School of Weight Loss

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has created guidelines for adults on what physical activity can be done to help them lose weight. The report called Be Active Your Way: A Guide For Adults shows you how to find ways to bring physical activity into your daily routine.

The guidelines are a part of the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans and it is geared for adults 18 to 64. Physical activity is defined as anything that moves your body, or exercise. The emphasis is on doing activities from working out in the yard or walking the dog to those that are considered exercise.

The point of the guide is to give you an understanding that doing anything physical will help. Activities like a brisk walk, swimming, dancing, playing sports or bicycling are some examples. Combined with strength training activities you can create an overall body workout very easily.

The booklet is made in four parts:

Part 1: Getting Started — this gives information to people who have had little or no physical activity. They explain the benefits of physical activity and address several reasons why people do not do it. They also give you guidelines for how to approach physical exercise in non-threatening ways.

Part 2: Making Physical Activity a Part of Your Life
This section was written for the individual who is already doing physical activity and wants to increase their time or the amount they do. They also give you alternatives to going out and buying equipment if you want to use weights. If you are wondering how much exercise and what type you should do each week the answer is in this section.

Part 3: Keeping It Up, Stepping It Up
The recommended guidelines for aerobic activity are 2 hours and 30 minutes a week. Of course this means to spread your activity over the course of a week. One way to do this is to increase the way that you do your workout. Instead of only doing a moderate workout, they say to do more vigorous work a couple times a week. You can also add a third day of strength training activities. You can mix up your workout routine by playing different sports, dancing or taking an aerobic class.

Part 4: Being Active For Life
This last section is more of a synopsis of the other three sections, but it also gives you an idea for keeping a chart that tells you what you are doing and why you are doing it. This is a way to remain interactive with your learning to do exercise on a daily basis.

These guidelines are the first of their kind that gives you comprehensive information based on research studies of human exercise and physical activity. It is user friendly and free so you can download your own copy to study. It gives you a variety of ideas to make physical activity more fun. A good exercise program always goes well with proper nutrition to get the most benefit for weight loss.

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Measuring body weight is a difficult task because all of the measurement tools leave out important information. If you are someone who steps on a scale everyday this can be disheartening because your weight will fluctuate. The reason it fluctuates is because the scale measures your entire body and not just the fat.

Other people turn to The Body Mass Index (BMI) thinking that this will tell them more information. This is another inaccurate measure because it measures your height vs. your fat but it cannot tell the difference between body fat and muscle. So, you are still in the dark.

What people are finding is that this information may not mean a lot when you are working with your body and its weight. These can be a good starting place, but they are only part of the big picture when it comes to working with weight loss.

Here we list the upside and downside of each system so you can be prepared if you use them:

Scales
Scales are the number one tool that most people use to determine whether they have lost or gained weight. Scales cannot tell the difference between the components of your body so it weighs in as a solid substance. Scales are easy to use and you can buy them anywhere. The downside is that the scale cannot tell you the distribution of your body weight.

Body Mass Index(BMI)
The newest way for doctors to determine whether an individual is obese or not is to use the BMI Index. The purpose of this index is to measure the amount of fat on your body. Depending on what they find you can be categorized into being overweight, obese or morbidly obese. The index uses a ratio of fat to height but it cannot tell the difference between fat and muscle. This means that if you have a lot of muscle it will over estimate your body fat; it also underestimates body fat for the elderly who have lost muscle mass.

Dexa Scans
The Dexa scan offers a low-radiation x-ray of the entire body. This has traditionally been used to see osteoarthritis, but it also is very accurate in computing body composition by measuring body mass, bone mass and lean mass. The challenge is that the scan isn’t always covered by insurance, and it can be quite an out of the pocket expense.

Although all of these different ways to measure body fat can be helpful, they are not as helpful as discovering other risk factors. Many doctors use this as just one of the many ways that they determine what to do to help someone lose weight.

Family history, high cholesterol, a tendency towards heart disease or diabetes can all be ways to encourage an individual to lose weight without these other methods. The best idea is to talk to your doctor before you start any weight loss program. They are basically the ones that can tell you what you need to do for your specific body type.

