Archive for Weight Loss
Health benefits of moderate exercise
Posted by: | CommentsA new study finds that moderate exercise may be able to provide better protection against diabetes and heart disease than a more intense workout regimen. Researchers from the Duke University Medical Center report that “a modest amount of moderately intense exercise is the best way to significantly lower the level of a key blood marker linked to higher risk of heart disease and diabetes. Some of the benefits achieved through moderate exercise seem to last much longer than the benefits gained through more intense training”
Exercise did not significantly changed the levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL cholesterol). Duration and intensity of exercise did improve levels of high-density lipoprotein. Low amount/moderate intensity exercise significantly lowered levels of triglycerides, which is correlated to a person’s risk for diabetes and heart disease.
I think that “intense” exercise (e.g., interval training) has its role in a well-balanced fitness program. It increases a person’s anaerobic energy system, and creates a margin of safety from a functional standpoint. IMHO, one is better able to handle the occasional physical stresses in daily life much more effectively. Strength training would also be a necessary component in creating an optimal exercise routine.
Is moderate exercise helpful?
Posted by: | CommentsCurrent recommendations for 30 minutes of moderately strenuous exercise at least five days of the week is a reasonable goal. However, few people meet this requirement. Now a small study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health indicates that even relatively low levels of weekly exercise can positively impact high pressure and improve overall fitness.
The research indicates that even half hour of walking done three time as a week has some effect of pressure and waist/hip measurement to affect the risk factors related to cardiovascular mortality.
Personally, I think it all comes down to creating a positive habit of engaging in even mild to moderate exercise on a daily basis. I think it’s easier to form daily rituals compared to a “3 to 4 times a week” exercise routine. It’s better to pick a modest goal, of say 15 to 20 minutes brisk walking on a daily basis, then stick to it for a few months. Only when this ”minimum habit” is solidly in place can one then think of increasing intensity and/or duration.
Paleo diet and weight loss
Posted by: | CommentsThe first controlled study (Lund University in Sweden) of a Paleolithic diet in humans (lean meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, root vegetables and nuts, avoiding grains, dairy foods and salt) vs a Mediterranean-like prudent diet (with whole-grain cereals, low-fat dairy products, fruit, vegetables and refined fats) — reveals that the former diet is healthier. (Surprise, surprise…)
The research group concludes that something more than caloric intake and weight loss was responsible for the improved handling of dietary carbohydrate (i.e., better glucose tolerance). The main difference between the groups was a much lower intake of grains and dairy products and a higher fruit intake in the Paleolithic group. Substances in grains and dairy products have been shown to interfere with the metabolism of carbohydrates and fat in various studies.
Bottom line: Avoid dairy, limit grains, and stick with vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts and seeds. Limit total intake of animal product to 10% of calories.
Appetite and weight loss
Posted by: | CommentsResearchers from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine have identified taste receptors in the human intestines, and this could be an important discovery in the treatment of obesity and diabetes:
“We now know that the receptors that sense sugar and artificial sweeteners are not limited to the tongue. Our work is an important advance for the new field of gastrointestinal chemosensation – how the cells of the gut detect and respond to sugars and other nutrients,” said Robert F. Margolskee, MD, PhD. “Cells of the gut taste glucose through the same mechanisms used by taste cells of the tongue. The gut taste cells regulate secretion of insulin and hormones that regulate appetite. Our work sheds new light on how we regulate sugar uptake from our diets and regulate blood sugar levels.”
“This work may explain why current artificial sweeteners may not help with weight loss, and may lead to the production of new non-caloric sweeteners to better control weight. Sensing glucose in the gastrointestinal tract is the first step in regulating blood sugar levels.”
Personally, I think the elimination of any form of refined sugar (and artificial sweeteners) in one’s diet is probably the key turning point in transforming one’s diet. Eliminating sugar from my diet (about five years ago) started me on the path to healthy and mindful eating. I’d have to admit (given my addiction to sugar) that it was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done, and certainly something that I’m quite proud of as a personal accomplishment.
Quick & easy weight loss veggie soup, variation 2
Posted by: | CommentsThis is another quick and easy nutritious veggie soup I made. Its a big batch, so I freeze the rest and thaw out as needed.
100 grams (g) red lentil
178 g onion, minced
578 g brocolli (sliced, 1 inch pieces)
216 g green pepper, diced
287 g baby bokchoy, chopped
406 g zucchini
882 g tomato, chopped
95 g green onions, thinly sliced
10 g garlic minced
Spices, to be freshly ground in a coffee grinder: 1 tbs each of cumin, coriander, fenugreek; 1 tsp each of black mustard, black peppercorn.
