Easy Weight Loss Tips

An interesting survey, conducted by www.slendex.com pinpoints the ups and downs of women’s weight throughout a relationship. The researchers keyed in on 5 stages of weight fluctuation – presented as follows;

Stage I: Dating/courtship: There was an average loss of about 5 pounds (to impress new flame, no doubt)

Stage 2: The Comfort Zone: Average weight gain 10 lbs. (more at ease in relationship and less likely to focus on weight.

Stage 3: The Big Day: Average weight loss 8 Ibs. (“brideorexia” – getting in shape for wedding.

Stage 4: Baby Boom: Average weight gain 14.3 lbs. (a time where fitness and healthy eating take a back seat to caring for little one(s).

Stage 5: The Reinvention: Average weight loss 10.4 lbs (more time on hands now that kids are in school which means more time for themselves)

Of the 3,000 women questioned, nearly 70 per cent said that their relationship was the biggest factor in their well-being and a quarter believed that they would turn their partner off if they put on a stone or two.

70 per cent admitted that they were less apprehensive about their weight and appearance when they felt content in their relationship.

Further Thoughts

It always interests me how relationships effect weight and health. These stages certainly make sense. Here’s my take on relationships and weight:

I wonder what kind of weight fluctuation men in relationships experience?

It would also be interesting to see the weight difference between those in relationships and those who are single.

Regardless of relationship status, there tends to be an upward swing in weight from the age of 25 to the tune of 3% fat mass per decade, with a corresponding 3-5% loss in muscle tissue.

It’s a little sad that there are such a large proportion of women who believe their partner would be turned off if they gain weight.

Although… (I tread very lightly here)

Whether we are talking women or men, I have a problem when I hear of people “letting themselves go” after marriage. To use myself as an example (sounds less deprecating), if I were to gain weight (I’m not talking a pound or two – more like 25-30), sure I would expect my partner to love me regardless, HOWEVER, I would also expect her to be annoyed. Annoyed primarily that I am compromising my health, but also annoyed at the lack of respect for her. What message would I be sending her if I didn’t care how I looked? It is a direct slight to that person, in my opinion.

All that said, there are “good ways” and “not-so-good ways” to broach such issues.

Have you noticed a fluctuation in weight while in a relationship? Do you think relationships are ultimately good or bad for the waistline?

Source: Telegraph

Does spending the day eating whatever you want, and as much of it as you like, sound like a recipe for ruining your diet? Think again. Taking a day off your diet every week – rather than sticking rigidly to a healthy eating plan seven days out of seven – is likely to boost your chances of long-term success.

Here’s why…

Your body won’t adjust to fewer calories

The human body is an impressive piece of equipment. During times of famine, it will become extra-efficient at using every last calorie, maintaining weight on less food than before. And as soon as food is plentiful again – so, when you stop dieting – your body will pack on as much fat as possible to prepare for the next famine…

By having one day a week when you eat more, you’ll keep your body guessing: it won’t adjust to your lower calorie intake.

You won’t set yourself up for a binge

Constantly restricting what you eat and depriving yourself is a sure way to end up binging on all the forbidden foods. All it takes is one unusually stressful day at work, one argument with your spouse or one unthinking comment from a so-called friend – and you’ll find yourself munching through a whole jar of cookies.

If you let yourself eat whatever you like once a week, you won’t end up feeling deprived. It’s much easier to resist that slab of cake when you know you can have one in a couple of days’ time.

You’ll stick to your diet for longer

Most of us are enthusiastic about a new diet for the first couple of weeks … and then the reality sets in. Counting calories, opting for low-fat versions of favourite foods and trying to “be good”gets frustrating after a while. Taking a mini-break from your diet every week will actually help you stick to it long-term.

Even if your day off means you only lose weight on six days out of seven, you’ll still do better over the course of six months than if you give up completely after a couple of weeks.

