Search Weight Loss Topics:

Page 169«..1020..168169170171..180190..»

Home » Diets that Work » Page 169

From the GOLO diet to JLos healthy eating plan (Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)

Fad diets pop up on a regular basis, many of which are unhelpful and downright ridiculous.

If youre considering dieting, remember the golden rule: its not about starving yourself, and as with any lifestyle change, take care before making drastic changes to your food intake.

In the last year, weve explored the CICO diet (calories in, calories out), the milk diet (where you just drink milk every day, for four weeks please dont ) and carb cycling (which staggers the amount of carbohydrates that you consume).

We also investigated why ultra-processed foods are bad for us, how to make an easy Keto dinner and how the low FODmap diet can help those who suffer from IBS.

As its the end of the year, Google has just released searches for the most popular diets of 2019 and the results might surprise you.

Here are the diets that made the cut, and what theyre all about.

Intermittent fasting is technically not a diet, but an eating plan. It revolves around time restriction its not about what you eat, but when you eat it.

While there are many versions to choose from, the most popular tend to be 16:8 or 5:2.

With 16:8 you can eat during an eight-hour period, but outside of this time you are only allowed to consume non-calorie drinks. It has likely seen a boost after 50-year-old actress Jennifer Aniston, known for her toned frame, revealed that she follows this diet to keep her body in shape.

Meanwhile, 5:2 is focused on days; five days per week you have a normal diet, while only consuming 500 calories on the two other days. However, the time restriction is not set in stone; you can adjust the hours and days to suit your body type and needs.

The eating plan is meant to be help you get lean without having to restrict your food intake to specific foods, and some studies have shown that it can boost the bodys metabolism.

As the name suggests, this diet was named after a man called Dr Sebi, also known as Alfredo Darrington Bowman.

The herbalist developed an alkaline diet, which he believed would rid the body of mucus build-up and cleanse it.

This diet involves only consuming live and raw foods, including vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices. Essentially, everything that youd find in a Whole Foods isle.

Canned goods are a no-no, as are any animal products, soy, alcohol and fortified items (like cereals). You could also consider it a (very restricted) vegan diet.

Many high-profile celebrities who support the alkaline diet, including Victoria Beckham and Kate Hudson.

There has been some controversy around this diet. Dr Sebi claimed it could cure Aids, as well as various forms of cancer and other illnesses, but there has been no evidence to support this.

Similarly, a man named Robert Young, who claims to have invented the alkaline diet, has been convicted of two charges of practising medicine without a license.

Make of that what you will, but if youre going to restrict your diet to such an extent, its best to chat to a qualified nutritionist or medical professional first.

Noom is also not technically a diet, but actually a weight loss app that offers two programmes; healthy weight loss and one that is tailored for diabetes prevention.

It utilises a traffic light system to tell you which foods are healthy, and which to avoid or eat less of. Once you sign up, you will also be paired with your very own health coach.

So, does it work? Medical News Today reviewed Noom earlier this year, and highlighted several studies which demonstrated mixed results, most quite successful.

For instance, a study from 2016 revealed that out of 38,921 Noom users, 77.9% lost weight with the help of the app. The app also contains features to help you monitor your weight loss, in order to keep you on track, and it was found that those who kept on top of this saw more consistent weight loss.

Now for the downside: Noom focuses on calories, rather than nutrients. As users cant check this in the app, it might be more difficult for them to ensure their body gets everything it needs, including vitamins, minerals and fats.

Whats more, according to MNT, not all Noom coaches are certified with the National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching.

Youll also have to pay to use the app.

Heres the thing with calories: there are many factors that determine how many you are meant to consume each day so there is no one setting that works for all people.

This is dependent on your weight, height and how active you are on a day-to-day basis. By eating less calories, the stored fat in your body can burn off, but once again, counting calories often means that you forget about nutrients which are essential.

You need to get a certain amount of calcium and protein, vitamins and magnesium, and tailor the diet to your needs (i.e. the amount of calories yourbody needs). As an example, a lack of magnesium can lead to nausea, vomiting and fatigue, among other ailments.

According to a report by Public Health England in 2017, Brits should consume 1,800 calories per day. Prior to this announcement, this was recommended at 2,000 calories per day for women, and 2,500 for men.

This is only a guideline so speak to a personal trainer with nutritionist training or other professional to look over your personal diet, and how many calories you should stick to.

The GOLO diet has lost popularity; in 2016, it was the most searched weight loss method of the year.

It essentially revolves around insulin, and was put together by a team of experts including Jennifer Brooks, a chef who is board-certified in holistic nutrition and psychiatrist Dr. Keith Ablow, among others.

Those who wish to embark on the GOLO lifestyle needs to sign up on the website, and take part in the rescue programme which is said to repair your metabolism, balance hormone levels and achieve sustainable weight loss over the course of 30, 60 or 90 days.

This is done in three steps: calorie-reduction (around 1,300 to 1,800 per day), exercise and taking the GOLO Release supplement.

The latter is meant to be the defining element of the diet, which is perhaps unsurprising, given its trademarked and means customers need to come back or stick to GOLO to get access to it again.

GOLOs website boasts that many doctors are supportive of the diet, as well as glowing recommendations from users, but take this with a pinch of salt: self-promotion is easy. There is also not much in the way of studies to support the method i.e. that the supplement is of added benefit to people who are already managing a healthy diet and exercising.

Then again, the dietary plan in itself is quite inclusive, with a good level of nutrients included. Allowed foods include: fresh meats, fruits, vegetables, andhealthy fatsand of course fresh breads, pasta, and butter, according to the website.

It was created by reality TV star Heather Dubrow from The Real Housewives of Orange Country and her partner, plastic surgeon to the rich and famous, Dr Terry Dubrow.

There are three phases, each with a ,er, interesting names : red carpet ready, summer is coming and look hot while living like a human.

In short, this diet consists of intermittent fasting, but where it differs from the version weve explained above, this one includes dietary restrictions. Approved foods include vegetables, lean proteins and healthy fats. You also need to consider how much you consume, and avoid processed foods.

On the plus side, alcohol is allowed.

Be cautious, as the couple claims their plan will activate the anti-aging ability found in your cells and have apparently compared this process, known as autophagy, to plastic surgery.

Once again, add a pinch of salt to this diet.

The Sirtfood diet allows dark chocolate, caffeine and red wine. OK, thats not all you need to know, but its a pretty great benefit, as far as diets go.

Heres why its OK: these foods contain sirtuin activators which are said to improve metabolism, and in turn, help you lose weight, as well as reverse aging. Sirt foods, as they are known, include the aforementioned delights, as well as berries, kale, matcha green tea, walnuts, rocket, strawberries, soy, and more.

As for the diet itself, there are two steps to follow.

During the first step, which consists of seven days, you only consume 1,000 calories per day (see 1,200 calories above for why this can cause problems). You are only permitted to eat one meal, which must feature a lot of sirt foods, as well as three green juices. This lasts for three days.

For the remaining four days, you can have 1,500 calories, including two sirtfood dishes, and one more juice (yay?) per day. During phase two, you can have three meals and one green juice per day.

Authors of the book about the Sirtfood diet claim it can turn on your skinny gene. Were not thrilled about this term to begin with, but there is also very little research to support it.

This diet has been around for a while in one shape or another, but its been revived this year (it last made Googles list in 2015).

Back then, it was referred to as the zero carb diet, and it has proven popular with celebrities.

Its pretty much what it says on the tin: no carbs, no sugar. However, not all people who use this diet completely limit themselves; some will have a small carb intake, while others cut it out completely.

That means no pasta, refined grains, bread, starchy vegetables, milk or fruits (which have natural sugar). Instead, youll be munching on fish, eggs, cheese, water and tea.

Heres the problem: carbohydrates fuel our bodies. They are broken down into glucose, which is then used by our muscles and our brain.

If you cut out carbs and sugar completely, energy levels will drop and you may feel tired, and suffer from low blood sugar.