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Please note that I am not a fan of cutting calories for weight loss purposes, but this topic intrigued me for health reason so I decided to post it.  I think there are ways to get these same health benefits described below without cutting calories.

Just when you thought you had heard everything there is, a new study that tells us that cutting calories can actually help improve memory. This is particularly helpful for people over 50 who start to have challenges with remembering.

The study that appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Journal was done by researchers at the University of Munster. The study consisted of three groups of 50 elderly people with an average age of 60 years. They split the volunteers into three groups: Group 1 received a balanced diet with a normal number of calories, Group 2 received a balanced diet that added a high amount of unsaturated fatty acids and Group 3 received a calorie restricted diet.

This study carried out for awhile and after three months each group was given a memory test; the third group performed better than the other two on the test. This third group also showed physical signs of less inflammation and lower insulin levels which according to researchers, could explain why their memory was better.

The researchers feel that this information can help develop better strategies for adults as they age, to create better cognitive health. Eating a restricted calorie diet also needs to make sure that the individual receives the proper vitamins and minerals that are consistent with their needs. These were supplemented to the volunteers as necessary.

This information was not given so that people will rush out to create restricted calorie diets. This would be dangerous because the restriction would be different for each person, and they really need to be seen by a doctor. Instead, the research gives insight into what can happen for a variety of illnesses.

As an example, people suffering from Type2 Diabetes can improve their memories and drop their insulin levels by restricting their calories. Of course this too should be done under the direction of a doctor, but it is important to recognize this as a first step.

The reason researchers started this study was because they found that rats who received a diet fewer in calories by 30% seemed to improve their memory. We are not sure how that related to humans, but they decided that they should at least try to see if this also made sense.

Other physicians warn that this is only part of the picture and that there needs to be more study in the area to be certain that this works. They also caution that people who are at average weight or who are under weight should not use this type of diet.

Whether it improves memory or not it does seem that losing weight can help eliminate several health problems. There are studies that have been done to show that loss of even 10 pounds can lower blood pressure. This new study just adds to the fact that losing weight and getting into shape can assist in many ways that may not have been known prior to now. It will be interesting to see what they find out as they continue this research.

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Weight loss is a craze in the United States rather than something important for most people. There are many who want to lose those 10 or 15 pounds of unsightly fat and others who want to lose more.

Most people spend a lot of time talking about it instead of changing their lifestyle, so they actually start losing. There are many ways that people sabotage their efforts over time.

Since so many people are focused on losing those extra pounds you may wonder why they aren’t successful. Here are a few reasons that sabotage people from their weight loss goals and what you can do:

Reason #1: They Go In With The Wrong Attitude
Many people want to lose weight, but they do not want to deal with the fact that it will require a change in attitude. They want to comfortably look like they are trying to shed extra pounds but in reality it doesn’t matter to them much. They would rather eat the unhealthy foods than to work for their goals.

What you can do: If you fall into this category take a look at your reasons for losing weight. Do you want to look your best? Is it for overall fitness? Or is it just to say that you are doing something? The way you feel about the whole weight loss agenda will determine whether you stick to a diet or not.

Reason #2: Failure to Adopt a Different Lifestyle
It is common knowledge that in order to lose weight you have to adopt a different lifestyle. If you continue eating the way you have been eating or ignoring exercise you will either maintain your weight or not lose anything. You will need to make some changes in order to move forward.

What you can do: Check out the FDA’s Food Pyramid and the Glycemic Index. Both have guidelines for the different types of foods to eat. Instead of eating fast food, replace it with snacks from these two guidelines. Learn to eat five or six small meals so that you do not get hungry during the day. Experiment with new foods, especially in vegetables and fruits to see what you like best. Consider the things that you would like to do once you get to your goal weight.

Reason#3: Failure to Exercise Properly
Exercise goes along with proper nutrition in order to get your body moving and help it burn fat. Unfortunately most people do not like exercise and it seems easier just to sit around and watch television. You don’t have to do anything fancy and many things can be done at home.

What you can do: Instead of worrying about it find an exercise that is fun for you to do. There are a variety of things you can try. Start at home by investing in a full program like the Turbulence Training Program that can get you started and moving well. This will work if you have just a little motivation to get started.

