Posts Tagged ‘Weight loss’

Nutritionist Loses Weight on Junk Food Diet

Wednesday, November 10th, 2010

Man loses 47 lbs in 2 months on junk food diet

Point: ok to eat junk food if you count calories
What he did: go on a month long junk food binge
What happened: he lost 47 lbs and tests indicate his health improved

This story has been all over the news and it has stirred quite a bit of controversy. A nutritionist named Mark Haub decided to do an experiment and the results shocked even him. He dubbed it the Twinkie diet. And it’s making people mad. He says nutrition doesn’t matter, it’s portion size that’s killing us.

So maybe you can eat your junk food and still be healthy — just not as much of it. To make sure, the professor tracked his calories (I wish I knew what web site he uses but I have tried Lose It! which has helped me). He ate a lot less calories than he burned. He didn’t even exercise.

The professor has been all over the news and is considering a book deal, but he doesn’t recommend that you eat junk food to lose weight. But my thought is, if you can’t stop eating it, go ahead. Just eat less of it.

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Does Drinking Water Help you Lose Weight?

Monday, September 13th, 2010

It’s not a cure-all, but it’s certainly a cheap and simple addition to any weight-loss plan.

We talk a lot about getting kids to be more active. From personal experience I know that it’s not just getting exercise, but it’s how we eat too. I’ve always been curious if drinking water helps you lose weight. Well, according to this study, it does!

Perhaps the worst thing for kids to drink is soda – full of empty calories that can add up plus a lot of sugar. Even fruit drinks or drinks like “Vitamin Water” are not as healthy as you think. So turn your kids on to drinking plain water. Adults can learn from this study too.

Over 70% of Americans Want to Lose Weight

Now for the study: “A team led by Brenda Davy of Virginia Tech has run the first randomised controlled trial studying the link between water consumption and weight loss. A report on the 12-week trial, published earlier this year, suggested that drinking water before meals does lead to weight loss.”

They divided 48 Americans who are not active into 2 different groups. They were  ages 55 to 75. One group drank about a pint of water shortly before they ate breakfast, lunch and dinner. All participants had been eating between 1,800 and 2,200 calories a day. All were restricted as to how many calories they could eat per day. Women could eat up to 1,200 calories, and the men could eat 1,500 calories. After 3 months the group that drank water before meals had lost about 15½lb (7kg) each, while those in the other group lost only about 9 lbs (5kg).

That is a pretty significant difference! If you could lose 6 additional lbs by drinking water, would you do it? In the study the people who drank water were allowed to drink whatever other drinks they chose to drink. Also, remember this was for 12 weeks – what if you made this lifestyle change forever? It could help a lot!

Source: http://www.economist.com/node/16881791

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Over 70% of Americans Want to Lose Weight

Monday, July 12th, 2010

A new study shows surprising numbers of Americans are concerned about their weight. 70% say they are concerned about their weight status, and 77% are trying to lose or maintain their weight.

What are we doing about it? 69% are eating less; 63% are changing the type of foods they eat; and 60% are getting more active. 65% of Americans report weight loss as the reason they are trying to eat healthier. Still there’s a lot more to be done.

This comes from the International Food Information Council Foundation’s 5th annual Food & Health Survey.

We need to do something — just 2 countries have more obese people than the United States. And the rates are headed up not down.

What is the culprit? According to the study we don’t understand the impact of calories. To avoid gaining weight we have to burn more calories than we eat. For many of us that means tracking calories. It means knowing how many calories we use in a day. It’s also an economic problem – cheap food and fast food is often very high in calories. Combined with a more sedentary lifestyle and yes, we have a collective weight problem.

I think they should start with Disneyland – the happiest place on earth has the worst foods for our waistlines. Walt Disney couldn’t stay slim on the kinds of foods for sale. I was recently on a trip to Disney World and got a look at kids from all over the country. Many were overweight.

I also saw a movie showing the first men to walk on the moon. I was surprised at how trim the astronauts were.

Almost all of us have a few extra pounds to lose. We hope to not only become more educated but to make better choices about food and exercise.

More at www.foodinsight.org

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