tool, not something you will need to do for ever.

15 Foods To Help You Lose

From WebMD

WebMD Feature from “Good Housekeeping” Magazine

By Denise Foley

Want To Curb Your Appetite And Stop Sugar Cravings? Then Put These On Your Grocery List.

Thirty billion a year — that’s about how much Americans spend on slim-down products, many of which don’t even work. A better way to get real weight-loss results? Go grocery shopping. New research points to more than a dozen foods, from beans to beef, that can help you fight hunger, kick your candy addiction, boost your metabolism-and ultimately shed pounds. And some of these superfoods deliver health bonuses too.

1. Eggs. Skip the bagel this morning. Eggs, which are full of protein, will help you feel fuller longer-a lot longer. A multicenter study of 30 overweight or obese women found that those who ate two scrambled eggs (with two slices of toast and a reduced-calorie fruit spread) consumed less for the next 36 hours than women who had a bagel breakfast of equal calories. Other research has shown that protein may also prevent spikes in blood sugar, which can lead to food cravings.

2. Beans. You’ve probably never heard of cholecystokinin, but it’s one of your best weight-loss pals. This digestive hormone is a natural appetite suppressant. So how do you get more cholecystokinin? One way, report researchers at the University of California at Davis, is by eating beans: A study of eight men found that their levels of the hormone (which may work by keeping food in your stomach longer) were twice as high after a meal containing beans than after a low-fiber meal containing rice and dry milk. There’s also some evidence that beans keep blood sugar on an even keel, so you can stave off hunger longer. Heart-health bonus: High-fiber beans can lower your cholesterol.

3. Salad. Do you tend to stuff yourself at meals? Control that calorie intake by starting with a large salad (but hold the creamy dressing). In a study of 42 women at Penn State University, those who ate a big, low-cal salad consumed 12 percent less pasta afterward-even though they were offered as much as they wanted. The secret, say researchers, is the sheer volume of a salad, which makes you feel too full to pig out. Health bonus: A study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that people who ate one salad a day with dressing had higher levels of vitamins C and E, folic acid, lycopene, and carotenoids-all disease fighters-than those who didn’t add salad to their daily menu.

4. Green tea. The slimming ingredient isn’t caffeine. Antioxidants called catechins are what help speed metabolism and fat burning. In a recent Japanese study, 35 men who drank a bottle of oolong tea mixed with green tea catechins lost weight, boosted their metabolism, and had a significant drop in their body mass index. Health bonus: The participants also lowered their (bad) LDL cholesterol.

5. Pears. They’re now recognized as having more fiber, thanks to a corrected calculation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. At six grams (formerly four grams) per medium-size pear, they’re great at filling you up. Apples come in second, with about three grams per medium-size fruit. Both contain pectin fiber, which decreases blood-sugar levels, helping you avoid between-meal snacking. This may explain why, in a Brazilian study that lasted 12 weeks, overweight women who ate three small pears or apples a day lost more weight than women on the same diet who ate three oat cookies daily instead of the fruit.

6. Soup. A cup of chicken soup is as appetite blunting as a piece of chicken: That was the finding of a Purdue University study with 18 women and 13 men. Why? Researchers speculate that even the simplest soup satisfies hunger because your brain perceives it as filling.

7. Lean beef. It’s what’s for dinner-or should be, if you’re trying to shed pounds. The amino acid leucine, which is abundant in proteins like meat and fish as well as in dairy products, can help you pare down while maintaining calorie-burning muscle. That’s what it did for 24 overweight middle-aged women in a study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Eating anywhere from nine to 10 ounces of beef a day on a roughly 1,700-calorie diet helped the women lose more weight, more fat, and less muscle mass than a control group consuming the same number of calories, but less protein. The beef eaters also had fewer hunger pangs.

8. Olive oil. Fight off middle-age pounds with extra virgin olive oil. A monounsaturated fat, it’ll help you burn calories. In an Australian study, 12 postmenopausal women (ages 57 to 73) were given a breakfast cereal dressed either with a mixture of cream and skim milk or half an ounce of olive oil and skim milk. The women who ate the oil-laced muesli boosted their metabolism. Don’t want to add olive oil to your oatmeal? That’s OK-it works just as well in salad dressings, as a bread dip, or for sautéing.

9. Grapefruit. It’s back! A 2006 study of 91 obese people conducted at the Nutrition and Metabolic Research Center at Scripps Clinic found that eating half a grapefruit before each meal or drinking a serving of the juice three times a day helped people drop more than three pounds over 12 weeks. The fruit’s phytochemicals reduce insulin levels, a process that may force your body to convert calories into energy rather than flab.

10. Cinnamon. Sprinkle it on microwave oatmeal or whole-grain toast to help cure those mid-afternoon sugar slumps. Research from the U.S.
Department of Agriculture found that a little cinnamon can help control post-meal insulin spikes, which make you feel hungry. Health bonus: One USDA study showed that just a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon a day lowered the blood sugar, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels in people with type 2 diabetes

11. Vinegar. It’s a great filler-upper. In a Swedish study, researchers found that people who ate bread dipped in vinegar felt fuller than those who had their slices plain. The probable reason: Acetic acid in the vinegar may slow the passage of food from the stomach into the small intestine, so your tummy stays full longer. Vinegar can also short-circuit the swift blood-sugar rise that occurs after you eat refined carbs such as white bread, cookies, and crackers.

12. Tofu. It seems too light to be filling, but a study at Louisiana State University showed that tofu does the job. Researchers tested it against chicken as a pre-meal appetizer for 42 overweight women-and the participants who had tofu ate less food during the meal. The secret: Tofu is an appetite-quashing protein.

13. Nuts. Yes, they are fattening: A handful of peanuts is about 165 calories. But research shows that people who snack on nuts tend to be slimmer than those who don’t. A study from Purdue University found that when a group of 15 normal-weight people added about 500 calories worth of peanuts to their regular diet, they consumed less at subsequent meals. The participants also revved up their resting metabolism by 11 percent, which means they burned more calories even when relaxing. Health bonus: Walnuts contain omega-3 fatty acids. And researchers at Loma Linda University recently found that eating 10 to 20 whole pecans daily can reduce heart disease risks.