It sounds a bit alien-like, but endmorphs are not from another planet.

The phrase was introduced by William Sheldon, a psychologist in the 40s, who outlined it as one of three body types. The two others are called ectomorphic and mesomorphic.

According to him, endomorphs have a lower metabolism, due to having a bigger bone structure, less muscle and carrying more fat in the bodies.

The main aspect of the endomorph diet is to avoid refined carbs and eat healthy fats from proteins and nuts, as well as carbohydrates, vegetables and whole-grain foods. This is intertwined with a mix of cardio and strength training.

Exercise and healthy eating, basically.

Were not all that surprised that JLo has made the list, after showing off her toned physique in Hustlers earlier this year.

While her character might be out partying and doing tequila shots on the regular, youll have no such fun on Jennifers diet. Alcohol and caffeine are strictly forbidden, as are sweets, processed and starchy foods.

If you need a snack, reach for the fruit bowl or munch on some vegetables. Other foods that JLo likes include fish, sweet potatoes and brown rice. Nutrients are key, with the actress and singer focusing on stuffing as much vitamins and minerals into her diet as possible.

But its not just about food she also works out on a regular basis.

All in all, it appears to be a pretty healthy approach, though theres nothing wrong in indulging in a cheat day now and again.

JLo, sometimes we need cake and tequila shots, OK?

MORE: Asda is giving away free vegetables to reduce waste

MORE: If you ate Christmas leftovers for breakfast, youre not alone

MORE: Woman enjoys first Christmas dinner after a lifetime of eating just sausages and ice cream

More:
The most popular diets of 2019 revealed - Metro.co.uk

For months, Juna Gjata, the co-host of WBUR's new podcast, "Food, We Need To Talk," asked every eating expert she interviewed the same question: "If you could tell people to change only one thing that would have the biggest impact on their health for the rest of their lives, what would it be?"

Their expertise ranged from nutrition to metabolism to how super-tasty foods affect the brain. She expected them to answer with pointers like "eat more vegetables," or "increase your protein," or "cut down on the cheesecake."

But, limited to just one recommendation for lifelong health, none of them focused on food. All had the same answer: just exercise.

And several focused on one particular type: resistance exercise also known as strength training as the best benefit for the least amount of time.

So, with 2020 just around the corner, here's an edited preview of an upcoming episode of "Food, We Need To Talk," with the hope it might help inform your New Year's resolution thinking. Juna is joined by her co-host, Dr. Eddie Phillips, founder of the Institute of Lifestyle Medicine.

They begin by looking back at Juna's old misconception about exercise as simply a way to burn off calories on the treadmill. Eddie notes that actually, the most important thing about exercise is that it increases and maintains muscle mass.

Juna: I asked Dr. Wayne Westcott, director of the Exercise Science Program and Fitness Research Program at Quincy College, why is having high muscle mass so important?

Westcott: Great question. Muscle not only burns calories and uses energy when you're active; when you're at rest, muscle also burns lots of energy so much energy that it makes up about 30% of your resting metabolic rate. When you're sound asleep at night, your muscles burn 30% of your calories.

Juna: Your resting metabolic rate that's basically all the calories your body burns when you're doing nothing lying down, sleeping, breathing.

Eddie: Right, just keeping the lights on. And it becomes even more important as we get older, because the natural course of events is to actually lose muscle mass. Our metabolism just slows down. And the way that we raise our metabolism is not green tea supplements or apple cider vinegar shots there's no science backing them. There's lots of science, though, for good, old-fashioned exercise.

Juna: So we should hit the treadmill?

Eddie: Well, not so fast. Not all exercise is created equal. Cardiovascular exercise like on the treadmill is really great for your heart, your lungs, your brain and your stress levels. But if you actually want to build your muscles, you've got to do what we call resistance training. That's the scientific term for lifting weights, using bands, your body weight, anything that stresses your muscles. It's also called strength training.

Juna: Honestly, the reason that I never got into it was because it really doesn't look like it burns that many calories. Lifting weights just looked so chill. I didn't think it would do anything.

Eddie: If you're just counting calories, Juna, you're absolutely right. You're not burning a lot of calories to lift those weights. But your body actually has to remodel itself after you've stressed it, and that takes even more calories.

Juna: That was the coolest thing that I ever learned about exercise: Basically, a human being is an adaptation machine. We're meant to adapt to the stresses we put our body through. So if you go out in the sun, your skin gets tan to prepare for the next time you're in the sun. Or if you're doing really laborious work with your hands, they grow calluses. That's how fitness podcaster Sal Di Stefano talks about exercise, and it's what finally got through to me.

Di Stefano: When you do lots of cardio, where you just get on a treadmill and jog, jog, jog, or you get on an elliptical and go forever, the body is getting a couple of different messages. It's getting the message, "We need stamina and endurance." And it burns a significant amount of calories, so we probably want to become more efficient. We don't need much strength. So, a great way to become more efficient at calories is to pare down muscle.

Eddie: So if you're picturing who's going to win the next marathon, you know what they look like. They're going to be slim. They're going to have near zero fat on them. Small and just fast. They're not carrying a lot of extra muscle mass around.

Juna: Exactly. On the other hand, resistance training sends a pretty different message.

Di Stefano: Resistance training doesn't burn a ton of calories when you do it, but it is sending the signal to your body that's saying, "We'd better build more muscle and more strength to be able to handle this stress." Because when you lift weights, that's what you're doing: stressing the body. It's why you get sore. So your body's OK with becoming less efficient with calories. It's OK with speeding up its metabolism because you're constantly telling your body, "We just need to be stronger."

Eddie: And when you're doing that resistance training, it's not just building up the muscles. It's actually that the muscles that you have become even more metabolically active. Here's how Wayne Westcott describes it.

Westcott: People who don't strength train, if they run or walk or swim or bike, their muscles burn about six calories per pound per day, which is great. That's a lot. People who do strength training, their muscles burn, at rest, nine calories per pound per day, 50 percent more. Resting metabolic rate increases when people strength train by between 5% and 9%, the average being seven in almost all the studies. That's huge in terms of maintaining a better body weight, and sustaining your body weight, which is the biggest issue in the United States.

Eddie: Seven percent doesn't sound like a lot. But it adds up to about 250 calories a day. That still doesn't sound like a lot, but over the course of a year, it's 20 pounds' worth of calories.

Juna: And Wayne Westcott found in his studies that when people diet down and they're not doing any exercise, they're just dieting they'll lose muscle and fat. So you're not just losing fat. You're losing muscle, too. Now, if you're anything like me, your natural inclination when you diet is to also run your little butt off on the treadmill.

Westcott: It increases the fat loss. But guess what? It also increases the muscle loss significantly. It exacerbates the aging process of losing muscle. When they do strength training plus diet, they lose the least muscle and they lose the most fat.

Eddie: So resistance training is perhaps the best exercise to use if you're trying to lose fat.

Westcott: In our studies, the average person loses about one pound of fat per month when they strength train, and they add about one pound of muscle per month. So the body weight tends to stay the same. And people say, kind of surprised, "Well, I haven't lost weight, but I'm wearing different pant sizes, or dress sizes. You know, and my waist is smaller, my hips are smaller." Well, that's because muscle is more compact, more dense than fat. If we didn't have scales, just had full length mirrors, people would do a much better job of deciding what kind of exercise they should do or not do.

Eddie: But we're not just talking about resistance training. We still want everyone to be doing their 150 minutes a week of exercise that raises your heart rate. It's going to take care of other problems your risk of diabetes, of osteoporosis, of cancer are all going to plummet the more active you are. You're going to live longer and live better. And in the meantime, psychologically, there's no medicine like exercise.

Juna: That is what I find to be the best part about going to the gym, for sure. The stronger I feel in the gym, the stronger I feel outside the gym, too.

