Trying to lose weight? Telling yourself it's hard might help
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Determined to lose weight? Reminding yourself of the challenges that lie ahead is key, according to a new study.
According to a new study, "you can't do it!" is the mantra that you should tell yourself when you start a weight loss program. That's not a joke, but a very serious — albeit accidental — conclusion reached by psychologists from Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA. Their findings have now been published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration — it's not that you should actively tell yourself that you can't do it, rather that the "you-can-totally-do-it-no-matter-what" type of cheerleading attitude doesn't seem to work. Instead, you might want to opt for a reverse psychology approach, where you remind yourself how monstrously hard it is to do what you're trying to do. The researchers stumbled upon this surprising finding as they were investigating something quite different. They wanted to see if, in the long run, changes in the so-called home food environment (HFE) would be better for weight loss than behavior therapy, which often involves the above-mentioned positive attitude. Of course, behavior therapy doesn't stop at having a positive mindset; it comprises a range of other components, such as goal setting, food intake and weight monitoring, physical activity, and group support. All of this is aimed at improving the self-control of those who are trying to lose weight. But, as we know from experience, this self-restraint is difficult to both achieve and maintain over time. This is why the researchers — led by Michael Lowe, Ph.D., a professor at Drexel University's College of Arts and Sciences — wanted to test a different approach. Testing three approaches to weight lossThe researchers divided 262 people who were obese and overweight into three different groups: one group underwent "classic" behavioral therapy, one group made changes in their HFE, and another group had their meals replaced with lower-energy ones. The team tracked the participants' weight over the course of a 3-year period, assessing them every 6 months. The HFE plan included a lot of nutritional changes combined with changes in choice architecture. The participants were given homework assignments to help them make these changes. In addition to these, the participants were also told what the rationale was for these changes. This is where they were constantly reminded of how challenging weight loss is, the important role of genetics, and how many other factors are outside of their control. Additionally, the participants had to acknowledge their weakness for certain foods. "We said, 'It's impressive and encouraging that you are taking this step to improve your weight and health, but we need to help you understand the daunting challenges you're facing,'" Prof. Lowe says. "The reason we did this was not to discourage them," he adds, "but to give them a more realistic sense of how crucial it is for them to make lasting changes in their parts of the food environment that they could control." "[By] contrast," write the authors, the behavioral therapy program offered "similar nutritional advice but spen[t] much more group session time teaching problem-solving to improve behavioral and emotional self-control skills." The meal replacement group only benefited from nutritional changes. Throughout the whole period, the researchers used mediation analysis to also evaluate the participants' cognitive restraint, or their ability to refrain from giving in to unhealthful food cravings. The reverse psychology that worksPeople in the HFE group lost more weight than people who underwent behavior therapy, but that's not very important because the difference was not substantial and all three of the groups quickly regained weight. Also, the main point of the study was to get the participants to make long-lasting changes to their food environment — and in this regard, the researchers did not succeed. But the good — and accidental — news is that cognitive restraint was much higher in the HFE group. These improvements were also the most long-lasting in this group. The researchers hypothesize on what might explain this effect, saying:
So, the bottom line is that if you want to start losing weight, try reminding yourself how immensely hard it is. However, you should also try not to remember that thinking that it's hard might make it easier because, well...that defeats the whole purpose. Good luck! Weight Loss via Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness News From Medical News Today http://ift.tt/O45xlc February 3, 2018 at 03:17AM
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How do crash diets affect your heart? Study investigates
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The idea of losing weight fast might be attractive, but people with a history of heart disease need to be extra careful, suggests new research.
