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.

Read more here:
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.

Link:
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.

See the article here:
Local woman in TOPS shape with record weight loss - The Bakersfield Californian

Since I had made up my mind about getting rid of the stubborn fat, I went for Intermittent Fasting. Unlike other people, weight loss was for me was slower. I only lost 5-6 kilos in 2 months. Then, I joined a community 'Svasthya' which helps people lose weight naturally.

I majorly adopted a low-carb diet and it was only then I could lose weight faster. I lost 5-6 kilos in a single month. I avoided outside food, rice, rotis and mostly stuck to eggs, veggies and non-veg fare. But they were all yummy and made out of healthy fats like ghee!

My breakfast: Breakfast would ideally be omelette (2 eggs), sauteed vegetables/sprouts salad/vegetable curry.

My lunch: Chicken/fish/eggs and any vegetable curry

Snacks: Almonds, walnuts, peanuts tossed in ghee, curd with pomegranate and flax, chia and sunflower seeds.

My dinner: I skipped dinner

Pre-workout meal: I used to work out an hour after having my breakfast.

Post-workout meal: None

I indulge in (What you eat on your cheat days): I rarely cheated while following the diet but I had refeed weekends at least once in a month wherein I used to eat what all I wanted, did not keep a calorie count. This helped me to come back to my diet with a sane mind.

Low-calorie recipes I swear by: Shallow-fried chicken in ghee with sauteed vegetables, salad (having at least 5 kinds of vegetables) with mayo+curd dressing, low-carb strawberry smoothies and pomegranate salad.

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Weight loss story: " I gave up rice and roti completely to lose 12 kilos" | The Times of India - Times of India

Today is National Walking Day, which means it's of the utmost importance that you dedicate some time to getting outside and strutting your stuff down the sidewalk.

In all honesty, walking is one of the best forms of exercise you can do on a regular basis. The American Heart Association recommends that you engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity on a weekly basis to keep your heart healthy. What better way to get your sweat on than to hit the trails and go for a brisk walk?

You don't have to be a seasoned runner or hiker to reap the heart-healthy benefits of aerobic exerciseyou can intensify your walk with the help of hand-held weights and intervals. In fact, walking for one hour each day could be enough to help you reach sustainable weight loss, depending on your pace and the terrain you're trekking on. (Related: 15 Underrated Weight Loss Tips That Actually Work).

Below, we've curated a list of four walking tips that will help you maximize your weight loss.

A 2016 study published in Diabetologia, revealed that walking for 10 minutes after each meal helped to lower blood sugar levels in those with type 2 diabetes more so than walking for 30 minutes consecutively at any other time during the day. As Melissa Rifkin, MS, RDN, CDN points out, managing blood glucose (sugar) levels can make weight loss a lot easier, regardless of whether you have diabetes or not. Walking after you eat can help increase calorie burn and specifically encourage your body to use fat as an energy source.

Getting out in the sun during the workday can provide a host of health benefits, namely increased vitamin D absorption, which can improve immune function and even support bone health. A 2020 study published inPhysiological Reports may give you additional incentive to get out during peak sun hours, as it suggests that exercising in the afternoon may increase fat burn.

More specifically, the study revealed that obese men who exercised in the afternoon not only scorched more body fat, but also improved blood glucose (sugar) levels, and experienced less insulin resistance over the course of 12 weeks, compared to those who worked out in the morning. Consider getting out for a brisk walk in the afternoon to achieve the greatest calorie burn.

As Dr. Amy Lee, Head of Nutrition for Nucific explained to us before, walking 10,000 steps (or the equivalent of five miles) each day will help you maintain weight, but if you want to shed pounds you'll want to tack on an additional 5,000 steps. In addition, you'll want to ramp up the intensity a bit too. Consider walking at an incline on the treadmill, or going up and down hills in a metro park near you.

"If you always walk the same loop in the park or your neighborhood, try to find a hill or locations with more gradient. That way, you are increasing your cardio," said Lee.

Not only does working out with a friend help the time go by when you're working out and keep you accountable, but it may also help you work harder. The findings from a 2017 study posted in Nature Communicationssuggest that friends can majorly influence each other's exercise routine. Another study from Michigan State University found that doing aerobic exercise (such as walking or running) with a partner motivated participants to work harder and longer, in comparison to those who worked out alone.

