Posted By Stuart on July 2, 2009
I weighed in this morning at 102.2kg which means in the first four days of taking Alli I have lost a total of 1.8kg or four pounds. I have been eating two pretty big meals a day with a pill to go with each and no snacks. We are having a bit of a heatwave here so my exercise routines have pretty much stopped.
No treatment effects (poo-ing in your pants) so far and it seems to be working. More updates to follow.
Posted By Stuart on July 2, 2009
The UK Independent has an interesting take on the move of Celeb desined clothing ranges to the world of plus size fashion:
Beth Ditto is known for her idiosyncratic rock yodel, her sexual preferences and, of course, her habit of taking her clothes off on-stage. She isn’t one to hide her lights under a bushel, nor is she one to hide her bushel under the stage lights. Fans and critics alike have been treated to the most intimate details of her (under)garments, and now high street shoppers will be too.
Her new range of clothing for plus-size chain Evans goes in-store nationwide next week, and begs the question, does Beth really know best? Yes, she has a, er, bulk of experience behind her, in terms of being one of very few larger recognisable pop culture personalities, but she takes dressing for your shape to a whole new level. Ditto regularly used to perform in swimming costumes, leotards and all-in-one skintight lycra suits, before she ripped them off and flung them at her adoring public. The one hook that should bolster these clothes is actually just a patronising bit of tokenism: Beth Ditto is not a trained designer, she’s just not thin.
Read more here.
Posted By Stuart on June 29, 2009
I have just started taking Alli. So far one day in nothing much has happened. I ate a pretty high fat meal last night - every Sunday I have a Chinese meal with my daughter. But no “Treatment Effects” occurred. Treatment Effects is the official euphemism for making an oily mess in your pants. Alli works buy preventing the digestion of some of the fat you eat and as a result that fat is excreted making your poo a little difficult to control. The situation is obviously worsened by a high fat meal.
I have started out weighing 104kgs and I have 42 pills which should be enough for about thee weeks so I will see how I do.
Posted By Stuart on June 25, 2009
Great article here from the Epoch Times:
Weight control receives a lot of attention from doctors and other health professionals, scientists, and the media, a reflection of the fact that there are burgeoning rates of obesity in industrialized countries around the world. While a number of dietary approaches have been advocated for weight loss, my preference is for diets that are relatively rich in protein and low in carbohydrate. And one major reason for this is the fact that, calorie for calorie, protein sates the appetite generally more effectively than fat or carbohydrate. Therefore individuals who up their protein intake often find they are eating less because they’re less hungry.
However, how much satisfaction is derived from a meal once it’s eaten and for the next few hours will not depend solely on its protein content (and how much is eaten, of course). Fat and carbohydrate can also have distinct effects on feelings of fullness too. Fat, for instance, can stimulate the secretion of the hormone cholecystokinin from the small intestine, which helps to keep the appetite sated. Carbohydrates are important too, and studies show that those that release sugar relatively slowly into the bloodstream (lower glycemic index carbs) are generally more satisfying than those that release sugar more quickly.
One reason for this relates to the fact that faster sugar-releasing carbohydrates tend to cause the secretion of larger amounts of insulin, which can drive blood sugar levels down to lower-than-ideal levels. The end result can be a ravenous appetite and sometimes craving for carbohydrates (often something sweet), about two to four hours after a meal. Even slower-releasing carbs can have this effect if we eat enough of them.
I was interested to read about a study presented yesterday at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C. The study assessed the effect on satisfaction of two diets of different macronutrient composition. One diet provided 55, 27, and 18 percent of calories from carbohydrate, fat, and protein respectively. The other provided 43, 39, and 18. In other words, one diet offered less carb and more fat than the other. The diets were not designed to lead to weight loss and were each tested for one month.
The results of this study have been reported to show that those eating the lower-carb diet reported feeling fuller for longer after a meal. One of the authors of this study, Dr. Paula Chandler-Laney, reportedly commented that this effect might have to do with blood sugar control. It’s possible that it might also have something to do with the higher fat in the lower carb diet. Dr. Chandler-Laney also commented that a moderate reduction in carbohydrate intake may make individuals less susceptible to weight gain because of the effect such a diet may have on feelings of fullness and presumably overall food intake. And she’s right. But the other thing here is that less carb and less insulin in the body will likely mean less fat accumulation in the body for biochemical reasons that were explored in previous articles.
Posted By Stuart on June 24, 2009
In plagiarism news we now hear that The View co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck has been targeted in a lawsuit over claims she copied her diet book from another author’s work. The TV personality’s The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide release has been a huge hit, hanging around America’s best-sellers list over the recent months.
But the diet guide hasn’t been a hit with one person - fellow author Susan Hassett has filed a lawsuit claiming Hasselbeck plagiarised her book, Living With Celiac Disease. In documents filed at a Massachusetts’ federal court, Hassett claims the star copied her book “word for word” and “includes dozens of paraphrased as well as word for word regurgitation’s of phrases”. The suit adds that the organisation of the Hasselbeck’s release is also similar to the working of Hassett’s.
What really tickles me is that these celebrity books are not usually actually written by the celeb in question. The are often “ghosted”. So poor Elisabeth may have paid someone to write the book for her and now this happens! Poor dear!
Posted By Stuart on June 23, 2009
Here is a great article from the Vancouver Sun:
‘You’re worth more than tea and toast.” That’s what dietician Diana Steele tells seniors when they show little interest in cooking or eating well. When they tell her they don’t have the energy or motivation to cook dinner, Steele counters with an alternate plan: cook your hot meal at lunch, rather than dinner.
