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Diet or exercise: Which is more important for weightloss?
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Of course, you need a healthy balance of both the right diet and adequate exercise to drop the pounds. But does one outweigh the other? Find out.
This has been an ongoing controversy for many years. For optimal fat loss, should you focus more on your diet or your exercise routine? All in all, you do need a balance of both. You must follow a diet and exercise in order to get the absolute best result. But when it comes down to which contributes more, you may be surprised as to what the answer is.
Simply put, exercise is the easy part...at least for most people. A majority of the population finds it much easier to get to the gym and break a sweat than to put down that piece of bread or stop themselves from another serving of dinner.
Exercise is always more favourable than dieting. Wouldn't it be nice if you could just exercise and eat whatever you want? Well, that's sure as heck not the case! Dieting contributes to about 90 per cent of fat loss, leaving only 10 per cent to exercise. This may come as a big surprise to you, but it is true. How come? Read more to find out why dieting has an advantage over exercise when it comes to weightloss.
You can't out-exercise a bad diet
This is such a popular phrase in the fitness world and it is probably one of the truest statements out there. Many people believe that if they work their butt off in the gym, that they can go home and eat what they want.
The main idea behind exercising is to burn calories. The unhealthy foods that you reward yourself with afterward are chockfull of unnecessary calories. Take this for example: You stop by the McDonald's drive-thru with some friends and splurge on a Big Mac. In the back of your head you're thinking 'I'll just go to the gym later'. Well, hold that thought and put the Big Mac down! In order to burn off a Big Mac, you would need to bust your butt in the gym for at least 90 minutes of full-on intense cardio, just to create a small calorie deficit.
This goes for all foods, not only Big Macs. In order to lose weight, you must burn more calories than you consume. If you have bad dietary habits, chances are that's not happening and that's the reason why you aren't losing weight. All the exercise in the world can't help a bad diet.
Illustration: Uttam Ghosh
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Diet or exercise: Which is more important for weightloss?
High-fat/calorie diet accelerates development of pancreatic cancer
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Public release date: 20-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jeremy Moore jeremy.moore@aacr.org 215-446-7109 American Association for Cancer Research
LAKE TAHOE, Nev. Study results presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's Pancreatic Cancer: Progress and Challenges conference, held here June 18-21, strongly suggest that a diet high in fat and calories can hasten the development of pancreatic cancer in humans.
"Our results showed that in mice, a diet high in fat and calories led to obesity and metabolic disturbances such as insulin resistance that are seen in obese humans. It also greatly enhanced pancreatic inflammation and pancreatic cancer development," said Guido Eibl, M.D., an associate professor in the department of surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles and a researcher at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Human epidemiological studies have linked high fat intake and obesity to an increased risk of pancreatic cancer, but the mechanism driving this association has not been understood.
To understand the link, Eibl and his colleagues first tested the hypothesis that diet is linked to cancer. They fed a corn oil-based diet that had a high content of fat and calories to mice with a genetic mutation that caused them to develop pancreatic precancer. The same gene, KRAS, is mutated in the majority of human pancreatic cancers.
The results showed that 90 percent of the mice fed the special diet became obese, and all of these mice developed insulin resistance and inflammation in the pancreas. Both of these conditions can stimulate the growth of precancerous cells and cancer. These mice also developed significantly more advanced precancerous lesions than did mice fed a normal diet.
"This suggests that the high-fat, high-calorie diet accelerated pancreatic cancer development," said Eibl. "A KRAS mutation in the pancreas might not be sufficient to cause an individual to develop pancreatic cancer. It likely needs something in addition a secondary hit. Our study showed that a high-fat, high-calorie diet could provide an environmental secondary hit and trigger cancer development."
The researchers are now defining the role that inflammation produced by obesity plays in development of the cancer, and if agents such as antidiabetic drugs or fish oil can halt this disease process.
