Category Archives: Lose Weight Fast

As soon as you start eating, the process is halted. Insulin now inhibits the breakdown of fatty acids, leading your body to burn the sugars you've just ingested. The fat burning stage is over.

If you think about it, this all makes perfect evolutionary sense. When food wasnt as readily available as it is today, holding on to stored body fat was crucial for our survival. We evolved to last a long time between meals.

Today, food is in almost constant supply but our bodies are still physiologically the same as they were tens of thousands of years ago. If we eat all day, we never tap into our bodies natural ability to burn stored body fat for energy.

Studies demonstrate that a bout of aerobic exercise performed in the fasted as compared with non-fasted state increases the reliance on fat and subsequently reduces the reliance on carbohydrate as fuel during exercise, with several publications showing that fasted exercise oxidises (burns) around 20-30pcmore fat.

If you're exercising to lose weight, it's a no brainer.

See more here:
Why exercising on an empty stomach is the secret to weight loss - Telegraph.co.uk

Women's Health

8 Instagram Food Trends, Ranked According To Their Weight-Loss Effectiveness Women's Health With so many Instagram-inspired food trends out there, it's safe to say we can't get enough of pretty eats. Sure, some trends are more about how they look in the snapshot and less about how healthy they are (here's looking at you, unicorn foods), but ...

Read more here:
8 Instagram Food Trends, Ranked According To Their Weight-Loss Effectiveness - Women's Health

If you exercise outdoors during the summer or would like to start, please read this article to ensure you are taking the right steps to take care of your body when the temperatures rise.

Here are a few heat-related health issues to look out for if the right precautions arent taken during your exercise:

Exertional Heat Stroke. This is a life-threatening emergency condition. Heat stroke occurs when your body temperature is greater than 104 F. Some common symptoms may include: disorientation, dizziness, irrational behavior, headache, nausea, vomiting, and wet skin.

Exertional Heat Exhaustion. This is a condition when body temperature rises as high as 104 F and you may experience low blood pressure, elevated heart rate and respiratory rates, skin is wet and pale, headache, weakness, dizziness, decreased muscle coordination, chills, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Heat Syncope. Feeling faint or actually fainting caused by high temperatures. This type of heat related illness usually occurs after standing for a long period of time or standing quickly after sitting for a long period of time. Typically symptoms include: heart rate and breathing rates are slow, skin is pale, and patient may experience sensations of weakness, tunnel vision, vertigo or nausea before syncope (faint).

Exertional Heat Cramps. These are painful muscle contractions and they begin as weak, localized, wandering spasms that may progress to debilitating cramps. Your body temperature may be normal while experiencing these.

Fluid replacement is essential while exercising outdoors. It is important to drink water before, during and after exercise. Since individuals have varying sweat rates, the guidelines set by the American College of Sports Medicine suggests that it is important to measure your body weight before and after exercise to gauge fluid loss. If there is a decrease in weight, the active individual should drink at least 16 ounces of fluid for each pound of body weight lost.

-- Individuals will achieve their target heart rate quicker even exercising at a lower intensity in the heart, so slow down, and take breaks between exercise periods.

-- Elderly, pregnant women, and children should be even more careful while playing or exercising in the heat due to a higher risk for dehydration.

-- Perform exercise at times of the day when conditions will be cooler compared to midday (early morning, later evening).

-- Wear lightweight, loose fitting clothing that allows sweat to evaporate.

-- Enable access to plenty of fluid, provide longer and/or more frequent rest breaks.

-- Get acclimated to the weather, take it easy when you first start exercising and wait until your body adjusts of the course of one to two weeks.

Pay attention to the warning signs and remember the key to success in the heat and humidity is to monitor the environment and modify activity in extreme environments.

Shannon Nelson is a Wellness Coach at UnityPoint Health - Trinity.

Go here to see the original:
Start the Week Off Right: Exercise safely in the summer heat - Quad City Times

Losing weight is a personal decision, and there is only one way to go about it safely proper diet and increased activity.

New research shows that adopting a vegetarian diet could be the key to increasing weight loss for those looking to shed a bit of weight.

According to new research, following a vegetarian diet is twice as effective asa carnivorous one when it comes to losing weight.

Researchers from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington DC founda veggie dietreducesmuscle fat.

This in turn boosts themetabolism.

In order to assess weight loss, all participants had their diets restricted to 500 calories a day less than they would need to maintain their weight.

On average, the randomly assigned veggie group lost twice as much weight than the carnivorous group.

This finding is particularly significant for people withtype 2 diabetes, according to lead author, Dr. Hana Kahleov.