“A lot of seniors become more fatigued around 4 or 4:30 in the afternoon and they don’t feel like cooking dinner at that time,” Steele said. “So I say, ‘You’re worth more than tea and toast and you should be cooking your hot meal at lunch, when you have more energy.”
Maintaining good eating habits in old age is a challenge for many seniors. Whether they suddenly find themselves living alone, are too tired to cook the elaborate meals they once cooked, or are new to the idea of cooking, eating well can seem like a daunting task. It can seem much easier to fix tea and toast or a cheese sandwich than a full balanced meal. But Steele insists that eating well does not need to be complicated, and she notes that it is vitally important to maintaining energy levels and general good health.
Seniors need to ensure they’re getting enough nutrients and enough calories. Steele emphasizes the importance of protein, calcium, iron, fibre, vitamin B12, zinc and vitamin D. The protein requirement is two servings per day for older women, and three servings per day for older men. But Steele wants to remind people that meat is not the only food that contains protein. One serving of protein is equivalent to “two eggs, a quarter cup of nuts or seeds, two tablespoons of peanut butter, or three quarters of a cup of beans.”
Tofu is another good protein option, but is an unfamiliar food to many seniors. “I know it’s not something that seniors think of eating on a regular basis because, especially here. They didn’t necessarily grow up with it,” Steele said. She recommends blending tofu into a tomato sauce or fruit smoothie for those who are hesitant to try it. Even though seniors have long since stopped building bone mass through calcium consumption, Steele says people need more calcium as they get older to slow the rate of bone loss.
“It’s not likely that they’re going to be able to consume yet another glass of milk,” she said. “So I get them on a calcium supplement.”
But she also points to foods that are rich in calcium, such as yogurt, cheese, canned salmon with bones (which are soft enough to crush up and eat with the fish), almonds, and dark green leafy vegetables.Just thinking about all the essential nutrients and how to squeeze them into one’s diet can been exhausting enough to inspire a nap, which is why Steele emphasizes alternatives to cooking every single day. She is a big advocate of cooking extra portions so that you can refrigerate or freeze the left-overs and eat them later. Just don’t leave the leftovers in the fridge for more than a few days.
The whole thing is worth a read.
Posted By Stuart on June 21, 2009
Amanda Ursell has a great piece on the new eco-Atkins in The Times. Here is a selection:
I’ve heard that there’s a veggie version of the Atkins diet. Would it help me to lose weight quickly before my holiday next month?
The diet you’re referring to is the Eco-Atkins plan, which has just been researched by Dr David Jenkins and his team from Toronto University — the people who first brought us the low-glycaemic way of eating and the cholesterol-busting Portfolio eating plan. They have discovered that you can still lose an average of 8½lb within four weeks, which is similar to the original Atkins, through swapping animal protein for vegetable protein in the form of soy, nuts and gluten (the protein in wheat), with the added bonus of significantly lowering bad cholesterol levels and blood pressure.
A typical, traditional high-protein, low-carbohydrate Atkins-style diet will certainly help you to shed pounds rapidly, but is likely to also raise your “bad” LDL cholesterol levels. Even though the Atkins people now promote the use of lean cuts of meat and more fish rather than cheese and sausages as ways to pack in the protein, the diet still seems to have a negative effect on bad cholesterol.
The million-dollar question, of course, is how easy is the Eco-Atkins plan to follow? While you can live a relatively normal life on the standard Atkins diet by having, for example, scrambled eggs for breakfast, lots of salmon with a little bit of salad for lunch and a big juicy steak with a few florettes of broccoli for dinner, you will undoubtedly have to work harder at making the “eco” version work.
Breakfast, for example, would need to be something such as oat bran with soy milk followed by specially formulated, gluten-enriched nutbread with tomatoes and avocado. For lunch you could have vegan-style chicken and turkey breast slices with more nutbread, tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, cucumber and almonds and for dinner you could rustle up a pearl barley and tofu stir-fry using aubergine, onions, pepper, broccoli and cauliflower. Snacks would need to consist of strawberries and almonds.
Unlike the original Atkins plan, which allows just 20g of carbohydrate in its initial phase, this essentially vegan-based version increases the intake of carbohydrate to 130g, a level that is now considered by the Institute of Medicine in America to be the minimum needed (most of us eat much more than 250g daily). This higher carbohydrate intake means that your body is unlikely to go into the state known as ketosis, considered to be a key advantage of the Atkins diet because it helps to keep you feeling full. The good news however is that in spite of not triggering ketosis — which gives you that unpleasant Atkins breath — Eco-Atkins dieters still felt satisfied, probably because of the fibre-packed foods.
Jenkins acknowledges that sticking strictly to his Eco-Atkins plan may be hard, but he thinks that even if people occasionally stray, they are still likely to take some of its rules into their everyday life and so reap benefits for their long-term weight and cholesterol. And as he points out, it could benefit both sustainability and humanity; music to the ears of Paul McCartney and fellow vegans and green campaigners everywhere.
Posted By Stuart on June 17, 2009
This from the Daily Telegraph:
A team of experimental psychologists found evidence that some efforts to prevent obesity could have a counter productive effect. The researchers led by Dr Jeff Brunstrom, a lecturer at Bristol University, found that people who were offered special low calorie foods were more likely to help themselves to larger portions.
