You're familiar with the fad diet cycle: Today's keto diet is yesterday's Atkins.

There's a near-constant rotation of weight loss plans that promise to supercharge your metabolism, tap energy stores, and ignite your fat burnersall in the name of a thinner, leaner you.

The GOLO diet is an exception only to the fad diet churn-and-burn cycle in that it builds itself around an expensive supplement. That pill, called Release, isn't FDA approved. The research GOLO uses to tout the power of Release isn't, well, all that powerful.

And there's more to it.

The GOLO diet suggests that spiked insulin levels are the cause of slow metabolism, which, in turn, is responsible for weight gain. GOLO argues that when you can control your insulin levels, you wont store excess sugar in your blood, which your body then stores as fat. Regulated insulin levels equal regulated weight.

The company makes this claim based on a team of doctors and pharmacists, though the company does not disclose the names and affiliations of these experts.

To its credit, the GOLO diet, unlike Whole30 or keto, does not prohibit or severely restrict you from eating entire food groups.

Instead, the GOLO diet focuses on whole, unprocessed, and unrefined foods. At mealtime, a dieter selects one to two servings from each categoryproteins, carbs, vegetables, and fats.

A GOLO dieter eats three meals a day, with breakfast and lunch meals larger than dinner. The diet permits snacks if you go longer than four to five hours between meals or if you exercise.

While this type of eating plan can work, this is where the GOLO diet starts to veer into questionable territory.

Supplement territory.

One of the core components of the GOLO diet is a supplement called Release. The company claims that Release will help kickstart your body's ability to regulate insulin, increase your metabolism, and burn more fat.

Here's what's in Release: magnesium (15 milligrams in 1 capsule), zinc (10 mg), chromium (70 micrograms)*, rhodiola root extract, inositol, berberine HCl, gardenia, banaba leaf extract, salacia bark extract, apple extract, vegetable cellulose, dextrin, glycine, silica, citric acid

*These three ingredients are the only three ingredients with amounts listed on the label. The amounts of these ingredients, however, are not disclosed because the formulation is patented.

And then there's the price.

One bottle (containing 90 capsules) costs $50. Buy three bottles and you'll reduce that fee to $99, but you can't shop around for Release anywhere cheaper because you can only buy the supplement through the company.

Approach with caution, says Abby Langer, R.D., founder of Abby Langer Nutrition.

First, there's the idea that eating certain foods can drastically improve your metabolic rate.

Theres nothing you can really eat to boost your metabolism to any degree that you will have a significant change in weight, Langer says. Your metabolism is dictated by genetics and muscle mass and, sure, hormones. But there are so many factors that something you eat wont radically change it.

Theories do exist linking increased insulin and weight gain, but scientists still arent certain which hormones control metabolism and weight.

Its a theory for a reason. It hasnt been studied a lot in humans, she says. We really dont know definitively if insulin resistance is responsible for increased body mass.

The GOLO diet centers on whole foods, and doesn't require you to eliminate food groups, which is a smart way to eatbut you don't need the GOLO diet to eat this way.

And you surely don't need a supplement, says Langer.

Release is just a supplement. While it may not be harmful physically, I dont recommend it," she says.

GOLO dieters have reportedly lost upwards of 100 pounds in just 12 months, and that can carry undeniable allure for someone looking to lose weight.

Except that that weight loss may have occurred not from GOLO's proclaimed ability to help regulate insulin, but instead from switching from processed foods to whole foods.

While GOLO leans heavily on the theory that insulin resistance slows metabolism, Langer cautions that there is no simple or accurate way to definitively measure a persons metabolism. As a result, there is no way to measure the GOLO diet's success.

This is the hallmark of a fad diet, Langer says. You give the followers an outcome that they cant measure.

And the research cited by the company?

The research studies done to support GOLOs claims were small, she says. The studies were done by the company. None of their stuff has been published in peer reviewed journals."

Rather than following one of these one-size-fits-all diets, Langer says the best path to an effective diet is to talk to a registered dietitian and carve out a plan tailored to you life, your goals, and your eating habits.

And consider this, as it pertains to all diets: If there was one diet on which everyone would lose weight and keep that weight off foreverwouldn't everyone already be on that diet?

Link:
GOLO Diet and Weight Loss - Is Golo Safe and Effective - menshealth.com

If youre like most of us, you overindulged a bit too much in 2019. No, not on calories (well, maybe those too!), but on noise. Thats the name for the dizzying onslaught of information from work emails, app notifications, the 24/7 news cycle, social media updates, and other forms of screen time that leaves us unable to focus, listen, or do deep work.

A smidgen of noise now and again is okay. (We all have our guilty pleasures!) But consuming it mindlessly, all day long, is as bad as keeping a bag of chips, a monster-size soda, and a can of frosting at our desk and reaching for them every few minutes.

Too many empty brain calories won't make you fat but they will make you mentally anemic. Noise keeps you in a constant state of distraction. And like actual junk food, a high-noise digital diet is addictive, yet it never satisfies or nourishes you.

