Weightloss for Life

Use Mind Programming to Reach Your Weight Loss and Fitness Goals

ScienceDaily (Apr. 28, 2008) — The risk of heart disease in women associated with being overweight or obese is reduced but not eliminated by higher levels of physical activity, according to a new article.

Both obesity and physical inactivity are modifiable risk factors for coronary heart disease, according to background information in the article. “Obesity is recognized as a major public health issue owing to its dramatically rising prevalence and deleterious impact on many chronic diseases, including coronary heart disease,” the authors write. “In addition, the majority of Americans are inactive and not meeting the Surgeon General’s goal for adequate physical activity.”

Amy R. Weinstein, M.D., M.P.H., of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, and colleagues studied the interaction between these two risk factors in 38,987 women who were participants in the recently completed Women’s Health Study. At the beginning of the study in 1992, the women reported their height and weight (used to calculate their body mass index or BMI), the average time per week spent performing physical activities, other health habits and medical history. They were then followed for an average of 10.9 years and completed regular follow-up questionnaires about heart events and risk factors.

At the beginning of the study, 34 percent of women were considered physically active based on the Surgeon General’s guidelines, 31 percent were overweight and 18 percent were obese. During the follow-up period, 948 women developed coronary heart disease. Both BMI and physical activity were individually associated with the risk of heart disease. Risk was lowest for women of normal weight who were active, slightly higher for women of normal weight who were inactive, higher still for women who were overweight or obese and active, and highest for women who were overweight or obese and inactive.

Fat cells or adipocytes release chemicals that may have adverse effects on the heart by accelerating the hardening of the arteries and increasing inflammation, clotting and dysfunction of the blood vessels, the authors note. Physical activity, on the other hand, improves blood vessel function and reduces the risk for blood clots. “We postulate that the beneficial effect of physical activity may directly reduce and combat the ill effect of the prothrombotic factors released by adipocytes,” the authors write.

However, physical activity did not eliminate the negative effects of being overweight. “Even high quantities of physical activity are unlikely to fully reverse the risk of coronary heart disease in overweight and obese women without concurrent weight loss,” the authors conclude. “Regardless of body weight, these data highlight the importance of counseling all women to participate in increasing amounts of regular physical activity and maintaining a healthy weight to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.”

Journal reference: Arch Intern Med. 2008;168[8]:884-890.
This work was supported by research grants from the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.Adapted from materials provided by JAMA and Archives Journals.

By Karen Collins, R.D.
Special to msnbc.com
updated 3:33 p.m. CT, Fri., April. 11, 2008
 
Karen Collins, R.D.
The weekend: It’s the 48 hours we look forward to all week with grand expectations. These two short days can create an obstacle between you and your health goals, or they can become part of one of the best strategies for reaching them.

We say, “It’s the weekend, so I’ll treat myself.” Unfortunately, two-and-a-half days of excess can easily undo the benefits of eating healthfully the rest of the week. While an occasional indulgence is certainly okay, refrain from grabbing everything you see. Instead, choose a few selections that really give you pleasure and let other options pass.

While many dieters are wary of a “big splurge” like a cup of ice cream or a slice of pizza, an extra 400 or 500 calories – occasionally – won’t throw your weight loss efforts off course. Those who avoid what they really crave, however, often end up eating an extra 100-calories here and there, which, a dozen times throughout a weekend, can really add up. Dietitians often note that clients who don’t overly restrict themselves during the week, don’t head into the weekend feeling deprived and can better handle temptation.

Weekends are also a time when many of us consume greater amounts of alcohol. Those additional calories can add up quickly. One strategy: Choose lower-calorie choices like wine rather than mixed drinks with high-calorie mixers or double amounts of alcohol. Drinks that you sip slowly also make it easier to limit the amount you drink.

Also, be wary of portion size when drinking alcohol. One standard drink is a 5-ounce glass of wine, 12 ounces of beer or a 1.5-ounce shot of 80-proof liquor such as whiskey or vodka. Health experts recommend keeping it to no more than one standard drink per day for women and no more than two standard drinks per day for men. In addition, saving up a whole week’s alcohol quota for a weekend splurge is not recommended, both for the large load of calories added and for the negative health and social impact.

Maybe it’s time to re-think our definition of a “treat.” Instead of high-calorie food that offers little nutritional value, why not embrace the opportunity to try new foods? Sample an unfamiliar but tantalizing tropical fruit for a snack or dessert, or relax with a specialty tea? Better still, learn non-food ways to treat yourself like seeing a movie, exploring a new hiking trail or buying a bouquet of fresh flowers.