'The beneficial effects of a vegetarian diet on body weight, glycemic control, blood lipids, insulin sensitivity, and oxidative stress markers compared to a conventional diet have been demonstrated by us and others previously,' reads the study.

'The vegetarian diet was almost twice as effective in reducing body weight compared to the conventional hypocaloric diet.'

Continued here:
Losing weight? Vegetarian diets help shed twice as many pounds - SHEmazing

You did it! After four months of tracking calories, keeping a food journal and exercising, youve finally reached your weight loss goal.

But, as anyone who has lost weight can tell you, keeping the weight off is harder than losing it, and it has nothing to do with lack of willpower and everything to do with focusing on building health.

I believe a health-centered approach to weight loss focusing on healthy lifestyle changes is much better than obsessing over every fat gram, counting calories and using the scale to gauge your success.

As we enter the maintenance phase of Greene County Rural Health Networks Biggest Loser contest, I have put together seven easy-to-do health building steps you can follow so you never have to lose weight again.

H Have most of your calories during the day. My father-in-law always said breakfast like a king and dinner like a pauper. If you cant make breakfast your biggest meal, then make it lunch. Eating most of your calories during the day when youre active and not in the evening when your metabolism is slowing down makes a lot of sense, right?

E Eat three meals a day: No snacks. When you snack in-between meals, you teach your body to burn the sugar you just ate instead of digging deep into the stored fat you have. There is no proof grazing throughout the day revs up your metabolism. My advice is be a fat burner, not a sugar burner.

A Always have a healthy carb, fat and protein. This keeps you feeling fuller longer and reduces sugar cravings.

L Listen to your body. Have you ever finished a meal only to have a craving for something sweet? Or maybe you felt bloated, constipated or got a headache? Thats your body telling you that meal wasnt the right mix of carbs, fats and proteins.

T Take a multi-vitamin. If you think youre getting everything you need from your food, think again. When plants are repeatedly grown on the same land, the soil loses vitamins, minerals and microbes faster than they can be replaced. Without those precious vitamins and minerals youll quickly regain the weight you lost.

H Heal your liver. Your liver is meant to be a fat burning organ, but unfortunately, for many people, its a fat storing organ. But, you can easily turn that around by including super foods like dark green leafy veggies, garlic, onions and eggs in your diet.

Y Your eyes can deceive you. Research shows the size of your dinnerware impacts how much you serve yourself. I advised a client to eat his first two meals from a large plate and his last meal on a small plate. In 16 weeks he lost 60 pounds eating eggs and bacon for breakfast every morning.

There you have it: A common sense approach to maintaining your weight. Why not try it?

Questions or comments? Email Mary Schoepe at fitnessconcepts001@yahoo.com.

Read the rest here:
Concepts in Fitness: Why keeping the weight off is the real victory - The Register Star

It is Ramadan, a month when Muslims around the world fast during daylight hours. They are not the only group who practise fasting, as practitioners of other religions also fast from time to time.

Intermittent fasting - taking breaks from eating - is also increasingly practised for health reasons.

Fasting patterns vary. For instance, it can mean eating less on two days a week or every other day.

Some people opt for intermittent fasting to lose weight. When we eat, the body stores sugar as glycogen.

A body that is deprived of food will start to use its glycogen stores. Once these stores are used up, the body burns fat for energy, resulting in weight loss, said Ms Bibi Chia, the principal dietitian at Raffles Diabetes & Endocrine Centre.

Indeed, intermittent fasting that involves eating less on alternate days or two days a week has been shown to lead to weight loss in overweight people, said Dr Abdul Shakoor S.K., a senior consultant at Tan Tock Seng Hospital's department of endocrinology.

But while fasting has definite benefits for people who are obese, there is no definitive proof of its benefits for healthy people, he said.

Intermittent fasting may also lower the risk of metabolic and cardiovacular diseases in obese and non-obese people, he said.

However, there is insufficient evidence to show that it is a way for diabetic patients to control blood glucose levels, he added.

Besides, most people find it hard to restrict their calorie intake over the long term. It is also natural to overeat during non-fasting hours, which negates any weight loss.

Dr Quah Boon Leong, a staff physician in general surgery at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, said: "According to one study, weight changes during Ramadan were relatively small and mostly reversed after that, gradually returning to pre- Ramadan status. Consistent lifestyle modifications are necessary to achieve lasting weight loss."

Intermittent fasting is not just about weight loss. "Some studies indicate a decreased risk of coronary heart disease and diabetes among those who fast routinely," said Dr Sueziani Zainudin, a consultant endocrinologist at Seng- kang Health's general medicine department. "Studies also report behavioural changes, including improvement in mood, increased alertness and mental acuity, and tranquillity."