Eddie: Also, the physiologic effects of starting to lift weights actually come much quicker than just going on the treadmill. For patients who have obesity, we start with resistance exercise. And the psychological benefit comes very quickly when you realize that you can and will get better from a little bit of hard work. And you really don't have to do that much exercise to get the most results. Which is good news for a lot of us, because the time intrusion of exercise is still what gets most people not to start and not to continue. And remember, what we're trying to do is get people to change in small ways, and to commit to changes that they're going to enjoy and do for the rest of their lives. It's not a 12-week beach body challenge. And the research shows that with the resistance training that we've talked about, two or maybe three times a week is all you need. And a half hour at a time, you're going to see those dramatic results. It's almost like an inoculation. It's just enough to get your muscles moving.

Juna: So what's best to do at the gym?

Eddie: If you want a simple answer? Shameless plug: Listen to The Magic Pill [the previous season of this podcast.] But if you only had one exercise to do, I would say squatting. Get the proper form. Up and down off of your chair, just to strengthen your legs, get into your core. You're also going to work your arms, by doing a little bit of pushups. If you can't do them on the floor, do them against the the edge of a table. And you're going to work your core. If you do that, your life has already changed. If you're overweight, the best thing you can do to carry that weight until hopefully you lose it is to make your muscles stronger. That then is going to take the stress off of your joints. Get some guidance. This is not something that everyone knows how to do. So if you can, find a trainer or use YouTube videos.

Juna: And if you feel self-conscious about the gym, here's what Sal Di Stefano says:

Di Stefano: I'll tell you something right now: One of the most empowering things you could do is overcome a fear like that. Nobody knows what they're doing at first. Nobody cares. People who work out couldn't care less that there's other people working out at the gym. Just go to the gym, put your headphones on and go take care yourself and don't let anything stop you, especially fear. Start small. Go easy. Once you start to get used to going to the gym, you start to find yourself getting stronger. You're going to be a more empowered individual.

You can subscribe to "Food, We Need To Talk" here. The American College of Sports Medicine has a new infographic on resistance training here.

Go here to read the rest:
A Funny Thing Happened When We Asked Nutrition Experts For One Piece Of Advice - WBUR

Lorraine Kelly is the recognisable friendly face of ITV daytime programme,Lorraine. In recent years, the TV host revealed she dropped two dress sizes by doing one thing, what did she do?

Today, Lorraine Kelly appeared on ITVs Lorraine to discuss her biggest show highlights of 2019 which included a candid interview with Hillary Clinton and her daughter Chelsea, a hilarious interview with singing sensation, Celine Dion and an interview with Dame Emma Thompson to discuss the inspiration behind the George Michael Christmas film, Last Christmas.

During Lorraines long career, she has fronted shows including GMTV, ITV Breakfast, and Daybreak. In recent years, some fans have noticed her staggering weight loss and Lorraine has revealed she dropped two dress sizes by cutting out one thing - what did she cut out?

Previously Lorraine revealed that after noticing herself gaining weight, the Scottish journalist decided to change up her lifestyle.

The host revealed that she made one simple change to slim down.

READ MORE:Man loses175lbsusing 'life-changingdiet plan

Lorraine transformed from a size 14 to a size 10.

Speaking on This Morning, she said regular aerobic exercise helped kick start her weight loss and unsurprisingly, Lorraine pointed to her own weight loss DVDs as her key to weight loss.

Speaking on This Morning, she said: I really look forward to my classes, and with the new DVD we wanted to show what a class was like.

Its great going to keep fit but mentally it also makes me feel better.

DON'T MISS

Lorraine told presenters her weight loss made her more confident and prompted her to make bolder choices with her fashion outfits.

The TV personality has managed to keep the weight off by sticking with the athletic habits and she can be seen regularly posting about her intense workouts on her social media accounts online.

Previously, Lorraine posted about her love of fitness classes and even shared on Instagram a video of one of the dance fit classes she attends.

She captioned the post: Shes on fire! Great class tonight with @maxicise.tv#happy #fit #healthy#wellbeing".

Lorraine is also known for regularly going on long walks with her border terrier pup, Angus, which keeps her active and fit with minimal effort.

But, what did she cut out, in particular, to trim down?

Although Kelly is dedicated to maintaining a healthy weight, she revealed that dieting is not on her agenda, reportedly.

Speaking of her diet, the journalist opened up about struggling with portion sizes and she has tried to cut out snacking, in particular, to trim down.

She said: I dont think diets work. Its all about portion control.

My husband cooks for me and sometimes I ask, How many people are coming round?.

She admitted that she isnt a big fan of diets, instead, she found cutting back on how much she ate at each meal helped her shape up.

More:
Lorraine Kelly weight loss: Presenter dropped two dress sizes by cutting this out - Express

Weight loss diets have become more sustainable in the past decade

When asked nutritionists and health experts about trends of the past decade, they feel that diet is increasingly being used as a tool for achieving weight loss, good health and overall well-being. The past decade has also been one in which diseases like obesity, diabetes and even high blood pressure became a public health problem. And, weight loss is the one effective tool to prevent these conditions and treat them effectively. The need to lose weight to become fitter and be disease-free has given birth to a number of diets like keto diet, paleo diet, atkins diet and low-carb diet.

While these diets have been found to be effective for offering quick weight loss benefits, they also come with side effects like nutritional deficiencies, increased cravings, irritation, mood swings, etc. Health experts and nutritionists like Luke Coutinho and Rujuta Diwekar have addressed these concerns and side effects of weight loss diets.

This New Year, say no to restrictive diets and follow a balanced dietPhoto Credit: iStock

If you have been following the likes of Luke and Rujuta, you would know that they promote of a more holistic way of eating and living. Lifestyle coach Luke Coutinho believes in consumption of a healthy, balanced diet along with regular exercise, yoga and meditation-for treatment and prevention of cancer, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, etc. Mumbai-based nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar, on the other hand, believes in eating according to local, seasonal and cultural traditions.

Also read:Decade-End Special: Top Diet Trends That Gained Momentum In The Past Decade

Both Rujuta and Luke have massive following on social media. In 2018, Rujuta ran a 12-week fitness project. This program helped over 1 lakh people transform themselves to be thinner and healthier, she mentioned in her social media posts.

Luke has been promoting fasting, not just as part of diet, but as part of lifestyle as well. Dry fasting, intermittent fasting and social media fasting have helped thousands of people feel better mentally and physically, as he has shared on Instagram and Facebook.

The past decade also saw a shift to Ayurvedic style of eating. According to nutritionist Rupali Datta, Ayurvedic diet had all the answers we're looking for. The diet suits availability of seasons, foods and regions of the country.

Rujuta Diwekar is of the belief that as far as you are eating food that is grown in your area (local), is in season and is in sync with your culture and traditions, then both your health and weight can be optimum. Eating local offers the benefit of fresh produce; eating seasonal is environment-friendly and farmer-friendly, and reduces consumption of harmful pesticides; eating according to your culture and traditions is a reassurance that eating what your parents, grandparents and great grandparents grew up eating is most likely to work in your favour.

Eat local and seasonal foods like aloo parantha for good health and strong immunityPhoto Credit: iStock

Rising incidence of mental health issues in the past decade has made it imperative to talk about stress. If you are chronically stressed, then your diet and exercise will not work as effectively as they should. Even losing weight becomes downright difficult if you are stressed. "Not every stressful situations needs to be reacted to," says Luke, who believes that there is a need to change your attitude towards stress. Yoga, meditation, listening to music, reconnecting with nature and other stress-management strategies can help you get relief from chronic stress.

Also read:They Many Ways Stress Harms You And 7 Tips That Will Actually Help In Beating It

If you love having your daily cup(s) of masala chai with two biscuits, then this one is especially for you. A common practice among people with diabetes is to have tea with two biscuits, but no sugar and this is exactly what you should not be doing. "According to World Health Organisation and other global organisations for diabetes, 6-9 tsp of sugar in a day is fine. Instead of avoiding sugar, people should avoid invisible sugar sources in the form of breakfast cereals, fruit juices, biscuits, etc," says Rujuta.

