Fitness Mantra : A Health and Fitness Blog

Fitness Mantra del.icio.us page Here’s another all new del.icio.us Friday. Stay updated with this news as it happens by subscribing separately to the Fitness Mantra del.icio.us feed.

Highlight of this week is a New York Times article that highlights a different take on being overweight or obese. Back in July I wrote about The cost and benefit of eating healthful foods in which I mentioned that eating well might cost a little more but it would be certainly worth it in the long run. This week’s article Extra Weight, Higher Costs show you in greater detail exactly why:

Heavy people do not spend more than normal-size people on food, but their life insurance premiums are two to four times as large. They can expect higher medical expenses, and they tend to make less money and accumulate less wealth in their shortened lifetimes. They can have a harder time being hired, and then a harder time winning plum assignments and promotions.

- Via Extra Weight, Higher Costs

Wow, you - and I - learn something new everyday, don’t we?

Now onto the health and fitness stories for this week:

instructables : Homemade instant oatmeal: Instant oatmeal is great for a quick breakfast at the office. Not only is it easy to make your own, the homemade version is more filling and less expensive.
High Protein Diets May Boost Cancer Risk: Eating a low-protein diet may protect against certain cancers, while a diet high in protein may increase the risk for malignancies, a new study suggests.
Promoting Self-Weighing In Teens Is Not Helpful To Weight Management: Teenage girls who weigh themselves frequently are more likely to binge eat and participate in unhealthy weight control behaviors in the future, according to new research from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.
Got Lawsuit? Milk Dieter’s Is Thrown Out: Catherine Holmes saw the ads for the so-called “dairy diet” and thought it would be a tasty way to lose a few pounds. After all, she loves buttermilk, yogurt and cheese. Instead, the Arlington woman says, she gained three pounds on the diet, which dairy companies have spent hundreds of millions of dollars promoting. She sued the industry.
Strap on an Apron, Eat Healthier: A new study shows that among young adults, the healthiest eaters are those who frequently prepare their meals at home.
Youth to bear brunt of diabetes epidemic: More than 380 million people worldwide would be living with diabetes by the time today’s children reach their thirties and forties, if no action is taken to reverse current prevalence, medical experts have warned.
Preparing Food Helps Young Adults Eat Better: Young adults who often purchase their own food and prepare meals at home eat fast food less often, eat more fruits and vegetables and have better overall diet quality than those who are not involved in planning and cooking their meals, according to researchers at the University of Minnesota.
Obese should exercise not ‘diet’: A program which encouraged women not to diet but to take part in exercise classes found significant improvements in health and mental well-being.
Onions and Garlic May Help Fight Cancer: Spicing up your diet with onions and garlic may help lower your risk of developing some cancers. This is according to the results of 8 studies conducted in Italy and Switzerland and is in line with some past research.
Eating fruit and veg ‘halves miscarriage risk’: A study of thousands of pregnant women revealed those who included fruit and veg regularly in their diet were 46 per cent less likely to miscarry.
Very slim women risk miscarriage: Very underweight women are 72 per cent more likely to suffer a miscarriage in the first three months of pregnancy.
A tango could be what the doctor orders: The unfit, overweight and elderly will be told this week to take up the tango in the interests of their health.
10 Ways to Avoid Holiday Weight Gain: Enjoy the holiday spirit without wrecking havoc on your waistline. Wishing you a healthy and happy holiday!
Fast Food Inside Hospitals Fuels Concern: Fast food restaurants set up inside many U.S. children’s hospitals increase patient consumption of unhealthy meals and give some people the mistaken notion that the food is healthier than it is, a new study finds.
Many women may not recognize bulimia symptoms: n a study of 158 women with bulimia-type eating disorders, Australian researchers found that nearly half did not acknowledge a problem with their eating.
Obesity ‘to fuel rise in cancers’: Soaring obesity levels could result in up to 12,000 cases of weight-related cancer being diagnosed annually in the UK by 2010, say experts.
Extra Weight, Higher Costs: There is another consequence to packing on extra weight: being fat costs money — tens of thousands of dollars over a lifetime.
Trans Fat Banned In N.Y. Eateries: The New York City Board of Health voted unanimously to require the city’s roughly 20,000 restaurants to stop cooking with trans fats, making New York the first major U.S. city to adopt such a ban.
Pediatricians Blast Inappropriate Ads: Inappropriate advertising contributes to many kids’ ills, from obesity to anorexia, to drinking booze and having sex too soon, and Congress should crack down on it, the American Academy of Pediatrics says.
Seeking a Stable Weight? Maybe You Should Bring Home the Bacon: Hunger pangs are hard to resist. So the recent findings that a little extra lean protein at breakfast will last you until lunch could provide the boost to help you maintain your weight during the upcoming holidays — and beyond.
Eating Disorder Sites: Harmful Tips: Teens with eating disorders are picking up dangerous tips from both pro-eating-disorder web sites and sites designed to treat the problem, according to a new study.
Kids With Asthma: Obesity More Likely: Children with asthma are more likely to be obese and less likely to exercise than those without the disease, a British study shows.
Cutting Calories May Aid Immune System: Calorie restriction might help the body’s immune system, researchers report. The findings are based on lab tests on monkeys, not people.
Minnesota Ranked ‘Healthiest State’: Minnesota is the healthiest state in the U.S., and Louisiana is the least healthy, according to a new ranking. Rankings are based on a mix of factors, including personal health (such as exercise and obesity), clinical care, health insurance coverage, and health care policies.
Weight Training Helps Women: Women who undergo long-term weight training have more active forms of bone- and muscle-strengthening growth hormone.