Volunteers were given 18 different types of food but they quickly worked out the calorie content and measured their portions depending on how full they thought they would be. In many cases they overcompensated and ended up with as many calories as if they had not gone for the “diet” option.
There is more detail in the article linked to above. An obvious way around this problem is to hand your food a diet choices over to a reputable Doctor certified programme such as Medifast - who currently are offering $50 off any purchase of $275 or more! Use Coupon Code: June30C the offer is good until 6-30-09.
Posted By Stuart on June 16, 2009
The editor of fashion bible Vogue has accused designers of forcing magazines to hire skinnier models to fit the clothes they make. Alexandra Shulman has taken on the world’s top fashion houses claiming the clothes they make have become ’substantially smaller’. She says many of the garments sent out to magazines before photo-shoots are so small they do not even fit the star models.
In a strongly-worded letter that was not intended for publication, she said she had been forced to hire girls ‘with jutting bones and no breasts or hips’ simply so they could get into the garments. In an amazing change to what has become the usual practice, she said Vogue magazine was now regularly retouching photographs to make models look bigger and healthier.
‘We have now reached a point where many of the sample sizes don’t comfortably fit even the established star models,’ read the letter, which was sent to the likes of Karl Lagerfeld, John Galliano, Prada and Versace. Shulman goes on to say, ‘Instead we are having to use girls with jutting hip bones and no breasts or hips, to fit them. Nowadays I will often ask the photographers to retouch to make the models appear larger. ‘I am finding that the feedback from my readers and the general feeling in the UK is that people really don’t want to see such thin girls in either editorial or advertising.’
Last night leading industry figures hailed her intervention as a new war on the size-zero fashion industry. Supermodel Erin O’Connor hailed Ms Shulman’s stand as ‘a huge breakthrough’.
Garments are typically cut to fit the models who will wear them on the catwalk six months before the items appear in store, however limited budgets often force fashion houses to cast ‘new faces’ in their shows. Such models are usually young and underdeveloped, so lacking in more womanly curves. Immediately after the catwalk shows the same samples will be sent to magazines to shoot. But as the sizes are so small, editors have no choice but to hire models who fit the clothes otherwise they will not be able to publish the latest collections from designers.
Ms Shulman, who has edited the magazine for nearly 20 years, told The Times how she found herself asking photographers not to make the girls look so thin. ‘Quite often I hear the fashion editor say when talking about one model or another “I don’t think she will fit the clothes”. Some of the girls she was talking about were already very thin.’ She added that newer celebrity models such as Daisy Lowe and the Geldof sisters were not the kind of thin that would fit into designer samples.
Vogue fashion booking editor Sophie Baudrand added that she had been required to find girls who were 5ft 10in tall, with 23-in waistlines. There are more than 1.1 million people suffering from anorexia or bulimia, according to Beat, the eating disorder charity. Emma Healey, director of operations of Beat, said today:
‘This is very welcome. The whole controversy over size zero models has been a wake up call. British fashion is leading the way on this, and it is very encouraging to see Vogue, which is THE fashion magazine, taking a stance like this.’
Baroness Kingsmill, who lead the 2007 model health inquiry on behalf of the British Fashion Council, said the stand taken by Shulman was an ‘encouraging sign’ from one of the fashion industry’s ‘leading lights’. Stephen Kolb, of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, said: ‘If a stylist is casting models that are unhealthy they shouldn’t work with them.’
I wonder how it is even possible to be 5′10″ and have a 23″ waistline. I don’t understand that at all. However, on an unrelated note, this whole “love larger people” thing has turned into a “hate on skinny people” thing, which is just as unhealthy and inappropriate.
Posted By Stuart on June 14, 2009
From the Department of the Bloody Obvious we have this cutting edge report:
Young adults who regularly feast on takeaway or takeout food tend to have less healthy diets and larger waistlines than their peers. Abdominal obesity is considered a key risk factor for type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Past studies have suggested that people who regularly consume fast food, typically burgers, fries and pizza, tend to have poorer diet quality. Young adults are high consumers of takeaway food. Not many studies have investigated the associations of takeaway food consumption with overall diet quality and abdominal obesity. To examine this, researchers from Australian identified 1,277 men and 1,585 women aged between 26 and 36 years.
The participants were asked to complete questionnaires on demographic and lifestyle factors; a 127-item food frequency questionnaire; usual daily frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption and usual weekly frequency of takeaway food consumption. The researchers asked participants not only about fast food, but also about takeout from Chinese, Thai and Indian restaurants. Nearly 38 percent of the men ate takeout at least twice per week, as did 18 percent of the women.
The researchers compared the participants’ dietary intake with the dietary recommendations from the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating. Moderate abdominal obesity was defined as = 94 cm for men and = 80 cm for women. It was found that those who ordered takeout at least twice a week were less likely to get the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy and whole grains. They also tended to eat too many desserts and high fat, high-salt snack foods.
Moreover, among frequent takeout eaters, 25 per cent of women and 31 per cent of men more likely to be moderately obese around the middle than those who had takeout once a week or less often. Takeout customers tended to be less physically active and watch more TV than those who got takeout once a week or less often. They were also younger, on average, and more likely to be single.
But even when the researchers considered those factors, as well as participants’ employment status, higher takeout consumption remained linked to a higher risk of abdominal obesity. The above findings suggest that reducing takeaway food consumption or choosing healthier takeaway food options may improve diet quality and prevent obesity.