14. High-fiber cereal. Studies show that you can curb your appetite by eating a bowl for breakfast. But how well does it really work? Researchers at the VA Medical Center and the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis tested the theory against the ultimate diet challenge: the buffet table. They gave 14 volunteers one of five cereals before sending them out to the smorgasbord. Those who’d had the highest-fiber cereal ate less than those who didn’t have as much fiber in the morning. Try General Mills Fiber One (14 grams per serving) or Kellogg’s All Bran With Extra Fiber (13 grams per serving).

15. Hot red pepper. Eating a bowl of spicy chili regularly can help you lose weight. In a Japanese study, 13 women who ate breakfast foods with red pepper (think southwestern omelet) ate less than they normally did at lunch. The magic ingredient may be capsaicin, which helps suppress appetite.

10 Reasons it’s Hard to Lose Weight – Are you ready to commit?

This is one of the best articles that I’ve seen about weight loss and exercise. It’s from about.com and I especially like the section about your eating, it is dead on.

10 Reasons it’s Hard to Lose Weight
Are you ready to commit?
By Paige Waehner, About.com
Updated: March 24, 2006

About.com Health’s Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board

Do you believe it’s simple to lose weight? If you listen to the weight loss industry, you’ve been told over and over how easy it is–just take this pill, follow that diet or buy this piece of equipment and everything will melt away in a flash. In fact, we spend over $30 billion each year on weight loss products and services according to the NIH and yet we’re still overweight. In light of this, is weight loss really that simple?

Complex Problems, Simple Solutions

The idea behind weight loss is simple–burn more calories than you eat. This can be accomplished by replacing a couple of sodas with water and adding 20 minutes of walking each day. Sounds simple…and it is. If it’s that simple, why can’t we seem to do it?

There are a number of factors that contribute to our weight gain that you already know. But it’s not just about finding time to exercise or choosing the salad over the burger–it’s about genuine commitment to make healthy decisions every day….REGARDLESS of what’s happening in your life. If you’re not ready to make some changes, losing weight will be hard. Below are 10 things you’ll need to look at in order to get yourself on a healthy track.

1. Your Attitude. If you’re only on a health kick to lose weight or look a certain way, it will be hard to lose weight permanently. Why? Because, what happens if you don’t see results quickly enough? You give up. Weight loss is a great goal, but unless you have something else to motivate you, what’s to keep you going if the scale doesn’t budge? It takes time to lose weight–how will you motivate yourself in the meantime? Find more reasons to be healthy–having more energy, dealing with health problems or wanting to live longer to be around for your kids. Those are some darned good reasons, if you ask me.

2. Your Workouts. If you don’t workout consistently enough, it’s hard to lose weight. Yes, it’s possible to lose weight through diet alone, but you’ll likely hit a plateau. You don’t need to spend hours in the gym, you only need to set up a reasonable workout schedule that you can follow each week. It’s not about killing yourself with workouts–it’s about finding something you like and that you’ll continue with for the rest of your life. You have to be willing to be more active on a regular basis–not just for a week here and there. My Beginner’s Corner can give you some idea of where to start.

3. Your Eating. Changing the way you eat is another thing you’re going to have to do for long-lasting weight loss. You need to be willing to replace unhealthy foods with healthier choices–every single day. This might mean:

Keeping a food journal
Spending more time in the grocery store reading food labels
Spending more time preparing meals
Saying no to extra portions
Making conscious choices about what you put in your mouth.
For permanent weight loss, you need to pay attention to what you eat and make good choices more often than not. Maybe a structured diet eventually ends, but healthy eating never stops…there will never be a time when you’re done eating healthy. You might feel you’re sacrificing the good stuff (pizza, fast food, etc.) and your life won’t be fun if you can’t have those foods. Guess what? You can still have them…just not whenever you want. Are you ready to make these changes? Are you ready to stop giving your body the most convenient thing available (and often the most fatty) and, instead, spend time planning what and when you’ll eat? Because that’s what it takes to get healthy…permanently.

4. Your Lifestyle. If you want a healthy life, you have to be willing to change how you live. It doesn’t mean changing everything overnight, but simply being open to new ways of doing things. Some things you might need to change for a healthy life are:
Daily Routines. You may need to get up earlier to prepare your lunch or squeeze in a workout, use your lunch hour for exercise or go for a walk after work instead of watching TV. Are you willing to do this?
Limits. You might need to set new rules for yourself limiting how much TV you watch or how long you sit at the computer. You’ll need to pay attention to how you spend your time and where you’re out of balance so you can add more movement.
Your Pantry. I’m the kind of person who will eat an entire bag of Doritoes if they’re in the house. That means I don’t keep them in the house and if someone (ahem…husband) brings them home, he must immediately re-locate them elsewhere. If you want to be healthy, you may need to get rid of those foods you just can’t resist.
Your Schedule. If you’re not willing to sit down and change the way you live each day to include exercise, time to prepare meals and time to nurture yourself with sleep, it’s hard to lose weight. People use busy schedules as an excuse not to be healthy…are you one of them? If you’re not ready to take responsibility for the schedule you’ve created, it will be hard to lose weight.

5. Your Surroundings. Sometimes, you can’t control the things around you. At work, you may be surrounded by temptations–donuts, vending machines and the like. That’s just one thing you have to deal with…but what about your home? Surround yourself with things that will support you in your efforts to get healthy. That might mean spending some money on home workout equipment, setting up a corner of the house for your gear or commandeering the TV a few nights a week to do an exercise video. Set up an environment that encourages those healthy choices and reminds you of them–just walking into my kitchen and seeing that bowl of fresh fruit is often enough to remind me of all the healthy choices I’ll need to make that day.

6. Your Support System. While getting healthy may be something you’re doing on your own, it’s a big help to have a support system. At the very least, family members who understand what you’re doing and are either willing to participate or help. If you have a spouse who wants to continue eating the kinds of foods that tempt you, you need a plan to deal with that so you can still reach your goals and keep your relationship together. Try to surround yourself with people who support what you’re doing and avoid those people (like that co-worker who always offers you a donut even though you refuse on a daily basis) who don’t. A workout buddy is also an excellent idea for support.

7. Your Spiritual and Mental Health. If you have other reasons for being overweight–past hurts that you’ve used food to deal with, depression or other problems, it’s hard to lose weight. For many of us, food is a comfort and something we’ve relied on all of our lives to help us deal with emotional problems. If that’s the case for you, pinpointing those behaviors and what drives them is important for becoming aware of what you’re doing and why. A counselor can help you with this or take some time to read about emotional eating. Be willing to learn why you make the choices you make and to confront them.

