Top stressors are:

• Money (81%)
• The Economy (80%)
• Work (67%)
• Health Problems affecting the family (67%)

Most Americans think they are dealing with their stress well, but less than half are exercise to de-stress, most opting to listen to music to relax.

Others have resorted to unhealthy coping strategies such as eating unhealthy foods, alcohol and smokes. While music is a great release from stress, exercise is an excellent way to unwind – incredibly healthy too!

Psychologist Katherine Nordal, the APA’s executive director for professional practice offers the following tips for individuals dealing with personal stress:

• Monitor your own stress levels and seek support if you need it
• Pay attention to what’s going on around you and try not to get caught up in the doom and gloom portrayed in the media
• Take stock in your particular situation and what causes your stress
• Reach out to family, friends and trusted advisers
• If you continue to feel overwhelmed seek professional help

Read the full article here.

I see promises like these all the time… and you know what? In almost all cases it’s a complete and utter CROC!

The other day I discovered an excellent page on The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website that debunks many of the common diet misconceptions with factual reasoning.

The advice is right on the money and I’d even go as far as to say it should be required reading for anyone who is overweight, knows nothing about weight loss and wants to get on track with their eating habits.

So here are the main diet myths and the myth-busting facts that shoot them down:

Myth 1: Fad diets work for permanent weight loss

Fact: Fad diets often promise quick weight loss. You may lose weight at first. But diets that strictly limit calories or food choices are hard to follow and may be unhealthy if they do not provide all of the nutrients your body needs. Losing weight at a very rapid rate (more than 3 pounds a week after the first couple of weeks) may increase your risk for developing gallstones. Diets that provide less than 800 calories per day also could result in heart rhythm abnormalities, which can be fatal.

Myth 2: High-protein/low-carbohydrate diets are a healthy way to lose weight

Fact: There has been little scientific study on the long-term health effects of a high-protein/low-carbohydrate diets. But getting most of your daily calories from high-protein foods like meat, eggs, and cheese is not a balanced eating plan, especially if you are eating too much fat and cholesterol, which may raise heart disease risk. If you eat too few fruits, vegetables and whole grains, it may lead to constipation due to lack of dietary fiber. Eating fewer than 130 grams of carbohydrate a day can lead to the buildup of ketones (partially broken-down fats) in your blood, which is a risk factor for gout (a painful swelling of the joints) and kidney stones. Ketosis may be especially risky for pregnant women and people with diabetes or kidney disease.

Myth 3: Starches are fattening and should be limited when trying to lose weight

Fact: Foods high in starch (also called complex carbohydrates) are an important source of energy for your body. Many foods high in starch, like bread, rice, pasta, cereals, beans, fruits, and some vegetables (like potatoes and yams) are low in fat and calories.

Myth 4: Certain foods, like grapefruit, celery, or cabbage soup, can burn fat and make you lose weight

Fact: No foods can burn fat. Some foods with caffeine may kick-start up your metabolism for a short time, but they do not cause weight loss.

Myth 5: Natural or herbal weight-loss products are safe and effective

Fact: A weight-loss product that claims to be “natural” or “herbal” is not necessarily safe. These products are not usually scientifically tested to prove that they are safe or that they work.

As an example, herbal products containing ephedra (now banned by the U.S. Government) have caused serious health problems and even death.

Myth 6: Low-fat or fat-free means no calories

Fact: A low-fat or fat-free food is often lower in calories than the same size portion of the full-fat product. But many processed low-fat or fat-free foods have just as many calories as the full-fat version of the same food—or even more calories. They may contain added sugar, flour, or starch thickeners to improve flavor and texture after fat is removed. These ingredients add calories.

Myth 7: Fast foods are always an unhealthy choice and you should not eat them when dieting

Fact: Fast foods can be part of a healthy weight-loss program with a little bit of know-how. Some tips –

Myth 8: Skipping meals is a good way to lose weight

Fact: Studies show that people who skip breakfast and eat fewer times during the day tend to be heavier than people who eat a healthy breakfast and eat four or five times a day. This may be because people who skip meals tend to feel hungrier later on, and eat more than they normally would. It may also be that eating many small meals throughout the day helps people control their appetites.

Myth 9: Eating after 8 p.m. causes weight gain

Fact: It does not matter what time of day you eat. It is what and how much you eat and how much physical activity you do during the whole day that determines whether you gain, lose, or maintain your weight.

Myth 10: Lifting weights is not good to do if you want to lose weight, because it will make you “bulk up.”