Enjoy your weekend!

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After a long time, another quick tip! Just to refresh your memory, here’s the description of quick-tips from my first post in this category:

Typically these [(quick tips)] will be no more than a couple of sentences and it will always be about making a minor change in your lifestyle leading to a huge change in your health and fitness levels.

Today’s quick tip deals with signal clothes, so a quick definition is in order:

Signal Clothes: I would like to define signal clothes as those that signal to you that you are within your normal weight range (typically plus/minus 3-5 pounds) and also serve as the first warning if you are either losing/gaining weight outside this range. These clothes typically fit comfortably without the need for a belt and are never made of elastic materials or of the wrap-around type. The best kind of signal clothes is a pair of nicely-fitting trousers that do not have any form of elastic at the waist (I have noticed that jeans sometimes have a habit of stretching out an inch or two and so they make poor signal clothes).

Make sure you regularly use signal clothes.

Wearing your designated signal dress atleast once a week will not only ensure that you are on the right-track with your fitness regimen, but will also serve as an instant warning should your holiday diet have put you slightly off track. Why is this technique so effective? The answer is simple: 99% of the time excess weight is first stored in your abdominal region. What was looked upon as the bane of over-eating can quickly be turned around to our advantage: your abdomen can now be your warning signal!

I am just back from a short vacation to India and looking at it now from my newly acquired pair of “Fitness Mantra” eyes, I quickly realised several reasons for the amount of obesity prevalent in many big Indian cities: for one, the clothes are all wrong! (Well, so is the kind of food and lack of activity, but that is fodder for another post). There is one common thread among the obese in India: many men gain weight once they retire and many housewives are overweight.

Now if you thought lack of activity was the only factor to blame, think again: clothes play a major role here too. The typical Indian clothes for retired men are wraparound skirt-like pieces of white cloth called dhoties. And you might be familiar with the female version: the wraparound multi-colored garments called sarees. The common feature between these clothes? They are almost infinitely expandable - just wrap around and fasten wherever is most comfortable! For men, as long as they are working in desk jobs that require trousers, there was atleast some form of check and awareness about the “growing” problem in their middle. But retired men and housewives have no idea when they move from lean to chubby/venus-like to overweight and then to obese: they have/use no signal clothes!

What signal clothes do you use and what other signs warn you when you move out of your normal weight range? Do comment about your techniques.

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