Avoid having biscuits with tea or coffeePhoto Credit: iStock

In her videos and posts, Rujuta has categorically mentioned that anything that comes in a packet must be off the table if you want a healthy weight and good health. Snack healthy with makhanas, peanuts, roasted chanas, nuts and seeds. Chips, biscuits, instant noodles and frozen foods (amongst others) are your worst enemies if you are trying to lose weight. Similar is the case with beverages. Opt for plain water, lemon water, sugarcane juice, bel sherbet, etc over aerated drinks and energy drinks. Processed and packaged foods are prepared with added flavours, sugar and preservatives. While they offer you convenience in a busy and packed life, they can wreak havoc on your health and worsen blood pressure, heart health and diabetes.

If lifestyle coach Luke Coutinho is to be believed, then the coming years are going to be all about fasting and detox. Whether it is social media fasting, or the doing the traditional fast which involves refraining from eating, you need to include fasting in your routine. Speaking of intermittent fasting, this kind of eating plan can help you get in sync with circadian rhythm, as Luke explains. Other benefits of this fasting including promoting better sleep, aiding weight loss and even reversing type 2 diabetes. Social media fasting, on the other hand, can give your mind a break and help in reducing the stress you feel from constantly seeing other people's lives and accomplishments.

Intermittent fasting can aid sustainable weight loss and give your body the much-needed detoxPhoto Credit: iStock

Also read:Intermittent Fasting And Circadian Rhythm: 10 Tips To Make Intermittent Fasting Work For You

The importance of meal prepping cannot be stressed enough. In her 12-week fitness project, Rujuta mentions that before leaving from home every day, you should plan at least 3 meals of the day. Meal prepping is referred to meal planning. This is one lifestyle trend that has gained popularity in the past decade and will continue to be popular and change people's lives in 2020 and the coming years. Take out one day in the week where you create a chart of all your meals in the coming week. Buy vegetables, masalas and other groceries accordingly. And every day before leaving home, put in place 3 meals (breakfast, lunch and snacks) that you are going to have the whole day. The ideal thing to do is include lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy, nuts, seeds, fatty fish, etc in your diet. Intake of protein, carbs, fats and fibre must be done in a balanced and holistic way. Meal prepping can prevent overeating and eating from outside. It is only one way to ensure a good intake of nutrients on a daily basis.

Nutritionists and health experts are now moving from restrictive diets to diets that are more inclusive and holistic in nature. You don't need to avoid fats or carbs to get fitter and thinner. You can eat good fats and healthy carbs, and even homemade sweets. The key is to practice portion control. Even when you're indulging, take care of the portion size. Eat everything that is in season, from aloo paranthas to aloo puri, laddoos and ghee. Just don't go overboard with the portion size.

Here's an interesting way to calculate how much you need to eat, as per Rujuta's mental meal map:

This 2020 and the new decade that is beginning with it, let's pledge towards getting fitter, healthier and disease-free with the help of most natural and sustainable ways. Here's wishing everyone a very Happy New Year 2020!

Also read:Cheat Meals: Our Expert Decodes Do's And Don'ts To Follow When Having A Cheat Meal

(Luke Coutinho, Holistic Lifestyle Coach - Integrative Medicine)

(Rujuta Diwekar is a nutritionist based in Mumbai)

(Rupali Datta is a Clinical Nutritionist based in Delhi)

Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.

Read more here:
Lifestyle Trends That Caught Attention Of Weight Watchers This Decade - NDTV News

In 2010, Gwyneth Paltrows wellness brand, Goop, was just starting to get its goop-y mojo rolling. Tom Bradys lifestyle company, TB12, wasnt around, so we had no way of learning about bogus fitness concepts like muscle pliability. And Jessica Albas The Honest Company, a fearmongering and pseudoscience-based business that is currently worth over a billion dollars, was still one year away from inception.

But what a difference 10 years has made. Now all of these companies are thriving and many other celebrities, including Victoria Beckham and Kate Hudson, have started similar wellness brands.

But it is hard to deny that things are qualitatively different now. This has been the decade of misinformation. And, in the context of health, celebrities have led the charge.

Yes, pseudoscientific health claims have been with us for a long time. And celebrities have often embraced them. (Apparently, Greta Garbo never met a fad diet she didnt like or, at least, try.) But it is hard to deny that things are qualitatively different now. This has been the decade of misinformation. And, in the context of health, celebrities have led the charge.

Weve had the vagina steam (thanks, Gwyneth), jade vagina eggs (ditto), the vampire facial (Kim Kardashian West), bird poop facials (David and Victoria Beckham), facials made with discarded foreskin stem cells (Sandra Bullock), drinking your own urine (Madonna), placenta smoothies (more Kardashians) and too many crazy diets, cleanses and detoxes to mention. I could go on and on and on.

It seems entirely appropriate that we are closing this ridiculous decade with the too-absurd-to-be-true (but it is true) news that Josh Brolin burned his anus trying the latest wellness trend, perineum sunning.

Get the think newsletter.

Some may dismiss the critique of celebrities and the associated health fads as a waste of time. Few people take this stuff seriously, it is argued. Bigger fish to fry. Fish in a barrel.

This perspective is mistaken.

Celebrity health noise has had (and continues to have) a large and measurable impact. There is a growing body of literature that has demonstrated celebrity marketing, musing and news coverage can have an influence on a range of health related behaviors, including dieting, cancer screening, smoking and suicide. Pop culture coverage of a health topic, like Angelina Jolies decision to get genetic testing, can affect, for better or worse, the utilization rates of health services. And there seems little doubt that many current evidence-free and potentially harmful health trends such a IV vitamin therapy, nonceliac gluten-free diets, cryotherapy and detoxification diets and procedures would not be nearly as popular but for the associated celebrity endorsements.

In addition, all this celebrity noise and wellness-related pontificating adds to an already noisy health information environment. Studies have consistently found that the public is increasingly confused about what a healthy lifestyle entails this, despite the fact that for most people the essential ingredients are straightforward and well established (dont smoke, exercise, eat real food, sleep, maintain a healthy weight, and drink alcohol in moderation or not at all).

When it comes to public discourse, few entities have the volume and reach of celebrities. As I write this, Katy Perry has 108 million Twitter followers; the World Health Organization has 5 million. In 2010, Instagram was just getting started. Ten years later, Instagram has emerged as a significant source of health misinformation and much of the messaging on the platform is dominated by celebrities (currently 17 of the top 20 Instagram accounts are run by either a musician, an actor or a sports star). When Katy Perry tweets about her love of supplements or Tom Brady posts science-free diet advice, it is seen by tens of millions.

Just being around this social media-fueled celebrity health noise can have an impact on our health behaviors and beliefs. The more we hear about something, the more believable it becomes. This is how and why fake news works. Indeed, research led by Canadian psychologist Gordon Pennycook has found that even a single exposure to misinformation can affect perceptions of accuracy.

And when celebrities do provide health advice be it about the effectiveness of an extreme diet, a ridiculous waist-training device, anti-vaccine baloney, or the need to screen for prostate cancer it is often packaged in the form of a compelling story. Narratives, especially highly memorable ones, can be extremely influential. A persuasive testimonial can displace a mountain of scientific data. Indeed, a 2016 study found that anecdotal stories impede our ability to reason scientifically.

A persuasive testimonial can displace a mountain of scientific data. Indeed, a 2016 study found that anecdotal stories impede our ability to reason scientifically.

I believe this is one of the reasons why celebrities hold so much sway. Celebrity wellness gurus are not truly health experts. But their messaging still has power because it plays to our cognitive biases, including the mere-exposure effect and our hardwired tendency to be influenced by stories.

What is a celebrity endorsement, after all, but a glossy, high profile and impressive testimonial from someone who is often a genetic outlier in areas such as appearance and athletic ability? When Tom Brady recommends that we avoid the consumption of dairy, it may feel like a good idea because it seems to have worked for him. Do not be fooled. You arent Tom Brady (unless you are, in which case, enough with the diet nonsense).