8. Your Goals. If you’ve set impossible goals, you are guaranteed to fail. Weight loss becomes hard to achieve if you feel like a constant failure…who wants to feel like that? If that’s how your weight loss experience is, it’s no wonder you keep quitting. The key is to set reasonable goals. So what is reasonable? That’s going to be different for each person depending on your genetics, eating habits, exercise, and metabolism to name a few. You’re better off setting a long-term goal (whether it’s to lose weight or compete in a race) and then focusing your attention on daily or weekly goals. Your weekly goal might be to get in 3 cardio workouts, minimum. Pick things you KNOW you’ll achieve so you’re always successful. It can be as small as you like, as long as it’s reachable.

9. Your Flexibility. You hear a lot about lifestyle changes, but it’s daily choices that really test you. What happens if you have to work late and you can’t get to the gym? Or what if you get stuck in traffic and miss your fitness class? Any number of things can happen in a day that may throw you off track. The trick is to be flexible. It helps if you’re always prepared–keep some workout shoes in the car so you can stop off at the park for a quick walk. Keep some food handy so if you get stuck in traffic, you get a snack in before your workout. Often people skip workouts because something comes up and they simply aren’t ready for it or they aren’t willing to give themselves other options–can’t do 45 minutes? Why not just do 10? Something is always better than nothing.

10. Your Willingness to Fail. You will not be perfect every day. As a perfectionist, I have to say that is a frustrating concept for me but, the truth is, everyone (even perfectionists) has good days and bad days. On the good days, you’ll eat all your fruits and veggies, say no to that pizza and do your workout even though you’re tired. On the bad days, you’ll wake up late, forget to bring your lunch, have an extra piece of cake at your friend’s birthday party and skip your workout. The bad days will happen if you’re a human being. The trick is to never give up, even when you mess up. You’re not a loser just because you make some mistakes…you’re simply a person trying his or her best to make good decisions.

101 Ways to Motivate Yourself to GET FIT

From the Fitness Cure Website

http://www.fitnesscure.com/2007/06/12/101-ways-to-motivate-yourself-to-get-fit/

Posted by Maria Kang on June 12th, 2007
I focus on the psychology of fitness and success because I believe that if you understand ‘why’ you want to do something the ‘how’ part becomes easy. I didn’t get fit by reading about how to perform a sit up. I got fit because something motivated me to want to learn how to perform every sit-up God made.

Learning what uniquely motivates you is what will make you successful in your weight loss or weight gain journey. Here are 101 strategies that I have seriously used in my years in training.

1: Write down your goals.

2: Create a fitness action plan.

3: Devise a desirable reward.

4: Set a completion date.

5: Enter a competition.

6: Enter a competition amongst your friends.

7: Plaster motivational quotes all over your house.

8: Write “Every Day is a New Battle” on your bathroom mirror.

9: Post your favorite fitness role model on your refrigerator.

10: Post your favorite fat picture on your refrigerator.

11: Type “Your Character is your Destiny” on your screen saver.

12: Type “Get off your Fat Butt” on your screen saver.

13: Practice core strength by using a stability ball for a chair.

14: Rollover and do some crunches in-between emails on your stability ball chair.

15: Buy a nice wardrobe that will fit you in two months.

16: Donate all your fat clothes to Salvation Army.

17: Moderate your strict eating with a fat meal once a week.

18: When eating your fat meal, look at the body type of other people who eat fat meals daily.

19: Buy some fitness magazines.

20: Read some “how to” fitness articles.

21: Join a fitness web blog: www.louisdorman.com.

22: Read Louis’ transformation story.

23: Pray and thank God you only have to lose half the weight he lost.

24: Make a supportive fitness group.

25: Hang around fit friends.

26: Surround yourself with people and things that promote a healthy lifestyle.

27: Find a running partner.

28: Inspire your own partner to run with you.

29: Create fitness goals with your partner.

30: Make a workout and diet log.

31: Personalize your journal by adding inspirational quotes and pictures.

32: Document your progress: weight, body fat, and blood pressure.

33: Attend a bodybuilding/fitness show.

34: Talk to competitors and pros that live for fitness.

35: Ask your role models what motivates them.

36: Take a chance and email your role model off their web site.

37: Take a supplement for physical gains as well as a mental ‘placebo’ effect.

38: Drink some coffee.

39: Drink more coffee.

40: Date someone more fit than you.

41: Date someone who inspires you.

42: Date someone you want to look really good naked for.

43: Shave your body so you can see all your muscles.

44: Tan your body so you can see all the lines and contours of your muscles.

45: Tan your body at the beach so that people with really nice bodies can inspire you.

46: Hire a trainer.

47: Become a trainer.

48: Humble a trainer by knowing more stuff than him/her.

49: Look like a trainer.

50: Buy new athletic shoes.

51: Buy a new workout outfit.

52: Buy clean, new and comfortable socks.

53: Wear really bright colors to the gym.

54: Take a group exercise class.

55: Take a spinning class for really intense cardio.

56: Take Yoga or Pilate’s class for variety and core strength.

57: Drink an energy drink.

58: Plan a vacation where you have to wear a swimsuit.

59: Read Lance Armstrong’s biography.

60: Envision your workout during your warm-up.

61: Focus on the workout, one set at a time.

62: Beat yourself up with weights for even getting de-motivated.

63: Conquer your negative thoughts by pushing your body into painful consciousness.

64: Experiment on how much you can make yourself sweat.

65: Make it a goal to be the fittest person in the weight room – or any room for that matter.

66: Test your Max on pushups and pullups.

67: Post the Krispy Kreme’s calendar on your wall.

68: Post Monica Brant’s calendar on your wall.

69: Watch Lance Armstrong videos.

70: Read articles by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

71: Buy a home exercise bike or treadmill.

72: Become the inspiration amongst your friends.

73: Help someone who is very overweight or wants to gain muscle.

74: Visit my web site: www.mariakang.com.

75: Place your alarm clock across your bedroom so that you have to get up to turn it off in the morning.

76: Place your athletic shoes right next to your alarm clock.

77: Place a quote right next to your alarm clock that says: “Today you are closer to the person you were meant to become.”

