Category Archives: Lose Weight Fast

Provided by Eat This, Not That! harvest bowl

The easiest hack for losing weight and belly fat would be one that's so effortless and so enjoyable that you don't even have to think about doing it. But healthy living rarely accommodates such hedonistic fantasies. To lose requires loss, giving up or at least replacing that which causes gain, namely calorie-dense food and drink.

But the best way to lose weight isn't to think about dieting in terms of replacement but rather addition. According to Andrea Ovard, RDN, a registered dietitian nutritionist and certified specialist in sports dietetics for idealfit.com, the easiest hack for weight loss is to eat two servings of vegetables a day.

"Eat at least 2 cups of vegetables every day," Ovard says. Do it until it becomes a habit, like brushing your teeth.

The number one reason why adding or making sure you eat two servings of vegetables a day is that these foods are typically low in calories and high in fibertwo characteristics that help you to feel fuller for longer and help you eat fewer calorie-dense foods.

"Vegetables are nutrient-dense but usually very low in calories, which means you can eat A LOT of veggies to help you feel full while consuming very few calories. They also contain a lot of fiber, which is important in helping keep you full longer."

Related: 100 Unhealthiest Foods on the Planet.

When you fill up on fiber-rich vegetables first during a meal, you won't overeat the calorie-dense part of dinner, and you won't have room for a sugary and fatty dessert, she says. "That strategy aids in weight loss."

It may not come as a surprise, but eating fewer calorie-dense foods is a key tenet of losing weight. Consider what Harvard School of Public Health researchers found in a study of more than 120,000 healthy men and women reported in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2011.

The study analyzed changes in diet and lifestyle and weight gain every four years for 20 years. The average weight gain among participants was 3.35 pounds during each 4-year period, which amounts to a gain of 16.8-pounds over the course of the study. Researchers found that participants' weight gain was most strongly associated with calorie-dense foods that are higher in starches, refined grains, fats, and sugars.

The number one food linked to weight gain was potato chips, followed by potatoes, sugar-sweetened beverages, and red meats (both processed and unprocessed). The study also found that certain foods were associated with less weight gain when participants ate more of them. You can guess what they are. (Hint: many of them are the foods Ovard recommends you eat to lose weight). In order of least weight gain was vegetables, whole grains, fruits, nuts, and yogurt. So as you can see, vegetables were the food group that helped participants stave off the most weight over the course of two decades.

The bottom line, the researchers suggested, is that focusing on high-quality foods and beverages and limiting poor quality (cheap, processed) foods is the most useful way to consume fewer calories and managing your weight.

OK, so what's the easiest practical hack for eating more high-quality, lower-calorie foods so that they elbow the poor-quality stuff off your plate? Ovard has some tips:

If you don't like the taste of some raw vegetables, try new ways of cooking them. "Try them roasted; it's a totally different experience as they're so good," says Ovard.

Dip them in hummus. Dunking raw vegetables into dips isn't a bad thing. It can add extra flavor and you're still getting a lot of healthy nutrients and fiber from the produce. Choose healthier dips like hummus that are high in protein.

Hide them. "Mix spinach and cauliflower into a smoothie, casseroles, and mac 'n' cheese; you won't even taste them," says Ovard. "Load up your fajitas, tacos, burgers and pizza with a ton of vegetables."

Ovard likes to focus on vegetables that provide the most fiber and nutrients, like carrots (3.6 grams of fiber per cup), spinach (4 grams per cup), broccoli (2.5 g) and artichokes (7 g).

The benefits of these foods extend beyond their fiber counts. Carrots are high in vitamin A for good vision, spinach is a great source of magnesium, which is important for energy metabolism, and artichokes are rich in disease-fighting folate, vitamin C and vitamin K.

Planning ahead can make it even easier to boost your vegetable eating. Ovard recommends trying a Harvest Bowl. It includes a base of brown rice; vegetables like sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, bell pepper; and proteins like chickpeas and chicken. One serving of this delicious meal hits your two-cups-of-veggies quota.

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This Is the Easiest Hack for Weight Loss, According to a Dietitian - msnNOW

Losing weight may seem like a daunting task, but it doesnt have to be as difficult as it seems with the right combination of healthy habits. Many people share the common misconception that in order to lose weight effectively you have to dedicate hours at a time to working out, and must cut out all of the foods that bring you joy to finally feel good in your body. While this approach may expedite your results, its unlikely that you will be able to stick to this routine long term, and youll find yourself right back where you started, frustrated that you cant keep the pounds off. If youre hoping to lose weight in a healthy way but arent quite sure where to start, these are the four healthy habits you should be integrating into your daily routine in order to look and feel great.

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Portion Control

Portion control is a surefire way to be able to eat most of your favorite foods in moderation while continuing to lose weight. The idea is that each food group is consumed in predetermined portions so that you can make sure youre meeting your macros and eating the foods you love without overdoing it. One easy trick to enhance your plate when practicing portion control is to prioritize vegetables and then add the rest of your foods afterwards. Registered dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner explains to Health, Bulking up your meals with veggies is one easy way to cut calories while filling you up fast. Spinach, for example, can be used as a sandwich-topper or can add fiber and nutrients to pasta and stir-fries. You can still eat delicious and hearty meals, just make sure to balance them out with a solid serving of greens as well.

