Weight loss blog » Weight Loss

IMMUNE POWER DIET: MINERALS AND YOUR MEMORY

admin — Tue, 17 May 2011 10:01:02 +0000

Memory problems are a well known symptom of heavy metal poisoning. Many of us are exposed to unsafe levels of these metals, particularly mercury, which is a food contaminant. There may be many more people suffering the toxic effects of heavy metal poisoning than we now recognize. Do you have any of these memory problems?Do you regularly have trouble recalling the names of people you knew last year?Do you misplace things more often than you used to?Do you ever forget the name of a familiar household object?Before reading this, had you already noticed any problem with your memory?Has a work associate, friend or family member pointed out memory problems to you in the last month?Have you recently felt that you are not quite as alert as you used to be?Have you had in the last month two embarrassing incidents where you forgot something important?If you answered “yes” to these questions, and “yes” to several of the risk factors listed earlier, it is possible that you might be suffering from a toxic accumulation of heavy metals.*55\242\2*

MAINTAINING HEALTHY WEIGHT: OBESITY AND LIFESTYLE

admin — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 17:15:14 +0000

Of all the factors affecting obesity, perhaps the most critical is the relationship between activity levels and calorie intake. Obesity rates are rising. But how can this be happening? Aren’t more people exercising than ever before? Though the many advertisements for sports equipment and the popularity of athletes may give the impression that Americans love a good workout, the facts are not so positive. Data from a newly released National Health Interview Survey show that 4 in 10 adults in the United States say that they never engage in any exercise, sports, or physically active hobbies in their leisure time. These responses are based on answers to questions inquiring about how many respondents engaged in leisure physical activities that caused sweating or changes in their heart rate or breathing for at least 20 minutes. Women (43.2 percent) were somewhat more likely than men (36.5 percent) to be sedentary, a finding that was consistent across all age groups. Among both men and women, black and Hispanic adults had higher rates of sedentary behavior than white adults. Leisure-time physical activity was also found to be strongly associated with level of education. About 72 percent of adults who never attended high school were sedentary, declining steadily to 45 percent г high school graduates and about 24 percent among adults who had a graduate-level college degree.
You probably know someone who seems to be able to eat you under the table and does not appear to exercise more than you do, yet never seems to gain weight. You may not understand how this person maintains a steady weight. With few exceptions, if you were to follow this person around for a typical day and monitor the level and intensity of activity, you would discover the answer to your question. Although the person’s schedule may not include running or strenuous exercise, it probably includes a high level of activity. Walking up a flight of stairs rather than taking the elevator, speeding up the pace while mowing the lawn, getting up to change the TV channel rather than using the remote, and doing housework vigorously all burn extra calories.
Actually, it may even go beyond that. In studies of calorie burning by individuals placed in a controlled respiratory chamber environment where calories consumed, motion, and overall activity were measured, it was found that some people are better fat burners than others. It is possible that low fat burners may not produce as many of the enzymes needed to convert fat to energy. Or they may not have as many blood vessels supplying fatty tissue, making it tougher for them to deliver fat-burning oxygen. Or perhaps in some subtle ways, these people just manage to burn more calories through extra motions. Clearly, any form of activity that helps the body burn additional calories helps maintain weight.

Smoking
Women who smoke tend to weigh 6-10 pounds less than nonsmokers. After quitting, weight generally increases to the level found among nonsmokers. Weight gain after smoking cessation may be partly due to nicotine’s ability to raise metabolic rate. When smokers stop, they burn fewer calories. Another reason former smokers often gain weight is that they generally eat more after they quit, to satisfy free-floating cravings.
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WEIGHT CONTROL: ENDOCRINE INFLUENCE AND PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS

admin — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 17:14:19 +0000

Endocrine Influence
Over the years, many people have attributed obesity to problems with their thyroid gland. They claimed that an underactive thyroid impeded their ability to burn calories.
This belief substituted an organic cause for individual responsibility for obesity. How many obesity problems may justifiably be blamed on a poorly functioning thyroid? Most authorities agree that less than 2 percent of the obese population have a thyroid problem and can trace their weight problems to a metabolic or hormone imbalance.