78: Alarm your cell phone to give you daily reminders to eat, workout and give gratitude.

79: Volunteer your time with people who don’t have full function of their bodies.

80: Volunteer your passion for fitness at a YMCA.

81: Look up new, healthy recipes to cook.

82: Search for new, healthy restaurants to eat at.

83: Observe the body type of the people at restaurants you shouldn’t eat at.

84: Read one of Mike Mahler’s Aggressive Strength Training Articles on BB.com.

85: Learn a new exercise technique like Kettle Bell training.

86: Turn off your TV and run.

87: Buy a new MP3 player or IPOD and put some high, energy, workout songs on it.

88: Buy new workout devices like a heart rate monitor or pedometer.

89: Workout at a different gym.

90: Workout at a different time of day.

91: Workout using all new exercises.

92: Vary your cardio by incorporating High Intensity Training.

93: Say a prayer for power right before you train.

94: Say a prayer for performance right before your set.

95: Say a prayer for pain during your set.

96: Say a prayer for persistence after your set.

97: Say a prayer for positive action after you train.

98: Read articles on fitnesscure.com.

99: Shop for supplements, videos and books on Bodybuilding.com.

100: Get passionate enough to write an article for a local newspaper.

101: You know what motivates you. Quit reading and make it happen.

12 Ways to Spot a Fad Diet – Identifying Weight Loss Scams

This is a good article from Sparkpeople which re-enforces the old adage that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=395

12 Ways to Spot a Fad Diet
Identifying Weight Loss Scams
– By Becky Hand, Licensed & Registered Dietitian

The next time you watch an infomercial, read an advertisement, or spot a new supplement reporting miraculous weight loss results, we wouldn’t blame you for cocking a wary eyebrow. When evaluating claims for weight loss products, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recommends a healthy portion of skepticism; most don’t come close to fulfilling their claims. And in the rare cases where a product might result in some temporary weight loss, it is almost never a permanent solution and is usually unsafe.

Before you spend money on products that promise fast and easy results, weigh the claims carefully. You might even consider contacting the FTC directly for more information or if you have concerns.

These 12 tips will help you critique and evaluate weight loss claims and spot a scam before it’s too late:

1. “It’s so easy to lose weight without dieting or exercising!” Face it—permanent weight loss takes work, effort and time. Pass on any products that promise miraculous results without the effort. Buy one and the only things you’ll lose are money and confidence.

2. “Eat whatever you want and still lose weight!” Losing weight requires sensible food choices, not overloading on high-fat, high calorie foods

3. “Lose weight forever…you’ll never need to diet again!” For weight loss to be permanent, it requires lifestyle changes. On-going maintenance is always a must.

4. “Block the digestion and absorption of fat, carbs, or calories!” There is no magic potion that will allow you to block the digestion and absorption of fat, carbs, or calories. A little pill to curb cravings and suppress appetite just doesn’t exist.

5. “Rapid weight loss: Lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks!” Looking to lose weight rapidly for your high school reunion or wedding? Products that safely produce lightning-fast weight loss just don’t exist. A weight loss of 1-2 pounds per week is the safest and most effective way to take off weight and keep it off.

6. “Finally, a weight loss formula for everyone!” A diet that claims to be perfect for all is erroneous. One-size-fits-all just doesn’t work. Your lifestyle habits and health concerns are unique. That’s why SparkPeople helps you design your own personalized nutrition and exercise programs to suit your particular lifestyle needs.

7. “Lose weight with this miracle diet patch, cream or gel!” You’ve heard it all before—”Apply and watch the fat melt away!” But truthfully, all that melts away is your hard earned money.

. “Scientifically Proven! Doctor Endorsed!” Where is the proof and how was the research conducted? Were people studied, or rodents? Were there 3 subjects in the study or 3,000? Has the research been published in a medical journal and reviewed by peers? A doctor of what profession? Or is the “professional” as purely fictitious as your weight loss will be? Be sure to check the details.

9. “Money-back guarantee!” It may make you feel safer to give the product a try, but realize that many companies do not follow through with this promise. You’re left holding an empty promise and an empty pocketbook.

10. “100% safe!” Just another attempt, trying to get you hooked with a meaningless phrase. Think of it this way – if there were no reason to doubt, why would they need to make this claim at all? Many products have been removed from the market due to safety issues, but not until too many lives were already destroyed or lost. Does ephedra ring a bell?

11. Those convincing testimonials: We can all look 10 pounds slimmer by: standing up straight, shoulders back, and stomach in; having a good hair day; applying the right make-up; and hiring a professional photographer. Remember, just because you recognize the actor or actress doesn’t make the product any more reliable. They are now just a little richer and you a little poorer.

12. “A miraculous breakthrough!” Turn and run the other direction when extravagant claims make the product sound to good to be true.

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit www.ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).

Lose Weight With Morning Exercise

From WebMD

http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/guide/lose-weight-with-morning-exercise?ecd=wnl_wlw_032109

Walk the dog, join a health club, get into running. Whatever you do, you’ve got to move your body as much as possible if you want to lose weight.
By Jeanie Lerche Davis
Reviewed by Michael W. Smith, MDThere’s no getting around it: To lose weight and keep it off, you need to exercise. But some days that hardly seems possible. Our days are overbooked already! Yet experts agree – exercise must become part of your overall daily lifestyle. And starting the morning with exercise is the best habit of all.

“The key is getting exercise whenever you can – whether it’s morning, afternoon, or evening,” says Cedric X. Bryant, PhD, chief exercise physiologist of the American Council on Exercise. “Your goal is to move your body as much as possible.”

But by starting your morning with physical activity, you set the day’s pace, Bryant says. “Morning exercisers tend to stick with their exercise habit,” he says. “By doing the bulk of exercise first thing in the morning, you get your exercise in before other distractions can intrude. We can all relate to that — because once the day gets going, it’s hard to get off the treadmill called life.”

The Case for Morning Exercise
Research suggests that morning exercise improves sleep, a benefit that could also promote weight loss, Bryant tells WebMD. One study of overweight women between the ages of 50 to 75 showed that those who engaged in consistent morning exercise (about four hours a week) slept better than those who exercised less. The evening exercisers had more trouble falling asleep – even if they fit in the four hours a week.