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LISS

If running isnt your forte then this form of exercise might just be the thing for you. LISS, otherwise known as low intensity steady state exercise, is a form of cardio which is far less demanding on the body than a higher intensity activity like running or interval training, but is just as effective. While you do have to invest more time in your LISS activity, such as a long bike ride or walk, this form of exercise has proven to be just as useful for weight loss without putting too much strain on your body. PT Kayla Itsines tells Womens Health, In order to metabolise fat the body needs oxygen and the lower the intensity, the more oxygen is available to be used by the body to break down fat. When you're jogging or sprinting, less oxygen is available meaning that your body will use other energy sources, such as carbohydrates, for energy instead of fat.

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Healthy Swaps

While a well-balanced diet does allow for you to eat your favorite foods in moderation, there are some smaller swaps you can make which will overall add nutritional value to your diet, minimizing empty calories and effectively keeping you full for longer. Trading out white bread and pasta, otherwise known as refined carbs, for a whole wheat option will provide your body with more fiber which is ideal for increasing satiety and improving your digestion. White carbs have been heavily processed to remove all of the valuable nutrients that make carbohydrates good for you in the first place, so you will be better served with a wheat or multigrain choice which tastes virtually the same.

Hydration Is Key

One of the easiest ways to lose weight without any effort is to prioritize your hydration throughout the day. Drinking enough water is vital for keeping your body functioning, but it can also help you minimize overeating and keep you full for longer. According to Medical News Today, A person may also think that they are hungry when they are actually thirsty. Drinking a glass of water before reaching for something to eat can help to curb unnecessary snacking. 50 overweight females drank 500 milliliters (mL) of water 30 minutes before breakfast, lunch, and dinner, in addition to their regular water consumption, for 8 consecutive weeks. The next time you find yourself reaching for a salty snack, have a glass of water first to make sure youre actually hungry before proceeding.

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4 Doctor-Approved, Healthy Ways To Lose Weight Without EVER Going On A Run - SheFinds

More than 20 years later, I can still remember my grandmother handing me the silver diet book with the cartoon cover and the sense that I needed to do something. I was probably around 13; the specifics have mercifully faded with time, but the cover and the feeling are burned into my brain. And so it was with a special kind of remembered dread and baggage that I read a recent NPR headline: How Parents Can Address Kids Pandemic Weight Gain. Children have had their lives upended over the last year, isolated from their friends and shut out from so many spaces and activities; so many of them have lost grandparents, parents, and other people they cared about. Why is the weight the thing that matters? Of course, its always the weight that matters, looming large in American culture as an obsession, a scapegoat, a gravitational force that warps discussions about fitness, about food, about bodies. Not just in American culture, but for those of us who are in fact fat.

The accelerated vaccine rollout has prompted a flood of lifestyle content, but one storyline rises above the others: the weight and what to do about it. One New York Times headline delivered the bad news: How Much Weight Did We Gain During Lockdowns? 2 Pounds a Month, Study Hints. The piece covered a study published in March in JAMA Network Open; Good Morning America picked up the same study and advised its audience How to work out safely at the gym amid coronavirus pandemic. The longtime Personal Health columnist for the Times, Jane E. Brody,opted for a more actively shaming stance in her mid-March piece. She wrote:

The country was suddenly faced with a shortage of flour and yeast as millions of Americans stuck at home went on a baking frenzy. While I understood their need to relieve stress, feel productive and perhaps help others less able or so inclined, bread, muffins and cookies were not the most wholesome products that might have emerged from pandemic kitchens.

This was a motif throughout the pandemic, one taken up by Whole Foods founder John Mackey in an interview where he stressed a link between covid and obesity and proclaimed: People have got to become wiser about their food choices. Even when media wasnt cutting it dangerously close to blaming people for dying of covid, the concern about packing on pounds has persisted throughout the pandemic. The Times also picked up on a study by weight-loss brand Nutrisystem in October (Using the Pandemic as an Opportunity to Lose Weight and Get in Shape) and one in the journal Obesity in December (Yes, Many of Us Are Stress-Eating and Gaining Weight in the Pandemic).

Not even a corporate initiative to encourage vaccination escaped the concern; when Krispy Kreme announced a free donut promotion for those whod gotten the jab, a professor of public health took it upon herself to criticize the promotion; As a public health expert, I cant endorse a diet of daily donuts, she wrote.

Its not like anybody is surprised to hear theyve gained 20 pounds in the pandemic; people know whether their pants fit or dont fit. Its not a shock that a year of stress would result in some weight gain, and much of America has spent the last year with much, much bigger problems than an additional 10 pounds. And, too, many Americans have been more concerned about having enough to eat, as evidenced by long lines at food pantries across the country.

But the proliferation is also part of a decades-long pattern in the way America talks about weight that just isnt helping. If it were, the percentages wouldnt have kept creeping up, up, up; clearly, there are structural factors at work that far outweigh any individuals calorie-counting. And yet, thats what these narratives always come back to. The discussion of personal health, over and over again, is framed in terms of weight, rather than centering the practices that are good for all bodiesexercise and healthy eatingregardless of size. And, too, the obsession with personal responsibility obscures the possibilities for structural solutions.

Whats more, it just makes heavier people fucking miserable.

I dont remember how old I was when I first became aware that I was fat, or at least inclined to chubbiness, which suggests it was early in grade school or even before. I know I was well aware of the shame by fourth grade, because I remember the sinking feeling when some about you worksheet required writing out your weight. (Im pretty sure I fudged the numbers.) When my grandmother handed me that diet book, at the time, shaving off whatever number stood between me and normal really did seem almost achievable if I simply put my mind to it. All it would take was the right combination of grapefruit, cottage cheese, and willpower. It probably wasnt the first time wed have a similar conversation, and it wasnt the last.