You heard it here first - eating rubbishy junk food may make you fat!
Posted By Stuart on June 13, 2009
1. The most important tip is to enjoy your food. Having a little of what you fancy really does help in keeping to a healthy diet. But too many indulgences will only make you feel unwell over time. Keep some foods as occasional treats, so they retain their value as something to look forward to.
2. Eat a variety of foods from the main food groups to ensure your diet contains as many different nutrients as possible. A balanced diet means lots of fruits and vegetables and enough starchy foods for energy (grainy or brown carbohydrate foods are particularly healthy). It also means having some calcium-rich foods such as dairy foods (or calcium-fortified soya products) and protein foods, such as meat, fish, eggs or vegetarian protein foods such as lentils/beans or meat substitute products. A balanced diet does not mean all of these food groups at every meal, rather all of these over most days.
3. The advice to try to reduce salt applies to the whole population, so try to become ’salt aware’ and cautious with the amount added during cooking or at the table. If food seems to taste a bit bland, there are lots of ways to add flavour: adding spices or dried/fresh herbs during cooking, or using a dash of lemon juice or vinegar adds interest to meals. Watch out for some of the pre-mix seasoning packets: many of these also contain a lot of salt. Many products have information about salt content on the front of the packet (either as a traffic light guide or as a flash with the percentage of salt in a portion of the product): try to choose products that contain less salt.
4. Drink adequate amounts – this does not just need to be water, although the stuff out the tap really is the best way to hydrate. Cups of tea or coffee or well-diluted squash are all excellent ways to get enough fluid. Fruit juice/smoothies are fine in small amounts, but they can be a concentrated source of sugars and calories, and are not always as hydrating. It is important to drink a bit more in hot weather. If your urine is a pale-straw colour, then you are drinking enough.
5.Vitamin D is a really important nutrient for bone health. Many people get vitamin D from exposure of skin to sun, so getting out-and-about on a sunny day is good advice. However, skin becomes less efficient at producing vitamin D as you get older, and official advice states that everyone over the age of 65 should take a daily supplement of vitamin D (10 micrograms per day). Fortified margarine, oily fish and eggs are among the few foods that contain vitamin D, so try to eat some of these regularly.
6. Fibre, fibre, fibre. The best way to increase your fibre intake is to have oats/grainy-brown cereals for breakfast, and then lots of fruits and vegetables/salads throughout the day in any way you like. Fruits can be tinned, stewed, mashed or baked; vegetables can be tinned or from frozen, in soups/stews or as sides. Drinking enough helps fibre to fill out. If being constipated is a problem, choosing a bran cereal for breakfast is helpful, as is choosing wholemeal bread.
7. It’s a good idea to keep a stock of basic food items so that you can eat well even if you can’t get to the shops. It is helpful to have foods in the cupboard that are easy to open and quick to prepare; tinned and long life foods are especially useful. Keep a list of usual favourite foods to allow family members/carers to more easily buy foods you like, if you are feeling unwell. Local grocery stores may also be able to deliver food to you, if you are unable to get to the shops.
8. Try not to skip meals. It is a good idea to have breakfast, and if appetite is low, to have light snack meals later in the day (rather than eating late at night and then not being able to face morning food). The tea-and-biscuits diet is not a good way to develop good health: if you cannot face a cooked meal, then snack on small portions of nutritious foods such as tinned fruit, custard, egg and toast or a small portion of plain rice/pasta/cous-cous (with a few beans/tomatoes for colour and flavour). This is especially true if you are underweight – being a healthy weight (not overweight or underweight) can help to keep you well.
9. Alcohol is a friend and a foe. Small amounts of wine with meals can add to enjoyment of the food, and also help slumber and relaxation. However larger amounts of alcoholic drink depresses appetite and depresses mood, and regularly drinking to excess leads to many health problems. If you enjoy alcohol with meals, try to keep to the safe drinking limits, and try to have a least several days a week without booze.
10. Supplements can be helpful, but these products do only ’supplement’ nutrients in the diet; they do not replace many of the essential components found in a variety of foods. A vitamin D supplement is highly recommended, and if appetite is poor, or getting enough of some food groups is a challenge, then a general one-a-day multivitamin product gives some reassurance of adequate intakes of some nutrients. Fish oil supplements are popular, and are also a useful additional source of omega 3 fatty acids (especially for people who are not keen on the one-a-week portion of oily fish recommended for good health).
Posted By Stuart on June 11, 2009
A B&Q worker who once weighed 14 stone and was a size 18 is pursuing a place in the Miss World contest after shedding nearly six stone. Natasha Suliman, 22, put herself on a DIY diet of fruit and vegetables along with plenty of exercise. She slimmed down to eight and a half stone and had to buy a whole new wardrobe of size 8 clothes.
Natasha Suliman before losing the weight
Miss Suliman’s bosses at the DIY store in Llanelli, West Wales, thought she could be another type of B&Q, a Beauty Queen, and put her forward for the Miss Carmarthenshire contest, which she duly won. The victory puts her through to next month’s final of Miss Wales in Cardiff, where a win would see her have a shot at being crowned Miss World. So impressed were B&Q that they signed her up for their latest TV advertising campaign.
Natasha after losing nearly eighty pounds.
Miss Suliman, who also plans to go to university to study politics, said:
‘Less than two years ago I was a bit of a blob. I was eating all the wrong things and the most glamorous thing I ever wore was my orange B&Q uniform. But I saw my reflection at work one day and decided it was time for a change.’