You can still enjoy a social life

There’s nothing worse than sitting in a restaurant picking at a salad when everyone else is tucking into steaks, burgers and bowls of fries. So make your “day off” a day when you’re out with friends or family – Saturday works well for lots of people. That means you can relax and enjoy yourself without a second thought about calories!

Lots of popular diet plans use the “day off” principle (e.g. the No-S Diet which gives you weekends off), or follow a zig-zag approach. Popular programs like Weight Watchers and Slimming World allow a certain number of “syns” or “extra points” each week, which members often save up for a treat at the weekends.

If you’re sticking rigidly to a strict diet regime and not seeing the results you’d like, why not have a day off this week? It might actually boost your weight loss – and it’ll certainly help you feel more enthusiastic about your diet when you restart it the next day.

Although this number sounds about right, the interpretation of the results leaves much to be desired. Here are some of the study’s details and why I agree with the conclusion but disagree with the methodology.

Here’s a brief breakdown of the study:

Published in Circulation, Dr. Salim Yusuf and his colleagues surveyed 16,000 people in 52 countries, and analyzed 5,761 cases of heart attack. The patients and controls filled in a “dietary risk score” questionnaire based on 19 food groups, which contained healthy and unhealthy items and were tweaked to include dietary preferences of each country taking part in the study.

They identified 3 dietary patterns:

1. Oriental (high intake of tofu and soy and other sauces): Showed no relationship to heart attacks
2. Western (high in fried foods, salty snacks, eggs, and meat): Showed the greatest relationship to heart attacks.
3. Prudent (high in fruit and vegetables). Showed an inverse relationship to heart attacks.

Eek! So many problems, so little bandwidth! Instead of nitpicking through it, I’m going to hone in on what I believe to be the most glaring flaw…

…The definition of “Western Diet”

One of the hallmarks of Westernized diets is the sky-high intakes of sugar, refined grains, omega-6 oils and otherwise heavily processed and/or fast foods. Why are none of these factors mentioned as part of the Western diet category? Few would argue that fried foods and salty snacks are unhealthy, but to just lump all meats and eggs alongside them is misleading.

This omission leaves much room for misinterpretation. To wit, I checked 4 different news reports on the study and they all used the same narrow definition cited in the study

That’s (the Western diet) a diet rich in fried foods, salty snacks, and lots of meat.

WCTV, Florida

The findings support evidence that animal fat and junk food can lead to heart attacks”

CBC News

The diet typically includes fried foods, read meat and diary products along with loads of salty snacks”

Health Jockey

A recently published Canadian study shows that the highly popular Western diet of steak and potatoes doesn’t cut it anymore”

eCanada Now

In my opinion, there are just too many gaps in this study to draw any conclusion other than high fruit and vegetable intake is good and people who adopt “westernized” lifestyles reap the same detriments regardless of where they live.

When you’re watching what you eat, don’t fall into the trap of cutting out every food which has a high calorie density. There are some calorie-rich foods which are packed with nutrients and, in smallish quantities, these can form part of any healthy diet.

If you’re keeping an eye on your calorie intake, try the “swap” suggestions given for each item, to replace a not-so-good option with the healthier food.

Avocados – 190 calories per 100g

(One serving = 80g)

Eating avocados can help to lower cholesterol levels. They’re packed with nutrients including potassium, the B-vitamins and folic acid, and also help the body to absorb nutrients such as carotenoids found in other fruits and vegetables. You can also use avocado oil instead of olive oil (it’s similarly monounsaturated).

Replace the feta cheese in your mixed salad with avocado instead.

Dark Chocolate – 540 calories per 100g

(One serving = 25g)

Great news for all chocoholics out there – dark chocolate is commonly agreed to be good for you! The cocoa polyphenols found in dark chocolate can help to lower blood pressure. Eating dark chocolate regularly can also improve blood flow and protect the arteries. It’s also a rich source of copper, magnesium and potassium.