With the benefit of adult hindsight, I can see that my grandmother was coming from a place of concern, and a place of anxiety about her own body. (She was forever fad dieting, and her mobility was limited because of a car accident years before.) Thats the point, though: the stuff thats kindly meant still hurts. And it wasnt just her; I grew up in the South in the 80s and 90s and to the degree that there were any women forthrightly comfortable in their bodies, well, they were thin on the ground. Nor did popular culture offer any alternative visions: The messages were everywhere. And so at the impressionable period of my life where I might have been forming a comfortable relationship with vegetables and exercise, instead I was beginning to conceive of myself as a person who would always exist in an uneasy tension with her own body. That sense of myself threw my relationship to the foods I ate and the physical activities I chose into complete disorder.

When New York expanded vaccine availability to the clinically overweightanybody with a BMI of 30 or aboveIll admit I felt weird about it. Not guilty, exactly; its not cheating to make an appointment when the authorities say its time to make an appointment. It was more an echo of the discomfort, shame, and guilt Ive carried for years about my body, which is so often framed as a problem. Its more that Im accustomed to the lack of accommodationthe clothing that doesnt fit, the chairs that are too smalland move through the world accordingly. I expect a lecture on every trip to the doctors office; I went through an entire pregnancy with COMPLICATIONS: MORBID OBESITY emblazoned on the various forms I carried around my OB/GYNs office. It felt unreal that my cursed BMI might benefit me in some waythough, of course, it wasnt a benefit at all, but a simple public health judgment about risk.

So much comes to rest on a fat bodyso much symbolism for oneself, for others, for society. That, to me, is the true weight, the weight that puts the wear and tear on my body and my spirit. I remember, too, the moment I knew that my grandmothers ovarian cancer was going to kill her: After a doctors appointment, I watched her order a milkshake without so much as hemming or hawing. I knew, too, that I had to find a way to live that didnt revolve around endlessly struggling with my own body.

The irony is, working from home for a year has been good for my eating habits. I started eating green smoothies for breakfast; I experimented with my dinner menus and I developed opinions about specific varieties of lettuce. Desperate for covid-safe entertainment with my stuck-at-home toddler, we began frequenting nearby farm stands and discovered the glories of late-summer New York peaches. I had an epiphany: I actually like salad. Its not a punishment food, or a grim requirement for a narrow view of beauty, or a chore; its something that I quite genuinely enjoy eating. Id never realized this because even after I decided to quit worrying about the numbers on the scale, my relationship with food was still so fraught. It took years and years of exposure to fat acceptance and life experience to reach this point; no smug article about public health has done anything to help the process. I sometimes think about the friendly resident tutor in college who brought over a small side salad after assessing the contents of my tray and deciding it didnt have enough vegetables. A lifetime of moments like that just made me associate healthy food with humiliation and shame for a very, very long time.

Much to my immense surprisein contravention of every stereotype about fat peopleI also find myself doing exactly what all these articles presumably want me to be doing and fantasize constantly about going back to the gym, previously a space I associated with being conspicuous and out-of-place. Shortly before the pandemic, I finally forked over the money for somewhere with a lap pool, because if theres one childhood physical activity of which I have nothing but the fondest possible memories, its swimming. Swimming has always been movement for the sake of movement, for the sake of fun, untainted by the pressure to shrink the number on the scale. For a month, I routinely sank into the blue water and stroked my way down and back, down and back. Another realization: I actually do get those exercise endorphins.

I imagine sliding back into the water and gliding along at eye-level, pulling myself along. Maybe Ill take up open-water swimming, I imagine. Maybe Ill become one of those people who takes long weekend hikes in nature. Maybe Ill get into kayaking, cutting through the open water, still heavy but nevertheless weightless. Hope, they say, springs eternal.

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Fat-Shaming, Vaccines, and the Pandemic - Jezebel

Alex Gary| Special to the Rockford Register Star

The coronavirus pandemic is the closest thing to a worldwide event since World War II. Last year, the Register Star reached out to 19 Rock River Valley natives from all over the world to see how COVID was affecting them. Over the next few weeks, we will update several of their stories, seeing how the coronavirus has changed their lives and living habits.

Evangeline Whitlock, a 2001 Keith School graduate, was a visiting assistant arts professor at New York University-Tisch School of the Arts and a professional stage manager when the pandemic hit last year. She lost her father to the coronavirus in December and relocated to live closer to family during the pandemic.

Postcards Home: Keith School graduate in NYC actually making lemonade out of lemons

Q: Has the coronavirus affected you personally or professionally?

This question is the hardest one of all. Yes, to both. Ill start with the sad.

My dad passed away from COVID-19 on Dec. 26. He was 62. He went into the hospital on Nov. 29, and into the ICU on Dec. 5. The rest of the month was an emotional roller coaster. Some days were good, some days were bad, some days were even worse. Every day was a nail-biter.

I dont know how I got any work done at all or focused on anything. The doctors were certain he was through the worst of it and was going to pull through. I got a call from my mom on the morning of Dec. 26, saying, "They had to emergency intubate him overnight."

"Should I come up?"I asked immediately.

"Yeah. Youd better."