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High-fat/calorie diet accelerates development of pancreatic cancer
Food elimination diet identifies causes of difficulty swallowing and swelling of the throat
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Public release date: 20-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Alissa J. Cruz media@gastro.org 301-272-1603 American Gastroenterological Association
A six-food elimination diet significantly improves symptoms in adult patients with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), according to a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. In EoE, eosinophils and other inflammatory cells cause inflammation of the esophagus in response to an allergic stimulus. Previously thought to be a rare disease, EoE has become one of the most common causes for dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), heartburn and the sensation of "food stuck in the throat" in adults. Similar to children, this study has now shown that food allergens have a causative role in the majority of adults with EoE.
An elimination diet that identifies specic food triggers is an effective therapeutic alternative to corticosteroids for adults with EoE. Furthermore, the results of a reintroduction process in which these trigger foods are added back into a patient's diet support the fact that food antigens are driving this response; this provides new insight into the nature of the inammatory response in adult EoE.
"By first eliminating, then systematically reintroducing foods in our adult patients, we were able to identify the specic food triggers that caused their symptoms, such as heartburn, chest pain and difficulty swallowing, or the sensation of food being stuck in their throat," said Nirmala Gonsalves, MD, of Northwestern University and the lead author of this study. "Given the poor sensitivity of skin prick testing and lack of history of food allergy or intolerance, the six-food elimination diet with reintroduction is the only reliable method to date to identify food triggers in adult eosinophilic esophagitis and should allow us to better tailor diet to individual patients for long-term management." View a video abstract in which Dr. Gonsalves discusses her study findings.
A diet that eliminates all of the six most commonly allergenic foods (milk, soy, egg, wheat, peanuts/tree nuts and shellfish/fish) significantly improves symptoms and reduces esophageal tissue damage associated with EoE in adults. In fact, 78 percent of patients achieved greater than a 50 percent reduction in peak eosinophil (white blood cell) counts in their esophagus; dysphagia symptom scores improved signicantly after the elimination diet. Once trigger foods were reintroduced, all patients had recurrence of their symptoms within five days. These results suggest that EoE is likely the same disease in children and adults.
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About the AGA Institute
The American Gastroenterological Association is the trusted voice of the GI community. Founded in 1897, the AGA has grown to include 17,000 members from around the globe who are involved in all aspects of the science, practice and advancement of gastroenterology. The AGA Institute administers the practice, research and educational programs of the organization. http://www.gastro.org.
About Gastroenterology
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Food elimination diet identifies causes of difficulty swallowing and swelling of the throat
RLPC-Fitness First escapes administration
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LONDON, June 20 (Reuters) - UK gym chain Fitness First has avoided administration after creditors backed plans to restructure its lease agreements, the company said, prompting the sale of around half of its UK gyms and a 600 million pound ($942.80 million) debt write off.
Creditors at a meeting on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) - which lets a company with debt problems reach a voluntary agreement with its business creditors over the repayment of that debt.
The CVA enables a rent renegotiation on some of the 79 gyms it is set to keep as prior rent commitments were unsustainable.
Fitness First will now seek to sell 67 of its UK gyms. The sale should happen in the next few weeks and a number of rival gym operators have expressed interest.
The company's wider financial restructuring can also kick in now the CVA has been approved. Lenders which include distressed investment funds Marathon and Oaktree Capital, agreed to wipe out 600 million pounds of debt in return for a 75 percent equity stake. Marathon and Oaktree will acquire the remaining 25 percent by providing a new 100 million pound credit facility.
Fitness First had been struggling to service its debts and breached first-quarter covenants after BC Partners failed to sell parts of the business last year to repay its debt.
Distressed investors were attracted to Fitness First as traditional lenders decided to sell out of the company at a discount after losing confidence in the health club sector, which is suffering in the economic downturn as consumers cut discretionary spending.
KPMG, which is administering the CVA, said it was a vital lifeline to avoid administration and should always offer a better return to creditors. It is estimated around 25 to 35 pence in the pound will be given to compromised landlords via the CVA compared to less than 1 pence if an administration went ahead.