Dr Abdul Shakoor said alternate- day fasts in animals have been shown to lead to longer lifespans. It has also been shown to prevent or delay heart disease, diabetes, cancer, neurological disorders and stroke.

"However, there is no convincing evidence from human studies to show that fasting or caloric restriction help to ward off or delay the onset of chronic diseases," he said.

Therefore, while healthy adults may fast for religious reasons, they do not need to fast specifically for health purposes as there is insufficient evidence to show that intermittent fasting will prevent certain diseases or prolong life in humans, he said.

Doctors said fasting is not suitable for people who are ill, elderly, pre-pubescent or have eating disorders, as well as women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

It may affect diabetic patients on medication or those with heart, kidney and liver conditions who take medications that induce water loss, said Dr Sueziani.

Dr Quah said the health risks of fasting during Ramadan are hypoglycaemia (low blood glucose levels) and dehydration. "Severe hypoglycaemia could lead to convulsions and falls, and may be fatal."

While intermittent fasting shows promise, a lot of questions remain unanswered. Ms Chia said these include which is the most effective fasting pattern, the optimal calorie consumption during the fasting period and how sustainable it is in the long term.

Dr Abdul Shakoor said if intermittent fasting with low-calorie diets is practised frequently, it may affect one's ability to get adequate essential nutrients.

Most international dietetic associations do not recommend following a very low-calorie diet for more than 12 weeks, he said.

When fasting, look out for signs like dehydration, heartburn, bad breath, headaches, increased irritability and dizziness, said Ms Chia. "Stop when there are signs of shivering, extreme thirst, heart palpitation or extreme weakness."

Mistakes that diabetics make when fasting

Getting children to fast during

Follow this link:
Intermittent fasting: A fast way to lose weight? - The Straits Times

share

pin

email

We often hear about the last few pounds to lose. But what about when you have a whole 20 to go? A two-day juice cleanse isnt going to do the trick (nor is it usually healthy). Here are some lifelong tips to help you lose (and keep off) those 20 pounds for good.

Eating less is a good thing when youre trying to lose weight, but restricting your calories too low may lead to binges and send you into the evil cycle of yo-yo dieting.

However, if youre eating to the point of starving your body of necessary calories, your body adjusts by going into protection mode (it wants to preserve stored fuel) and slows down. In most cases, this means muscle loss. If youre having trouble losing weight, try keeping a food journal and take a close look to see if youre skimping on fuel.

This step may take a little time to learn. But I urge you to be patient with yourself, because becoming comfortable understanding your hunger quotient will definitely pay off. Getting used to eating to the point of contentedness, and not fullness, is crucial to long-term weight loss. When you conquer this tool, regardless of what youre eating, you will never dramatically overconsume.

Meticulously counting calories will end up being more frustrating than useful. Calories in versus calories out is an old way of thinking. There is much more involved with losing weight (hormones and hydration to name a couple) than calories.

Focus on nutrient-dense, low-calorie foods such as vegetables to bulk up your meals. Also, lean protein (such as fish, poultry or plant protein) and a little bit of healthy fat at every meal.

Sip H2O throughout the day. Staying hydrated is majorly important whether youre looking to lose 5, 10, 20 or 50 pounds. Heard this before? Betcha have. But are you doing it? No better time to start than now. Drinking water is important for all cellular functions, and hydration aids in weight loss. Not only that, the brain easily confuses thirst for hunger.

One meal will not change your body. It will take a consistent effort of many changes over time. Again, one meal will not change your body. So, dont get stressed and obsess over every meal or snack gone wrong.

Being in the correct emotional state while trying to lose weight is just as important as what you eat. Throw out the throw in the towel mindset and believe that you can and you will lose weight. Even if you slip up and have a chocolate chip cookie.

Are there certain snacks you keep around your house that you cant help but nibble on? Is your desk at work so messy that you have a hard time focusing on a simple task? Cleaning, clearing out and decluttering what you can control will make a big difference in making improvements in your diet. Re-doing your morning routine is also a way to take control of your environment and routine.

Losing weight does not mean you have to swear off raw cookie dough forever. Youre working on instilling new practices and habits into your everyday life, and that also means relearning how to indulge. When you indulge youre actually more likely to stay on track with your new eating plan.

Choose your absolute favorite indulgence when the time is right, and skip the rest. Be conscious about what youre eating in the moment and take time to enjoy the indulgence. This is different from reaching your hand over and over into a bag of M&Ms until the moment youre surprised theyre gone. If youre at your best friend's birthday party, and someone brought cookie dough, have a scoop. And enjoy the indulgence as part of the event and move right back onto your kale salad.

