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FitnessMantra Weekend: Do-It-Yourself Dieters Are The Majority

05

August

Fitness Mantra del.icio.us pageWelcome to “FitnessMantra Weekend”, your once-a-week health news update. As always you can also stay updated with the latest in fitness news by subscribing separately to the Fitness Mantra del.icio.us feed.

grapefruitWith new diets cropping up almost every other week, it is not at all surprising to read a news item like The do-it-yourself diet which says in essence that a majority of American dieters successfully customize diet plans to suit themselves.

In fact a site called chasefreedom lists no less than 253 diets/exercise plans! Included in this list are the mind-boggling “1-Day Diet” (Imagine, just one day! My blog could out of business by this time tomorrow!), dracula’s special “Blood Type Diet” and even that Armadillo favorite “Cactus Diet”! I mean where would you even begin?

And so it turns out that a majority of us start with a diet and then slowly attune it to our personal liking until we find something that works for us. And the good news is that for many who stick to a plan, it actually works!

“The key is to take a few proven weight loss tricks and personalize them,” says Lisa Young, PhD, a professor of nutrition at New York University. So rather than adapting your life to fit a set of rules, you adapt the rules to fit your life.

So go right ahead and start with something like the “Prism Diet” (no, I have no idea what that is and yes, you should consult a physician before you begin any diet!). Then once you realize you can never completely eliminate carbohydrates and you become a raving maniac ready to kill for a bagel, customize it to your personal liking and what works for you. That’s what most successful dieters are doing.

While you’re making your Do-It-Yourself plans, peruse this week’s top health and fitness stories:

  1. Obese Aussies a hazard for mortuaries: Pathologists are calling for new ‘heavy-duty’ autopsy facilities to cope with obese corpses that are difficult to move and dangerously heavy for standard-size trolleys and lifting hoists.
  2. Experts issue new physical exercise guidelines: Adults should engage in moderately intense exercise for at least 30 minutes five days a week or vigorous exercise at least 20 minutes three days each week
  3. Benefits of tomatoes still bountiful: Not only do studies suggest multiple benefits from eating tomatoes themselves rather than lycopene supplements alone, research also suggests a synergy between tomatoes and other vegetables, such as broccoli.
  4. Going it alone: The do-it-yourself diet: In fact, the most popular - and successful - diet today is the one we make up ourselves.
  5. Gear up to exercise while on the road: Whether you’re traveling for work or pleasure, time away from home is no longer a good reason for spending time away from the gym.
  6. Broccoli ’stops’ prostate cancer: Eating broccoli and cauliflower regularly reduces the risk of deadly prostate cancer, say US researchers.
  7. Menu Bill Would Order Nutritional Information: Menus in Montgomery County’s chain restaurants would have to list nutritional information such as calories, sodium and fat content under a proposal submitted yesterday to the County Council.
  8. 16 Ways to Eat Healthy While Keeping it Cheap: You probably think eating healthy is expensive. I’ll be honest - it is. But there are tricks to keep it low cost.
  9. Add a cup of coffee to your workout: The combination of exercise and caffeine increased destruction of precancerous cells that had been damaged by the sun’s ultraviolet-B radiation, according to a team of researchers at Rutgers University.
  10. Shots claim to melt fat, but inject fears: After giving birth to three children, Julie Ohnsorg couldn’t get rid of that last bit of post-baby belly bulge.
  11. Kids spur Vegas school to nix green beans: “A little boy said, ‘Anything, anything, I’ll even eat broccoli,’” said Connie Duits, the lunch lady. “So that one touched my heart.”
  12. Trans fats worse than ever: New Canadian research shows that the presence of trans fats in the blood system can also mess with the heart’s rhythm, worsening the severity of a heart attack and jacking up the likelihood of death.
  13. Color Guide to Staying Healthy and Eating Right by COLOURlovers: All the science talk can be intimidating, so we’ve created a visual guide to help show you which fruits and vegetables are part of a colorful, healthy diet.
  14. Programs aim to teach families healthy habits: Life for the Washington family has changed. Instead of fast food for dinner, they have grilled chicken and vegetables. Sugary drinks have been replaced with diet soda.
  15. Coffee and plenty of exercise could cut risk of skin cancer: A combination of coffee drinking and regular exercise may help to lower the risk of developing skin cancer, according to scientists in the US.