I was still down in St. Louis but my sister and brother-in-law had driven up for the Christmas holidays. My boss offered to drive me halfway and my brother-in-law met us in Bloomington. I knew I was too distraught to drive safely. When we were about an hour outside of Rockford my mom called and said, "Come straight to the hospital. The doctor called. Hes not going to make it."

Id like to think that even though he was intubated and unconscious, Dad somehow knew that his family was together and that he could let go. I made it just in time to suit up in full PPE, dash into his little ICU room, and say my goodbyes.

You dont think it will happen to you until it does.

I tell the sad part first, because I firmly believe that what happened last year with my life was a way of preparing me for this great loss and tragedy.

Last summer, I moved across the country and started a new job. I received an offer to take on a professor of stage management position in the Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri, where my sister and brother-in-law live, and about a four-hour drive to Rockford where my parents live.

With the shutdown of everything in New York and great uncertainty surrounding the future of my career there, I jumped at the chance to live closer to family and to start a new chapter in my life. I dont want to say this move was a result of the pandemic; rather, a form of collateral beauty that the catastrophe of the pandemic offered.

I cant imagine going through what we are all going through now as a family if I still lived in New York, hundreds of miles away from my family. At one point during the hellish uncertainty of December my sister said to me through tears, "I cant imagine dealing with all of this if you werent close by.

Q: Has anything in your life gotten back to normal or is there a new normal?

My job as a teacher provides structure and routine, even with all the continued uncertainty of how we are going to come out of this, and in particular when theater and live events with audiences will return. I am accountable to my colleagues and my students, I have all the obligations and responsibilities of learning a new job and working in a new environment, and I am finding the strength to show up each day with hope and joy.

Ive always said that my life in theater makes for certain uncertainty. I live the routine of no routine. In fact, I was looking back at my responses from a year ago and in one of them I talked about how my career as a freelancer has uniquely prepared me for the change and uncertainty that the pandemic has wrought.

Postcards Home: 'I can't envision a 'post-COVID world' just yet'

Without my dad on this planet anymore, I must admit I feel a little rudderless, unmoored, adrift. And yet, I know that I have it in me to find my way back to shore because in many ways, I have always had to live my life this way. Moving from job to job and city to city, crying because the show is closing at the same time Im packing my bags and excited to head to the next one.

What Im finding is that instead of going through that every few months when the show closes, Im feeling that feeling every day right now. The feeling of packing the bag, not quite sure where Im headed, but knowing that someones booked me a plane ticket and I have to show up at the next venue tomorrow.

I know Ill get there, even though some days its harder to see how than others.

Q: What have you learned about yourself over the past year?

Ive learned that its not for nothing my birthday is in April and thus my birthstone is a diamond. Just when I think I cant stand any more pressure, I learn that I can. Just when I think the weight is too much to bear, I learn I can carry just a little bit more.

Im not a chemist, so this metaphor may be a bit unscientific, but go with me here. A diamond, which is formed from carbon under immense amounts of pressure, has an extremely stable crystal structure. Its unique in that way. Ive learned that to get to that state of diamond, that state of extremely stable structure and crystalline beauty, there is a period of immense pressure that one must withstand.

Ive learned that joy and grief can hold hands with each other, that I can be happy and experience the beauty of each new day, and at the same time cry tears of grief and sadness. The juxtaposition of these extreme emotions is all a part of living each day fully present to myself and to the world, and reveling in the small moments that are the stuff of life.

Q: What have you learned about your neighbors or community over the past year?

Ive learned microcosmic things and macrocosmic things. In my responses from last year I talked about the interconnectedness of communities, and how the pandemic was revealing that in new ways to me. Ive learned tiny, intricate details about my neighbors, and Ive learned global, universal things about my communities.

Even in the last days of my time in New York I was learning new things about my neighbors. Seeing them in the hallways and stairwells in passing, making sure each other was OK, making sure that no one needed anything.

Postcards Home: Harlem grad in England just wants parents to 'meet their first grandchild'

It was interesting that in my building, the forced stay-at-home measures led to a deeper commitment to taking care of each other in whatever small way we could. I learned that my expectant neighbor welcomed a new baby girl into the world just after I moved out. I learned another of my neighbors had applied to New York University, which was her dream school, and was eagerly awaiting the decision. I learned that one of my neighbors had been in the hospital for three weeks with Covid, but he made it home and was on the way to a full recovery just when I was getting ready to move.

And about my new community here in St. Louis? Ive learned that its really, really cool, and even in the middle of the pandemic Im discovering amazing people and places. Ive learned that I can put down my roots in a new city, in the midst of a global crisis, and I will find ways to be watered and nurtured and grow, because thats what a good community does. And Ive learned that Im a vital part of the life force of whatever community in which I find myself. My actions matter, both small and big.

Ive learned that even without New York, I can still walk to the coffee shop, the bar, a restaurant, and ice cream, and that city life does exist outside the Big Apple.

Q: What was the most difficult part of the pandemic?

Losing my dad. Full stop.

What do you think is "next" for you in a post-COVID world?

I am looking forward to being an aunt! Alongside the sadness our family is experiencing, we are also eagerly anticipating the arrival of my sisters first baby! And that joyous upcoming event has caused me to say a word I usually try not to say no when Ive gotten some offers for projects this summer.

Ordinarily, I jump at every single work opportunity that comes my way. Now, I am pausing and realizing that after a year of such sadness, such loss, and such grief, I dont want to miss a single moment of the first few months of my nephews life.