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Most Americans know that obesity is something that plagues the United States. There is so much talk about it and so many news articles that you cannot help but see that this is a problem. Statistics show that at least 10-15% of overweight people are considered morbidly obese. When obesity continues, it creates other health problems like high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease.

For many Americans the idea of losing weight has failed. They have attempted several types of diet programs, they work out regularly, and they have changed their eating habits to accept more nutritious foods. For some reason, none of these things work to lose weight so they follow the final alternative which is Bariatric Surgery.

Although this has become a multi-billion industry for the surgeons who do the surgery, the individuals who elect the surgery still have to deal with learning how to lose weight after the surgery. Weight loss does not automatically happen afterwards, and they still have to watch what they eat.

The challenge for most is that after the surgery there are several psychological things that happen that no one really prepares them for, because the process is different for each person. If you are considering bariatric surgery, here are some things to consider before you do:

Ruen Y Gastric Bypass
Often people how have gastric bypass have challenges because this is a surgery that actually creates a pouch, so that you can only eat certain amounts of food. This cannot be reversed easily and it is something that most people have to live with for the rest of their lives. This can often be difficult when it enters into everyday life.

What Happens After Surgery
After surgery there are times when the individual may find they are grieving the loss of their old life. They can no longer eat as much as they used to and they cannot eat certain foods. The attitude must change in order to have a full life in this new lifestyle.

With Gastric Bypass they will have to limit the intake of food but it doesn’t mean they cannot eat some of the foods they once enjoyed.  Sometimes they will fell depressed when they go to a family gathering when they cannot eat like they once did. However, in the long run the surgery helps develop better eating habits.

After surgery it is also important to add exercise to increase weight loss. With the bypass surgery weight loss is very fast and it is very noticeable. Exercise will help stop flabby and loose skin as well as creating an opportunity to become fit. A good way to start is with an exercise ball and a DVD at home. Once exercise becomes routine walking or bicycling can also be added to create an overall fitness plan.

The bottom line is that when considering this surgery you also have to consider the fact that it is permanent and that you will have to change your lifestyle and your attitude in order to accommodate this new feature.

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Millions of Americans are overweight by at least ten pounds. This means that at any given time there are millions of Americans looking for ways to lose those extra pounds and create a shapely figure. They may start out doing well and then something happens, and they stop.

Weight loss doesn’t have to be a problem if you understand more about it. Your mindset has a lot to do with what will happen in your body, and if you only think that you are being deprived of food, your weight loss program will fail.

Weight loss is a billion dollar industry which shows you how much people are interested in the subject. The challenge is that most do not know that they can do simple things to lose weight.

If you are looking for a weight loss program here are some tips to find one that is right for you and that is healthy:

Put safety first – Although you might not think about safety in a diet plan it is as important as any other type of safety. A weight loss plan should include the essential vitamins and minerals that your body needs. Most often you will get these from the foods that you eat instead of taking dietary supplements. If you are counting calories it is a good idea to check with your doctor about the amount of calories that are right for you.

Slow and steady wins the weight loss – Just like the story of the Tortoise and the Hare, slow and steady progress is better than rapid weight loss. Many programs say they can lose weight fast which can be good for some but difficult to others. A weight loss of about a pound or two a week is sufficient.

Commercial Weight Loss Programs Vs. Natural Weight Loss
There are thousands of people using commercial weight loss programs every day. These are very costly when you add the cost of membership and the cost of buying special food. Statistics show that these types of weight loss programs are not working for the average person, unless they have a lot of internal motivation to do them.

A better idea is to create your own program that includes eating more vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and low calorie beverages. You can use the FDA’s Food Pyramid and the Glycemic Index as your guides for better nutrition and weight loss.

Attitude and Weight Loss
The mindset that you go into any weight loss program with will determine how successful it is for you. If you decide that you are depriving yourself of certain foods chances are you will eat those foods anyway. Instead, look for ways to improve your overall nutrition, and you will see your weight drop.

You might also try an exercise program that fits with your needs. There are a variety of in home programs that will help you get into shape in your own living room. They can provide support through the program and keep you going whether you have a few pounds or many pounds to lose.

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If you are running after the best diet in town it is time to stop. Yes, stop because it can be damaging you more than you think. There are a lot of methods that say they are the best way to lose weight and when it comes down to it, the old fashioned ways of diet and exercise always does the trick.