Of course, this decade of celebrity health hogwash should also be considered in the broader context. This is the era of misinformation, a time when trust in public institutions is declining and people feel uncertain about what to believe about, well, everything. Celebrity wellness hype contributes to this culture of untruth by both inviting a further erosion of critical thinking and promoting what is popular and aspirational rather than what is true.

In the coming decade let's do our best to ignore the celebrity noise (a man can dream!). We need everyone who cares about accurate representations of science and health issues including researchers, public health advocates, health care institutions, universities and, hopefully, you to use creative communication strategies, engaging story telling and social media-friendly imagery to get across the good science. Lets fight the celebrity-fueled misinformation tire fire with a fact-filled fire of our own.

More from our decade reflections project:

THINKing about 2010-2019: Where we started, how we grew and where we might go

White Christian America ended in the 2010s

Timothy Caulfield is a Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy at the University of Alberta, author of Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything?: How the Famous Sell Us Elixirs of Health, Beauty & Happiness (Beacon, 2015) and hostof A Users Guide to Cheating Death onNetflix.

Go here to see the original:
Celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow made the 2010s the decade of health and wellness misinformation - NBC News

Another day, another round of stock market records?

That may be a Friday stretch.

The big names that weve run a little hot and cold on this year, such as Amazon.com AMZN, +0.06%, were out in front, pulling the Santa-rally sleigh to fresh records on Thursday. (Remember, that traditional year-end rally for stocks that starts in the last 5 trading days in December and the first 2 in January).

Apple AAPL, -0.04% logged its best one-day gain in weeks, and has gained 84% with just three trading days left in 2019, the iPhone maker is looking at its best annual return in 10 years.

Heres a tweet that shows just how much weight some of these popular companies are swinging around:

Onto our call of the day, which warns individual investors against getting sucked into this Santa Rally, lest they want to pay the piper come January.

This is the time to be taking profits, not adding new money. Without a doubt, most of the people buying today will come to regret that decision over the next few weeks as prices dip back under these levels, writes popular financial blogger Jani Ziedins of Cracked Market. While he says that a pullback may not occur until February.

That bit of gloom flies in the face of optimism thats been swirling around that stocks are due for some first-quarter lift off. However, as Ziedins reminds us, institutional money managers are on vacation and not participating in this price action.

Opinion: What would happen if Santa fails to call on Wall Street this year?

That means whatever happens over the next few days is meaningless and has no bearing on what comes next, said Ziedins. In fact, it could have the opposite effect. A good few days now could be stealing profits from January and the higher we go now, the less room we have left next month, he says.

To be sure, someone has to be trading all those Amazon shares. See the stat below.

Read: The usual suspects arent driving those record closes for the Nasdaq

After Thursdays record session, the Dow DJIA, +0.08% , S&P 500 SPX, +0.00% are up, but the Nasdaq COMP, -0.17% is slipping. The dollar DXY, -0.53% is down. Europe stocks SXXP, +0.21% are mixed, while Asia markets ADOW, +0.00% gained, thanks to Wall Streets rally.

Our chart comes from The Market Ear blog, which shows the rising and falling fortunes of two exchange-traded funds this year. On the upside, weve got the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY, -0.02%, which is a popular play on that index, while the cannabis-company focused ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF MJ, -0.18% shows just how tough 2019 has been for that nascent sector.

Shares of Amazon logged their highest close since July on Thursday, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Preliminary data showed 6 million shares changed hands, which was the highest since 9.6 million on Oct. 25.

Starbucks SBUX, +0.06% will be giving away coffee at surprise parties to be announced each day between now and New Years Eve.

Disneys DIS, +0.03% Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker logged the second-best Christmas Day ever at the domestic box office.

And China reported industrial profits improving in November.

At least 12 people died after a plane crash near the Kazakhstan airport

Your diet, that electric car, arent helping save the planet

Reddit roasting 22-year old who complained about paltry Christmas gifts

The life of a retail worker at the end of 2019 isnt to be envied

Need to Know starts early and is updated until the opening bell, but sign up here to get it delivered once to your email box. Be sure to check the Need to Know item. The emailed version will be sent out at about 7:30 a.m. Eastern.

Follow MarketWatch on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook.

View original post here:
Heres a warning for investors who are tempted by this year-end rally for stocks - MarketWatch

(Inside Science) -- After nearly hunting a rare turtle to extinction, hunters are now working with scientists, pooling their collective knowledge to preserve the species.

The Swinhoe's softshell turtle (also known as the Yangtze giant softshell turtle) is the worlds rarest,with just one male in captivity and one other animal of unknown sex known to be living in the wild in Vietnam. Once found throughout the Red River and Chinas Yangtze River floodplain, this large freshwater species has plummeted toward extinction in recent decades due to habitat loss, poaching and capture for illegal trade.

Following thedeathof the last known female in April, the future of this critically endangered species is grim. But carefully documented conversations about the turtles with veteran hunters offer new hope.

The level of scientific knowledge is far from sufficient in Vietnam and probably explains why this species looks so rare, said Luca Luiselli, a tropical ecologist with the Institute for Development Ecology Conservation & Cooperation, a nonprofit based in Rome, Italy. Luiselli co-authored the study detailing the hunters conclusions, publishedonlinelast month in the journalAquatic Conservation.

The research team interviewed 10 experienced hunters living in north-central Vietnam. In private interviews, the men described their recollections of the species and its decline. Nine noted that they believe the turtles remain living in the wild.

This kind of information, which researchers refer to as local ecological knowledge, provides needed information in areas unknown to science, but very well known to local people, said John Fa, a conservation ecologist from Manchester Metropolitan University in the U.K. who did not participate in this study.

The study's lead author, ecologist Thong Pham Van, conducted independent interviews of each hunter in native Vietnamese using a questionnaire developed by the Paris-based Turtle Sanctuary Conservation Center.

Based on the hunters responses, researchers learned that Swinhoe numbers began falling rapidly during the 1980s, an economically tumultuous time in Vietnam. Ongoing pressure caused a secondary drop in the early 1990s, after which there were few sightings.

Hunters estimated that they could recall size estimates for about one-third of the animals they caught over four decades. Males were larger than females, but the average weight across all individuals was still a hefty 120 pounds, supporting their status as one of the worlds largest freshwater turtles.

Most of the men said the turtles have an omnivorous diet -- a departure from the almost entirely carnivorous diets of closely related species, Luiselli said. Multiple men claimed to have seen the animals grazing on floating plants.

And importantly, all but one man believed turtles could still be found in Vietnam. Several allegedphotosexist, although none are definitive proof. In 2018, a U.K.-based nonprofitclaimedto have identified at least one turtle from the species using environmental DNA collected from Xuan Khanh Lake, but still the evidence is indirect.

A true rediscovery of a turtle species has precedent. Luiselli previouslyfoundthe Nubian flapshell turtle, which was considered extinct, living in South Sudan by providingquestionnairesto local fisherman. Based on their answers, Luiselli was able to capture several individuals just where they said to look.

Weve seen that even the most endangered species can be quite abundant, Fa said. Vietnam is a country we know very little about, but weve been finding more surprises.

For example, the antelopelike saola, also called the Asian Unicorn, was photographed in Vietnam in 2013 for the first time since 1999. More recently,camera trapsin lowland forests captured the first sighting of the silver-backed chevrotain -- a small, hoofed mammal known as a mouse-deer -- in 29 years.

The team will now need to follow up by looking for rare turtles in the wild. Among other ecologists, the reliability of questionnaire-based studies remains contentious.

Whit Gibbons, a herpetologist at the University of Georgia in Athens, said there are multiple ways the results can be misleading. People can forget, they can lie or they can remember wrong, he said.

But Luiselli believes such surveys can provide valuable information. When he conducted pilot studies in Nigeria that compared knowledge of snakes among locals to his own monitoring data, for example, he found that the results were consistent.

The group is currently interviewing fishermen so they can set traps in the most promising locations. Ideally, new turtles would help to reestablish the stalled captive breeding program and provide valuable information on an elusive species that is difficult to study.