Crash diets are very appealing to those wishing to lose weight fast — and that is most people. Are they healthful? And how do they affect the body? The National Institutes of Health (NIH) warn that they could be dangerous, depriving the body of essential nutrients, and that these effects are particularly worrisome in children and teenagers. Other adverse health effects that scientists have warned about include the slowing down of the metabolism, the weakening of the immune system, and the increasing chances of dehydration and arrhythmia. Now, new research — presented at this year's CMR conference, held in Barcelona, Spain — looks specifically at the effects of crash diets on heart health. Dr. Jennifer Rayner, who is a clinical research fellow in the Oxford Centre for Magnetic Resonance at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, is the lead author of the new study. She explains the motivation for the research and offers more context around this dieting practice, saying, "Crash diets, also called meal replacement programmes, have become increasingly fashionable in the past few years." "These diets have a very low-calorie content of 600 to 800 [calories] per day and can be effective for losing weight, reducing blood pressure, and reversing diabetes," Dr. Rayner adds. "But the effects on the heart have not been studied until now," she says. So, Dr. Rayner and team used MRI to examine the impact of crash diets on fat distribution and the good functioning of the heart. Crash diets: The good and the badTo this end, the researchers recruited 21 participants who were obese and aged 52, on average. For 8 weeks, they were fed a diet restricted to 600–800 calories per day. Dr. Rayner and her colleagues performed MRI scans at the beginning of the study, 1 week later, and at the end of the study. After just a week, body fat levels had decreased. Specifically: the amount of total body fat fell by an average of 6 percentage points; visceral fat, or the fat around our internal organs, fell by 11 percent; and liver fat decreased by 42 percent. The crash diet revealed some important health benefits after just 1 week: better insulin resistance, and healthier levels of total cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure. But surprisingly, heart fat levels rose by 44 percent. This change, write the authors, correlated with dysfunctions in the heart's ability to pump blood. By week 8, however, this returned to normal — as did heart function. In fact, these aspects of heart health improved even more than what they used to be before the diet started.
Caution needed in those with heart diseaseDr. Rayner explains the changes induced by the diet, saying, "The sudden drop in calories causes fat to be released from different parts of the body into the blood and be taken up by the heart muscle." "The heart muscle," she adds, "prefers to choose between fat or sugar as fuel and being swamped by fat worsens its function. After the acute period in which the body is adjusting to dramatic calorie restriction, the fat content and function of the heart improved." As a consequence, Dr. Rayner warns about the extra caution that those with a heart condition need to take before starting a crash diet. "If you have heart problems," she says, "you need to check with your doctor before embarking on a very low-calorie diet or fasting. People with a cardiac problem could well experience more symptoms at this early time point, so the diet should be supervised." She also adds that very low-calorie diets need not be avoided altogether, as they do hold benefits. "[H]ealthy people may not notice the change in heart function in the early stages," she says. "But caution is needed in people with heart disease." Weight Loss via Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness News From Medical News Today http://ift.tt/O45xlc February 2, 2018 at 11:21AM
How This Dad Lost Nearly 100 Lbs.—and Gained a Six-Pack
http://ift.tt/2nyyD21 [brightcove:5599232558001 default] Jeremiah Peterson decided to get serious about weight loss when a family hiking excursion last summer proved to be too taxing for his then 290-lb. frame. “I remember being bent over heaving just trying to catch my breath,” the Missoula, Montana-resident tells PEOPLE. “When I looked up, I saw my wife and three kids [10, 8 and 7] easily hiking, talking and laughing with each other — without me. It was a hard-hitting moment.” He continued: “I felt sadness and shame in that moment thinking how I had let myself get to this, but so much deeper than that. If I continued to live like this, I would not live.” When he returned home, Peterson, 39, began researching weight loss options and found a video advertising a transformation challenge. “[It] sealed the deal for me. I signed up knowing I was going to give this challenge every single thing I had,” he says. Prior to losing weight, “a typical day for me was to not eat all day and then get home from work, drink a few beers and eat a big dinner,” says the antique store owner. “Putting my body into starvation mode and then overeating made my body blow up like a balloon, quite literally. I had constant bloating, heartburn and awful stomach issues.” After finding out he was gluten intolerant, Peterson switched over to a keto-based diet consisting of healthy fats, lean protein and green vegetables. The new nutrition plan and twice-daily hour-long hikes “made the weight start to pour off.” He also started weight lifting six days a week, focusing on a different body part each day. Peterson ended up dropping 82 lbs. during the 150-day transformation contest, called the 1st Phorm Transphormation Challenge — and he won the $50,000 grand prize. Now 198 lbs., Peterson continues to document his journey on Instagram and inspire others. “I have so much more energy and I feel like I am always in a great mood. I feel like I have become the dad and husband that I really wanted to be,” says Peterson. “I feel like I have drive and ambition like I have never had before in my life — and I’m almost 40!” Weight Loss via Weight Loss - Health.com http://ift.tt/2zvXHy6 February 1, 2018 at 12:21PM
Can simply standing help you to lose weight?