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Have a great weekend!

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FitnessMantra Weekend: Energy-Density And Volumetrics Can Help You Lose Weight

29

July

Fitness Mantra del.icio.us pageWelcome to “FitnessMantra Weekend”, your once-a-week health news update. As always you can also stay updated with the latest in fitness news by subscribing separately to the Fitness Mantra del.icio.us feed.

This week I bring you good tidings: Eat More and Weigh Less! Yes, you’ve heard that before, but I am not talking about Starvation Response here (and in any case, that was “Eat More Often and Lose Weight”!). No, this time I am talking about energy density and how focusing on the concentration of energy (or calories) in your meals will help you bulk up on the volume of food while still keeping its calorie-count low.

In The Secret to Weight Control: Not Being Dense, Sally Squires writes that the trick is to switch to foods that are not calorifically dense by volume (in fact this whole concept is also called Volumetrics). Think about it: 10 cubic inches of two types foods will still occupy the same space in your stomach, but what if one of those foods had only a quarter of the calories of the other? Your stomach is still full but you haven’t consumed as many calories!

DoughnutsEarlier, when I have spoken about how it’s always been about the calories, I have even jokingly said that if you consumed enough celery or carrots you could still become overweight if the calorie intake was more than your daily requirement. But seriously, can you imagine how many bags of carrots you will have have to eat just to get to even around 500 calories? (Answer: about 3 lbs worth!). Heck, just 2 fluffy Chocolate Kreme Filled Donuts will get you there and your stomach will still have the space for a few more!

I think you are getting the picture … maximising fiber-rich, low-energy-dense foods like raw/steamed vegetables is a great way to trick your stomach into thinking it’s full while keeping tabs on your calorie intake.

While you run off to the grocery store, keep these other stories in mind as well …

  1. ‘Yo-yo’ weight warning to mothers: Mothers who gain or lose lots of weight between pregnancies could be putting their baby at risk, say experts.
  2. Docs to get fat cheques for surgery on obese: Alberta surgeons’ cheques will increase 25 per cent for operations involving obese patients.
  3. Omega-3s: Fishy fad or catch of the day?: Omega-3s are polyunsaturated fats that can fend off prostate cancer, protect your eyes from macular degeneration, cut risk of heart disease and fight diabetes.
  4. The Secret to Weight Control: Not Being Dense: Worried about fitting into your bathing suit, shorts and other revealing summer clothes without feeling chronically hungry and deprived? The answer may be to eat more, not less.
  5. Obese girls much less likely to attend college: U.S. study: After tracking 11,000 American adolescents, a study released Monday found that following secondary school, obese girls in the U.S. were half as likely to enrol in college, versus their non-obese peers.
  6. If it’s not cardio, does it count?: To lose weight, you’ll want to watch your diet. And you’ll likely need to regularly engage in fairly intense cardio workouts to really burn calories.
  7. Employees compete to be ‘biggest loser’: By the time the contest ended, 84 employees had shed nearly 1,000 pounds, with two losing over 40 pounds.
  8. Low cholesterol may raise cancer risk: Lowering cholesterol as much as possible may reduce the risk of heart disease, but with a price: Taking it too low could raise the risk of cancer.
  9. Tired of spin classes? Try the Wii station: A Canadian health club is offering a new form of exercise for people bored with the treadmill or cycling classes - the Wii Workout Station.
  10. Adding Intensity to Your Training: What place does a training style more suited to an NFL weight room have in the average schmo’s workout?
  11. More women over 30 battling eating disorders: Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia have long been considered diseases of the young, but experts say in recent years more women have been seeking help in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and older.
  12. Family, Friends May ‘Spread’ Obesity: Friends don’t let friends get obese.
  13. No calories, same taste (and heart risks): Adults who drink one or more sodas a day - diet or regular - had about a 50 percent higher risk of metabolic syndrome - a cluster of risk factors such as excessive fat around the waist, low levels of ‘good’ cholesterol, high blood pressure …

Get the best health and fitness stories of the week in your RSS inbox.

Have a great weekend!

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