Gibbons thinks theyll succeed, but worries that any conservation efforts will be moot without addressing the multiple stressors turtles face: "Someone is going to find them, but it might not make a difference [to their survival] without changes in cultural attitudes and habitat degradation."

[This story was originally published on InsideScience.org]

Read more:
Hunters are Working With Scientists to Save the World's Rarest Turtle - Discover Magazine

Persistence and understanding can help you boost the odds of following through on a resolution any time of year including goals you make for the new year to improve your health and well-being.

A comprehensive approach also is key, according to three people whove successfully met goals so many of us would like to achieve.

One lost lots weight.

Another dramatically reduced stress.

A third stopped smoking 36 years after she started.

It wasnt enough to resolve to do those things. All three shared the key steps they took along the way. Get help. Share your goal with others, and welcome encouragement. Create, follow and track a plan. Treat setbacks as temporary and get extra help and encouragement if they become more routine.

Each also underlined the reality of their successful resolve: Change is difficult and is a process, not an event.

To invite change, specifically at a pace you can handle, your life will change, said Marissa Biondolillo, who has learned to overcome stress that once overwhelmed her. Positive change doesn't mean painless change, but it will be meaningful. If you think of what you want for yourself and you are willing to back it seriously, it can happen.

John Prisaznuk used to eat a fairly standard Buffalo diet before his weight climbed to 353 pounds. Last week to a workout at Jada Blitz Fitness in Clarence, he brought a pair of size 56-inch waist pants he used to wear. (Sharon Cantillon/Buffalo News)

John Prisaznuk was in a challenging marriage when he ramped up his desire to find comfort in a companion he had known since childhood.

Food.

Prisaznuk was raised on standard Buffalo fare.

Ive eaten an entire pizza and 10, 20 chicken wings at one time, he said.

Pasta and sugary treats that satisfied his sweet tooth also were routine fare.

He never thought much about exercise, either, not with a wife who had a serious mental illness, a busy teaching job at Cleveland Hill Middle School and three young kids at home.

The 5-foot-6 Prisaznuk wore pants with a 56-inch waist and weighed 353 pounds by late 2000, when he decided gastric bypass surgery was the best way to jump-start what he knew would be a massive undertaking: getting to a healthy weight.

I couldn't move, he said. I couldn't climb stairs. I couldn't play with my kids. My classroom is on the third floor and I had a really hard time getting there. My blood pressure was high, and I was on a pill. I'm not anymore.

The gastric surgery, and five years of faithfully following a Weight Watchers eating plan that counted calories and focused on eating nutritious foods in proper portion sizes, helped him drop 90 pounds in five years.

I had to relearn how to eat, he said. Once I learned about the right foods, I was like, All right, I can do this.

He was able to maintain his weight loss but a busy life and his wife Beths progressively worsening bipolar disorder complicated matters. She died from the disease in early 2012.

Prisaznuk still weighed 250 pounds when he arrived at Jada Blitz Fitness in Clarence 4 years ago. He started to take hourlong personal strength training workouts four times a week.

Most members looked stronger, thinner and healthier than Prisaznuk. He was terrified. He still weighed about 250 pounds. He pushed through the fear of being imperfect with help from his trainers, Gaige Hoot and Adam Gutierrez.

Those in the fitness field have dedicated themselves to better health and want to share their knowledge without judging others, Hoot said.

I think there is no better investment than investing in yourself, your health and wellness, he said.

Early this year, Prisaznuk also started taking nutrition sessions with Aubree Aubs Shofner, a certified nutrition coach with Balanced Body Foods, also at Jada Blitz.

Shofner helped Prisaznuk further shape the way he eats.

I always eat protein first because that fills me up, he said. Then a mix of fruits and vegetables and healthy carbs. I love brown rice. I love jasmine rice. There's a grain called farro that was in one of the Balanced Body meals that I recently bought, then I found it at the Lexington Food Co-op.

Prisaznuk finds the fitness part easier than the healthy eating part. He recently placed a greater emphasis on drinking 3 liters of water every day and weaning off Diet Coke. He also has learned that moderation is key.

The food part is all about finding the right balance, he said. I'm not going to give up my dark chocolate but Im going to eat only a little bit not 29 pieces.

Today, Prisaznuk weighs 178 pounds and wears pants with a size 32-inch waist.

His muscle mass has improved. He continues to add to his weight loss and maintenance repertoire.

He took his first high-intensity interval training class this week and recently took a Zumba class with Shahna Markman, his girlfriend of nearly a year. Both are committed to healthy habits, including long walks near Prisaznuks Cheektowaga home and in Delaware Park.

If others think they can do it on their own, thats great, he added, but if it was that easy, we wouldnt have the obesity problem we have in the country. There are tons of resources out there, but you have to be patient with yourself and you have to know that its not going to be fast and its not going to always be easy. It gets easier over time, because you form habits.

Marissa Biondolillo reduces stress by meditating regularly, including at the Himalayan Institute Buffalo, where she learned to become a yoga instructor. (Sharon Cantillon/Buffalo News)

Marissa Biondolillo was built for busyness.

She double-majored in sociology and womens studies at William Smith College in the Finger Lakes before heading to Ithaca to forge a life filled with retail jobs, community theater and vague ideas about the future.

I ran from my problems for a good amount of time, said Biondolillo, 30, a Hamburg native who now lives in the Buffalo University Heights neighborhood.

She moved back to region about 3 years ago, several months after a falling out with a creative organization in Central New York triggered crisis of confidence.

I was used to stress, that constant spiraling of thoughts and the weight of things, she said. I knew how to handle it. But it came to a point where I just sort of froze. I couldn't make a decision. I couldn't get myself out of bed.

Biondolillo decided in February 2016 to try new ways to break her rut. Friends suggested she start by taking a meditation class at an Ithaca integrative health clinic. She tried and soon discovered that her goal to improve her mind should start with a focus on her body.

Meditation taught me how to feel my body from the inside out, she said, and that, for me, was the shortcut to being present and being mindful.

Biondolillo made a commitment to go to the meditation class at 6 p.m. each Monday. In the months to come, that changed to two weekly classes, then yoga.

Two books The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz; and The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron helped her gain understanding as she continued to add classes to her schedule. She saw a behavioral health counselor. She kept a journal to note when and how stress got the best of her.

She also used a smartphone app, Insight Timer, to assure that meditation would be part of each day, and if and when anxiety mounted.

From there, the doors kept opening, Biondolillo said.

She started acting in Shakespeare in the Park performances, joined the Ujima Company and acted with several other companies.

She and Benjamin Turchiarelli, a fellow part-time actor, got engaged. She also took the 200-hour yoga instructor training at Himalayan Institute Buffalo and started teaching, first to her mother, Annalise, and then to several of the parents of her former Hamburg High School friends.

These days, Biondolillo rarely fixates on things she wished hadnt happened in her life, or lets her mind run through scenarios she fears will end badly.

The skills she learned through meditation and yoga breathing exercises, stillness, the ability to control more of your body as the practices become meaningful parts of your life have given her greater awareness.

The whole point of mindfulness isn't just to notice things, she added, but to accept them.

The process has helped her design a different future. She completed her first semester earlier this month toward her masters degree at the University at Buffalo School of Social Work. She works part time as a mental health technician at BryLin Hospital. She continues to act.

Now, when I'm teaching yoga and teaching lessons about mindfulness, Biondolillo said, I usually say, Go to your senses. What do you feel is happening right now? If you develop that skill, it throws a spoke in the wheel of the stress and anxiety spiral.

Registered nurse and former cigarette smoker Deborah Lipinski, 49, of Kenmore, who has worked out regularly and sold natural cleaning products for years, says its been easier to reconcile her choices since she quit smoking Jan. 31. (Mark Mulville/Buffalo News)

Deborah Lipinski used to be one of the nurses people see standing outside a hospital smoking a cigarette. The image all too familiar and perplexing is a testament to the power of nicotine.