Bryant explains the connection of sleep and weight loss: “We know that if you have poor quality sleep, it influences certain hormones that control appetite. It is possible that by exercising in the morning — instead of evening – the exercise affects the body’s circadian rhythm (your internal body clock) so you get better-quality sleep. Good sleep helps control the hormonal balance that helps control appetite.”

Brisk exercise (an hour or more daily) has helped more than 4,000 “successful losers” in The National Weight Control Registry — they’ve all lost 30 pounds or more and kept it off for a year or longer. Many of them break up their exercise into shorter spurts throughout the day instead of doing a single, marathon workout session.

“Think of your morning exercise like a business appointment – one you can’t easily cancel,” says Gary Foster, PhD, clinical director of the weight and eating disorders program at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. “It takes discipline. But if you’re overweight, you’re at risk for a heart attack. If you don’t do something about your weight, it’s indirect self-destructive behavior. It’s the same as smoking a pack of cigarettes daily. This has got to be the highest priority because it’s your health.”

Working Exercise Into Your Life
One way to make exercise a daily habit is to integrate your workout into your regular life, says Walter Thompson, PhD, professor of exercise physiology at Georgia State University in Atlanta. Physical activity – not just exercise per se — can become part of your daily routine, Thompson tells WebMD. “People think they have to strap on running shoes and run a marathon to call it exercise. I talk more about integrating physical activity into your daily lifestyle.”

His advice: “When you go to the mall, the grocery store, the office, park your car as far away from the front door as you can. Take the stairs rather than the elevator. These are habits you can get used to. They will become common practice.”

Structured physical activity is also important. Walking, yoga, lifting weights, biking, running, and swimming – could all be a morning exercise choice. Here’s an estimate of the average calorie-burn potential from 30 minutes of exercise:

Vigorous Exercise
Running or jogging (5 mph) = 295 calories
Bicycling (10 mph or more) = 195 calories
Swimming (slow freestyle laps) = 255 calories
Aerobics = 240 calories
Basketball = 220 calories

Moderate Exercise
Walking (3.5 miles mph) = 140 calories
Weight training (light workout) = 110 calories
Stretching = 90 calories
Biking (less than 10 mph) = 145 calories
Dancing = 165 calories

One recent study noted that yoga – a popular morning activity – can help prevent the dreaded middle-age spread and even help shed unwanted pounds. Researchers looked at normal and overweight men and women who practiced yoga regularly (at least one session of 30 minutes or more per week) for four years or more. It compared their weight with the weight of people who didn’t do yoga.

Normal-weight people who practiced yoga gained less than those who didn’t practice yoga. Overweight people who practiced yoga lost an average of 5 pounds; those who didn’t practice gained about 14 pounds.

Yoga’s effect may have more to do with body awareness than the actual calories burned during the average session, researchers say. During yoga practice, you are more aware of your body – which can prompt you to quit eating when you’re full.

Getting Started on Your Exercise Routine
If you’re really trying to lose weight and keep it off, work toward a goal of 60 to 90 minutes of exercise most days of the week. But that’s a lot to ask someone who’s just starting out, says Thompson. If that’s you, try it in 10-minute chunks of time at first — several times a day, several days a week.

To get your morning exercise ritual going, here are some tips.

Talk to a doctor first. If you are overweight and if you have risk factors for heart disease – high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or family history of heart disease – get your doctor’s OK before starting an exercise program, Thompson says.

Start with walking. Set short-term goals – 10 minutes, 15 minutes, etc. Gradually increase the number of days. Walking a dog is great because it gets you out for 20 minutes in the morning, and then 20 more at night. “If I can get someone up to 45 minutes or an hour of exercise during the day, I consider that a major success,” Thompson notes. “You can’t ask anyone to immediately start exercising for 90 minutes. You have to start with lifestyle changes and increase from there.”

Consider a health club. “Some people need a lot of variety to stay interested in exercise,” says Thompson. “That’s where health clubs are great. They always keep people’s interest piqued on exercise. And if you’re paying for it, you’re likely to go.”

Buy or rent workout tapes or DVDs. If you prefer a quiet start to the day, try tapes and DVDs that feature yoga, weight training, and aerobic workout programs. Be sure to check who created them, however. “Some programs marketed by celebrities don’t have good science behind them,” he advises. “Look at the advisory board or advisor on the label. The good ones have an exercise physiologist as an advisor.”

Don’t forget weekends. If you make exercise part of your everyday lifestyle, stick with it on weekends, too. Keep treating it as an appointment. Don’t let anything interfere. “It’s your protected time and nothing else intrudes,” says Foster. “You are keeping this commitment to yourself. This is something good that you’re doing for yourself.”

Weight Loss For Dummies

This is my philosophy. Slow but sure, something you can live with. Regards – Alan

From healthatoz.com

Weight Loss for Dummies

Return to Eating Well

By Jill Ross, HealthAtoZ contributing writer

Your skirt is too tight. You can’t zip your jeans. You don’t even want to think about putting on a swimsuit. You look in the mirror and mutter about how you’ve got to lose weight.

You have plenty of company. The number of obese Americans has risen from 13 percent in 1960 to 30 percent today. Two out of three adults are trying to lose weight, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association.

There’s enough dieting advice out there to fill a dozen refrigerators, yet millions of Americans still find it tough to take off what they put on so easily. Why is it so difficult to lose weight and keep it off?

Boring but sensible

“The collective failure to slice off the pounds probably has less to do with lack of will power than with the stubborn refusal to accept the boring truth,” writes Carol Rinzler. “Unfortunately, the only way to lose weight and keep it off is to follow a sensible weight loss diet to produce a trimmer, healthier, probably happier you and stay that way through a life-long pattern of healthful eating and regular exercise.”

Losing weight isn’t just a matter of looking good but of staying healthy. Carrying around extra pounds puts you at risk for developing many diseases, especially heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer.

Rinzler weighs in with the experts when it comes to theories about the best way to slim down: gradually. According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, no matter how much weight you have to lose, modest goals and a slow course will increase your chances of both losing the weight and keeping it off. You should expect to lose about a pound a week after the first week or two.

The “little things” theory

The slow-but-steady philosophy is behind what Rinzler calls her “Little Things Theory of Dieting.” The idea is to maintain slow but steady weight loss by cutting calories in amounts so small that you won’t even notice they’re gone.