Psychosocial Factors
The relationship of weight problems to deeply rooted emotional insecurities, needs, and wants remains uncertain. Food is often used as a reward for good behavior in childhood. As adults face unemployment, broken relationships, financial uncertainty, fears about health and other problems, the bright spot in the day is often “what’s on the table for dinner” or “we’re going to that restaurant tonight.” Again, the research underlying this theory is controversial. What is certain is that in mainstream America, eating tends to be a focal point of people’s lives, and the comfort foods of childhood may provide a salve for painful social pressures. Eating is essentially a social ritual associated with companionship, celebration and enjoyment. The intimate dinner for two, the office party complete with snacks, and the picnic at the beach all center on eating. Is it any wonder that for many people the social emphasis on the eating experience is a major obstacle to successful dieting? Although some restaurants offer menu items designed to aid dieters, many people have difficulty choosing responsibly when confronted with an entire menu of delicious, fattening foods.
Some theorists have contended that obese people tend to ignore internal cues of hunger and are more likely to the clock as a guide for “time to eat” than real hunger cues, studies refute this hypothesis.
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MANUAL MEASURES OF BODY MASS AND FAT MASS

admin — Fri, 08 May 2009 12:06:18 +0000

The value of skinfold measurements. Skinfolds represent a relatively simple method of measuring general fatness and fat distribution. The validity of skinfold measures in the hands of an experienced measurer in people who are not excessively obese can be quite high, however reliability is quite variable, depending on the measurer, and sensitivity quite low. Skinfold measures may be useful for elite athletes, or for testing small amounts of fat losses after a significant amount of fat has been lost. They have little value, though, for the very overfat or obese mainly because:

• It is difficult to get accurate measures on extremely large folds of fat

• Extrapolation of skinfold to body fat percentage have little meaning at the higher levels of measurement.

• The measurement of skinfolds is relatively invasive and can be potentially embarrassing for a very fat person.

The value of skinfolds as a measure of body fat in those who have a high level of fat, therefore, is highly questionable, both practically and theoretically. However, they do have some value with the moderately overweight and with athletes (at least where sums of skinfold only are used), they are not recommended in dealing with overfat or obese subjects.

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FEED YOUR BODY RIGHT: SHE LOST WEIGHT WITH BEN AND JERRY

admin — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 03:51:22 +0000

Ten years ago, Karen Nitkin had a bedtime routine that was making her fat. Instead of sleeping, she would head to the kitchen and scarf down pints of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, frozen Snickers bars, and spoonfuls of peanut butter. Today, the 32-year-old resident of Tallahassee, Florida, is 40 pounds thinner, sleeps like a baby—and still eats Ben & Jerry’s.

Her secret: She stopped starving herself.

After gaining 40 pounds during her freshman year of college, Karen was desperate to fit back into her smaller-size clothes. So she started dieting.

For breakfast, she’d eat a small bowl of cereal with skim milk. Lunch would be a small salad with just a dollop of dressing on the side. For dinner, she’d have a plain baked potato.

She’d struggle through the day, feeling hungry nearly all of the time. Late at night, hunger pangs would get the best of her, and she’d raid the fridge.

The next day, she’d vow to do better. Breakfast would be a grapefruit; lunch, a carton of yogurt. Still not eating enough food during the day, Karen continued to binge at night. And the more obsessed she became with losing weight, the more she gained.

After graduating from college, Karen got a job as a newspaper reporter and met the man who would become her husband. Together, they took long walks, played tennis, and went for hikes in the woods. “Once I realized that he loved me despite my weight, I was able to start loving myself,” Karen says. “I stopped obsessing about every bit of food that went into my mouth.”

She began eating sensible meals—a bagel for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, maybe some pasta for dinner. Fruit and yogurt became snacks, not meals.

By eating healthful foods in sensible portions, Karen felt satisfied rather than hungry. Her nighttime binges soon ended, and the weight started coming off.

But Karen hasn’t forsaken Ben & Jerry’s. Only now, instead of eating a whole carton, she dips out a small amount and gives the rest to someone else.

WINNING ACTION

Don’t forbid yourself the foods that you love. Like Karen, one of the most important lessons that I needed to learn was how to enjoy “forbidden” foods without bingeing. Telling yourself that you can’t eat certain foods

is a sure way to set yourself up for a binge. If you follow the principles of my Ten Commandments of Weight Loss on page 1, you’ll learn how to eat in moderation. That may sound foreign now, but you can change.

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