Helen Porter, B&Q store manager in Llanelli, said: ‘Natasha has worked for us for four years and we’ve seen her flower into a beautiful young woman.’
Posted By Stuart on June 10, 2009
A group of Canadian researchers announced this week, that a similar version of the Atkins diet may not only help people lose weight, but also can help them lower their levels of bad cholesterol. The small study was done of a diet called the Eco-Atkins diet. This particular study only was a month long, but the results of it look good for those individuals that are struggling with obesity and high cholesterol.
The researchers discovered that this vegetarian, low-carb diet reduced levels of LDL, low-density lipoprotein, which if levels are high, it adds the risk of strokes and heart attacks. The study also provided signs of lowering blood pressure in the participants.
The researchers had a total of 44 overweight men and women that participated in the study. They divide the group into two groups of 22 people. One group ate the Eco-Atkins diet for 4 weeks, which is consisted of cutting out carbohydrates and eating more meat; the other group consumed a low-fat, high-carb diet that was based on whole grain and low-fat dairy products.
After the month was over with, individuals in both groups lost about 9 pounds. The group on the low-carb Eco-Atkins diet showed a lower level of LDL and lower blood pressure than those that ate the high-carb diet.
The experts say that the results need to be confirmed in studies that are longer and a bit larger, but the results of this study are very encouraging. Though the far larger studies done for Medifast, who now have a special deal offering $50 off any purchase of $275 or more! Use Coupon Code: June30C which is good until 6-30-09 more enticing
Posted By Stuart on June 9, 2009
Here is a fascinating article in the New York Times. We think that our children will learn from our good dietary habits, but it appears that we may be wrong.
Parents may try to set an example by eating a healthy diet themselves, but a new study has found that their children are not paying attention. Researchers studied a nationally representative sample of adults ages 20 to 65 and their children 2 to 18, a total of 2,291 parents and 2,692 children, tracking their eating habits with questionnaires. They found little resemblance between the consumption of total energy, carbohydrates, saturated fats or polyunsaturated fats by children and their parents, although children’s diets were slightly more likely to resemble their mothers’ than their fathers’. The study was published online in Social Science and Medicine.
Level of parental education and socio-economic status made little difference. Unsurprisingly, the older children were, the more likely they were to differ from their parents. As children get older, the authors suggest, peers become a much stronger influence on food consumption.
“This suggests that parents don’t play as large a role as people have thought in their children’s diet,” said a co-author of the study, Dr. Youfa Wang, an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “Most parents are not doing as good a job as they should.”
Posted By Stuart on June 8, 2009
As we know, the Medifast Diet program’s premise is fairly simple. Frequent small meals with high levels of protein and low levels of carbohydrates put your body into a state called ketosis. This state encourages your metabolism to increase and causes your body to use it’s own fat stores for energy. The frequent meals (usually six times each day) help to keep you from feeling hungry, so there is less of a chance of eating foods not on the plan. Now the people at Medifast are offering $50 off any purchase of $275 or more! Use Coupon Code: June30C. The code is good until 6-30-09.
Medifast products were originally only available through physicians (hence the name), but are now easily obtainable online. The basic plan, called the 5 and 1 Plan, involves using Medifast’s meal replacements for five daily meals and consuming one main “lean and green” meal you prepare yourself that consists of a protein source and lots of vegetables. Meal replacement options include soups, chili, shakes, oatmeal and bars. Most products require very little preparation, which is optimal for fitting the five small meals into a busy lifestyle. All of the Medifast Diet meal replacements are vitamin-and mineral-fortified to ensure proper nutrition, which can be difficult to achieve when following a diet plan due to calorie restrictions. To read more click on the Medifast Specials.
Posted By Stuart on June 8, 2009
Great story in the Miami Herald about Charles Platkin - a Diet detective. More of a diet enforcer to my mind but he seems to work:
If nothing else works, Charles Stuart Platkin, the Miami Beach-based ”Diet Detective,” will badger you into losing weight. There was Jennifer Cadle, 276 pounds. He bought her a huge chocolate cake — her weakness — and had her cut a big slice and put it in a box. ”You’d have to walk 2 ½ hours to work that off,” he told her. Then he made her walk the 2 ½ hours carrying the boxed slice of cake.
”At least let me eat the cake,” she pleaded.
”You’re not eating that cake,” he barked.
At 399-pound Micah Molinari’s house, Platkin purged the refrigerator of fattening foods and poured a gallon of rum down the drain.
”That hurt,” Molinari recalls. “I do enjoy my cocktails.”
Both interventions were public — featured on Platkin’s WE-TV cable network program I Want to Save Your Life, a reality show for the overweight that airs at 10 p.m. Saturdays. He makes no apology.
“These people have really reached the last straw. They’re looking for help.”
His diet plans seem pretty standard — avoid red meat, eat chicken, fish and vegetables, egg whites, oatmeal, skim milk and such. His exercise plans seem unremarkable, too — walking, core training, yoga, Pilates. Motivation is the key for Platkin, an associate professor of public health at Florida International University and the author of five books, including The Diet Detective’s Count Down and The Diet Detective’s Calorie Bargain Bible, both published by Simon and Schuster. He also writes a newspaper nutrition column and dispenses advice at his website, www.dietdetective.com.
Platkin pries into his clients’ lives to see what’s important to them, then persuades them they’re going to lose it if they don’t take off pounds. It worked on Molinari: “I have a 5-year-old daughter, Sydney. She’s my life. I need to be healthy so I’m there when she needs me.” He lost 100 pounds in 17 weeks.