The real problem with giving into noise temptation isnt what youre doing; its what youre not doing. Youre tuning out what really matters. Youre skimming the surface. When youre scrolling Facebook, for instance, you arent learning a new language, refining that career-changing presentation, or engaging with your kids in a meaningful way.

The new year is the perfect time to put yourself on a noise diet. To help with your calorie count, lets take a look at what noise junk food looks like:

The irritatingyet addictiveparade of social media stock characters in your newsfeed. This band of noisemakers assaults your brain with their cries for attention. For instance:

The humble bragger. Your college rival who subtly slips into her post that she just got another promotion at her swanky company. #blessed #gag

The cryptic drama-stirrer. That self-righteous friend who calls out people anonymously for perceived slights or makes vague poor me pity posts. (Cue the wave of very concerned commenters.)

The over-sharer. We dont need a play-by-play of your colonoscopy. Thanks.

The drop-of-a-hat ranter. Whose day would be complete without a furious recounting of how the barista screwed up your nonfat, dairy-free, double-shot, decaf, extra-hot mochaccino with extra foam? The nerve!

The overly zealous kid promoter. Yes, yes, we know Junior is the smartest, cutest, cleverest tot around your other 15 posts this week made that perfectly clear.

The amateur political pundit. Do not engage...just dont.

Dumb shows on TV. You dont need to waste your precious attention span watching Jerry Springer, B-list celebrity lip-synch contests, or those morning talk shows. Substance-free television combined with the lure of a cozy couch can quickly turn into a lost day or evening.

The 24/7 news carousel-of-darkness. Sadly, most news is bad news, and during a controversial election year it can also be fodder for controversy, vitriol, and the loss of civility with friends, family, and neighbors. (Hint: You don't need to totally disengage, but its good to be discerning about what you let in and about how often you engage in debates with the people in your life.)

Your work email. Your boss just had to email you at 9:30 p.m. ... again. The moment you jump out of the bath to write back is the moment work email becomes yet another source of noise.

Are you feeling that noise hangover settle in? Dont worry, you can kick off the new year with a different kind of diet one that cuts the empty brain calories of digital distraction and gives you what youre really craving: a more intentional life. Join my Just Say No to Noise Movement and tip the scales in the other direction. A few suggestions:

Try going a week without social media. (We promise, youll survive.) A short detox from social media is a pretty painless way to unplug and reclaim a lot of lost time. When the week is over, you can see if you even want to go back to occasional scrolling.

Reduce temptation by hiding distracting devices from yourself. OK, you probably can't hide your computer but you can shut the office door. As for cell phones and tablets, treat them like what they are: gateways to digital distraction (and it is a very slippery slope). Find an out-of-the-way place to charge and store your devices so youre not constantly reaching for them.

Break the idiot-box background noise habit. It's easy to mindlessly turn on the TV when you get home. Problem is, its broadcasting nonstop noise into your work-free hours. Instead, plan a time to watch your favorite shows. Daily exposure to the depressing litany of pain and conflict we call news isn't making your life better. Neither is watching the Fatty McButterpants episode of King of Queens for the 50th time. (OK,we admit that one is pretty funny.)

Set some work/life boundaries with the 7-to-7 rule. The company won't crash if you stop answering emails around the clock. After 7 p.m., put away your devices for the night. Don't pick them up again until 7 a.m. the next day.

Insist on phone-free family dinners ... Yes, the kids might whine at first, but soon enough they'll get used to conversing with the out-of-touch Boomers and Karens at the table.

...and screen-free family fun days. For instance, make video games and TV completely off-limits every Wednesday and Friday. Yes, even if the kids swear they have no homework. Instead, do something fun or productive as a family. Play a board game. Go bowling or skating. Cook a great meal together. Volunteer at the local animal shelter. Heck...maybe even read.

Learn to save your appetite for the stuff that really matters ... Your appetite is really your attention span, and its your most precious resource. Filling up on headlines, emails, and social media means there's little left over for doing the deep and meaningful work that helps you reach big goals at work and in your personal life. Before you cozy into an hour of lurking on your ex's Facebook page, close the laptop and find something productive to do.

...and choose some meaningful goals to pursue. When you are able to sharpen and aim your focus, you can do some pretty impressive stuff. Want to start a website? Get a better job? Learn to code? These North Star goals are the best incentive to rethink your relationship with noise and see how your life changes.

We don't realize that very often our addiction to information is the thing holding us back from getting a huge promotion, becoming valedictorian, or training for a marathon, but thats exactly what happens as time passes. Once you think of it this way, its so much easier to put yourself on a noise diet. Make this the year you take back your time and use it to do something that matters.

Joseph McCormack is the author of NOISE: Living and Leading When Nobody Can Focus. He is passionate about helping people gain clarity when there is so much competing for our attention. He is a successful marketer, entrepreneur, and author. His first book, BRIEF: Make a Bigger Impact by Saying Less (Wiley, 2014), sets the standard for concise communication. Joe is the founder and managing director of The BRIEF Lab, an organization dedicated to teaching professionals, military leaders, and entrepreneurs how to think and communicate clearly. His clients include Boeing, Harley-Davidson, Microsoft, Mastercard, DuPont, and select military units and government agencies. He publishes a weekly podcast called Just Saying that helps people master the elusive skills of focus and brevity.