Mix all the ingredients in a soup pot, add enough water to make 16 cups of soup. This translates to about 65 calories per cup.
Quick & easy weight loss veggie soup recipe
Posted by: | Comments746 grams (g) tomato, cubed
152 g watermelon, chopped
648 g red cabbage, thinly sliced
200 g onion, thinly sliced
241 g frozen peas
546 g tofu (firm, whole block) cut into 1/2 inch cubes
335 g lettuce (sliced). This is my leftover lettuce — not too fresh for a salad, but not inedible either. (You can use whatever leafy greens you have in your fridge.)
118 g apple, diced
30 g garlic, minced
Spices, ground altogether in a coffee grinder: 1 tbs each of cumin, coriander, fenugreek; 1/2 tbs each of fennel seeds, black mustard seed; 1 tsp whole peppercorn
Add water enough to make about 18 cups, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat to lowest setting and simmer for about 20 minutes.
This is under 70 calories per cup.
Weight loss wisdom
Posted by: | CommentsAncient wisdom:
Watch your thoughts, they become words.
Watch your words, they become actions.
Watch your actions, they become habits.
(To this we can add:
Watch your habits, they become who you are. Weight loss, health, and fitness is really just a matter of structuring our actions consciously and consistently so that we develop habits that create a healthy life
Why diets fail
Posted by: | CommentsAccording to Dr. Michael Dansinger of the Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston, a typical diet helps people lose an average of 6 percent of their weight, typically 10 to 15 pounds (5 to 7 kg), and most people put it all back on after five years. Weight loss drugs are similarly ineffective in the long run.
The approach most people use, i.e., managing the macronutrient percentage and/or caloric level, is an incomplete and unsustainable strategy for the most part. Tweaking carbs vs fat vs protein percentages is not addressing the core problem.
People need to create a lifestyle that sustains eating behavior from a “micronutrient” (or a “nutritional density”) perspective. When this is accomplished (more effectively, through a combination of self-monitoring, social support, and continued study and application of palatable recipes that are nutrient rich), the appropriate macronutrient and caloric levels follow.
What is particularly troublesome is that of course most “diets” will fail. How can they not? Most of them do not utilize correct scientific nutritional findings, much less manage the eating behavior in the context of sound cognitive-behavioral principles. Most people are not aware of the stages of change model (Prochaska), and its applicability to changing nutritional habits. Neither are they familiar with the very practical work done by Daniel Kirschenbaum regarding the ‘key truths” about lifelong weight management. Lastly, they have been mostly misled by the plethora of scientifically misleading approaches that in time has already acquired the patina of truth, but are blatantly wrong…
A quick and easy way to lose weight
Posted by: | CommentsWeight loss can occur effortlessly by simply avoiding or minimizing:
- processed foods
- sweets, and other “foods” containing sugar
- white bread and pasta (substitute whole-grain varieties instead),
- foods with a high percentage of calories from fat,
- alcoholic drinks.
In this approach you simply become more conscious of those items that change you body and brain chemistry, more aware of controlling portion sizes, while simultaneously adding more vigorous exercise (a total of 2 to 3 hours a week) to the mix.
In this moderate, “sensible,” watch-what-you-eat approach, you gradually replace poor food choices with healthy ones. You’re likely to decrease overall caloric intake, and with the addition of regular cardio and strength exercises several times a week, you’ll naturally enter into a caloric deficit.
In my opinion and experience, this conservative approach could be effective in slightly overweight people wanting to lose around 5 to 10 percent of their body weight. There is a tremendous payback for this strategy, since even a 10% loss of excess fat (especially if it’s in the abdominal area) yields tremendous health benefits.
Weight loss strategies from the masters of weight control
Posted by: | CommentsFrom the National Weight Control Registry (people who have successfully lost more than 30 pounds and kept it off for a year): “Almost all patients who successfully maintained long-term weight loss used both diet and physical activity to lose weight. These people also shared strategies for maintaining the weight loss: eating a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet; eating breakfast almost every day; weighing themselves frequently; and engaging in 60 to 90 minutes per day of moderate-intensity physical activity. Although we do not know for certain, we think that this behavior probably led to their success in keeping weight off. These characteristics could be effectively used as components of programs for helping overweight and obese people to achieve and maintain weight loss.”