The weekend offers a great opportunity to get more active and enjoy the benefits that physical activity offers for weight control and disease prevention. Too often we pass up these opportunities because of mental or physical exhaustion and over-scheduled days. Instead of five hours channel-surfing, substitute a one-hour nap followed by a long walk or other activity. It’s fine to set aside a couple of hours to read or watch TV, but then get moving. Exercise is an established mood-lifter and energizer. You’ll be surprised to find your sluggish attitude melt away within minutes of getting active.

You can also use your time over the weekend to make healthful living during the workweek that much easier. Set aside half an hour over the weekend to plan workable menus for the coming week. Stock up on the groceries you’ll need for the week and avoid the stress of last minute shopping. Cook an extra meal or two and freeze them for use during the week. Pre-portion small bags of trail mix, nuts or other healthy snacks for the week ahead.

Weekends should be a time to relax and de-stress. Being active with family and friends, enjoying food that is delicious and nutritious, and getting ready for a healthful week ahead can turn our weekends into one of our best strategies for healthy living.

© 2008 MSNBC Interactive

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Weight loss programs abound and are promoted relentlessly in bookstores, on television programs and online. But, for most of them, there’s often a feeling that they lack a level of credibility. Though they offer countless testimonials from gushing success stories, they do so with a style reminiscent of infomercials; a style that may give some people pause before enrolling in their respective programs.

But, people continue to battle with their weight. They need help to lose that weight and live healthier lives. The Duke Diet has been helping people throughout the world do exactly that since 1969. In an arena that boasts new fad diets and diet programs each year, the world-renowned Duke Diet has become a mainstay for the entire industry. In this article, you’ll learn how the diet was created, how it works and how you can get started building a healthy life based upon the diet’s main tenets.

4 Keys To Living A Healthy Life

As one of the oldest, longest-running and most-respected weight management programs in the world, the Duke Diet was established in Durham, North Carolina in 1969. Departing from the paths taken by other diet programs, the Duke Diet takes a 4-pronged approach to helping others lose weight and live healthy, active lives. This strategy involves developing an eating plan customized for each individual, a fitness program, the opportunity to understand behavioral tendencies and medical advice.

The eating plan that’s designed for each person’s needs includes hundreds of recipes that offer delicious meals that make the dieter feel satisfied. In addition, people are taught to customize their own recipes, experimenting with a variety of tastes that may better suit them. Because the same healthy ingredients are used, dieters are encouraged to create different meals without the fear of using unhealthy foods to do so.

The Duke Diet places enormous significance on exercise. Believing that daily physical activity not only helps a person lose weight, but also improves the cardiovascular system, the experts behind the Duke Diet focus on stretching, cardio and strength training exercises. The fitness plans can be easily customized to each person’s ability.

Another unique component of the Duke Diet is its emphasis on how people relate to the foods around them. They understand that eating is often an emotional manifestation of other events. They feel that a diet program that focuses only on foods and exercise misses a critical element in helping people understand and control the emotions that cause them to eat unnecessarily.

Finally, the last segment of the Duke Diet encourages dieters to be aware of how losing weight affects their entire body. Conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure can be impacted based upon the foods we eat and the level of exercise we enjoy. They’ll provide you with the information you need in order to keep your doctor informed about your progress.

If you’d like to lose weight but are turned off by the infomercials and slick salesmen, the Duke Diet may be what you’re looking for.

Article Source 1: http://www.thearticlezone.com

Jim Mackey is a renowned dietician. He has been advising people on how to maintain a proper diet and how to lose those extra calories. If you want to know more about Duke Diet  ,weight lose,south beach diet,diet plans,diabetic diet you can visit www.dietsinreview.com 1

When learning about healthy eating, one of the most important nutrients is protein. Of course, all nutrients are crucial for our bodies to be as healthy as possible, but without protein in our diets every single day, our bodies will not be as strong as they should be. Protein can be found in a number of food sources, so if you’re interested in eating a healthier diet, you should consider learning more about protein.

 We need to eat foods rich in protein every day because, unlike some other nutrients, it cannot be stored in the body. That means that if you eat more protein than necessary, your body will simply cause it to pass through your system. Therefore, you really can’t eat too much protein! However, because protein cannot be stored in the body problems may arise surrounding this nutrient as well. If you don’t get enough protein on any given day, your body has no back-up plan for producing protein on its own or using reserved protein from previous days. Therefore, protein is very important to consider when you are planning your meals.