Professionally, I am hoping I can get back to freelance work soon, and get back into a theater with a full audience! St. Louis is an amazing city for arts and culture, and there are so many great theatre companies here. I cant wait to hear the murmur of a gathering crowd, to call the cue that takes the house lights down, to experience the collective intake of breath from an eager audience as the actors say their first lines and take us into some fantastic story. Thats going to be a beautiful moment.

Alex Gary is a freelance correspondent

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COVID-19 and loss: 'You don't think it will happen to you until it does' - Rockford Register Star

Many popular diets promote the benefits of intermittent fasting. Studies show fasting may have advantages, but there is no consensus on what foods are best to break a fast with.

In recent years, intermittent fasting, alongside other types of fasting, has gained popularity, thanks to diets such as the 5:2 diet.

Different approaches advise someone to either reduce their calories or eat nothing on certain days or overnight.

What someone eats when they break a fast is not as important, but some experts advise a Mediterranean diet.

This article looks at fasting and its potential benefits. It discusses what to eat after fasting and provides tips for both short fasts and longer fasts.

Fasting has become popular because many people believe it may improve health, longevity, and weight loss.

Throughout history, people have practiced fasting for spiritual, survival, or religious reasons.

Popular approaches to fasting for health reasons include alternate day fasting, overnight fasting, and time-restricted eating.

According to a 2015 review, evidence from animal studies suggests that intermittent fasting could have benefits for weight loss and chronic disease prevention. The authors suggest this may be due to the effects of fasting on circadian rhythms, gut microbiota, and metabolic regulation.

Other research indicates that health benefits may be due to metabolic switching, where fasting triggers the body to switch its source of energy from glucose to fats and ketones.

The production of ketones, or ketogenesis, may enhance the bodys resistance to oxidative stress and inflammation, with beneficial effects for health and aging.

Some popular fasting diets, such as the 5:2 diet, advise someone to eat a Mediterranean diet because of its health benefits.

However, the critical aspect of fasting is restricting energy intake from food on certain days or hours. This method encourages metabolic switching to fat and ketones.

When someone starts eating again, their glucose levels increase, and the body transitions towards using carbohydrates as fuel. Therefore, it is more important what someone does and does not eat when fasting and less significant what they eat when breaking a fast.

However, for weight loss, someone may choose to eat less refined carbohydrates when they break their fast, as research suggests these can contribute to obesity.

A short fast may involve fasting for 16 hours overnight or reducing calories to 500600 for 2 days per week.

During these fasting periods, someone will either eat nothing or limit eating to a certain number of calories, depending on their approach.

Many nutrition experts recommend the Mediterranean diet for periods of low calorie fasting or regular eating days.

Some fasting diets allow people to consume vegetable broths or soups or vegetable juices, so long as they are within the number of calories the diet allows. People should always ensure they hydrate with sufficient water.

Individuals should also be aware that taking supplements, such as protein powders, gummy multivitamins, and branched-chain amino acids, may counteract the fasting effect.

Research suggests that combining exercise with intermittent fasting can result in improved mental and physical performance.

Some research shows positive effects of longer-term fasting, but this is in a medically supervised environment.

In a 2019 study, 1,422 participants fasted for 421 days for a total of 1 year. During the fasting periods, they consumed only water, juice, and vegetable soup totaling 200250 daily calories.

There was a subjective improvement in 85% of cases of a major health issue. The authors suggest the fasting was safe, and the subjects tolerated it well, with few side effects. These reported side effects included:

After fasting, the study researchers gradually reintroduced food over 4 days. They gave the participants organic vegetarian food increasing from 800 to 1,600 calories per day.

However, it is important to note that the study involved supervision by medical professionals. People should not undertake longer fasts without first consulting their doctor, particularly if they:

Fasting can have beneficial effects on health due to calorie restriction and metabolic switching.

Although not all fasts lead to ketosis, ketosis can decrease inflammation and oxidative stress and help people lose weight. It may also reduce their risk of chronic diseases.

There are various intermittent fasting approaches, some popular options being the 5:2 diet and 16-hour overnight fasting. What people need to eat depends on which method they choose. Generally, they will either consume nothing or reduce their calories on some days or hours of the day.

When breaking a fast, there are no particular rules about what to eat for the best effects.

However, some experts advise people to eat a healthy Mediterranean diet.

Avoiding added sugars and refined carbohydrates may also help people lose weight.

However, people should only take part in longer fasts after consultation with a medical professional.

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Does it matter which foods you break a fast with? - Medical News Today

After months of lockdown, many people across Ireland will be keen to lose the so-called 'COVID stone'.

One weight-loss option that has been gaining attention is 'intermittent fasting' - an approach that sees dieters restricting their eating to specific hours of the day.

On The Hard Shoulder, Kieran heard about what exactly it entails and how it could potentially benefit some people trying to lose weight.

Here's what you need to know about intermittent fasting

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Professor Francis Finucane - Consultant Endocrinologist in Galway University Hospital - described intermittent fasting as "simply a process where food intake is restricted to specific times".

He said: The idea with it is that ultimately that you reduce your food intake over the time, on average.

"That would lead to weight loss and a reduction in the risks associated with excess weight.

He noted there are some studies suggesting it can lead to modest weight loss in the short-term - potentially around 3 kg in people who go on the programme for a period of months.

Importantly, however, theres no evidence yet that such a diet would lead to a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease or diabetes.

As a result, intermittent fasting isn't as proven an approach to weight loss as better established treatments such as drug therapy and more widely-tested lifestyle interventions.