To learn more, visit http://www.noisethebook.com

Excerpt from:
The New Year's Noise Diet: Why you should cut the empty brain calories in 2020 - Wiscasset Newspaper

Compared to the low-fat craze in the '90s, the keto diet seems to go against all diet logic. Because instead of cutting out fat, you eat large amounts of it for every meal.

And research shows that this diet can be effective and help fight diseases related to obesity. That said, the keto diet is not for everyone. Here's what you need to know.

The ketogenic diet was first introduced in the 1920s as a way to treat epilepsy, a seizure disorder. Medical professionals used the diet for two decades until modern epilepsy drugs were developed and it fell out of favor by the 1950s.

That was it for the keto diet for over half a century. Then, about 15 years ago, the diet reemerged. This time as a treatment for obesity and type 2 diabetes.

But even people who are not obese or have type 2 diabetes have adopted the keto diet at some point, including celebrities like Halle Berry, Vaness Hudgens, and LeBron James.

The way it works is that you eat mostly fat and very few carbohydrates. A typical keto diet consists of 75% fat, 20% protein, and 5% carbs. Compared to the average American diet which is 33% fat, 16% protein, and 51% carbs. On keto, common foods include:

When you follow the keto diet, your body stops relying on carbs as the main source of energy, which sends your body into ketosis. Ketosis is when your metabolism changes to burn fat for energy instead. This can lead to a loss of body fat, which can help prevent or improve medical conditions related to obesity like type 2 diabetes.

That's because, on keto, your body may also become more sensitive to insulin, a hormone that helps balance your blood sugar. A 2017 review of nine studies found that people with type 2 diabetes on a low-carb diet generally could control their blood glucose levels better than diabetes patients on either a normal or high-carb diet.

When following the keto diet, weight loss can vary from person to person, says Jeff Volek, a registered dietitian and professor at Ohio State University. "When people with excess weight start a ketogenic diet, they typically lose about 6 to 8 pounds the first week, then about 1 to 2 pounds per week thereafter," Volek says.

However, some people who go on keto reportedly suffer from some initial side effects including:

The initial weight loss is partly due to losing water weight because you tend to retain less water on a low-carb diet. And some studies suggest that you may not continue to lose weight on keto long-term. Some call this the "keto plateau" which is when you stop losing weight altogether.

Volek says that the keto diet is safe for many people to try and that it may mimic the way early humans ate. However, Volek says that in some cases, you should proceed with caution. "If you have diabetes and are using diabetes medications to control blood sugar, you should work closely with your physician in order to adjust medications appropriately."

The keto diet can be very restrictive and may be difficult for people to stick to, says Little. "The average 'healthy' person probably does not need to follow a keto diet but they could probably benefit from reducing their intake of refined/processed carbohydrates."

Keto isn't necessarily for everyone. Take kids, for example. Nutritionists recently told Insider that putting children or teens on the keto diet or basically any restrictive diet can lead to nutritional deficiencies and eating disorders.

Moreover, keto isn't great long-term if you have, or are at risk of, heart rhythm problems. A large 2019 study, published by the American College of Cardiology, that involved medical records of nearly 14,000 people reported that people who don't consume many grains, fruits, and starchy vegetables for years at a time, are at a higher risk of developing a heart condition called AFib.

Even if you're otherwise healthy, long-term keto could lead to vitamin B and C deficiencies, since many foods rich in these vitamins like beans, legumes, and fruit are also high in carbs. And if you're not getting the right nutrients, keto may actually lead you to gain weight, not lose it.

Bottom line: The keto diet is not for everyone and you should speak with a certified nutritionist before starting it, especially if you have a medical condition that the diet may affect.

Read more:
Everything you need to know about the keto diet - INSIDER

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI)-2019 is winding down and soon 2020 will be here.

For many of us, the new year means new goals and that might mean changing our eating habits..but it's not always easy to achieve.

According to a survey,last year's top resolutions were eating healthy, getting more exercise, and saving more money.

Recent studies show that just 8% of people who set goals, achieve it. Meanwhile, 80% fail to keep it.

News 10 caught up with Blake Kramer, an exercise science major and manager at 5th Street Nutrition in Terre Haute.

He tells us thathealth-related resolutions are often broken because of a lack of consistency.

"Once you get to your goal you're going to go back to eating the way you did. You're not gonna cut your lawn and not expect it to stop growing right? So you have to keep reiterating to your body what you're trying to do," Kramer said.

The good news is there are ways you can successfully achieve your New Year's resolution. Here's how:

Start by being realistic, the first way to fall short is by making your goal unattainable.

Plan ahead... don't make your goal the day of.

Make a pros and cons list.

Reward yourself, track progress and most importantly stick to it.

"People want tosee drastic changes and I think that's not just a lot of people I think that's almost everybody but I think it's more important to set smaller goals and achieve so it gives your body and your mind something to achieve quicker," Kramer explained.