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More and more people are opting for standing desks at the office to reduce the adverse health effects of sedentarism.
Studies are increasingly pointing out the various ways in which excessive sedentary time is bad for our health. One such study showed that too much sitting may speed up biological aging, as a sedentary lifestyle may shorten our telomeres, which are the protective caps at the end of chromosomes. The link between obesity and sedentarism is also well-known. Adding depth to this link is another study that we recently reported on, which suggested that too much sitting can contribute to fat buildup around our internal organs. We all know that exercising more is the key to countering the negative effects of sitting down, but finding the time and the willpower to head to the gym is sometimes challenging. Could something as simple as standing instead of sitting also help us to lose weight? A new study says it can. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, have carried out the first ever systematic review of existing studies that examine the difference between sitting down and standing in terms of calories burned. Dr. Francisco Lopez-Jimenez — the chair of preventive cardiology at the Mayo Clinic — led the meta-analysis, which is published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. Six hours of daily standing burns 54 caloriesDr. Lopez-Jimenez and team examined 46 studies, which amounted to a total of 1,184 participants who were aged 33 years, on average. The average weight of these subjects was 143.3 pounds (or 65 kilograms). First study author Dr. Farzane Saeidifard, a cardiology fellow at the Mayo Clinic, sums up the findings. "Overall," she says, "our study shows that, when you put all the available scientific evidence together, standing accounts for more calories burned than sitting." Specifically, compared with sitting, standing was linked with 0.15 more calories burned per minute. This means that if an adult weighing 143.3 pounds (or 65 kilograms) replaced sitting with standing for 6 hours every day, they would burn 54 calories more than their sedentary counterpart. Over the course of a year, this amounts to losing 5.5 pounds (or 2.5 kilograms), and 22 pounds (or 10 kilograms) over the course of 4 years. Standing improves long-term health"Standing for long periods of time for many adults may seem unmanageable, especially those who have desk jobs, but, for the person who sits for 12 hours a day, cutting sitting time to half would give great benefits," Dr. Lopez-Jimenez says. "The idea is to work into our daily routines some lower-impact activities that can improve our long-term health," Dr. Lopez-Jimenez continues, adding that their findings support the concept of "Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis" (NEAT). NEAT is a theory designed by Mayo Clinic obesity researchers that focuses on non-exercising daily activities that can help people to lose weight. The findings of the new study are particularly significant given that Americans sit for a whopping 13 hours per day, on average. If you add 8 hours of sleep each night, this amounts to 21 hours of physical inactivity out of every 24. Weight Loss via Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness News From Medical News Today http://ift.tt/O45xlc February 1, 2018 at 11:17AM
Why you feel tired all the time
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There are many reasons for tiredness, including a lack of sleep, poor diet, a sedentary lifestyle, stress, and medical conditions.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around 15.3 percent of women and 10.1 percent of men regularly feel very tired or exhausted in the United States. Tiredness can cause an array of problems. For example, around 1 in 25 adult drivers report falling asleep at the wheel each month. About 72,000 crashes and 44,000 injuries each year are a result of drowsy driving, and that's not to mention the estimated 6,000 fatal crashes caused by drowsy drivers. Everyone feels tired at some point in their lives — whether it's due to a late night out, staying up to watch your favorite TV show, or putting in some extra hours at work. Often, you can put your finger on the reason you're not feeling your best, but what about those times when you can't pinpoint the cause of your tiredness? What makes you feel tired then? Medical News Today have researched the possible explanations for why you could be feeling so drained and the steps that you can take to feel re-energized. 1. Lack of sleepA lack of sleep may seem an obvious reason for feeling tired, yet 1 in 3 U.S. adults are consistently not getting enough of it.