Swap a bar of milk chocolate for a small bar of dark chocolate.

Nuts – 600-700 calories per 100g

(One serving = 25g)

Several studies have shown that eating nuts is associated with a lower risk of heart disease. Nuts are a great protein source for vegetarians, and are high in fiber, phytonutrients (plant-derived nutrients that are believed to be essential for health), and the antioxidants vitamin E and selenium.

When baking cookies, swap chocolate chips for peanuts. Or, add nuts to salads, instead of croutons.

Olives – 105 calories per 100g

(One serving = 80g)

Olives not only count as one of your five-a-day, they’re packed with healthy (monounsaturated) fat, and they’re a good source of vitamin E – which can help to protect you from cancer or heart disease.

Instead of bowls of chips or cheesy nibbles, serve olives with pre-dinner drinks.

Red Wine – 85 calories per 100ml

(One serving = 125ml)

Red wine is thought to have a number of health benefits, and many doctors recommend drinking a glass a day. It can help to reduce the risk of heart disease, especially in smokers.

Try switching from beer, white wine or spirits to a glass of red wine instead.

Seeds – 600 calories per 100g

(One serving = 25g)

Seeds are a great concentrated source of essential fatty acids. Try sprinkling them on your cereal or in your oatmeal, add them to a handful of nuts and dried fruit, or buy bread which contains seeds.

Why not swap your white loaf for a seeded granary loaf?

What are your favorite healthy, high-calorie foods?

Tom Venuto is arguably the most popular fat loss guru to be found on-line. His downloadable guide Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle (BFFM) has been the biggest selling health eBook for many many years.

For many, BFFM became inspirational rulebook for eating right and getting in shape. Venuto has finally produced a book in print. The Body Fat Solution is not shipping until Jan 8 2009 – but has already shot to around the #100 in Amazon’s bestseller list (out of all books).

Why all the buzz?

The best way to answer this is to quote from author Venuto himself – responding to a series of questions (paraphrased):

“The new hardcover book, The Body Fat Solution, was written for anyone who is overweight, or who was formerly overweight and who wants to maintain their ideal weight without struggle”.

• It is NOT for athletes, bodybuilders or people who need to get “ripped” or reach extremes of low body fat.
• It is especially written for people who struggle with inconsistent motivation, emotional eating, binge eating and other forms of self sabotage.
• It gives help for people struggling with everyday challenges – like frequent travel, restaurant temptations, busy schedules, high stress and social pressure – things that can can get in the way of the best nutrition or training strategy.
• One concise chapter on nutrition is included along with chapters on cardio training and a time-efficient weight training program for the busy person, which makes The Body fat Solution a complete lifestyle program.

However, the major message is that “What nutrition or training program should you follow?” is not the most important question you should ask. The real critical question is…

What makes you follow your program?

And, conversely, “What makes you fall off your program so easily?”

This, indeed, is the 64 million dollar question. Look for The Body Fat Solution to become the bestseller of the new year.

How does one cut portion size when in most of the western world portion size has grown exponentially in the last 20 or so years.

I remember when the 7-Eleven Big Gulp came on the scene in 1980 and how everyone was amazed that you could actually purchase a drink that size. It was 32 ounces back then, now you can buy a Super Big Gulp that’s a whopping 64 ounces.

No wonder there’s such a weight epidemic in many developed countries as people are constantly enticed with ever growing portions.

Here are some illustrations of just how portion sizes have changed in the last 20 years.

Take-away Coffees

Over 20 years ago before the concept of the coffee house, a takeaway coffee would generally come in a 7oz/200ml Styrofoam cup, so with some sugar and cream it averaged around 85 Calories. Now a consumer can be enticed with a 16oz/470ml version made mostly with milk which can top 480 Calories depending on the drink ordered.

Chips

Twenty years ago a small pack of chips (left) was just an ounce(30g) and yielded 150 Calories. Now most packs are either 1.8oz/50g with 250 Calories (center) or 3.5oz/100g containing 500 Calories (right).