Originally posted here:
New year, new diet: Health experts share advice on achieving a New Year's resolution - WTHITV.com

Katharina Wirnitzer was in the midst of training for the Bike Transalp race, one of the worlds toughest endurance events, when she began investigating whether a vegan diet was suitable for athletes.

The year was 2003 and veganism was a long way from the current boom, which has established it as one of the most in-vogue dietary trends. But Wirnitzer, a sports scientist at the University of Innsbruck, had become intrigued by the resurgence of ancient theories linking plant-based diets with improved athletic performance.

The first athletes on strict plant-based diets were gladiators, she says. Roman scripts report that all fighters adhered to gladiatoriam saginam, which was based on plant foods, including large amounts of legumes, pulses and grains, and contained little or no animal protein.

Now, almost two millennia later, Wirnitzer is one of a handful of researchers trying to get to the bottom of whether veganism could enhance an athletes chances of sporting success. Over the past decade, she has led the NURMI study, the broadest initiative so far investigating the effects of a vegan diet in high-performance, ultra-endurance sports.

NURMI is particularly timely because veganisms association with various health benefits from weight loss to decreased risk of inflammatory disease has seen the diet soar in popularity in recent years, both amongst the general public and elite sportsmen. The most recent survey by the Vegan Society estimates that there are around 600,000 vegans in the UK a fourfold increase over the past five years while high-profile athletes from Lewis Hamilton to Jermain Defoe have begun experimenting with veganism.

However, despite the boom in veganism, even the most optimistic scientists caution that there is still much we do not understand about the diet. In particular, little is known about the long-term consequences of veganism and whether it does hold significant advantages over an omnivorous or vegetarian diet.

Portrayals of the diet can be partisan: the recent blockbuster Netflix documentary The Game Changers has since been tainted by revelations that the executive producers are cofounders of a vegan food company and that much of the evidence presented in the film is selective, low-quality and anecdotal. Moreover, as with so many dietary interventions, the search for the truth about veganism is often clouded by the potential financial gains with predictions that the global vegan food market will be worth $24.3bn by 2026.

This is perhaps unsurprising. Whether it be the trendy city bars offering vegan wine, or the array of new products launching in supermarkets and health food stores, veganism is the wellness industrys new cash cow. Market-research experts have already predicted that the value of the global vegan food market will reach $24.3bn by 2026. Vegan cheese alone is expected to develop into an industry worth nearly $4bn within the next five years.

So what do we really know about veganism and what it can do for our health?

At Sheffield Hallam University, David Rogerson has spent the past decade studying the effects of dietary interventions on physical health. He says that one reason veganism could be good for you is because it can protect against cardiosvascular diseases, by reducing obesity and lowering cholesterol. These chronic illnesses cost the UK around 9bn a year; veganism may be the solution.

Theres growing evidence that reduced consumption of animal products, coupled with an increase in plant-based foods, seems to be good for our health, says Rogerson. This is perhaps due to these foods containing lot of antioxidant phytonutrients and nitrates, while some animal products contain lots of pro-inflammatory fats and lead to the production of a metabolite called TMAO, which has been linked to cardiovascular problems.

The anti-inflammatory effect of plant-based foods is thought to be the reason why vegan diets appear to relieve symptoms of some auto-immune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. The tennis player Venus Williams, who suffers from Sjgrens syndrome, credits turning vegan with mitigating the extreme fatigue associated with the condition, and with enabling her to continue competing at the highest level.

The full picture is rather more complex than it first seems. Scientists have found that a combined group of vegetarians and vegans appeared to have a higher risk of haemorrhagic stroke than did meat-eaters. But owing to the small number of vegans in the study, it is hard to draw firm conclusions. Possible reasons might be related to lower cholesterol levels or a deficiency of some nutrients, such as vitamin B12, says Tammy Tong, a researcher in the University of Oxfords Nuffield Department of Population Health. Vegans are also at a higher risk of B12-deficiency, since the nutrient is only naturally available from animal foods. Low B12 levels may be linked to raised blood levels of homocysteine, which may be linked to higher risk of stroke.

While vegan lobby groups have claimed that the diet results in a healthier gut microbiome and reduces the risk of some cancers, compared to meat-based diets, experts say there is little concrete evidence to back this up. There was one US study which looked at all gastrointestinal-tract cancers combined and found no difference in vegans compared with non-vegetarians, says Tong. Two studies have looked at colorectal cancer risk in vegans and both reported no significant difference compared to non-vegans.

The reason we still know relatively little is because while the term vegan was coined in 1962, for a long time scientific studies classed vegans and vegetarians together. But with increasing amounts of sports-science funding going into studying veganism, it may actually be through athletes, and their endless quest for faster, higher, stronger, that we learn most about the diet in the years to come.

The NURMI study follows 8,000 runners from across Europe, including meat eaters, vegans and vegetarians and aims to see whether following a vegan diet over time leads to greater endurance over the half-marathon and marathon distances. In the next few years, NURMI will publish one of the first analyses of how vegan runners compare to their meat-eating equivalents and, according to Wirnitzer, we are still in the infancy of understanding how our nutritional intake can boost athletic ability.