“I like the ‘Little Things Theory,’ and I would like to stress that losing weight doesn’t have to be torture,” Rinzler says. “It’s designed to show how you can live the rest of your life without giving up everything you love (to eat).”

To lose weight, you have to cut calories. Basically, a pound of fat is equivalent to 3,500 calories. If you regularly consume about 2,000 calories a day, you would have to shave off 500 calories a day to take off one pound in a week.

Dieters often want instant gratification. They want to lose a lot of weight in a very short time, Rinzler says. So, they choose something impossible like eating nothing but lettuce leaves. In short order, they fall off their draconian diet and reward themselves with a fat pastrami sandwich.

Using the “Little Things Theory,” Rinzler says you don’t think in hundreds of calories, you think in terms of “ones” or “tens” and make your weight-loss program a one-year plan. For example:
One teaspoon of sugar is worth 16 calories. If you put sugar in your coffee and if you drink three cups a day, that’s 48 calories. Switching to a no-cal sugar substitute saves 48 calories a day. Multiply that by 365, and you save 17,520 calories a year. At 3,500 calories a pound, that’s five pounds less of you, just by giving up three teaspoons of sugar a day.
One slice of bread is worth 90 calories. Make your lunchtime sandwich with one slice of bread rather than the customary two, and you save 90 calories a day or 32,850 calories a year for a net loss of nine pounds of body fat.
One 12-ounce can of regular soda a day equals 150 calories. One 12-ounce can of diet soda doesn’t have any calories. Switching to the diet brand saves 54,750 calories a year and peels off 15 pounds.

You won’t turn skinny overnight, Rinzler says, but you will lose steadily without feeling deprived and without depriving your body of much-needed nutrients. The “Little Things Theory” is also more likely to provide lasting results.

Examining diet fads

According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, weight-loss methods that rely on fad diets and diet aids such as drinks, prepackaged foods or diet pills don’t work in the long run.

Diets that prohibit or severely restrict whole food groups are also dicey, Rinzler says. “One-food diets? No way,” she says. They lead inevitably to boredom and some kind of nutritional deficiency, she says.

Low-carb, high-protein weight loss plans such as Dr.Atkins’ New Diet Revolution, The Carbohydrate Addict’s Diet, Protein Power, and Sugar Busters, may take credit for helping people to drop weight quickly, but critics contend that most of the initial weight is water. So in most cases, these diets do not help people keep weight off once they go off the program. Further, they prohibit or severely restrict consumption of whole categories of foods, such as grains, cereals, vegetables and fruit.

Furthermore, low-carb, high-protein diets emphasize foods from animals, which means you get more total fat, more saturated fat, and more cholesterol each day, a combination that may raise your risk of cardiovascular disease, Rinzler says. Of course, being obese also raises your risk of cardiovascular disease, but Rinzler says the point is there are healthier ways to lose weight.

Finally, you should know that any sensible weight-control plan includes exercise. Exercise not only helps to burn calories, but it builds muscles and lowers blood pressure.

According to experts, the number one predictor for long-term weight control is exercise.

What are BMI and Body Fat Percentages?

You may have heard the terms body fat percentage and Body Mass Index (BMI) . Many people believe that body fat percentage is a much better method of determining the condition of your body than a scale or your BMI. One reason why is because muscle is more dense and weighs more than fat. That’s why a non athletic person who is 5 for 8 and weighs 220 lbs is considered overweight but a conditioned athlete who is the same height and weight is not.

You can buy scales and devices that estimate your body fat percentage or you can take measurements of your body and go to a site such as http://www.linear-software.com/online.html

While less accurate, you only need your height and weight to calculate your BMI. BMI stands for body mass index and is a measure of your weight as it pertains to your height. You calculate in the following manner:

Divide your weight by your height in inches squared and multiple that answer by 703

For example, A 6 foot person weighing 250 would be

(1) First square you height in inches. 72 X 72 = 5184
(2) Divide your weight in pounds by the number above 250 / 5184 = .04823
(3) Multiple that number by 703 .04823 * 703 = 33.91

Or go to one of the dozens of web sites that have BMI calculators such as:

http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/

So what does it mean? (From Lifespan.org)

BMI = 30 or greater
Health Risk: High
You may be at significantly increased risk of obesity-related disease. A weight loss strategy including calorie reduction, increased physical activity, and behavior therapy can help reduce these health risks.

BMI = 27-30
Health Risk: Moderate/High
You may be at increased risk for cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and high blood cholesterol. It may also be appropriate to modify diet and exercise habits to reduce health risks.

BMI = 25-26
Health Risk: Low/Moderate
You may be at slightly increased risk for cardiovascular and other diseases. While there is no evidence to suggest that a weight loss program is needed, prevention of any further weight gain is recommended.

BMI = 19-24
Health Risk: Minimal/Low
Your BMI number indicates that you are within a healthy weight range, and do not need to consider a weight reduction plan for health-related reasons.

BMI = 18 or below
Health Risk: High
Your low BMI number indicates that your weight, in relation to your height, may be below the safety minimum for your body type.

Debunking Common Weight Loss Myths

From http://health.howstuffworks.com/how-to-start-a-weight-loss-program1.htm

Debunking Common Weight-Loss Myths

Are your thoughts and habits keeping you fat? Believe it or not, the biggest obstacle to losing weight can be your own misconceptions about dieting. To see if your beliefs may be holding you back, read the following statements and decide which ones you believe are true. Then read the brief discussion after each statement to learn the facts, so you’ll know what works and what doesn’t.

If I skip breakfast or lunch, I will lose weight faster.

Eating fewer meals can actually lead to weight gain and added body fat. In fact, one study showed that people who skip breakfast have a four to five percent lower metabolic rate (the rate at which your body burns calories to maintain vital functions when at rest) than those who do not. When you skip meals, your body fights back by slowing down the rate at which you burn calories. Believe it or not, you will lose weight more efficiently if you eat several small meals a day rather than one or two large meals.

 

As long as a food is fat-free, I can eat as much of it as I want without gaining weight.

Fat is indeed the most concentrated source of calories in our diet: A gram of fat provides nine calories, while a gram of carbohydrate or protein provides only four. So cutting down on the amount of fat you consume can be an efficient way to lower your calorie intake as well. However, just because a food is fat-free doesn’t guarantee that it’s low in calories.