For more ways to live a Nutritious life, follow Keri on Instagram: @nutritiouslifeofficial. For more weight-loss tips, check out our My Weight-Loss Journey page.

Here is the original post:
How to lose 20 pounds - Today.com

"I decided to go on a weight loss journey and two days later, I decided it would be pretty awesome to have a fitness journey. It just so happened that's when they opened up the half-marathon lottery," said Wenneson.

That's also when she registered and started her training journey with her husband.

"We work out with a personal trainer once a week. We bike," Wenneson said."I've worked up from starting at one mile all the way up the most I've run now is ten."

To date shes lost a total of 77 pounds, and says simply crossing the Grandma's finish line next week is her goal.

"I'm definitely nervous. I'm feeling more prepared than I thought I would be," Wennesonsaid."I just want to finish. I want a decent time, and I want to just have an accomplishment to feel really good about."

This year Cali will be one of 8,800 runners in the half marathon. 8,700 are registered for the full. Grandma's PublicRelations Director, Kate Kucinski says it's been choatic, but exciting preparing for another big crowd this year.

"There's a lot of different things we work through all year long and it's just really great to see it all come together now," said Kucinski.

Along with volunteers and staff - she says it's the participants that make the event memorable.

"Some people have maybe never ran a race before or this is their first. Maybe their 600th or their 100th and each race for them is special," Kucinski added.

For Wenneson despite the nerves, she's looking forward to being a runner instead of a spectator this year.

"I want to be part of the action and excitement at the end," Wenneson said."Everyone's cheering. It doesn't matter how slow your going, or if your walking."

Wenneson says this isn't where her journey will end.

"I'll continue to run 5K's," she said.

The races kick off this Saturday. At 6:15 a.m. the Gary Bjorklund half starts. Then the Grandma's full marathon starts right after at 7:45 a.m.

Read more:
Grandma's Marathon: Northland Woman's Weight Loss Journey Inspires First Marathon - WDIO-TV

SAN DIEGONovo Nordisk is in a tough market race against Sanofi with combo product Xultophy, which hit the market after the French drugmakers Soliqua. New basal-bolus topping data, though, could give the med a leg up.

Xultophywhich marries Novo's newest basal insulin, Tresiba, with its top-selling GLP-1 med Victozabeat a "gold-standard" insulin therapy at helping Type 2 diabetes patients avoid hypoglycemia and weight gain, common side effects of insulin.And it did that while matching the older basal-bolus treatment's ability to cut blood-sugar levels, a new study showed.

Presented on Saturday atthe American Diabetes Associations annual meeting, the trial pitted Xultophy against basal-bolus therapy with Sanofi's standard basal insulin, Lantus, and Novo's own mealtime insulin NovoLog. Xultophy took 66% of patients down below a 7% A1C target, similar to the 67% of patients who reached the mark with the basal-bolus duo.

RELATED:Top 10 diabetes drugs by 2016 sales

But Xultophy also managed to reduce severe hypoglycemic events by 89% and spur a median weight reduction of 2.06 lbs, versus the 5.81-lbmedian weight gain basal-bolus patients experienced, the study showed.

In other words, switching to Xultophy didnt come along with the increases in hypoglycemia and weight that are usually one of the tradeoffs for basal insulin patients who need to add bolus therapyfor improved glycemic control, Todd Hobbs, M.D., Novos North American chief medical officer, said in an interview. Thats where I think the real advantage of this combination is, he added.

But its not the only advantage. A basal-bolus regimen involves at least one shot of basal insulin along with several injections of faster-acting bolus insulin every day, compared with just one daily injection of Xultophy, marking a serious advantage for Xultophy in the convenience department, Hobbs noted.

Basal-bolus is kind of the gold standard for the best efficacy in terms of getting glucose down, so to take that on with one injection a day with this combination productwe were optimistic that we could do this, but we were very happy with the results, he said.

And as a separate analysis showed, despite a higher drug price for Xultophy, the total annual cost of taking one patient below the 7% target for A1C, a key measure of blood glucose, without weight gain or hypoglycemia was actually far lower with the combo medat $28,849 than it was with basal-bolus, a charge that rang up at $220,562.

RELATED:Sanofi beats Novo to launch with diabetes combo Soliqua, kicking off the market-share grab

Novo will take as many points as it can get in Xultophys column. Though it won FDA approval the same day as did Sanofis Soliquaa combo of Lantus and GLP-1 med Adlyxinit fell behind Sanofis product on the launch calendar, giving its rival a head start.