There is huge potential that is still untapped, both in terms of health and performance in sporting competition, she says.

One of the reasons athletes across such a range of sports are interested in the vegan diet is because it may boost immunity as well as aiding recovery and rehabilitation from injury. Plant-based foods such as beetroot are known to contain dietary nitrates that aid blood-flow, and oxygen and nutrient transport through the body.

Elite athletes are looking at all available legal options to enhance their performance, says Richard Brennan, managing director of Sports Science Consultants, who is studying athletes who have been meat-eaters all their lives, and are now moving towards a vegan diet. What were focusing on are the benefits to overall health which could enhance the training responses in terms of conditioning different energy systems, adapting more effectively to strength and power training programs, and having less time off sick to train.

These are the hopes for veganism, but scientists warn that, so far, there have been so few studies of athletes that there is very little evidence to support them. Wirnitzer published a landmark 2014 paper that showed that a well-planned vegan diet meets the nutritional requirements of endurance athletes, but we still know virtually nothing about whether it is the optimum diet.

Scientists have raised concerns that the diet is too restrictive for athletes who are travelling the world competing in sporting competitions. Athletes could become malnourished, be unable to maintain muscle mass and suffer deficiencies in B12 (which would lead to fatigue and poor oxygen transport), calcium and vitamin D.

Theres the potential for lower intakes of these minerals which play a role in bone health, says Rogerson. There is evidence to say that vegans experience greater bone turnover and reduced bone-mineral density, so this could mean that vegans are at an increased risk of bone injury. We also know that female athletes might be at an increased risk of such injuries if they dont eat enough, so this is potentially a double-whammy.

Concerns about the practicality of veganism extend to the general population. One question is whether vegans can plan their diet well enough over many years to avoid developing deficiencies. There have been two population studies that have monitored vegans over time, one following Seventh Day Adventists in the US and Canada, and the EPIC-Oxford study, which tracked the health of nearly 50,000 meat-eaters, vegetarians and vegans across the UK. Scientists involved in the latter have found that while consuming vegetables rich in calcium, such as kale and broccoli, can protect bones, in reality many vegans dont actually meet their calcium requirements. As a result, they have found a 30% increased risk of fracture in vegans compared to vegetarians and meat eaters.

More research is still needed to understand possible differences in fracture risks and whether any differences are related to diet or other factors, says Tong. For example, low BMI has also been linked to higher risks of some fractures and in some studies vegans exhibit lower BMI and bone-mineral density than do vegetarians.

Because of these concerns, some research groups have begun comparing veganism to other diets rich in plant-based foods, which are associated with many of the same benefits, such as the Mediterranean and New Nordic diets. Earlier this year, researchers at Sheffield Hallam University conducted a pilot study comparing a Mediterranean and vegan diet over a short-term period, with intriguing results. While both diets appeared to offer similar positives in terms of weight-loss and reduced cholesterol, evidence was much stronger for a Mediterranean diet when it came to improving blood-vessel health.

Our findings suggested that the Mediterranean diet improved the way that the endothelium of the small veins work, says Markos Klonizakis, one of the scientists who ran the study. This might not sound important, but it is. This becomes dysfunctional over time so it is crucial for cardiovascular health. The magic of the family of Mediterranean diets is that they are tested and proved over a very long period of time, in a relatively large area of the globe. For example, we know that traditionally people in Crete lived long and had low rates of diabetes and cancer.

So what next for veganism? Scientists across the board agree that we dont yet know enough to decide conclusively one way or another, but as many point out, the success of any diet ultimately comes down to the eating habits of the individual.

The success of a vegan diet will rest on the conscientiousness of the individual undertaking it, says Rogerson. Its restrictive and unless we pay attention to the elements of the diet that it excludes, then we might be putting ourselves at risk of developing deficiency-related problems. It has become easier to follow with vegan-friendly food products in supermarkets, which are fortified with nutrients that can be absent from the diet.

Another point is that people who choose to adopt a vegan diet might be more inclined to adopt health-related behaviours than the norm. Such groups might be more inclined to exercise and be aware of the nutritional adequacy of the foods they eat. We need to look at this further.

Excerpt from:
Is veganism as good for you as they say? - The Guardian

Emily Simpson is focused on getting healthy. The Real Housewives of Orange County star has lost 15 pounds in recent months, as she shared in a Nov. 29 Instagram post.

The 43-year-old explained that she was in chronic pain, I was depressed and I weighed more then I ever have in my whole life! She underwent hip replacement surgery in October because of her arthritis. She also decided to work with a fitness coach who could help her get healthy.

Simpson said that she decided to work with Paulina Taylor Hefferan of Paulina Fitness. She signed up for her 12-week program with coaching, and she couldnt have been more pleased with the results.

I reached out to @paulinastein and asked her for her help. I had no idea where to start. I felt lost, Simpson wrote.

She helped me change my lifestyle and has taught me so much about balance. She has also encouraged me to not give up and keep going, Simpson went on to say. Not only did I want to lose weight to feel and look better, but I wanted to be healthier and set a good example for my kids! I havent felt this good in a long time and with a new hip, and 15 pounds off Im finally able to keep up with my kids and be more active!