Lipinski started smoking when she was 12. She quit several times during her life including while she was pregnant with her four children, ages 7 to 17 but kept returning to the deadly habit.

That changed last January, the week her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.

I needed to be done, Lipinski said. I wanted to be there to help my mother. I'm a nurse. I know that smoking is bad for you. I just needed to figure out how I was going to deal with stress differently.

Lipinski, of Kenmore, has been a registered nurse almost all her adult life. Shes mostly worked in surgical settings and has seen the damage smoking has caused others. She has worked the last four years as a clinical auditor at Independent Health in Amherst, slipping out of the office at least once a day during the first three of those years for a mile-long round trip to Tim Hortons. She told co-workers it was for coffee, too embarrassed to say she needed a smoking break.

During one of those breaks, she called the New York Smokers Quitline (nysmokefree.com; 866-697-8487) from the Tim Hortons lobby.

I said to myself, I need to quit. I need a plan. I need help, because I know I can't do this on my own.

Lipinski tried an oral medication in the late 1990s and quit for three years. She also tried vaping. That didnt work, she said.

Checking in with a Quitline smoking cessation coach kept her accountable. So did tell friends and acquaintances she had quit. Some of her co-workers were shocked because shed hidden her habit so effectively. She put an app, Smoke Free, on her smartphone, which reminds her about specific dangers of smoking, how long shes been smoke-free and how much shes saved since she quit.

Lipinski used nicotine patches that diminished in strength over about three months. Yoga, meditation and deep breathing have become healthy tools to ward off urges to smoke, which grew far less frequent as months passed.

Honestly, I don't even think that that's going to be an issue at this point, she said.

Her husband and kids are much happier and Lipinski no longer has to step outside her house or her office including in the dead of winter to light up. Shes also saved about $75 to $100 a month, and stopped visits to Native American territory to buy cheaper cigarettes to support her half- to full-pack-a-day addiction.

Her mother, Sharon Rott, is now cancer-free, and taking steps to help her stay that way.

Lipinski is nicotine-free. She said a life without cigarettes fits much more comfortably into a life that also includes a career in health care, her Beach Body on Demand workouts and her side job selling Norwex.

Norwex is a microfiber way of cleaning to get rid of the chemicals in your home, she said, and so here I was telling people to get the chemicals out of their home yet I'm smoking. It just didn't make sense.

It took Lipinski several times to stop smoking, so her final message to others who still do is to keep trying to quit. It's worth it.

email:refresh@buffnews.com

Twitter:@BNrefresh,@ScottBScanlon

The rest is here:
New year, new you: Three people share strategies of remarkable resolve - Buffalo News

Youve definitely heard of the ketogenic diet starving your body of carbs to force it to burn fat and produce the mind-clarifying, brain-healing compounds known as ketones. You may have even heard of people and athletes ingesting ketone salts or drinks to propel them into or keep them in a state of ketosis. And if you were paying close attention during the Tour de France this year, you may have spied Team Jumbo-Visma openly drinking ketones mid-race.

The funny thing is, these athletes are not on a ketogenic diet. They are not fat adapted.

For the last three years or so, weve seen Tour athletes fueling with carbs and then supplementing with exogenous ketones to score a two to three percent boost in performance from dual-fueling, says Matt Johnson, a former competitive cyclist and co-founder of The Feed, an online sports nutrition shop and leading supplier of exogenous ketones in the U.S. June was insane with teams placing $10,000 to $20,000 orders for ketone esters and rush shipping them to France. We could barely keep up with it.

Elite athletes biohacking to score a tiny edge? Nothing new.

But this is: a study in the Journal of Physiology says everyday athletes who arent on a keto diet, who arent fat-adapted, may improve their recovery by a whopping 15 percent just from drinking exogenous ketones after intense training days. And the news is spreading.

We have also had a huge spike in individual athletes ordering the product that seems to be only growing, Johnson adds.

Now, will this approach work for you? Heres everything you need to know.

First, a quick biology lesson slash crash course in the trendiest diet of the twenty-teens: in an ideal world, your body breaks down carbohydrates into glucose, which is then transported and used or stored as energy for your muscles, organs and, most importantly, your brain.

Your brain is at the top of the pecking order it gobbles about 20 percent of your total energy expenditure, a lot for a single organ and if its not fueled, everything else stops functioning. When you deprive your body of carbohydrates, your muscles can use fat for fuel, but your brain cant. Instead, your body has a fail-safe to prevent total shutdown: the liver starts converting fat into a superfood designed to save your starving brain: ketones.

Even if your body can adapt to burning fat quickly to fuel long runs and rides, it would still prefer to burn carbs. Which is why the notion of pro athletes downing exogenous ketone drinks without having to give up carbs is completely bonkers.

Ketones are essentially a fourth macronutrient your blood sugar is stable, your body is burning fat and your brain has entered an almost elevated state of functionality. In ketosis the state you reach when adhering to a keto diet your brain starts producing more mitochondria (the little powerhouses of energy in your body) and better regulating neurons. Staying in a state of ketosis has been shown to help clear the brain of proteins that can lead to and worsen Alzheimers disease, reduce seizures in about half of people with epilepsy and even extend the lifespan of mice.

In athletes, staying in ketosis via a ketogenic diet can increase fat utilization during exercise (great, considering your body can store way more fat for fuel than carbs), help reduce body fat and sometimes improve endurance time trials and sprint peak power.

The catch: it all rides on you steering clear of carbs with no slip-ups. If you eat more than your allotted count typically 50 grams, which is one cup of pasta or just two bananas your body falls out of ketosis and you dont get any of these benefits. And pretty much all nutritionists agree that even if your body can adapt to burning fat quickly to fuel long runs and rides, it would still prefer to burn carbs.

Which is why the notion of professional athletes downing exogenous ketone drinks without having to give up carbs is completely bonkers.

In the early 2000s, as part of a DARPA program to enhance U.S. soldier performance, Oxford professors Kieran Clarke and Richard Veech set out to distill the exact molecular structure of one of the ketones our body produces. The resulting ketone ester is a specific molecule, butanedial, that converts directly to beta hydroxybutyrate, the ketone our liver naturally produces in the ketogenic state, when you digest it, explains Geoffrey Woo, co-founder and CEO of HVMN.

HVMN is currently the only company to produce ketone esters, as they lease the patent to Clarke and Veechs molecular structure.

Now, keto followers are probably familiar with other brands of keto drinks (usually based on MCT oil) and ketone salts. But esters are different than these aids. MCT oils dont produce ketones; they help put your body in a state of ketosis so it can start producing its own but since that requires carbohydrate starvation, thats not an option for dual-fueling athletes, Johnson explains.

Ketone salts, meanwhile, use beta hydroxybutyrate as well, but by their nature, theyre bound to a mineral. Because you have to take so much ketone to raise your blood levels enough to see an effect, youre also gaining a lot of mineral load. This leads to a lot of GI issues in athletes, explains Woo. That, plus the fact that the salts dont raise your ketone levels that much, leaves a lot of room for a superior product. There has been minimal testing on the aids but the HVMN esters have been tested and verified, Johnson says.

Ketone esters are a way to eat ketones directly thats going to convert 100 percent to ketones in your body, Woo adds.

Woo says professional athletes drinking exogenous ketones during a race report about a two to three percent increase in performance. That matters in an event like the Tour but the real benefit for athletes, especially everyone other than Egan Bernal or Geraint Thomas, seems to be in downing a bottle once the race is over.

The aforementioned Journal of Physiology study, conducted by seemingly impartial Belgian researchers, simulated a Tour with everyday athletes: 20 fit men trained twice a day (HIIT or intermittent endurance training in the morning, then 1.5- to 3-hour endurance sessions at night), six days a week for three weeks. Half drank a ketone ester after each workout while half drank a placebo.

After three weeks, the guys were shredded everyone showed signs of cardiovascular, hormonal and perceptual overreaching. But those who had taken ketone esters regularly had significantly less damage in all these areas, and on a two-hour endurance test, they were able to ride at a higher sustainable pace and produce more power in the final 30 minutes compared to guys who recovered regularly. All in all, researchers estimated the ketone esters helped improve recovery by 15 percent.