Read more here.
Posted By Stuart on June 6, 2009
I love donuts. While I’ve never been a huge fan of Krispy Kreme (I think I actually prefer the regular MacDonalds ones) they are pretty good. This story from the Washington Post has given me cause for some concern:
You know Krispy Kreme doughnuts are bad for your arteries. But the delectable sugar-bombs are apparently lousy for sewer pipes as well, according to Fairfax County. In a lawsuit filed this month against the company, the county says that doughnut grease and other waste from a plant in Lorton have clogged up the county’s sewage system, causing $2 million in damage. The county is seeking to recoup the cost of the repairs and another $17 million in civil penalties.
The problems began in 2004, shortly after the plant opened, when the county’s public works inspectors began noticing “deposits of doughnut grease and slime emanating from Krispy Kreme’s doughnut production plant,” according to the suit, which was first reported by the Examiner.
The muck got so bad that a nearby pumping station began reeking of doughnuts, and a camera inserted into one of the pipes “got stuck in the grease, preventing inspection of the remainder of the line,” according to the suit.
Posted By Stuart on June 3, 2009
Medifast - $50 off any purchase of $275 or more! Use Coupon Code: June30C good until 6-30-09
Posted By Stuart on June 2, 2009
Unlike this charming lady, I am a pretty sweaty fellow. Its not nice but it is true so I was surprised to hear from Consumer reports that I should be applying my antiperspirant at night:
So-called clinical-strength antiperspirants …come with instructions that they be applied before bed for “maximum” protection from wetness and odor. … Even regular-strength antiperspirants work best when applied to underarms at night, experts told us. Bedtime application “really is the best way to use an antiperspirant,” says Daivd Pariser, M.D., president of the American Academy of Dermatology.
At night, when people perspire less, more of the antiperspirant’s aluminum-based active ingredient is pulled into the sweat ducts. Because there’s more antiperspirant present, it more effectively plugs pores. That signals the sweat glands to reduce or stop perspiration. the effect lasts 24 hours or possibly longer, even after morning bathing. Eventually, the antiperspirant washes away. Blocking perspiration by plugging pores might sound unhealthful, but it’s not, medical experts we consulted say.
Not a heavy sweater!
Presumably this has been understood for a while? So why do I only hear of it today?
Posted By Stuart on June 1, 2009
This cute little girl is called Natsuko Sone and she is a famous professional speed-eater. She can eat 6 Kg (around 15 pounds) of curry and rice in only 23 minutes. She can eat 130 large shrimp in one sitting. She once consumed 40,000 calories in several restaurants in one night. She is pretty amazing and only 21 years old.
Natsuko Sone is known as Gyaru Sone and sometimes as “gal” Sone because the dyed blonde hair and heavy makeup and lacy, pastel colored clothes she wears are from a style called Gyaru / Gal that’s popular in Tokyo. On Friday night in Shibuya you can see dozens of groups of guys and girls dressed like this. Yes, those really are toys and fake diamonds manicured onto her nails. The thing I like about this girl is that she’s actually a certified chef and weirdly enough, she really looks like she’s completely enjoying every bite she takes even though she’s shoveling food into her mouth. She looks like she really enjoys eating and enjoys tasting her food. Try to find her on youtube. Most food-eating competitions are so disgusting that I can’t even watch them. I remember seeing hot dog competitions on television once where they were so messy and gagging. But Gyaru Sone makes this gross “sport” look like a magic trick and less like a gluttonous orgy.
The thing she’s most famous for happened at a women-only contest in Okinawa in 2006. Sone won the race and was filmed calmly reapplying her makeup after finishing first, even as the clock was still ticking. She’s also in a pop music group called Gyaruru.
Posted By Stuart on May 30, 2009
Men who are overweight in middle age but then lose it when they get older may have the highest risk of illness and death in later life, according to a study published this month in the European Heart Journal. The research, carried out by scientists in Finland, looked at how changes in men’s body weight throughout life affect their risk of early death.
It’s thought that people who are overweight are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease and other chronic illnesses. However, some evidence suggests that people who are overweight with chronic diseases may have a better chance of survival compared to normal weight individuals with chronic diseases. This is known as the ‘obesity paradox’.
The researchers looked at data from 1,114 men who were included in the Helsinki Businessmen Study. The men’s body mass index (BMI) and cardiovascular disease risk had been recorded at ages 25, 47 and 73. The researchers identified those men who had died and the cause of death. The data was separated into four groups according to the men’s weight: constantly normal weight, constantly overweight, normal weight in middle age and overweight in later life, overweight in middle age and normal weight in later life. Those men who were overweight in middle age but lost weight in later life had the highest risk of death in old age compared to the other groups. They also had a higher risk of cardiovascular disease in middle age.
Although the study suggests an increased risk of early death for people who are overweight in middle age and then lose it in later life, there is no reason why you shouldn’t maintain a healthy weight throughout your life. If you think you’re overweight and want to lose weight, you should visit your GP. Dr Mike Knapton, Associate Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation, told the Bupa health information team:
“I would still advise weight loss for my middle aged patients if they are motivated to do so, as overweight and obesity is associated with a range of long-term conditions - notably type 2 diabetes, low back pain and osteoarthritis.” He went on to highlight the benefits of physical activity: “A change in physical activity will improve the person’s ‘fitness’ with all the benefits associated such as improved exercise tolerance and improvements in general well-being.”