Fact: Lifting weights or doing strengthening activities like push-ups and crunches on a regular basis can actually help you maintain or lose weight. These activities can help you build muscle, and muscle burns more calories than body fat. So if you have more muscle, you burn more calories—even sitting still.

Myth 11: Nuts are fattening and you should not eat them if you want to lose weight

Fact: In small amounts, nuts can be part of a healthy weight-loss program. Nuts are high in calories and fat. However, most nuts contain healthy fats that do not clog arteries. Nuts are also good sources of protein, dietary fiber, and minerals including magnesium and copper.

Myth 12: Eating red meat is bad for your health and makes it harder to lose weight

Fact: Eating lean meat in small amounts can be part of a healthy weight-loss plan. Red meat, pork, chicken, and fish contain some cholesterol and saturated fat (the least healthy kind of fat). They also contain healthy nutrients like protein, iron, and zinc.

Tip: Choose cuts of meat that are lower in fat and trim all visible fat. Lower fat meats include pork tenderloin and beef round steak, tenderloin, sirloin tip, flank steak, and extra lean ground beef.

Myth 13: Dairy products are fattening and unhealthy

Fact: Low-fat and fat-free milk, yogurt and cheese are just as nutritious as whole milk dairy products, but they are lower in fat and calories. Dairy products have many nutrients your body needs. They offer protein to build muscles and help organs work properly, and calcium to strengthen bones. Most milks and some yogurts are fortified with vitamin D to help your body use calcium. Tip: The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends consuming 3 cups per day of fat-free/low-fat milk or equivalent milk products.

For more information on these guidelines, visit www.healthierus.gov/dietaryguidelines

Myth 14: “Going vegetarian” means you are sure to lose weight and be healthier

Fact: Research shows that people who follow a vegetarian eating plan, on average, eat fewer calories and less fat than non vegetarians. They also tend to have lower body weights relative to their heights than non vegetarians. Choosing a vegetarian eating plan with a low fat content may be helpful for weight loss. But vegetarians—like non vegetarians—can make food choices that contribute to weight gain, like eating large amounts of high-fat, high-calorie foods or foods with little or no nutritional value.

Vegetarian diets should be as carefully planned as nonvegetarian diets to make sure they are balanced. Nutrients that nonvegetarians normally get from animal products, but that are not always found in a vegetarian eating plan, are iron, calcium, vitamin D, vitamin B12, zinc, and protein.

One Final Tip: The best way to lose weight is to cut back on the number of calories you eat and be more physically active. Forget hyped up marketing promises. If you want to shed pounds just focus on these two things.

Follow the link to view the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s page on Weight-loss and Nutrition Myths.

It has been long known that regular exercise can reduce the chance of disease and promote health, now guidelines have been released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) , the verdict – you need 150 minutes of moderate physical activity a week to stay healthy and ward off diseases.

The announcement was met with support by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the American Heart Association (AHA). These organizations, – who jointly published physical activity recommendations last year, said the guidelines effectively support each other and are based on the most relevant science that links physical activity to “improved health and wellness”.

ACSM guidelines focus on 30 minutes of moderate-intensity daily physical activity five days a week, whereas HHS guidelines call for a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate physical activity a week. Both sets of recommendations conclude that relatively modest amounts of physical activity will improve health and cardio-respiratory fitness of inactive persons, however it should be noted that health gains, beyond this such as weight-loss or weight maintenance, may require more than the guidelines state.

The guidelines published by ACSM and AHA can be found here, and offer some basic recommendations for healthy adults below and over 65. While 150 hours might seem like a lot for some, they offer some practical tips for fitting in regular exercise with busy work schedules, family obligations and packed weekends:

• Do it in short bouts. moderate-intensity physical activity can be accumulated throughout the day in 10-minute bouts, which can be just as effective as exercising for 30 minutes straight.
• Mix it up. Combinations of moderate- and vigorous-intensity physical activity can be used to meet the guidelines. For example, you can walk briskly for 30 minutes twice per week and jog at a higher intensity on two other days.
• Set your schedule. Maybe it’s easier for you to walk during your lunch hour, or perhaps hitting the pavement right after dinner is best for you. But setting aside specific days and times for exercise can be helpful.
• The gym isn’t a necessity. It doesn’t take an expensive gym membership to get the daily recommended amount of physical activity. A pair of athletic shoes and a little motivation are all you need to live a more active, healthier life.
• Make it a family affair. Take your spouse, your children, or a friend with you to add some fun exercise ideas to your routine. This is also a good way to encourage your kids to be physically active and get them committed early to a lifetime of health.