It's also something that's unlikely to work if a diet just consists of ultra-processed food.

Professor Finucane said it could potentially still be beneficial in some patients, as different therapies will work for different people.

However, he encouraged anyone with diabetes, cardiovascular disease or high blood pressure to consult their doctor before beginning intermittent fasting.

Heather Leeson, a nutritional therapist with Glenville Nutrition, says intermittent fasting is something they have tried with some of their patients.

She said the research into the approach is ongoing, but it is something that's easy to do.

She explained: "Its also very safe, even to fast for 12 hours overnight - you can get any combination of numbers, but 12-12 is a pretty safe one to try.

You might finish your dinner by 8pm in the evening, and then have breakfast at 8am - youve just done a 12 hour fast pretty easily.

She stressed theres no magic bullet, and fasters wont lose weight if they only eat junk food during the hours when they do eat.

However, she said one benefit of intermittent fasting could cut out the mindless grazing many of us do during the day.

She explained: Its very simple - you dont have to decide whether you have that chocolate bar you really want, or do you go for the apple the nutritionist told you to eat. You dont have anything.

For those who do find the 12-hour approach beneficial, they can then move on to slightly longer fasting hours.

A 16:8 approach - where food consumption (along with drinks containing calories) is limited to eight or so hours a day, such as midday to 8pm - is one popular approach often cited by proponents.

Heather said intermittent fasting is something that's flexible, and could be done Monday to Friday before relaxing during the weekend.

She suggested: Its still helpful to put a little bit of shape around the week in terms of building healthier habits.

Even with that more relaxed weekend, Heather said intermittent fasting is an easy and flexible approach that some people will find sustainable.

She added: Its definitely not for everybody, but for some people it works really well and is easier to sustain longer-term than a more drastic diet.

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Intermittent fasting: Here's what you need to know - Newstalk

The work of coming to terms with implicit bias is a lifelong process that comes with plenty of uncomfortable learning moments.

Its a process that asks us to look deeper. When it comes to race, this process asks white people to examine dominant power structures that have disproportionately benefited them, while also asking, What am I willing to change?

Communities that arent part of this group have been denied the same opportunities and have been encouraged to assimilate to fit the dominant mold.

In essence, theres been an unspoken rule that to be mainstream and acceptable means forsaking many aspects of ones culture, including food.

To understand this issue, there needs to be a discussion on culture. White people in the United States have long thought of themselves as the cultural norm, the default.

This is problematic for a number of reasons.

When communities are told that their food isnt valuable, its another way of saying they arent valuable until they assimilate to the mainstream.

Dominant groups often refer to ethnic and cultural foods as a monolith, without acknowledging distinct nuances and regional cuisines. For example, the lumping of cultures together removes their individuality while making them more palatable for a Western audience.

Food has always been an integral component of culture, one that has often been weaponized with a cloud of fear.

Historically, marginalized groups have been told that they dont matter. Ethnic and cultural foods outside of the mainstream have existed on opposite ends of the spectrum, where theyre deemed unhealthy, lower class, or exotic.

Theres rarely been a middle ground.

Classical and haute cuisine tend to categorize regional and ethnic food as a pleasure trip for the senses or something that requires fusion so it can be safely eaten.

When white culture is the barometer for measuring worth, the cultural foodways of Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) are often deemed worthless until they become trendy and invited into the mainstream.

A clean Chinese Food restaurant opened in 2019 and experienced major backlash when the white owners openly talked about making Chinese food you can feel good about.

What were the owners implying?

This is a clear example of the demonization and exoticization of ethnic food in one fell swoop. It shows the anti-Asian racism behind the idea that Chinese food isnt clean or healthy.

Another example is soul food.

Its largely been unfairly categorized as unhealthy. The fast and processed version of soul food is a distant relative of traditional rice dishes offering meat, seafood, a wide variety of vegetables, and beans and lentils, all seasoned with delicious spices.

Some fabulous soul food restaurants have cropped up to combat this myth, like Souley Vegan in Oakland, California, which offers a delicious plant-based Louisiana creole menu based on chef Tamearra Dysons vision. The offerings include dishes like New Orleans okra gumbo, roasted zucchini etouffee, and country collard greens.

If were committed to the radical act of decolonizing our plates, we must acknowledge that ethnic and cultural foods have been subjected to severe put-downs in relation to flavors, spice, and aroma.

Additionally, we need to understand that many of the current recommendations for healthy eating do not offer visual representations of culturally diverse food options.

Just as health exists on a spectrum, there are many iterations of healthy food. Mainstream food has been homogenized to satisfy the dominant culture, leaving minority communities to experience shame for the foods that represent their identity.

Learning to respect the intersection of food, culture, and history means respecting and acknowledging that cultures that exist outside of whiteness are valuable.

Within the United States, this means unpacking biases associated with racial stereotypes. It also means seeing the cultural, racial, and ethnic diversity that is this country and celebrating it, without asking anyone to assimilate and follow one food culture.

Learning to respect the intersection of food, culture, and history means respecting and acknowledging that cultures that exist outside of whiteness are valuable.

Decolonizing our plates must be linked to a mainstream mindset shift. It requires a general acknowledgement and understanding that theres no one size that fits all when it comes to food.

This means that meals dont need to be composed of the standard protein, vegetable, and carbohydrate at each sitting. In the nutrition, health, and wellness space, we have been taught and continue to teach that a healthy or balanced plate should always follow this rubric.