Posted By Stuart on May 29, 2009
City Chic recently hosted the finals of their nationwide search for a plus-size model to be the face of their fashion brand. Teaming up with BGM models Australia and internationally-renowned agency, Ford Models New York (their plus-size division) the audience watched as 10 very nervous finalists, selected from all over the country, strutted their stuff on the catwalk - all dressed in fab frocks from, City Chic of course…
… and the big winner on the night was Veronika Cvak, 20, from Melbourne.
Posted By Stuart on May 29, 2009
Are there such things as workouts specific for golfers? You bet! Your golf swing is a very complex movement requiring good flexibility and strength in the joint and muscles involved due to the stresses and strains the motion puts on the body. Without this strength and flexibility, you would suffer a lot more golf-related injuries.
Thus, in golf workouts you work on the golf-specific movements your body makes when playing, on the flexibility in the muscles and joints, and the strength needed to maintain your posture prior to the swing or the putt, and to apply power to the clubhead and the ball. On the rotational movements your body makes.
A golf medicine ball can help improve your flexibility for golf. Anything that involves a twisting motion against a resistance will work. A dumbbell, a weighted club or a medicine ball are all suitable. You also have to have a resistance in order to improve your range of motion and your power. If you swing a weighted club you will turn more and also increase your power. The same will be achieved by making turns holding a 4 – 6 pound medicine ball. It’s the rotation in the exercises that will make the improvement, and the weight of the tool that will give the resistance required.
Unless you think everyone else is wrong, including Vijay, Tiger and Annika, it’s about time you did what most of the other successful golf professionals are doing. Golf workouts will make a massive difference to your game, giving you permanent improvements. Now, no more arguing! Get out there right now and get started!
Posted By Stuart on May 28, 2009
There is a great story on the BBC News site:
Imagine a typical lunchtime meal - say, chicken and vegetables with a glass of water. If you eat the food and drink the water, you will feel full for a couple of hours before hunger kicks in. But if you blend the food with the water - to make soup - you will stay hunger-free for much longer, and less likely to snack through the afternoon.
How can blending the food into soup make such a difference? The answer lies in the stomach. Scientists have used ultrasound and MRI scans of people’s stomachs to investigate what happens after eating solid-food-plus-water meals compared with the same food made into soup.
After you eat a meal, the pyloric sphincter valve at the bottom of your stomach holds food back so that the digestive juices can get to work. Water, however, passes straight through the sphincter to your intestines, so drinking water does not contribute to “filling you up”.
When you eat the same meal as a soup, the whole mixture remains in the stomach, because the water and food are blended together. The scientists’ scans confirm that the stomach stays fuller for longer, staving off those hunger pangs.
Posted By Stuart on May 27, 2009
To shed excess pounds, forget expensive commercial diets or diet pills; most successful dieters lose weight on their own, largely by eating right and exercising regularly, according to a survey by Consumer Reports. Their specific successful do-it-yourself weight loss tactics are unveiled at www.ConsumerReportsHealth.org. A total of 21,632 subscribers to Consumer Reports were asked recently about their lifetime weight history and their eating, dieting and exercise habits.
The “always thin” group - those who had never been overweight — made up 16 percent of the sample, while “successful losers” made up an additional 15 percent. Successful losers were defined as people who, at the time of the survey, weighed at least 10 percent less than they did at their heaviest, and had been at that lower weight for at least 3 years.
“Failed dieters” - those would said they’d like to slim down yet still weighed at or near their lifetime high — made up the largest group at 42 percent. The remaining 27 percent of respondents, such as people who had lost weight more recently, didn’t fit into any of the categories.
Among the “always thin” group, only 3 percent said that they never exercised and that they ate whatever they wanted. In fact, the eating and exercise habits of the vast majority of the “always thin” group mirrored the eating and exercise habits of the “successful losers,” a finding that downplays the idea that people who are able to stay fit and trim have a genetic edge.
Both the “always thin” and the “successful losers” say they regularly eat healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and stay away from excessive dietary fat. They also practice portion control and engage in regular vigorous exercise. The only advantage the “always thin” have over the “successful dieters” is that those habits seem to come a bit more naturally to them, according to Consumer Reports.
“When we’ve compared people maintaining a weight loss with (those) who’ve always had a normal weight, we’ve found that both groups are working hard at it; the maintainers are just working a little harder,” Dr. Suzanne Phelan of the California Polytechnic State University and co-investigator of the National Weight Control Registry, which tracks people who have successfully maintained a weight loss over time, noted in a Consumer Reports press statement.
According to the magazine, more than half of “successful losers” reported shedding the weight themselves, without the help of commercial diet program, a medical treatment, a book, or diet pills. This finding confirms a prior diet survey by Consumer Reports, in which 83 percent of “super losers” — people who’d lost at least 10 percent of their starting weight and kept it off for 5 years or longer — had done it entirely on their own.
Posted By Stuart on May 26, 2009
There is a great James Le Fanu article about the benefits of a wheat free diet in the Daily Telegraph:
Back in 1950 a family physician from Cleveland, Dr Lawrence Craven, noted that children who were prescribed aspirin to relieve the pain of having their tonsils removed bled more heavily at the site of the operation. If aspirin increased the risk of bleeding, he speculated, might it not also reduce the tendency for blood to clot, and thus the risk of a heart attack. He duly wrote a series of papers for obscure medical journals advocating the value of a small daily dose of aspirin. No one took any notice until 1971 when a British scientist, Sir John Vane, discovered the mechanism involved – for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize.