BC Partners bought Fitness First in 2005 for 1.2 billion euros. It tried to float its Australian and Asian operations in Singapore in 2011 but pulled the process due to market volatility. BC Partners will also receive a small upside in the company's equity by receiving warrants to buy shares. ($1 = 0.6364 British pounds) (Reporting by Claire Ruckin; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)
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RLPC-Fitness First escapes administration
Fitness and social media: Don't overdo it
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Apps that let friends keep tabs on your health could help you stick to a fitness regimen. But don't overshare.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Editor's note: Brenna Ehrlich and Andrea Bartz are the sarcastic brains behind humor blog and book "Stuff Hipsters Hate." Got a question about etiquette in the digital world? Contact them at netiquette@cnn.com.
(CNN) -- It's summer, and months after you made that vow to finally get fit, healthy and bikini-ready, you're actually going at it, sweating it up at the gym or jogging around your 'hood before work.
After all, your annual Fourth of July my-in-laws-will-judge-how-I-look-in-a-bathing-suit-a-thon is approaching. We support your attempts to live healthily -- really, we do.
But here's the thing: We don't care about your personal mission nearly as much as you do.
Anyone who's seen those peppy late-night infomercials, while fumbling around the bottom of a Lay's bag for the last greasy crumbs, knows that myriad technologies exist to help you get in shape. And there's nothing wrong with tapping into tech's social power to gain support and encouragement as you go from couch potato to stud.
But care must be employed when mixing fitness and social media. Read on for three web/workout Fails, plus better approaches for staying connected as you get there.
Seven tech-behavior faults that aren't so bad
Fit Flop No. 1: Posting the following on Facebook: "The plan: 3-mile run/walk splits on Monday, 45-minute swim on Tuesday, Zumba class plus 20 minutes on the Erg machine on Wednesday, 8-mile bike ride on Thursday, rest on Saturday, Hatha yoga on Sunday. PUMPED for this week!!!"
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Fitness and social media: Don't overdo it
World Class Athletes Help to Create New Athletic Fitness Class for Lucozade
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LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwire -06/20/12)- Editors Note: There is a photo associated with this press release.
This July, learn to train like Mo Farah, Phillips Idowu and Louis Smith with the NEW "Athletic Fitness" class at Fitness First. Powered by Lucozade, it is the first class of its kind that brings expertise from iconic athletes to the workout studio. Fitness First have worked with the experts in their respective fields to bring insights from triple jumper Idowu, long distance runner Farah and gymnast Smith, to life. Reflecting the athlete's areas of expertise, the class comprises of three components; endurance, speed and power.
The forty-five minute class is available to all Fitness First members in selected clubs across the UK. Check out the gym membership deals and get signed up - members can expect the following style of class;
Step One: Warm-up A general five minute functional warm up using big moves such as squats, lunges and jumping jacks.
Step Two: Endurance Training & Endurance Competition The instructor will guide on four endurance exercises for eight minutes. All participants in the class take part with muscular endurance exercises. The class is then split into two groups with these groups battling it out for two minutes.
Exercises include: Squat/Lunge combos, side plank into planks, staggered press ups and buddying up for the competitions.
Step Three: Speed training & Speed competition Four speed exercises will be outlined by the instructor which will help the participants be prepared for the speed competition session. As before, the room is split into two, and going head to head the two groups battle it out for another two minutes using the speed exercises.
Exercises include: High knee skips, single leg squat thrusts, sprinter crunches, and buddying up and whole group competitions.
Step Four: Power training & Power Competition Power exercises are key for core and stability training, so these are worked into the final part of the class. Once again, all participants get involved and the groups battle against each other.
Exercises include: Burpee pikes, speed skater jumps, tuck jumps, push press into squats, and whole group competitions.
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World Class Athletes Help to Create New Athletic Fitness Class for Lucozade
SharecareNow Names the Top 10 Influencers of Online Fitness Conversation
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ATLANTA, GA and SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire -06/20/12)- With nearly 150 million people in the United States aged 20 and older either overweight or obese, SharecareNow, powered by WCG, today announced the "SharecareNow 10 - Fitness" to recognize the most influential individuals that drive exercise and fitness conversation online, with a goal of creating a healthier nation.