The press statement can be viewed here.

“An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” as the clique goes, but is there any truth to it?
While no fruit or anything else can guarantee perfect health and wellness, an apple is a great addition to your diet for many reasons. For instance, the basic apple is an excellent source of dietary fiber with about 3 grams per piece of fruit. This is 10% of your daily recommended intake. Since an apple contain both soluble and insoluble fiber it will lower your LDL cholesterol (the bad sort) and help you stay regular.

The pectin found in apples also helps remove toxins: heavy metals, lead and mercury from your system. An apple is also low in calories and fills you up making you feel fuller while getting less fat. In one recent study it was discovered that eating an apple 15 minutes prior to midday made people eat 187 calories less at lunch than participants who went apple-less. In addition apples area also great for your teeth and gums and to top it all off – of course they taste great too!

Source.

Excessive amounts of calories can trigger this response which when induced can promote overeating leading to increased levels of over-consumption.

The study was conducted in mice, but the authors of a paper published in the Oct. 3 issue of Cell believe that the finding apply to humans as well.

Finding a way to suppress this response may prove a potent weapon in the fight against the current obesity epidemic that has hit the U.S.
Obesity leads to inherent problems such as heart disease and even cancer.

Senior author of the paper Dr. Dongsheng Cai speaks of the shortcomings of normal strategies for fighting obesity, namely diet and exercise:

“Exercise and diet may correct abnormal brain regulation [but] long-term food control is very difficult,” said Cai, an assistant professor of physiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “We don’t understand why. . . The first important thing to understand is how the dysregulation of the brain is processed. The study we just did provides a new pathway. It’s the opening of a new direction.”

To read more about this interesting study, follow the link.

My Thoughts: In my opinion, the oversupply of food in Western countries, the wrong types of foods in particular (high-sugar, high-fat junk food with low nutritional value) has done much to degrade health in the West.

When we lived in caves we hunted and did not always eat until we felt full every day. Sure, some days we would catch something and have a feast, but this did not happen every day and sometimes we would endure days without food.

Yet we got by and survived to modern times, which would indicate that from an evolutionary point of view we are designed to live from day to day a little under-fed. I also think we are biologically wired to over-indulge whenever food becomes available – heck, as a cavemen we would not know when our next meal was going to be, so it would be in our best interest to top up our fat supplies at every available opportunity!

In modern times, with abundant food available, we no longer need to feel hungry, but biologically we have not changed much (if at all), so we remain inclined to stuff our mouths whenever we see food.

Add to this our lovely capitalist system that rewards food companies for giving people what they want rather than what is actually best for them – food companies are just not rewarded for serving healthy food, so it amplifies the problem quite nicely.

Fortunately there is a bright side… While long-term food control is very difficult to achieve, just ask anyone who’s tried and failed at several weight loss programs… There are a couple of important factors in our favor… namely willpower and determination and a third is knowledge.

The good news is, as humans we have proven ourselves time and time again to possess willpower and determination to achieve scores of truly remarkable things – when we set our minds to it. We have landed a man on the moon, cured scores of diseases, built skyscrapers, split atoms, sailed vast oceans and discovered new lands.

As humans, unlike any other creatures, we are capable of change in the face of incredible odds and no matter how many unfortunate things happen, as humans we can achieve great things.

So if we want to lose a little weight, we’re lucky, because we’ve got willpower and determination working for us. The willpower to head to the local grocery store to stock up on fruit and vegetables, instead of a Big Mac. The determination to set diet goals and stick to them!

As for knowledge, we are in the information age and unlike any other time in history, we got the internet and an incredible wealth of information at our fingertips!

So on the net or drop into your local library and you have all the information you need to get yourself on a healthy and balanced diet.

Head over to WeightLossTipsForBeginners.com to learn about healthy weight loss methods and much more about weight loss and dieting.

Are you overweight and don’t know what to do about it?

If you are like many, you may have wondered what you can do about it?

Maybe at certain times you have asked one of the following: Should I just diet? Should I give the exercise thing a go? Is just dieting or exercising by themselves good enough or do I need to do both?

According to a study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology as referred to in this interesting article, when overweight older people start exercising, they are able to improve their exercise efficiency.

Exercise efficiency in this case refers to using fewer calories to perform a physical activity. The conclusion: Exercisers burn more fat and lose less muscle than older people who simply diet for weight loss.