We often see visual representations of the healthy plate as brown rice, chicken, and broccoli. That particular iteration of a meal may work for some, but it certainly does not fit for all.

In fact, many cuisines and cultural foods outside of the West dont subscribe to Western eating patterns.

Foods from around the world morph and change based on migration and exposure to different ethnic groups.

Breakfast may be a savory meal or salted fish in Trinidad, Tobago, or Jamaica. Lunch may be a delicious starch-based meal as commonly seen in Ghana or Nabemono or a hot pot meal eaten in a communal setting in Japan.

All of these are delicious combinations of foods that are unique to their cultures of origin. Most importantly, no one home or restaurant will make these dishes the exact same way.

Thats the beauty of food from around the world. Its as nuanced as the cultures from which it comes.

Theres no reason to exoticize or demonize these foods, and they dont need to be modified or healthified or made palatable for one group.

They can and should be enjoyed in their original forms without guilt, shame, or embarrassment.

The next time you find yourself sitting down to a meal and critiquing the ingredients, the cooking process, or the culture behind it, look deeper. You can ask:

Simply taking the time to pause and reflect can completely transform the way you relate to food from other cultures and traditions. It can also open you up to a world of delicious, creative cuisine that you may have never known was out there.

Food bias is linked to implicit bias, which dictates the unconscious attitudes that everyone has. Looking down on another cultures food demonizes one of the major pillars that makes that culture who they are.

By reflecting and reframing, you can learn to see your unconscious bias at work and let go of the attitudes that prevent you from embracing difference on your plate.

Maya Feller, MS, RD, CDN of Brooklyn-based Maya Feller Nutrition is a registered dietitian nutritionist and nationally recognized nutrition expert. Maya believes in providing nutrition education from an anti-bias, patient-centered, culturally sensitive approach. Find her on Instagram.

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I'm a Black Dietitian Here's What I Want You to Know About Food and Racism - Healthline

In order to achieve healthy weight loss, its important to ensure that youre getting the vitamins and minerals your body needs to adequately metabolize the foods you eat. Your metabolism is one of the primary factors in determining how successful you will be in losing weight because the more efficient it is, the more fat you will be able to burn at rest, creating a greater calorie deficit. Regardless of how well rounded your diet is, theres one vitamin that health experts suggest most everyone take each morning in order to fuel your metabolism and allow for natural weight loss with ease.

The One Natural Beauty Supplement You Should Take Every Morning For Your Hair, Skin & Nails

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B vitamins are one of the most effective supplements for boosting fat burn and improving your bodys weight loss capabilities. There are a number of B vitamin variations, including B-12, biotin, and B-6, which all play varying roles in the efficacy of your metabolism. If you are deficient in B vitamins, it will likely be difficult for you to lose weight, as your body will struggle to metabolize macronutrients and burn fat.

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While most people consume enough B vitamins throughout their daily diet, if you follow a plant-based way of eating you may find yourself deficient. According to Medical News Today, B-12 is present only in animal products, meaning vegetarians and vegans may have difficulty consuming enough of this vitamin. In addition to dairy products, the following foods may contain B-12: fortified plant-based milk, nutritional yeast, fortified breakfast cereal, meat substitutes, some spreads, such as Marmite.

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Vitamin B-12 is not the only supplement vital for improving your metabolism, however. B-6 is also equally as important, and nutritionist Amy Shapiro explains to Byrdie, Vitamin B6 helps with the production of L-Carnitine, an amino acid that helps our body use fat for energy. This leads to increased fat burning. Focusing on boosting your metabolism is a great way to propel your body towards weight loss, and a good supplement routine in the morning may allow you to reach your goals with ease.

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While the addition of B vitamins into your day to day life may help to give your metabolism a much needed boost for weight loss, a well-rounded diet complete with nutrient dense foods is still one of the primary factors for sustaining a calorie deficit. Armed with B vitamins to metabolize macronutrients and a healthy diet that helps build muscle and burn through fat, youll reach your weight loss goals in no time without ever feeling deprived of the foods you love.

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The One Vitamin You Should Take Every Morning Over 30 To Burn More Calories & Lose Weight FAST - SheFinds

Ever thought lauki could help you lose weight? Well, consistent research has shown that it sure can help you burn those extra fat fast. Not only light and easy to digest, but lauki works wonder for quick fat loss. But, wait. Ever tried lauki juice? Lauki is one of the common vegetables found in Indian kitchens and the number of benefits this vegetable offers makes it a must-have in our regular diet. In fact, not just the vegetable but its juice too is considered great for shedding those extra fat. Also Read - Weight Loss: How Often Should You Exercise To Lose Weight

It wouldnt be wrong to call the bottle gourd juice a powerful health potion. Bottle gourd or lauki is abundant in fibre and water. Other than weight loss, it is a go-to for the treatment of acidity, indigestion, ulcers, and constipation. Also Read - Weight Loss Tips: 10 Best Superfoods That Can Help Shed Kilos And Improve Your Metabolism

Lauki (bottle gourd) is full of water (about 92%) and minerals and keeps your body hydrated.

When it comes to the calorie content of lauki, 100 grams of the vegetable contain about 15 calories, and a mere 1 gram of fat. It is also low in saturated fat and cholesterol. The vegetable is all water and nutrients, and hence helps you to stay full for longer period of time. Also Read - Weight Loss Tips: How Jeera Water Can Help Shed Those Extra Kilos

Meanwhile according to a report published in the Asian Pacific Journal of the Tropical Medicine in September 2012, a study conducted on animals found that lauki helped in minimizing the weight gain in rats which were otherwise fed a high-fat diet. However, no such research has been conducted on human beings yet.