The comprehensive list includes some of the top names in exercise and fitness today, from Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper -- celebrity personal trainers and television personalities known for their role on the show "The Biggest Loser" -- to experts from popular health magazines like Fitness Magazine and Shape, to bloggers sharing their personal fitness stories.
"Learning about the most effective and beneficial physical training activities is essential when developing a personalized fitness program to improve one's lifestyle," said Dr. Mike Clark, chief science officer for Sharecare and chief executive officer of the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). "Our hope is that people searching for fitness information online can rely on Sharecare experts and the SharecareNow 10 - Fitness list to determine which fitness solutions are right for them, and how to optimize their fitness goals in order to live healthy and active lives."
Experts agree that adults should spend at least 2.5 hours each week doing moderate-intensity aerobic activities or at least 1.25 hours per week doing vigorous-intensity activities. It is also recommended that children participate in moderate to vigorous activities for at least one hour each day.(1) However, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only about 20.4 percent of American adults aged 18 years and older met the Physical Activity Guidelines for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening physical activity.(2)
To be included in the SharecareNow 10 - Fitness list, influencers must have demonstrated a consistent impact on fitness-specific conversations online over the past year. An individual's influence is measured and quantified through a proprietary algorithm based on more than 40 individual metrics, including fitness relevance, syndication, presence and reach. These influencers are then ranked from most to least influential based on a unique scoring structure.
The following top influencers make up the SharecareNow 10 - Fitness list:
1. Jillian Michaels - http://www.everydayhealth.com 2. Cassey Ho - http://blogilates.com 3. Sarah Klein - http://www.huffingtonpost.com 4. Karla Walsh - http://www.fitnessmagazine.com 5. Paige Waehner - http://exercise.about.com 6. Adam Bornstein - http://www.livestrong.com 7. Jessica Smith - http://www.shape.com 8. Gina Harney - http://fitnessista.com 9. Bob Harper - http://www.mytrainerbob.com 10. Chris Freytag - http://chrisfreytag.com
A downloadable version of the SharecareNow 10 - Fitness list can be found here: http://www.sharecare.com/static/sharecare-now-fitness-top-ten-infographic. Additional information, including bios and the methodology behind the influencer list, is available at http://now.sharecare.com.
In support of raising awareness around fitness, @SharecareNow will host a Twitter Chat on Friday, June 22nd from 12-2 pm EDT. Participants must use #SCFFheat to participate in the conversation, where fitness experts will answer questions related to physical activities and how to exercise safely in the summer heat.
About SharecareNow, powered by WCGSharecareNow, powered by WCG was developed in partnership with Sharecare, an interactive social Q&A platform, and WCG, a market-leading digital communications agency. Sharecare Now, powered by WCG is an online platform developed to access real-time analytics on various health topics, conversations and influencers, and to use these insights to meaningfully impact the conversation through strategic engagement. The platform allows health and wellness professionals, organizations and brands to leverage the most accurate data, solutions and best practices to participate in the social service of expert health and wellness content and communities.
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SharecareNow Names the Top 10 Influencers of Online Fitness Conversation
Fitness Tools for Every Athlete
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The latest generation of high-tech personal fitness devices can help motivate you and improve your athletic performance. "Some of the new gadgets encourage sedentary people to get moving," says Carol Torgan, PhD, a physiologist who consults for the American College of Sports Medicine. "Others boost athletic performance by providing real-time information about target heart rate, running speed, and other parameters."
But with so many gadgets crowding the market, choosing the right one for your workout and style isn't easy. Here are eight types of fitness tools that may help improve your workout.
1. Basic Step Counters (Pedometers)
If you need a little extra motivation to get moving, pedometers that count each step can help. "People are often surprised when they strap on a step counter to see how inactive they are during the day," says Ruth Ann Carpenter, MS, an exercise consultant and co-author of Active Living Every Day. "With a step counter, you can set a goal of how many steps to take every day and track your progress. If you're falling short, you may be motivated to take a walk after dinner instead of watching TV."