Tiredness increases the risk of accidents, obesity, high blood pressure, depression, and heart disease.
People aged between 18 and 60 years need 7 or more hours of sleep every day to promote optimal health, according to The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society. Getting under the recommended hours of sleep each night is not only associated with fatigue, impaired performance, and a greater risk of accidents, but it also has adverse health outcomes. These include obesity, high blood pressure, depression, heart disease, stroke, and an increased risk of death. If you struggle to fit in 7 hours of sleep, here are some tips to help you achieve a full dose of much-needed slumber:
If you practice all the sleeping habits listed above and still wake up tired, it might be a good idea to contact your healthcare provider and discuss whether you have a sleep-related medical problem such as insomnia, obstructive sleep apnea, or restless legs syndrome. 2. Poor dietThe easiest way to banish tiredness is to make adjustments to your diet. Eating a healthful and balanced diet can make the world of difference to how you feel.
Eating a healthful and balanced diet can help to combat fatigue.
To improve your health and get all the nutrients you need — as well as eliminate fatigue — it is vital to choose a healthful mix of food from the five food groups, which are: fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, and dairy. You can switch up your eating style today by implementing some of these small changes:
3. Sedentary lifestyleWhen tiredness sets in, sitting on the couch and relaxing could seem to be the only answer. But getting up and moving may be the best thing you can do to re-energize and eradicate fatigue.
Exercising can help to increase energy and reduce tiredness.
Research by the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens discovered that compared with sitting quietly, one single bout of moderate-intensity exercise lasting for at least 20 minutes helped to boost energy. An earlier study by UGA also found that when sedentary individuals completed an exercise program regularly, their fatigue improved compared with those who did not. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans suggest that all adults need 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week and muscle-strengthening activities that work all the major muscle groups on 2 or more days per week. This may seem to be a lot of time spent exercising, but you can spread out your activity across the week and, in total, it is just the amount of time that you might otherwise spend watching a movie. If you have not exercised for a while, start slowly. Begin with a brisk 10-minute walk each day and build up to walking fast for 30 minutes on 5 days per week. Brisk walking, water aerobics, riding a bike, playing tennis, and even pushing a lawnmower can all count toward your time spent doing moderate-intensity exercise. 4. Excessive stressMany situations can cause stress. Work, financial problems, relationship issues, major life events, and upheavals such as moving house, unemployment, and bereavement — the list of potential stressors is never-ending.
Excessive stress can lead to physical and emotional exhaustion.
A little stress can be healthy and may actually make us more alert and able to perform better in tasks such as interviews, but stress is only a positive thing if it is short-lived. Excessive, prolonged stress can cause physical and emotional exhaustion and lead to illness. Stress makes your body generate more of the "fight-or-flight" chemicals that are designed to prepare your body for an emergency. In situations such as an office environment where you can't run away or fight, the chemicals that your body has produced to protect you can't be used up and, over time, can damage your health. If the pressures that you face are making you feel overtired or giving you headaches, migraines, or tense muscles, don't ignore these signals. Take some time out until you feel calmer, or try some of these tips.
Physical activity is a significant stress reliever and releases feel-good endorphins. If you are feeling stress build up, go for a walk, take your dog out, or even put on some music and dance around the room. 5. Medical conditionsIf you have made lifestyle changes to do with your physical activity, diet, stress levels, and sleep but still feel tired all the time, there could be an underlying medical condition.
Many medical conditions, such as anemia, can make you feel tired.
Some of the most common conditions that report fatigue as a key symptom include: If you are concerned that you have a medical condition that is causing you to feel tired, arrange an appointment with your healthcare provider to discuss your worries as soon as possible. Weight Loss via Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness News From Medical News Today http://ift.tt/O45xlc February 1, 2018 at 11:17AM |
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