There are a number of natural weight loss techniques that are simple and available to everyone and they do not cost as much as some other plans. By doing simple things every day you can decrease your weight easily and more effectively than using any prepared diet plan.

Natural Weight Loss And Nutrition
When you want to lose weight the natural way it is important to understand what to eat and what not to eat. The Food and Drug Administration has set guidelines for what to eat with their Food Pyramid. If you take the Pyramid and look at it, you will see that it basically comes down to lots of fruits and vegetables and then your grains and other foods.

Most fitness experts find that snacking on whole fruits and vegetables is much better than eating processed snacks. Instead of going to the grocery store and buying prepackaged foods because they are faster, it is more important to find whole foods. A trip to the health food store will find the whole foods that are free of chemicals and preservatives. Although a little pricier they help you stay full longer. Add fruit, nuts, vegetables and a little protein to your diet and you will see the weight come off.

Drinking plenty of liquid is also very important because your body needs liquid to function. The more liquid you drink the better you can eliminate waste from your system.
According to the Institute of Medicine, men should consume about 13 cups (3 liters) of water and women should consume about 9 cups (2.2 liters). This is not only water but also includes low sugar and low fat juices and teas. Stay away from the diet sodas (studies show they actually help you gain weight) and high sugar drinks.

Natural Weight Loss and Exercise
As always you will need to do some type of exercise if you want to lose weight and stay fit. Many people find that exercise at home, works for them. Many start out with something simple like resistance bands or energy balls. Once they understand how to use these well they may add walking or bicycling as a way to get in their aerobics. Choosing more than one type of exercise keeps you from being bored.

One of the things that exercise does for you is to eliminate stress. Stress is one of the biggest contributing factors to weight gain because of the release of hormones that are detrimental to your system. If you make sure you get exercise at some point in the day you will be sure to cut the stress down, and you may eliminate it all together.

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Losing weight has been a priority in the United States for many years as children and adults weigh in heavier than in other countries. Exercise is a very important part of weight loss and it is important if an individual wants to live a healthier lifestyle.

Many people worry that if they workout too much they will damage their joints, and it could lead to arthritis. However, a recent study says that a healthy joint will benefit from exercise and it will not damage them.

Normal Joints and Exercise
According to a study by German and American doctors that was published in the Journal of Anatomy, if a person has healthy joints they are not at risk of developing arthritis, if they exercise. In fact, it can only enhance them.

According to Dr. David Hunter, the lead researcher in the study the only people that are at risk of arthritis are those who already have an injury. If they had problems with joints, the individual already had an injury that they may not have been aware of as they continued to exercise. This is shedding light on the fact that intense low impact exercise will not damage already healthy joints.

The study also showed that the exercise was even more important to those with healthy joints because it helped them physically and mentally.  The doctors noted that obesity is the cause of most osteoarthritis and that people should lose weight in order to take the stress off their joints.

Arthritis and Exercise: Is It Safe?
People wonder whether they should exercise if they already have arthritis and doctors say “yes.” The point is that joints are supposed to move, and if you do not move them, they have a tendency to get stiff. In the case of arthritis joints can actually be helped by exercise instead of hindered.

One of the major reasons to exercise joints is to maintain flexibility. An individual can also decrease pain increase strength and lower fatigue, with exercise. Doctors have always said that osteoarthritis benefits from some exercise, and now it is the same for any type of arthritis.

Regular exercise also makes the tendons and the muscles around the joints become stronger. Exercise on a regular basis will also increase the blood flow to the cartilage in the knees and make them stronger.

Won’t Exercise Make The Joints Hurt More?
This is what many people think, but doctors say this just makes them feel better. Muscles become weaker without exercise and stronger with it. This means that if you can create some low impact exercise your body will respond to it better. Also, it is important to set realistic expectations when you are exercising. A mild form of exercise that includes aerobic activity and strength training can be all that you need.

As you work with your joints it is a good idea to talk to your doctor and get help in understanding your limitations if you already have joint injuries. Start with simple exercise like using an exercise ball first and move forward as you can.

And as a final note, be sure to stretch after every workout.  Getting a massage or a little shiatsu every now and then isn’t a bad idea either.