Step counters are valuable for people who get their exercise by walking or running. It won't accurately register other exercise, such as bicycling or weight lifting. About 5,000 steps is the minimum you should log in a day. But 10,000 steps is ideal if you want to be active.
The most basic and inexpensive pedometers measure steps only when worn or held in an upright position. More expensive models use tri-axis or 3D technology to record steps no matter how they are positioned, so they tend to be easier to use and more reliable.
2. GPS-Based Fitness Monitors
Some of the latest fitness devices use GPS signals to monitor your exact location. GPS-equipped devices can record how far and how fast you walk or run. You can also use them to chart a path when you're running or walking in an unfamiliar place.
In general, GPS devices are more accurate than basic step counters at estimating the distance you've walked or run.
3. Calorie Counters
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Fitness Tools for Every Athlete
Hostage Exercise tests BPSO Special Ops Group
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DERIDDER, LA (KPLC) -
As snipers with the Beauregard Parish Sheriff's Office Special OperationsGroupput on their make upand the dive team gears up- they are setting the stage for a training exercise that will test their abilities.
"The idea is to pull all of these people together. Communication we found is the biggest key. If we are not communicating the operation isn't going to go too well," said DetectiveJared Morton.
Morton explainedthe scenario has a suspect threatening to blow up the Bundicks Lake dam while holding two hostages at gunpoint.
"Best case scenario is if we do have a hostage involved like the information indicates is to get that hostage out safely. And the threat is to blow up the dam at Bundicks Spillway - so the best case scenario is we can prevent that from happening," said Morton.
As thescenario got underway divers begin their swim to land as snipersin the nearby woods sentback informationto the command center as negotiations with the suspect got underway.
Morton makes contact with the suspect by phone.
Morton to Suspect:"Look... Slow things down okay, it's just you and me. Right now nothing has happened. I got information that you are wanting to do some bad things... Some stuff you are going to get into a lot of trouble for you understand."
Contact with the suspect only makes him agitated. According to snipers he begins to get frustrated.
Snipers to Morton:"Subject is constantly pacing around. Now having conversations with two females believed to be hostages andraising his voice."
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Hostage Exercise tests BPSO Special Ops Group
Breaking a sweat for the feeling rather than fitness
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Health benefits ... exercise improves mood in some.
Almost everyone has got the message that exercise is important for health. Yet most who start exercise programs stop. Perhaps, researchers say, the way to persuade more people to exercise is to study those rare individuals who love it.
What makes someone a committed exerciser? And how motivating are the much-vaunted improvements to health?
Recently these questions have become more urgent. This month, exercise researchers published an analysis of five rigorous studies reporting that about 10 per cent of people have an ''adverse response'' to exercise. In them, at least one cardiovascular risk factor got worse instead of better.
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Some exercise and public health experts worried that people might use the findings as an excuse not to exercise. But that assumes that exercisers are motivated largely by health concerns to begin with.
''When a physician tells a patient, 'You need to make a change for your health', that can be motivating, especially if the person has a health problem,'' says Rodney Dishman, director of the exercise psychology laboratory at the University of Georgia. ''But it usually wanes over time. People don't feel their bones getting stronger, they don't feel lipids changing, they don't feel their blood pressure changing.''
Most who start exercising say the goal is to lose weight or improve their health. But those who begin on the promise of imperceptible health effects often stop, Dr Dishman says, saying they do not have time, or are too tired after work, or they just lost interest.
And there are no good studies investigating why people keep exercising. Dishman and others suspect the motivation is sheer pleasure - feeling energised, a boost in mood, feeling restless and uncomfortable without exercise. And you may not be able to will yourself to have this response, he says.
Biological traits, Dishman says, ''seem to play a bigger role in both the choice to be active and the outcomes of being active than folks - namely public health advocates - have been willing to admit''.
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Breaking a sweat for the feeling rather than fitness