On her website, Hefferan offers several 12-week programs, including an ebook, an option with online coaching, a custom program, and a program designed specifically for brides-to-be.

Hefferan promises that her program is non-restrictive, easy to follow, and will provide lasting results. According to her website FAQ, her recommended daily workouts focus on bodyweight exercises, with a particular emphasis on weight lifting and high-intensity interval training (HIIT). The workouts can be done either at the gym or at home (though you do need a pair of dumbbells).

Clients also get daily diet guidance and healthy recipes for dishes like tacos, smoothies, salads, and bowls, as well as a list of food swaps, a nutrition guide, and a grocery list. Online coaching clients also get complete weekly check-ins and get feedback from Hefferan. The average client loses 25 pounds on the program, though some could lose up to 60 pounds.

You have to sign up for Hefferans program to get the details of the plan (prices start at $100 for a 4-week program with no coaching). But based on comments that Simpson dropped during an RHOC episode, it sounds like it could be low-carb since she rejects her husbands suggestion she eat bread while theyre at dinner

Im not eating any bread. Im not eating any bread, so stop trying to get me to eat bread, she said.

Simpson later said she didnt appreciate her husbands jokes about her weight-loss efforts.

Everything with Shane is a joke, but this is a serious issue, she said. Ive gained a lot of weight. Ive literally put on 20 lbs. in, like, an eight-month period. I want to be healthy for my kids. I want to play with them and take them to the park and not feel like crap. I just need, not jokes. I need support.

More:
'RHOC': Emily Simpson Lost 15 Pounds By Following This Diet and Fitness Plan - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

Eddie Hall is the former Worlds Strongest Man, best known for his record-holding 500kg deadlift in 2016 and winning the title of Worlds Strongest Man in 2017. After announcing his retirement from the strongman competition, the 31-year-old has since slimmed down by an incredible five stone, citing health fears as his motivation - how did he do it?

Today, Eddie appears on ITVs The Chase Celebrity Special, hosted by Bradley Walsh, alongside Dani Harmer, Chemmy Alcott and Alex Horn, going up against the Chasers.

Previously, it was reported that Eddie had chosen to go on a weight loss journey, citing health fears as his motivation, in order to drop five stone.

The decision to overhaul his lifestyle comes as no surprise after he cast light on the grueling daily routine he put his body through during his quest to become the strongest man in the world.

In 2017, the strongman released a tell-all book, titled Strongman: My Story, where he recalled the weeks leading up to setting the world record and recalled how it put his relationship with his family under strain.

He wrote in 2017: Being a foul-mouthed history-making cheeky behemoth does come at a cost.

Ever since agreeing to do the lift I have had to virtually ignore my wife and kids and, over the last six months, I have spent no more than a few hours in their company.

That in itself has obviously been a massive sacrifice for all of us but, in truth, its just the tip of the iceberg.

"My daily routine has been to eat, sleep, train, recover and repeat and in addition to a couple of short but extremely severe bouts of depression, which I think were triggered by stress and isolation, I have gradually become less mobile.

Eddie went on to explain why it was critical for him to follow the strict regime.

He added: In order to lift such a massive weight I had to put on an extra 15kg in weight and right now I am just over 31 stone.

My God, its been hard though.

I have suffered all kinds of pain over the years, but preparing for this has been a different kind of Hell and even now I am in a very, very dark place.

After winning the title in 2017, the athlete became concerned about his health and decided to slim down.

He said: When I won the worlds strongest man at 29, I was 31st 7lb, thats what I had to be the strongest man on the planet.

I had a few health implications, working with blood doctors and nutritionists I got a bit worried.

So, how did Eddie Hall lose weight?

Hall revealed he cut back on carbohydrates in a bid to shape up and managed to drop around five stone.

I cut my carbs out and over the last two years I lost a total of 30kg, or five stone, and I feel a lot better for it and am enjoying my life better for it.

Hall previously revealed to Express.co.uk that he used swimming, among other cardio exercises to shed the weight and get back into a slimmer shape.

He said earlier this year: What I do now is Ive thrown in a couple of boxing sessions a week.

I do a land-based training session, I do a swimming session, and then I bought a push-bike as well so Im doing a lot of cycling.

Ive probably piled on about five or six hours a week in cardio on top of my weight training.

Ive got a six pack and Im quite happy to stay at this, until I get a bit older [in his late 40s and 50s] when maybe Ill have to reduce the weight a little bit more.

As well as including cardio exercise to burn off the weight, Hall reduced his daily calorie intake from the whopping 10,000 calories he was used to.

He explained removing unhealthy carbs can be the best way for dieters to get into shape.

The best tip I have would be cut the carbs a little bit, they are the source of all health and obesity problems in this country, Eddie claimed.

That was the easiest thing I did, up my proteins and fats and cut the carbs a little bit and it worked for me first hand.