It was precisely the same story with another family doctor, John Lykoudis, from the small Greek town of Missolonghi, who realised that after taking antibiotics for a chest infection, the pain and nausea of his stomach ulcer had also improved. He inferred (contrary to the prevailing view) that the cause must be some (unidentified) bacterium and treated several of his patients accordingly with good effect. But again his many attempts to gain wider recognition for his discovery were ignored and he died a disappointed man in 1980. Four years later an Australian researcher, Dr Barry Marshall, discovered the bacterium H pylori that causes ulcers – for which he too was awarded the Nobel Prize. Amazing but true.
The recent description of the young woman whose tiredness and low mood unexpectedly improved on a wheat-free diet has prompted several readers to describe their similar experiences. Twenty years ago, when in her mid forties, Mrs Pat Turner became fed up with her recurrent migraines and decided to investigate whether they might be being precipitated by some component of her diet. She started by cutting out dairy to no good effect, but struck gold when she gave up bread, biscuits and other wheat-containing foods. “After several migraine-free weeks, I ate wheat again and back came the migraine.” Pretty conclusive.
Then, almost six months later, she began to notice that a whole series of other symptoms had also disappeared, including the gut problems she had previously put down to Irritable Bowel Syndrome and a long-standing recurrent blistery rash on her buttocks.
Posted By Stuart on May 25, 2009
Posted By Stuart on May 25, 2009
Some monkeys manage their diet in a similar way to humans, suggesting the origin of human obesity could go back earlier than previously thought, according to new research. Annika Felton, who spent a year studying the individual feeding habits of 15 Peruvian spider monkeys as they moved around the canopy of the Bolivian rainforest, found the herbivore monkeys controlled their daily protein intake in a similar way to humans. The findings could shed new light on the ancient origins of human obesity.
Dr Felton found the monkeys, who travelled between 2 and 6 kilometres a day, had a consistent daily protein intake of between 11 and 12 grams regardless of the season or whether they ate fruit only or added higher-protein leaves and shoots to their diet.
<”In the fruit season they can have a 100 per cent fruit diet and still get the protein they need but they do it by gorging themselves and eating [the low protein fruit] until they reach their protein target,” she said.
Dr Felton said like humans, if a monkey’s diet was poor in protein but rich in energy-dense carbohydrates and fats, monkeys will keep consuming food and energy until they reach their protein target. This can make for a high-energy diet, which can lead to weight gain.
“If anything, we as humans can learn from them,” she said. “It’s not the dieting, it’s the activity. We shouldn’t overeat in our quest to reach the protein target, which is what’s going on in many western countries.”
Sweden-based Dr Felton, a departmental visitor at the Fenner School of Environment and Society at the Australian National University, said humans’ susceptibility to obesity could date as far back as 40 million years, instead of about 10,000 years.
Posted By Stuart on May 24, 2009
There is a wonderful piece over a contexts.org which accompanies a series of beautiful pictures from a weight-loss camp in the Catskills, NY:
I know nothing about “fat camps,” but I have (rather thoughtlessly) simply assumed that they are oppressive places that punish and shame campers in support of a sizest status quo. But, after looking through Lauren Greenfield’s photographs of kids at a weight-loss camp in the Catskills, NY (below and here), I’ve started to think differently.
The pictures don’t seem to be of oppressed beaten-down kids. Instead, they seem to be having a pretty good time. Greenfield’s captions suggest that these kids feel more comfortable at weight-loss camp than they do in their “real” life because they’re around other people that are, in this important way, just like them. Images show them enjoying things they say they can’t do outside of camp (e.g., wearing a swimsuit), practicing (heterosexual) romance, and learning stuff that is fun or useful (e.g., tae bo, nutrition).
As Gwen pointed out, my critique of weight-loss camps was based on the idea that fat-shaming was more intense at weight-loss camp than it was elsewhere. If you think about it much, this is obviously false. There is plenty of fat-shaming everywhere. At least at camp, kids can potentially achieve a sense of normalcy and some solidarity with one another. So, without suggesting that there is nothing at all problematic about weight-loss camps, these images complicate simple condemnations.
Click here to see more of the photography.
Posted By Stuart on May 23, 2009
BBC News has a great story on the rise of making bets that you will lose a certain weight. The pressure comes from the fact that the money gets paid to a cause you dislike if you fail to reach your objective!
A new method of losing weight by betting on your own success is gaining popularity in the UK. Bet dieters join a website and make a commitment to lose a certain amount of weight over a defined period of time. Then, if they fail to meet their targets, money is withdrawn from their account and paid to a charity of their choice.
The scheme started in the US, but already has more than 1,000 followers in the UK. Not only are people who sign up hit in the wallet if they fail, their friends can get to hear about it via a group e-mail. In the US the scheme is said to be achieving success rates of up to 85%. All weight loss must be verified by a referee.
The founders say a particularly effective way to encourage people to lose weight is to get them to nominate a charity with whose views they disagree to receive money should they fail. Jordan Goldberg, co-founder of the StickK bet dieting website, said:
“The anti-charity aspect is where we take your money and we send it to an organisation that you oppose should you fail. We chose some highly contentious issues, for instance global warming, abortion and gay marriage. The idea is you choose an organisation whose views are contrary to your own as an added incentive to stay motivated to succeed.”