Essentially, protein builds muscles, which is why you will see bodybuilders especially concerned with protein. When you lift weights to work out, you body makes tiny tears in the muscles. Proteins are then used to repair these healthy tears in the body, building the muscle slightly bigger with every workout. Even if you do not work out, your body’s muscle deteriorates, as you body needs the energy. Muscle provides energy, just like fat. Having protein in the body helps you to rebuild any muscle lost.

Protein also helps a person’s body in other ways, mainly with the maintenance of hormones. Hormones in the body do a number of things, such as regulate organ function, account for stimulation, create metabolism, and affect mood. Proteins are used in the making of some of these different hormones, so if you go more than a day or two without eating foods rich in proteins, your entire body will suffer.

How can you make sure that you re getting enough proteins? Simply put, look for foods with protein as a key component on the label. Some great foods to consider include chicken, beef, pork, eggs, and fish, although vegetarians can also get proteins into their diets by eating nuts, beans, soy products, and a variety of other foods. You should have some of these foods in your diet every single day to ensure that you are providing your body with the proteins it needs to stay healthy.

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Do you want to lose weight? I bet you do and probably you’ve seen a lot of new “magical” weight loss products on the market, which actually are useless. It seems that people don’t understand that without hard work, they won’t be able to lose weight, even if they have the “magical pill”. Anyway in todays article I am not going to critique weight loss pills, but I am going to give you the advantages of boosting your metabolism and I will discuss, how this can help you to lose weight.

Boosting your metabolism is one of the best ways to lose weight and it is really sad that a lot of people don’t really know a thing about this. There are people who have heard about this, but anyway they don’t understand how metabolism works within the body and they think that it is just a waste of time. To make it sound simpler, lets say your body is a machine. If you would be trying to save money on gas for you car by mixing it with water or any other liquid, the car wouldn’t work well… If it ran at all, right? The same concept applies to your body. Too many people think that the only way to lose weight is to reduce the amount of calories you take everyday. This is not how it is.

When you reduce your calorie intake by high amounts, you simply cause your body to not run well. Unlike your car or any other machine though, the body is a smart machine. And it’s determined to make sure you stay alive at all costs, doesn’t matter if you will low on low calories or what so ever. So when your body hasn’t got enough calories it responds by going into something of a hibernation mode. It works to conserve as many of those calories it can, and it does this by reducing your metabolism. And when your body’s metabolism is low of course, it won’t be burning calories too fast, so it doesn’t matter that you’ve drastically reduced the calories you eat because the body is now using much less than it was before. Do you get the point? It doesn’t matter if you will reduce the calorie intake, you body will balance everything. If you will consume less calories, your metabolism will be slower.

You can force your body to use more calories though, just by doing more physical activities and being more active. And this is why every single weight loss plan or diet pill out there says that you’ll see the best results if you combine exercise into your daily routine. What many people don’t seem to realize though, is that by simply increasing their daily activities, they don’t technically have to reduce their calorie intake. Reducing calories and increasing activity at the same time will of course help you lose weight faster though.

You may be thinking, how you can boost your metabolism? Well there’s one simple way, which is not known to a lot of people. Basically, if you would start your day from a physical activity, like cardio exercises or something familiar and if you would exercise for at least thirty minutes - you would boost your metabolism for the next twelve hours. The common mistake a lot of people do, is that they are used to exercise in the evening and what are the results? Throughout that period of time, when your metabolism is boosted you watch evening news and you go to sleep. So, if you want to boost your metabolism you have do to physical activities in the beginning of the day.

Hopefully information in this article was helpful and now you will try to make your weight loss plan better. Boosting your metabolism is very important part of weight loss and it seems that a lot of people try to avoid this.

Was this article useful? Are you looking for more information on how you can improve your weight loss plan, especially if you just started to lose weight? Go to my web site and find out how I’ve lost 10 pounds in 7 seven days and how I can help YOU do the same. Sign up for free e-course at http://www.weightlossnewbies.com 1

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What happens if you decide to lose a significant amount of weight and you still don’t feel good about yourself.  Your hopes and dreams were to one day be slim and you are almost there and you hit the mental wall. I mean we are about to give up 10lbs from our goal, how does that happen. I’m not sure where or when we hit that big mental wall but if you can find the reasons to go through that tough spot you will be on the road to heights. You see we spend most of our time dealing with the external applications of dieting etc. but the real driving force is between the ears. What goes on in your internal dialogue will determine whether you move forward. So to do this we need to change the internal voice. This is done by taking in  good information, not much music but true motivational speakers or someone who has taken the same journey your on. We cannot rely on old information to guide or inspire you to this new goal in life. Being able to draw on sources outside yourself will only help to make you stronger down the road.

Richard