See the article here:
Eddie Hall weight loss: Strongman lost five stone by cutting this one food out of diet - Express

Carole Middleton, the mother of Kate and Pippa Middleton, is well-known for her slender figure which she has seemingly passed on to her two daughters. The 64-year-old was spotted recently on a winter sun holiday on the Caribbean island of St Barts looking toned in a bikini alongside daughter Pippa. How does she stay in such good shape?

Carole has reportedly always been an advocate of watching what she eats and keeping active according to her brother Gary Goldsmith.

Goldsmith told the Daily Mail: Carole has always looked after herself and eaten healthily, and she has a stunning figure. That mentality of considering your diet and exercise is evident in the girls also.

In 2011, ahead of Kates wedding to Prince William, her mother took on the Dukan diet, helping creator Dr Dukans book sales soar.

The diet was based on the theory of the French nutrition-specialist who boasted that the diet allows those partaking to eat whatever you want and still be thin".

READ MORE:Lorraine Kelly weight loss:Presenter dropped two dress sizes by cutting this out [DIET]

However, the diet is centred around a low-carb, high protein plan.

Carole reported losing 4lbs in the first four days.

The diet is hailed by fans including Jennifer Lopez and Katherine Jenkins and consisted of 100 foods for slimmers to choose from.

The list of foods is designed to make a person feel full while still remaining low calories.

Of those on the list, 72 are sourced from animals and 28 come from plants.

According to MedicalNewsToday a person can eat as much as they like, but cannot stray from the list.

The website adds: Restricting the intake of carbohydrates and fats puts the body induces a starvation-like state, which forces the body to use fat stores for energy.

DON'T MISSWeight loss diet:Manloses over 14 stone by doing one thing[Real Life Transformation]Paleo diet: What is it and why is it so popular?[Diet Plan]Alison Hammond displays a slimmed-down figure[Celebrity Weight Loss]

However, in recent years it seems Carole has switched to a largely vegan diet in order to maintain her healthy body.

Speaking to the Telegraph, she said: Ive recently gone vegan. Or maybe that should be flexitarian.

She is also reported to follow nutrition and fitness advice dished out by her daughter Pippa, who studied as a sports scholar at Marlborough College.

According to The Daily Mail, the duo both follow the Sirtfood diet which allows only superfoods.

Amongst them are blueberries, walnuts, dates, apples, red wine, turmeric, green tea, olive oil, parsley and kale.

The diets long-term diet plan instructs to include as many of these foods in your diet as possible, with participants feeling more healthy and energetic as a result.

See the article here:
Carole Middleton weight loss: Mother of Kate Middleton uses these diet tricks to stay slim - Express

Not long ago, fat was the evil dietary villain. Before that it was salt. Now the sugar-free diet has exploded onto the health and wellness scene and seems to top many peoples list of New Years resolutions.

Sugar-free diets encourage people to avoid table sugar (sucrose), sweeteners such as honey and maple syrup, refined flours, condiments, soft drinks, sweets, and some fruits such as bananas. Some also recommend eliminating or restricting dairy products.

The diets advocates rightly note that excessive sugar consumption may lead to obesity and therefore increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers.

And its true that Australians are eating too much of the sweet stuff, with 35 percent of an adults total daily calories now coming from discretionary foods, which includes lollipops, chocolates, and soft drinks.

But you dont need to quit sugar to lift your game on healthy eating. Quitting sugar is unlikely to improve your health any more than cutting down on ultra-processed foods, eating more vegetables, cooking food from scratch, and limiting how much extra sugar you eat and drink.

At best, the sugar-free diet is confusing and imposes an arbitrary set of rules that arent based on scientific evidence. At worst, such a restrictive diet can create food fear or an unhealthy relationship with food.

The sugar-free diet is restrictive, with lists of allowed foods (such as whole grains, blueberries, and grapefruits) and not allowed foods (such as white bread, bananas, and raisins). This inadvertently promotes a diet mentality and causes followers to worry about accidentally eating something thats not allowed.

People who worry about food are more likely to diet. This may be because they are worried specifically about their weight, or about the impact certain nutrients have on their health.

Research shows dieting is not effective over the long term and can lead to greater weight gain over time. The brain interprets dieting and restriction as a famine, which causes the storage of fat for future shortages.

Dieting is stressful. In response to this, our body releases stress hormones such as cortisol, which may cause the body to store fat, particularly in the abdominal area.

Worrying about food can lead to stress, anxiety, and depression, and is one of the defining features of the condition known as orthorexia.

Orthorexia is the overwhelming preoccupation with eating healthily. People with orthorexia spend a lot of time thinking and worrying about food and eliminating foods that are deemed impure or unhealthy. Some experts suggest this behavior is a precursor to, or a form of, an eating disorder.

Estimates suggest anywhere between seven percent and 58 percent of the population may have the condition. There are no clear diagnostic criteria, which makes it difficult to measure its prevalence.

But we know 15 percent of women will experience an eating disorder at some stage in their life. So we need to ensure nutrition advice, however well-intentioned, doesnt promote or encourage disordered eating.

Some sugar-free diets advise people to cut out or restrict healthy foods and food groups such as fruit and dairy, without evidence to support their exclusion. This perpetuates the food fear/dietary restriction cycle and may contribute to nutrient deficiencies.