As a matter of fact, when manufacturers remove the fat from a food product, they sometimes replace it with so much sugar that the fat-free product ends up providing more calories than the original product. And consuming more calories than you need — no matter where they come from — will cause you to gain weight. So while limiting dietary fat can be beneficial to your health and can be a simple way to trim excess calories from your diet, you must also keep tabs on-and reign in — the number of calories you consume at the same time.

I want to lose weight, but unless I lose it fast and see results right away, I know I won’t stick with the program.

If you lose weight fast (more than a pound or two a week), you are more likely to lose some muscle. Think of muscle as your body’s engine. The larger the engine, the more gas it burns. If you lose too much muscle during weight loss, your engine becomes smaller and you need less “gas,” or fewer calories, to keep it running. As a result, you’ll actually gain weight if you eat the same number of calories that you previously consumed to maintain your old weight. Losing weight fast makes it harder for you to keep the weight off in the long run. Keep that in mind if you get tempted to switch to a fast-weight-loss fad diet or feel like abandoning your weight-loss efforts altogether.

I know that I can’t eat at my favorite restaurants and still lose weight.

It’s possible dine at any kind of restaurant today — from fast food to five star-without compromising your weight-loss efforts. Granted, when you eat away from home, you may have less control over how the foods are prepared and which ingredients are used, but you can control which foods you choose and how much of them you consume. The secret is to know how to approach the restaurant challenge.

I have to give up “real desserts” to reach my goal weight.

You don’t have to forgo your favorite foods or “goodies” to lose weight. Most people eat for pleasure as well as nutrition. If you love pie á la mode, just eat it less often and/or in smaller portions. Better yet, think substitution, not elimination.

I know the best way to lose my flabby stomach and thighs is to do sit-ups and leg lifts.

Actually, spot reducing doesn’t work. When you lose fat, it comes from your total fat reserves, and you have no control over what part of the body those fat reserves will come from. Spot exercises can tone and strengthen muscles in specific areas. But, aerobic exercise — such as brisk walking, jogging, cycling, or aerobic dance, for example — is the best way to burn fat. The bottom line: You’ll burn more fat from around your middle (as well as from other fat-laden areas) if you take a brisk 20-minute walk than if you do 100 sit-ups.

I would rather jump in the sauna and sweat off a few pounds than exercise.

You can’t bake, sweat, or steam pounds off. Sweating without exertion causes only a temporary water loss, not a fat loss. The water lost will be quickly regained as soon as you have anything to eat or drink. And remember, sauna suits, rubber belts, and nylon clothes designed to make you sweat during exercise can actually damage your health. To avoid potentially deadly dehydration and heatstroke, it’s important to replace fluids lost during exercise and allow your body’s natural thermostat to regulate your temperature.

I will only feel successful if I reach my target weight.

Success means more than a number on the scale. It is an ongoing process that is rewarded each time you make a positive lifestyle change. So, don’t be a slave to your bathroom scale. Put your time and effort into what really counts: keeping accurate records, and increasing your daily activity. Habits, not the daily fluctuations on the scale, will determine whether or not you achieve long-term success.

If I can’t exercise strenuously for hours at a time, it really won’t help me lose weight.

In general, experts agree that what’s most important for improving health and controlling weight is replacing sedentary habits (like sitting in front of the television or computer) with activities that involve movement. All physical activity-whether it’s running a track or a vacuum cleaner  — counts.

According to the government’s latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans (2005), it’s the total amount of time spent in active pursuits that’s most important when it comes to weight control. Although 30 minutes a day can help lower risk of chronic disease, to really manage your weight, the guidelines say you’ll probably need to gradually work up to getting at least 60 minutes of physical activity on most days of the week (coupled with a calorie intake that doesn’t surpass your needs).

But you don’t have to get that 60 minutes of activity all at one time. Putting in a few 10- to 15-minute bouts of physical activity throughout the day-such as before work, during your lunch hour, and after dinner — will work just fine.

And what about intensity? Although vigorous exercise (fast-paced aerobic activities such as jogging that really get your heart pumping) will burn the most calories, you’ll still lose pounds if you couple moderate-intensity activity (such as brisk walking) with sensible eating. Even housework and gardening chores that get you working up a sweat-such as raking the lawn, scrubbing the bathtub, or washing the windows-count.

I just don’t have the willpower it takes to lose weight and keep it off for good.

Lasting weight control is a process that takes “skillpower,” not willpower. By identifying your eating habits, using the remedies in this book, and thinking positively, you can tackle your weight and win.

Good Web Sites For Tracking Progress

If you decide that you would like to keep a food journal, a couple of good sites that are free to do that are:

Fitday   http://www.fitday.com/

Sparkpeople  http://www.sparkpeople.com/

Both sites allow you to get a nutritional background of what you eat each day but Sparkpeople goes a step futher recipes, blogs and even support groups.

The 5 reasons why most diets fail

George

5 reasons most diets fail

By Ali Hale

http://www.readersdigest.ca/specialfeatures/resolutions_2009/cms/xcms/5-steps-to-starting-a-weight-loss-support-group_1669_a.html

Many dieters succumb to a variety of pitfalls. Here’s how not to become a statistic.

Why most diets fail

Are you on a diet at the moment? So are millions of other women—and statistics show that the vast majority (a staggering 95 percent) won’t manage to lose weight and keep it off. So why might your diet fail? And what can you do to make sure you’re among that successful 5 percent?

1. Your diet is too strict and you end up bingeing on forbidden foods.

The diet you’re following bans all your favourite foods (chocolate, cheese, ice cream, chips…) and you feel deprived. You might last a couple of weeks, feeling more and more bored with the monotony of your regime—but then you’ll crack. And when you do give in, you end up stuffing yourself with those forbidden foods to make up for days of self-denial.

Fix it: A small chocolate bar, or a single bag of chips, won’t ruin your diet. Allow yourself to have an occasional treat—just be honest about portion sizes.

2. You see your diet as a temporary fix, not a lifestyle change.

Perhaps you’ve managed to lose weight in the past, for a special occasion or event. But you inevitably return to your old eating habits straight afterward—and pile the weight back on. Your diet is a quick fix, rather than a permanent change to make your lifestyle healthier.