Mainly, its providing your body with another option for fuel, says Jonathan Scott, Ph.D., R.D., an assistant professor at the Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, Maryland who researches performance nutrition and dietary supplements.

You can still have your cake and eat it too. Athletes dont need to consume a diet thats extremely restrictive, and they can then consume exogenous ketones to introduce yet another fuel source the body can use.

Your brain is either going to use glycogen or ketones for power. If ketones are available, glycogen is spared and your muscles can instead use that energy to fuel fiber repair and metabolic cleanup. Whats more, now your body isnt going to break down other structures like muscle fiber to get your brain the fuel, saving your body extra damage.

And, because ketones keep your blood glucose stable, your body is steadily producing insulin, which sweeps glucose into your cells, continuously topping off the pool of energy as its being used and at a much faster rate than youre able to with food, Scott explains.

In addition to faster post-exercise glycogen replenishment, a 2018 Italian study in Current Sports Medicine Report foundthat exogenous ketones decrease proteolysis (the breakdown of proteins into amino acids) and act as metabolic modulators and signaling metabolites.

Theres also some chemistry research to suggest exogenous ketones may help realign your hormone production, adds Krista Austin, Ph.D., C.S.C.S., a sports scientist, exercise physiologist and nutritionist. The anterior pituitary produces hormones that become dysregulated if youre overtraining, dont sleep well at night, have a poor heat tolerance, or experience something like a traumatic brain injury, she explains. Exogenous ketones seem to help realign the production of susceptible hormones like prolactin, which can otherwise prevent proper sleep and recovery.

To top it off, it takes very minimal effort for athletes to earn all these gains: You can still have your cake and eat it too literally and figuratively, Scott explains. Athletes dont need to be consuming a diet thats extremely restrictive on food choices or energy sources during exercise, and they can then consume exogenous ketones to introduce yet another fuel source the body can use.

Johnson says its only a matter of time before major American sports stars pick up the training aid and that well definitely see it in the Olympics. Basketball and hockey especially have some grueling schedules. Imagine the benefit in-season for back-to-back games on the road?

Johnson estimates that roughly 80 percent of the interest in exogenous ketones on The Feed comes from Europe and about 60 percent of that is from non-elites.

For most amateur athletes, that 15 percent improvement in recovery means youll simply feel better after a grueling workout youll have less muscle soreness and stiffness, more energy, better range of motion and sleep better, says Austin.

But thats not necessarily the score it sounds like. If you dont feel terrible after a series of tough training days or a hard race, youre much more likely to get back out, sooner, Austin says. But you might do more harm than good. Until we understand better how exogenous ketones affect the body and recovery, numbing the alarm doesnt change the need for rest.

And will they even work for you like they do for the pros? Jurys still out. Everyday athletes are likely going to respond differently to exogenous ketones, considering just the impact of genetics and training on energy substrate metabolism (how well your body burns other fuel sources) alone, Scott says. And, as with all supplements or performance aids, there are very clearly responders and non-responders. It simply doesnt work for everyone, he adds.

But most importantly, there are so many other aspects of performance that everyday athletes would be better served to focus on, Scott points out, including but not limited to sleep, diet composition, diet quality, nutrient timing, hydration, training program, rest days, stress management, meditation, visualization and even social relationship quality. For elites, all these things are taken into consideration and already optimized, he says. But I would hate for an amateur athlete to start taking ketones to improve sleep for better recovery when its really their stress management that needs to be tweaked.

The upside: as long as you monitor everything above, all our experts agree, theres close to no risk in trying.

Pretty much everyone agrees you shouldnt be using exogenous ketones to enhance recovery after every hard workout or race. This isnt meant for a long weekend ride, Johnson cautions. Even if it was really hard and I came home completely bonked and exhausted, I dont need a ketone ester to feel better at work the next few days.

Not only will drinking it post-ride regularly lead to overtraining, but, at $37 a bottle, a few bottles a week doesnt make economic sense for most of us. The effects of exogenous ketones last roughly an hour after ingestion and youre intended to drink a whole bottle immediately after moving for recovery.

If a client is having trouble sleeping, Ill have them drink ketones before bed so their body can catch up on repairs. But its important to address the underlying issues of why theyre not sleeping in the bigger picture.

But when marathon training gets serious and youre logging 15K, 18K and 12K all within a few days? Thats when you want to take it. Harder training weeks, multi-day endurance competitions, multi-stage races I would absolutely be using it after every stage. That level of benefit is enormous, Johnson adds.

Austin agrees, but adds shell also use it sparingly to disrupt recovery inhibitors. If a client is having trouble sleeping, Ill have them drink ketones before bed for just a few nights so their body can catch up on repairs, she says. But its important to address the underlying issues of why theyre not sleeping in the bigger picture.

And while we have no studies on microdosing (which would be more approachable and more wallet-friendly), Austin says shes seen some results. If someone is new to training, that mid-morning fatigue can be debilitating in terms of getting work done, but taking 10 milliliters of ketones can give them an energy boost, she explains.

Everyone agrees, given the current state of research, exogenous ketones are generally safe. And the one high-quality product we have on the market now (HVMN) is good to go.

But its worth noting that exogenous ketones are currently sold as dietary supplements, which means theres no oversight by the FDA. As ketones become more popular and more formulas come to market, well inevitably see products packed with both other enhancements and other cost-cutting, potentially dangerous ingredients, Scott says. (The upside: the hefty price of formulas like HVMN will likely come down, too.)

We also dont know the effects or risks of using it long term is there a threshold after which exogenous ketones stop being as effective? If your body gets used to the aid in recovery, could it eventually stop being as efficient at rebuilding without it? Do you get any of the neuroprotective benefits of naturally going into ketosis? And, perhaps most importantly, if youre an ultra-runner or frequent multi-day racer using exogenous ketones for recovery, what nuanced alarm bells are you overlooking?

There are definitely a lot of unanswered questions when it comes to exogenous ketones. But with minimal risk and serious potential gains, we wouldnt knock anyone for giving a sip.

See the original post:
How Athletes Are Reaping the Benefits of Keto Without Actually Giving Up Carbs - gearpatrol.com

Only about a quarterof the people who start a diet and exercise plan stick with their resolutions for more than a month. Experts atThe Ohio State University Veterinary Medical CenterandThe Ohio State University Wexner Medical Centersay that partnering with your pet when implementing healthy habits can be a great way to find motivation and make you both happier and healthier.

A balanced diet and regular exercise are extremely important for pets, just like they are for humans, and many of the health benefits of a healthy lifestyle are the same said Arielle Markley, a veterinarian in theCanine Physical Rehabilitation & Sports Medicine Centerat Ohio State Veterinary Medical Center.

Markley acknowledges that there are many creative ways to get active with your pet, such as dog yoga, dog Pilatesand couch-to-5K programs, but she urges people to start slowly. Just as someone shouldnt run a full marathon without training, the same holds true for pets. Its important to introduce an exercise routine slowly, especially if petshavent been active.When starting a diet and exercise plan with your pet, Markley says to rememberPAWS:

Liz Weinandy, a registered dietitian at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center, acknowledges that change can be hard but says forming a partnership with your pet could be the motivation you need.

Making a commitment to your pet to go for a walk every single day means that youre not only making those changes for yourself, but now also for your pet. We know that the numerous health benefits from embracing a healthier lifestyle, like weight loss, better sleepand overall enhanced mental health, can translate to your pet as well, Weinandy said.

Both experts stress the importance of getting clearance from your doctor and veterinarian before starting any diet and exercise program. Its important to make sure that there arent any other health conditions that might keep either of you from your goals and to have a plan that is tailored to your individual needs.

Here is the original post:
Partner with your pet to succeed with diet and exercise... - ScienceBlog.com

Page 169«..1020..168169170171..180190..»

Home » Diets that Work » Page 169