These diets also recommend people avoid fruit for a period of time and then re-introduce a limited list of expensive healthy fruits (such as berries) while avoiding the cheaper unhealthy fruits such as bananas.

Whole fruit is a wonderful source of fiber essential vitamins and minerals, as well as antioxidants. Two servings of fruit per day can reduce the risk of developing some cancers, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. Given only half of Australians eat the recommended two servings of fruit per day, the advice to restrict fruit further could result in people missing out on these benefits.

Many sugar-free followers also avoid plain dairy products such as milk, yogurt, and cheese due to the assumption these contain sugars.

The sugar in plain dairy products is the natural lactose (a carbohydrate), which is nothing to fear. Unnecessarily avoiding dairy may increase the risk of osteoporosis if not replaced with adequate levels of calcium from other sources.

Strangely, many of the sugar-free recipes use expensive sugar alternatives such as rice malt syrup (due to its low fructose content), maple syrup (which is sometimes allowed and sometimes not), and dates to replace sugar.

However, these are still sugars and contain the same number of calories per gram as any other sugar. These alternatives offer no additional nutritional benefits other than rice malt syrup, which is a useful option only for those with a fructose malabsorption issue, and dates, which contain fiber.

People often eat more of the food containing these alternatives under the guise of it being sugar-free, which could lead to unintentional weight gain. One study found people ate about 35 percent more of a snack when it was perceived as healthy than when it was seen as unhealthy.

Eat plenty of plants, enjoy whole grains, beans, and legumes. Fruit is your friend not your enemy.

Most people could probably eat a little less sugar, a little less often, but you dont have to quit it for good to be healthy.

Savor every mouthful of that chocolate cake or sometimes food. Turn off technology and eat the cake mindfully, so that your brain can register that you have eaten it. That way you can get pleasure and satisfaction from it, and you wont be craving it again an hour later.

No matter how we choose to eat, remember that health is not simply about the number on the scale, the size of our waist, or the foods we avoid. Its also about our psychological health and our relationship with food, which is just as important as our physical health.

This article was originally published on The Conversation by Tara Leong. Read the original article here.

Link:
The one crucial thing the sugar-free diet gets wrong about health - Inverse

Extra virgin coconut oil can help with weight loss.

Highlights

We have always associated 'extra virgin' with olive oil. But, coconut oil too comes in its 'virgin' version. It is derived from the kernels of fresh coconuts, which are not subjected to any heat or chemicals; and what you get is pure and natural oil that exudes a strong fragrance and flavour. Coconut oil is used widely in many food preparations, especially south Indian foods. Replacing it with extra virgin coconut oil could give you more health benefits and may also aid weight loss. A study, published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, explains that coconut oil earned a bad reputation for containing hydrogenated oils that may be harmful for health. Extra virgin coconut oil, on the other hand, is produced without using any chemical solvents or high temperatures, and could prove to be a better option.

(Also Read:How to Make Pure Coconut Oil at Home Free of Preservatives and Chemicals)

Extra virgin coconut oil is pure and devoid of chemicals.

Apart from many other health benefits, coconut oil may also help with weight loss. Wellness and nutrition consultant Simran Saini says "Coconut oil contains saturated fats, which increase the cholesterol level in the body and may also lead to weight gain. These saturated fats are not found in extra virgin coconut oil. This form of oil has medium chain fatty acids that can be easily processed by our body."

Extra virgin coconut oil is also known to keep sugar levels stable, which in turn, helps in shedding of excessive fat.

This oil is rich in vitamin E, antioxidants and polyphenols, which help in balancing of hormones that further prevents weight gain that happens in the case of hormonal imbalance.

(Also Read:From Rapeseed to Coconut - The Oils Every Kitchen Should Have)

Extra virgin coconut oil can be used in many ways like cooking curries or dressing salads.

Coconut oil is a popular cooking oil in south India. But, due to its overwhelming aroma and nutty taste, not everyone likes it in their food. The cold pressed version of the oil or extra virgin coconut oil are more muted, and will only make your food taste and smell better.

1. Use extra virgin coconut oil to make curries and saute vegetables. If not all, definitely use this oil to make south Indian delicacies like sambhar or prawn curry.2. Add a dollop of virgin coconut oil to your morning tea or coffee. It is said that having it the first thing in the morning greatly assists weight loss.3. Use coconut oil as dressing for your salads.4.Prepare tempering for your everyday dal in extra virgin coconut oil.5. Add it to your smoothies for a richer, nuttier taste.

With so manyhealth benefits of extra virgin coconut oil, we suggest you try including it in your weight loss diet and see its magic work on your overall health and fitness level.

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

About Neha GroverLove for reading roused her writing instincts. Neha is guilty of having a deep-set fixation with anything caffeinated. When she is not pouring out her nest of thoughts onto the screen, you can see her reading while sipping on coffee.

Excerpt from:
Weight Loss Tips: Why And How Extra Virgin Coconut Oil May Be A Great Addition To Your Diet - NDTV Food