The four month study was conducted as follows:

64 sedentary, overweight or obese participants, between the ages of 60 and 75 were divided into three groups:

• The first group was put on a diet only that reduced their caloric intake enough to achieve a 10% weight loss by the end of the study
• The second group was set an exercise regime where they could choose to walk, bike or row 3-5 times a week (most chose to walk)
• The third group were both placed on a diet and set an exercise routine combining the other methods

The outcome:

• The exercise-only group increased efficiency compared to the diet-only group
• The diet and exercise group also increased efficiency compared to the diet-only group
• All three groups lost weight
• the diet-only and diet-and-exercise group lost more weight than the exercise-only group
• The diet-only group lost more lean muscle and fat
• The exercise-only and diet-and-exercise groups drew more on fat stores as an energy source

So diet alone won’t get you maximum health. Exercise alone is better than diet alone, but dieting loses more weight than just exercising.

My advice? If you are overweight and want to do something about it.

Don’t mess around, do both!

Get that body of yours to the gym or out for a walk and put those potato chips and cakes in the rubbish bin.

Do what I say and you will thank me..

At least your body will

See Also:

Alkaline Acid Diet

It is commonly thought that running damages your knees, but is there any truth behind this widespread belief? According to this article the answer is no.

What’s more, the complete opposite has been shown to be true.

The persistent myth about exercise – and running, in particular – is that it increases joint problems, arthritis, and will ultimately destroy joints and lead to disability,” said William J. Evans, an exercise physiologist and chair of nutritional longevity at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Not only is this “not true,” he said, but the opposite is true: “There is decreased disability after decades of running.

In a new study by Dr. James Fries, a professor of medicine at Stanford University, which was, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, Fries gave annual questionnaires to 538 runners and 423 healthy men and women.

The results were as follows:

• All were at least 50 years old when the study began in 1984
• After 21 years of follow up, only 15 percent of the runners had died
• This is compared to 34 percent of the non-runners, a greater than two-fold difference!
• The runners were less likely to be disabled. They were able to delay disability (defined as anything that can make it more difficult to perform normal daily tasks) – by 16 years!

In another study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Fries focused on 45 runners and 53 non-runners, all aged 50 or more in 1984, and gave them periodic knee X-rays to detect possible osteoarthritis. After 18 years of testing, there was no increase in risk among runners, he said.

The bottom line: Move it or lose it!

Here is the link again to the full article.

Many athletes love to fuel up on protein bars or drinks and other supplements at every opportunity whenever in training or races. Some athletes even swear by a diet that is high in protein and try and all but eliminate carbohydrates as much as possible. But is this really necessary?

In this Excellent article by Jennifer Hutchison, a certified specialist in Sports Dietics and a USA Triathlon Certified Level 3 Elite Coach, she explains the basics of protein in our diets at a grass-roots level.

Among the most significant points Jennifer makes is:

• Dietary protein’s primary role in the body is to support growth, maintenance and repair muscle and other body tissues
• Protein is also the backbone for many hormones and enzymes and a healthy immune system.
  As dietary protein’s main purpose is to repair and recover damaged muscle and cells caused by training and racing, an athlete must ensure that they are already meeting both their calorie and carbohydrate needs
• Protein is synthesized from amino acids (the building blocks of protein) of which there are two major categories: Essential and Nonessential
• Essential AA’s cannot be made in the body and therefore must be supplied in what you eat.
  Nonessential amino acids are important, but CAN be made by the body so do not need to come from your diet

So is a protein containing sports drink really necessary during endurance training? Nope! In spite of popular belief, endurance athletes can meet their protein needs without tons of dietary supplements. While it is a common practice for some athletes to consume protein believing this in turn will help boost lean body mass, the truth is that the body does not store excess dietary protein as muscle. Once dietary protein has fulfilled its role, the excess is broken down and used as fuel, stored as body fat or excreted by the body via urine.

Adequate daily protein is, however crucial for athletes to maintain a strong, healthy and powerful body, but in truth, meeting these requirements is really not that difficult. In Jennifer’s oppinion, the average athlete may only need 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight per day.

For a 70kg male this works out to only about 56 grams per day.

Athletes training at a higher level will require more and she provides the following guidelines for those on heavy training loads:

To be honest, as long as you eat a well balanced diet you should more than cover your protein requirements, but Jennifer presents some meal suggestions in her article regardless.

If you’re concerned, there are many good online resources and lists that identify the quantity of protein contained in various foods or a qualified sports nutrition professional can help you take the guess work out of your eating plan calculations.

Here is the link again to the full article.