Fix it: Use your diet as a great excuse to try out lots of new foods. Aim to change your tastes and find ways of eating healthily that you want to stick to for good. (Try Best Health’s recipe database to get started.)

3. You’re too impatient for results.

Once you’ve made the decision to lose weight, you want it over and done with as soon as possible. When you find that you’re losing weight at a rate of one to two pounds a week, you’re frustrated: what about all those stories of women shedding 30 pounds in a month? After a couple of weeks, you give up, convinced you’re failing because you’re not losing weight as fast as you’d like to.

Fix it: Remind yourself that it took months or years to gain that weight—it’ll take some time to lose it, too. Remember that dieters who lose weight slowly are much more likely to keep it off long-term.

4. You succumb to all-or-nothing thinking.

One day, you grab a chocolate digestive with your mid-morning coffee, almost without realising. Once you’ve eaten it, you decide that your diet’s failed. You end up ignoring your planned lunch in favour of a pizza, and then get takeout for dinner. So you might as well give up for the week…

Fix it: Tell yourself, firmly, that one cookie won’t ruin your diet. One bad day doesn’t need to turn into a bad week or a bad month. Focus on making “good” food choices, not “perfect” ones.

5. Your metabolism has slowed down.

If you have a history of yo-yo dieting (losing weight then gaining it again), your body will have learned to be as efficient as possible with food. That means that you’ll burn fewer calories when at rest—and when you overeat, your body will store as much fat as possible, fearing the next “famine” when you diet again. This makes it harder and harder to lose weight and keep it off.

Fix it: Exercise while dieting—this ensures your body will break down your fat stores, not your muscles, for energy. Aerobic exercise also helps keep your metabolic rate high.

Sleep More, Eat Less

From http://caloriecount.about.com
By Mary_RD on Mar 05, 2009 12:45 PM in Dieting & You

Believe it or not, you burn calories more efficiently when you get adequate sleep.

How it works

Sleep is an important piece of the weight-control puzzle. Research shows that sleep-deprived adults and children are more likely to be overweight. There is actually a direct correlation between hours of sleep missed and degree of overweight.

Sleep-deprivation alters hormones that regulate the appetite. When sleep is limited, the appetite-stimulating hormone, ghrelin, is increased and the hormone that triggers fullness, leptin, is decreased. Furthermore, people with the greatest hormonal changes crave more carbohydrates, like ice cream and bread. As it turns out, a sleep-deprived body processes glucose less efficiently, and so the body wants more. The final blow comes from cortisol, a hormone released during stress. Cortisol levels rise when sleep is lacking and high levels of cortisol result in fat storage in the lower abdomen – the dreaded belly fat.

Reset your biological clock

People who are careful about eating and exercise, often don’t realize the harm they create by missing sleep. The average American sleeps 6.9 hours a night, but adults need at least eight hours and teens need at least nine.

To get back on track, make a point of going to bed and getting up earlier. Instead of springing ahead with bedtime, stick to your winter schedule when the clocks change. Wind-down 45 minutes before bedtime and read a boring book to get to sleep. Avoid caffeinated products after mid-day and alcohol in the evening because it disturbs sleep. Get regular exercise to make yourself tired, and keep your bedroom dark, quiet and cool.

After you get caught-up on sleep, notice whether you aren’t quite so hungry or craving sweets – and if some of that belly fat has melted away!

Your thoughts are welcome! What keeps you from your sleep? What have you done to correct the problem?

Surprise – It’s Calories

A landmark study shows that people can lose weight on a variety of diets — including low-fat plans and low-carb ones — as long as they consume fewer calories.

Yes, it does seem like common sense, but weight loss has become a big business. Diet programs and best-selling books offer a banquet of different approaches, including cutting fats or cutting carbohydrates.

To get to the heart of the matter, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health financed a two-year study of hundreds of overweight people. The research was conducted by experts at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston and the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, part of the Louisiana State University system.

They came up with “a very simple message that cuts through all the hype: To lose weight, it comes down to how much you put in your mouth — it’s not a question of eating a particular type of diet,” says Frank Sacks, a lead researcher and professor of cardiovascular disease prevention at Harvard.

It really pays to figure out what kind of plan works best for you, says George Bray, the other lead researcher and a professor of medicine at Pennington.

Four diets, 811 overweight participants

The researchers recruited 811 overweight or obese older adults and put them on one of four diet plans, including two low-fat diets with 20% of calories from fat and two high-fat plans with 40% of calories from fat. The calories from carbohydrates ranged from 35% to 65%. Protein was either 15% or 25% of calories.

All four plans adhered to heart-healthy guidelines, which emphasize eating less than 8% of calories from artery-clogging saturated (animal) fat, eating vegetables, fruits and whole-grain products, and consuming at least 20 grams of fiber a day.

The eating plans were based on the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet, not on popular plans such as the Atkins or South Beach diets.

Dieters were encouraged to attend regular individual and group weight-loss counseling sessions and keep an online food diary. Everyone was given a personalized calorie goal, and most aimed for 750 calories below their daily needs. No one was supposed to eat fewer than 1,200 calories a day.

Participants’ exercise goals were modest: about 90 minutes of moderate physical activity a week. Researchers were focused on how the composition of the diets affected weight loss and did not want to distort the results.

Among the findings, presented in today’s New England Journal of Medicine:

• In six months, the dieters lost an average of 13 pounds no matter which diet they were on.

• After two years, they had kept off an average of 9 pounds and lost 1 to 3 inches in the waist, regardless of which diet they were on.

• Dieters had improvements in heart-disease risk factors, including increases in the HDL (good) cholesterol, and decreases in LDL (bad) cholesterol and triglycerides (blood fats) at six months and two years.

• People reported similar levels of fullness, hunger and satisfaction on the different diets.

‘Reasonable range’ of fats, protein, carbs

The plans did not include a very low-carb Atkins-type diet, Sacks says, because most “people don’t stick with that low-carbohydrate intake, and we didn’t want to try anything unrealistic. We tried a big range but a reasonable range of fats, protein and carbohydrates.”

Some research indicates that dieters may feel full longer on higher-protein diets, but these dieters did not report any differences in feelings of fullness, says Catherine Loria, a nutritional epidemiologist with the heart, lung and blood institute.

Keith Ayoob, a registered dietitian at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, says healthful weight loss comes down to picking a balanced diet that you can maintain “for the long haul.”