Flavored Milk

Chocolate milk used to be sold in 10oz/300ml bottles 20 years ago containing 220 Calories, but now the norm is around 20oz/600ml yielding 440 Calories.

Soft Drinks

20 years ago is was common to only get a 12oz/390ml soda from a vending machine containing 160 Calories, but today it is more common to find machines dispensing 20oz/600ml bottles giving 245 Calories.

Why has this happened?

Amanda Clark, the Author of Portion Perfection, believes that it was driven by nothing but the almighty dollar. Companies realized if they increased portion size, they could increase the cost of the item. The larger portion size would entice the customer to spend more money causing the profit margins on the product to increase a lot while the company’s expenses on marketing, design, labor etc. only increased slightly. In some cases a consumer could get 50% more product for only 16% more money. Who could resist?

Unfortunately, as these portion sizes increased so has western society’s waistline.

Please check out Amanda Clark’s book: Portion Perfection. Photos and Calorie information shown were taken from the book (with permission). Check out other nutritional resources at www.greatideas.net.au

Recent figures have shown that in the UK, one in ten deaths of people aged under 80 are caused by diabetes. This could be set to rise to one in eight deaths by 2010.

The number of people with diabetes is on the increase, due to unhealthy lifestyles and obesity. The charity Diabetes UK reported that, this year, the number of people in the UK with diabetes has risen past 2 million for the first time. This is due to a substantial rise in the number of cases of Type II diabetes, which is directly related to lifestyle factors.

The chief executive of Diabetes UK, Douglas Smallwood, said that:

We need to do all we can to raise awareness of the seriousness of diabetes and help people understand how a healthy lifestyle can help reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

As demonstrated by the figures above, diabetes can be deadly. Here are the facts about diabetes, and some simple ways to reduce your risk (or your loved ones’ risk) of developing it:

What Diabetes Is

Diabetes (full name “diabetes mellitus”) is a condition where the body doesn’t produce enough insulin to cope with the amount of glucose (sugar) in the bloodstream. There are two types:

• Type 1 – the body is unable to produce any insulin. This usually develops before age 40, and is not related to lifestyle factors. 5 – 15% of people with diabetes have Type I.
• Type 2 – the body can make some insulin, but not much, or the insulin produced doesn’t work properly (insulin resistance). This is the type of diabetes linked with being overweight. It generally appears in people aged over 40, but children as young as seven have now been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

Dangers of Diabetes

More people die from diabetes than from breast cancer and prostate cancer combined.

Diabetes can cause:

• heart disease
• strokes
• kidney failure (nephropathy)
• vision problems (retinopathy) or blindness
• greater risk of infections
• the need for limb amputations

Reducing the Risk

Diabetes Type 2 is overwhelmingly associated with obesity, poor nutritional choices and lack of exercise. Some easy ways to reduce your risk of developing diabetes are:

• Get regular exercise. This could be as simple as going for a walk every day (this also helps manage existing diabetes). But once you’ve achieved a basic level of fitness, aim to meet – or exceed! – the recommended guidelines.
• If you smoke, quit. Smoking can lead to high blood pressure, which causes heart disease – a major risk factor for type II diabetes.
• Eat a healthy diet. Following common sense nutritional guidelines (like cutting your saturated fat and sugar intake, and getting plenty of wholegrains and fruit and veg) will help.
• If you’re overweight, make sensible food and exercise choices to lose weight for good. (Women with a waist measurement over 31.5 inches, and men with a waist measurement over 37 inches, are at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.)

If you have a family history of diabetes, a waist size over the above limit and if you’re older than forty, get your doctor to give you a diabetes test. As with many conditions, detecting diabetes early can be life-saving. The test just involves a pin-prick to your finger to get a blood sample to test glucose levels, and takes a couple of minutes. (See the image at the top of this post.) You can even buy kits to test yourself at home.