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One of the most embarrassing things for anyone is incontinence. As people get older, both men and women can suffer from it. If you watch television you will now see several commercials about the problem and how drugs can assist with it. This is a nationwide problem for many people.

In a recent clinical trial that was funded by two departments in the National Institute of Health, it was found that obesity can be the cause of some incontinence. The suggestion is that if some people, particularly women, lose weight their incontinence will stop.

The clinical trial called, The Program to Reduce Incontinence by Diet and Exercise (PRIDE) was conducted with 338 women who found they were incontinent at least 10 times each week. They choose women in Providence, Rhode Island and Birmingham, Alabama. They assigned women to one of two groups: a 6 month weight loss program that included nutrition, behavior modification and exercise, or a group that only received information about diet and exercise with no training.

The results of the trial were stunning, but not surprising. The group that received the diet, exercise and nutrition training lost more weight than the other group and decreased their episodes of incontinence by 47%.

According to research on incontinence, more than 13 million women in the United States, suffer from it. According to the study a large portion of healthcare cost — $20 billion annually — is put towards treating incontinence. Up until this study the link between obesity and incontinence wasn’t known.

The researchers continued to monitor the women for six months and they found that the women in the first group that were trained around nutrition and exercise were more satisfied with their results than those who only received information. This is to be expected we would think since the second group wasn’t given a way to fix their challenge.

Behavioral Interventions and Weight Loss
There is a strong body of research that shows that weight loss responds to behavioral interventions. In most studies that interventions have to change with modifying the way that people think about dieting, exercise and food as well as learning to eat differently. Those programs that work actually help people understand the difference between eating well and eating poorly.

Within the process they are educated about diet and exercise and how the lack of it can lead to other types of health problems like high blood pressure, type2 diabetes and heart disease. With this information and changes in the way they think about diet and health many people are finding that weight loss is easier.

The bottom line seems to be that if people are going to lose weight they need more information about nutrition and exercise. They also need to modify their behaviors around eating and about the choices they make with food.

This study about obesity and incontinence also supports the fact that the more information an individual has about weight loss the better equipped they are to make behavioral changes.

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A question that many people wonder about when they are undergoing healthy weight loss challenges is, “Does self-control really supersede temptation?” This is a long debated question by many people who deal with weight loss and weight training.

There have been studies done around the area of will power, and most say that healthy weight loss isn’t a matter of whether a person has the will power to withstand eating nutritionally; it is more about the choices that people make in what they eat.

So the question still remains, “Does a person’s self-control give into temptation or does self-control make it possible to not give in?” This is rather like the chicken and the egg question. This question has finally been proven through a study done by three psychologists that was reported in Psychological Science Journal. What the three psychologists found was that if given a choice, most people will take what is healthier than what is not, if they have a strong reason for doing it.

Their study looked at temptation through the eyes of counteractive control theory which says that desire is deflated when temptation is available, but there is also an ability to pursue more important goals. In the case of the girls in the study, their goal of being healthy was stronger than their desire to eat chocolate; hence the choice of healthier power bars over the chocolate.

What the psychologists found interesting was that even when they gave students in another study a chance to blow off a boring course by choosing a fun leisure activity, the students stuck with the course. It seemed that they were more interested in completing the course that was required for their degree.

This phenomenon has the psychologists baffled because in one sense, this could mean that dieters need to have food available to them, so they do not eat it. However, it could mean that they just need to have a desire that is greater than the need for the sweet, or the binge.

Obviously, this is a study that needs to be looked into more because people are different. Perhaps they are on to something, and it just needs to have more information brought forward. Everyone has a desire that is unfulfilled, and it could just be that the desire for weight loss isn’t as great as the need to binge on foods that aren’t available.

Dealing With Temptation
There are many ways that people deal with temptation. Some people have learned that if they get into situations where food becomes an issue they can make the situation more fun. As an example, if you have family members that push you to eat, find other ways to be with them. Start a garden or go out once a week with them to a movie.

Also look for supportive friends who want to change their lives. You can both exercise together or eat nutritional foods together instead of hanging out with friends who don’t want you to change. You will find that this strategy has you feeling better and looking great.

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