Lauki is one of the most common vegetables cooked in the Indian kitchens.

Lauki also promotes a healthy heart by bringing down the bad cholesterol levels.

Bottle gourd is extremely low in saturated fats and cholesterol and is rich in water and nutrients required to lose fat from the body. The vegetable contains essential nutrients like Vitamin C, Vitamin B, Vitamin K, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Iron, Folate, Magnesium, and Potassium.

Lauki is high in water and fibre content, which makes it low in calories and density per gram and also helps in keeping you full for longer.This makes it an ideal addition to your weight loss plan as meals which are lower in energy density may be helpful in losing weight and maintaining it, says a study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in May 2012.

Consuming it on an empty stomach at least 4 days in a week will help you lose that belly fat fast. But keep in mind that lauki juice alone wont do the job of making you shed those extra pounds. Its equally important to follow a good weight loss regime as a whole- from adopting the healthy diet to physical exercises.

[Quick fact: Did you know bottle gourd helps you sleep better? Well, this is good as a good nights sleep is essential to shed those extra pounds as it improves your metabolism and activates your hormones.]

For best results you should have the juice in the morning on an empty stomach.

For best results you should have the juice in the morning on an empty stomach. Also, one should consume the juice immediately as it oxidises quite fast. Please keep in mind that you should not strain the juice with a sieve as you will then lose out on the fiber, which is the key to shed extra kilos. You can add lemon and mint to it just to enhance its taste.

Besides, drinking excess lauki juice can lead to adverse health issues like nausea, ulcers, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, and more. Hence, to limit the risk, it is advisable to drink the juice that has been cooked properly and not consume the one that tastes bitter. Please note that the bitter taste of lauki juice is due to the cucurbitacin compounds in it, which is toxic for people.

One should not drink more than three ounces (roughly 88 ml) of lauki juice in a day, says a study published in the International Journal of Nutrition, Pharmacology, Neurological diseases in 2012.

Disclaimer Please note that the views expressed in this article should not be considered as a substitute for physicians advice. Please consult your treating physician or dietician for more details.

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Benefits Of Lauki Juice (Bottle Gourd): How It Helps To Burn Belly Fat Fast - India.com

For Debbie Danner, losing weight had been a llfelong struggle.

"I've been on a diet all my life," the 68-year-old said. "I had done pills, I had done everything."

Some programs had worked for a while but it still came down to seeking something consistent with results that would last. That's when she got back into TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly).

At its core, the nonprofit's program is about putting in the work without any gimmicks. Its "Real People. Real Weight Loss. philosophy relies on weekly chapter meetings, healthy eating, regular exercise and wellness information to lose and keep weight off.

Danner had tried TOPS before, in the 1970s, losing 100 pounds, but she found that she couldn't rely on other members in her meeting for the support she needed to maintain the weight.

What brought her back to the program in 2018 was a desire to improve her fitness for her senior years.

"I wanted to get out, to prove to myself that I could still do it. Put my mind in gear. I'm getting up there in age and I've got to watch my health."

She started attending the TOPS meetings at Kern City Senior Adult Community, one of three chapters in Bakersfield.

"It was up to me what I wanted to do (to lose). I wanted to do my diet."

The self-described "carb junkie," who said she used to be able to eat a whole loaf of white bread, started swapping in smarter choices for her three meals a day. Breakfast could be wheat toast with plant butter, egg whites and coffee.

Abstaining from eating meat for moral reasons, she focused on fruits and vegetables and added fish into her diet. A fan of visiting Pismo Beach, she takes advantage of the fresh seafood options on trips.

"There is a lot of fish and crab and this sort of stuff. I've never liked fish before but now I love it."

She alsoexercised regularly, including walking marathons, and said she loved "every minute of it."

This time, the program stuck. From a starting weight of 142.2 pounds, she lost 31.4 to reach her ideal weight of 115 pounds.

"I've never been a size 1 in my life," Danner said. "I can pick off the rack. It's mind over the stomach, you have to have them both connect."

Her weight loss was impressive enough to earn her the title of 2019 second-place winner for TOPS Division 5, meaning she came in second for losing more weight than any other woman in her weight division (in the U.S. and Canada). The 2019 winners were announced in 2020 due to a delay from the pandemic.

Of course, an important element of weight loss is sustaining it, which Danner said she has managed through relying on chapter members.

"We help each other. Whenever I have a problem, I call somebody."

Danner said fellow member Linda Andrews has been her inspiration.

She says, 'You've got this, Debbie. You're going to get this.' I respect all the members but she's one hell of a gal. I love her dearly."

The pandemic and people spending more time inside and less active over the last year has sparked health concerns in many. More than 26 percent of Californians self-identified as obese in a 2019 survey conducted by the CDC.

There are 288 TOPS chapters in the state, with three in Bakersfield, and in 2020, members lost a total of 24,259 pounds.

This program made all the difference to Danner, who said it has really changed her life.

"It made me the person I should be: more positive, more focused, more everything. And the girls in my club have been a great help to me."

For more on TOPS and to find local meetings, visit tops.org.

Stefani Dias can be reached at 661-395-7488. Follow her on Twitter at @realstefanidias.

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Local woman in TOPS shape with record weight loss - The Bakersfield Californian