Thats not to say the Danish drugmaker is worried about how its entrant stacks up, though. While theres no head-to-head data comparing the two combos, the way Hobbs sees it, Xultophy gets the edge when you look at the components. In particular, in pitting Victoza against Adlyxin, the Sanofi medis a very short-acting GLP-1 that really affects one meal a day. And Victoza, being a longer-acting, easily once-a-day profile, affects all the meals, he said.

Sanofi, unsurprisingly, sees things differently. The value of the combination that we have is that Lantus, which is a product that a physician knows, is the chief mediator of fasting glucose control, Riccardo Perfetti, M.D., Ph.D.,Sanofis VP of global medical affairs for its diabetes franchise, said in an interview. And as for Adlyxin, it specifically corrects meal-related glucose excursions, meaning the combo addresses two problems and is really fixing glucose levels throughout the day.

The French drugmaker, meanwhile, had some positive data of its own to trumpet on Saturday. In a new analysis of Type 2 diabetes patients who had switched over from treatment with between 15 and 40 units of daily basal insulin, Soliqua lowered mean blood sugar levels by between 1.09% and 2.41%.

Read this article:
Novo's Xultophy beats basal-bolus insulin at cutting hypoglycemia, spurring weight loss - FiercePharma

Fasting glucose as a marker for greater weight loss on a high-fiber, low-glycemic diet

SAN DIEGO and BOSTON (June 11, 2017, 3:00 ET)Researchers from the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, together with colleagues from Gelesisand the University of Copenhagen, presented preliminary data demonstrating that study participants with high fasting plasma glucose lost more weight than those with low fasting plasma glucose when following a high-fiber, low-glycemic load diet.

Presented at the American Diabetes Associations 77th Scientific Sessions (Poster #75-LB), the data suggest that fasting plasma glucose levels -- also called blood sugar levels -- could be helpful in determining the type of diet that is most effective for weight management for people with prediabetes or diabetes.

Fasting blood sugar is easily measured and our findings suggest that it could serve as a useful measure in advising some patients on the type of diet that is most beneficial for their weight loss, said senior author Sai Krupa Das, Ph.D., scientist in the Energy Metabolism Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston.

The biggest benefits of the high-fiber, low-glycemic diet were seen in people with high fasting blood sugar levels. Study participants with higher blood sugar levels lost more weight on a high-fiber, low-glycemic diet than those on the same diet with lower blood sugar levels, suggesting that it might be possible to optimize weight loss approaches based on a simple clinical measure, she continued.

Das is the senior author on the Healthy Weight for Living Study which found that workplace-based weight programs could be an effective approach for people with significant weight loss goals. Data from that study was used in this new analysis.

Participants in the six month study who were overweight or with obesity and who had high fasting blood glucose lost a greater percentage of body weight (-9.4 percent) compared to those with low fasting blood glucose (-4.1 percent). Notably, 79 percent of participants with high fasting blood glucose had lost five percent of their body weight compared to 50 percent with low fasting blood glucose.

In addition, 36 percent in the high group, vs. 8 percent in the low group lost 10 percent of their body weight.

The difference in response among those with high fasting blood sugar and lower fasting blood sugar is important. It might be time to consider glycemic status when advising patients on the best strategy for weight loss, said study author Susan B. Roberts, Ph.D., director of the Energy Metabolism Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University.

Participants in the Healthy Weight for Living Study benefited from a behavioral weight loss intervention based on the I diet (www.theidiet.com) which is a high-fiber and low-glycemic weight loss program that includes behavioral support.

This study is published as a poster: the data and conclusions should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

The first author on the study is Lorien Urban, Ph.D., a graduate of the Biochemical and Molecular Nutrition Program at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts, formerly a post-doctoral scholar in the Energy Metabolism Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts and now at Gelesis. Both Das and Roberts are also faculty at the Friedman School at Tufts.

This study was funded by Gelesis. The Healthy Weight for Living Study was supported by the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (award T32HL069772), and the U.S. Department of Agricultures Agricultural Research Service.

About the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University

For three decades, the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University has studied the relationship between good nutrition and good health in aging populations. Tufts research scientists work with federal agencies to establish the Dietary Guidelines, the Dietary Reference Intakes, and other significant public policies. The Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University is the only independent school of nutrition in the United States. The schools eight degree programs, which focus on questions relating to nutrition and chronic diseases, molecular nutrition, agriculture and sustainability, food security, humanitarian assistance, public health nutrition, and food policy and economics are renowned for applying scientific research to national and international policy.

# # #

See original here:
Fasting glucose as a marker for greater weight loss on a high-fiber, low-glycemic diet - Tufts Now