For more, be sure to check out5 New Weight Loss Facts You Need to Know Right Now, Science Says.

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4 Best Walking Tips for Weight Loss, According to Science | Eat This Not That - Eat This, Not That

What does boys will be boys mean? It never made much sense. You cant define a word with the word, one might yell and yell, but impotently. Its not like weuse the saying for anything else. Hammers will be hammers. Mice are mice. Nightmares were nightmares. But one might as well be yelling into the abyss for all the good itll do you. Boys will be boys, they keep on saying.

So, well, I came across a little news item, and frankly? It put me at ease. Here were some boys, three to be exact, and Im pretty sure they were being like boys. Pete Davidson went on Jimmy Fallon this week and they started their little chat off with a story about Alec Baldwin losing weight. Yes, two boys gossiping about the weight of another boy on national television. They cant help it! Theyre boys, and theyll be boys.

Here's a brief summary: Davidson said that Baldwin, who played Donald Trump during the dog days of the 2010s,was impressed by Davidsons physique when he took his shirt off and asked basically, How do you do it? Davidson didnt want to say something like be a young boy, not an older boy, and have a functioning metabolism so he advised Baldwin do 100 push-ups a day instead. Now, thats way too many push-ups for one day, maybe, but boys have been boys before, and theyre going to be boys now! Baldwin said, and Im paraphrasing here, Sounds good, roger that, and started doing those push-ups. He lost like 100 pounds Davidson said to Fallon.

Now, Baldwin was on a health kick already due to blood sugar at pre-diabetic levels, per one interview with his wife, Hilaria Baldwin, who also happened to have a wellness book out. I quietly watched what he ate, only mentally jotting down my secret wish list of what Id tell him if he asked, she told People last year.Regardless, Davidsons just exaggerating; boys just do that type of thing. They will, as ever, be boys, as Pete will be Pete and Jimmy, Jimmy.

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Pete Davidson and Jimmy Fallon Decided to Chat About Alec Baldwins Weight Loss - Vanity Fair

This content is made possible by our sponsor; it is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Engadget's editorial staff.

Weight loss programs and fads are common to the point of obscuring resources that can actually assist with healthy living. Noom is a program that focuses on lifestyle changes using psychology-based, research-backed methods of self-improvement, and right now it costs just 50 cents for a seven-day trial.

Noom is a program that helps an individual make positive changes leading toward a more healthy mode of living. Noom uses the accessibility of technology and the empathy and personal touch of human mentors to encourage sustainable change. Individuals who gained back the weight they lost using other programs have found a supportive and productive home with Noom.

Noom provides professionals trained in cognitive behavior therapy to guide users working toward their health goals. A combination of human support and technology make Noom a personalized experience informed by psychology and made accessible through technology.

Each step of the Noom process is customized to the individual user, from the entrance survey that learns each users body, goals and habits through personalized mentoring and guidance.

Noom is founded on principles of Cognitive Behavior Therapy, which focuses on treatment that addresses the patterns of thinking or behavior underlying unhealthy or unsustainable habits. Users will gain a better understanding of themselves so they can make positive, lasting changes.

Noom users see the hurdles of their health journey validated by the service's health mentors, who help users understand their personal barriers, and where they can make changes. Members will be shown how to lose weight and retain their new fitness through hard work, accountability and cognitive training.

Users can avail themselves of human support that holds users accountable to the goals they've set. You'll also have handy a slew of useful resources that will help with the practical side of your health journey, including an extensive food database with over 400,000 items and no off-limits food, a useful AI for additional support, and the convenience of having everything accessible right from your phone.

After completing a short intake survey that gathers necessary health information, including current weight and health goals, users are paired with a goal specialist. Noom coaches are educated on best practices for holistic, healthy growth, and they all have an associates degree or higher, are certified in at least one of several health fields, or have a minimum of 2,000 hours of work experience in the field.

The method by which Noom helps users achieve that goal is by focusing on global growth, both mental and physical. Users are mentored by trained coaches, who are well-versed in physical and mental health and who hold users accountable.

A seven-day trial of Noom is currently on sale for just 50 cents.

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This revolutionary weight loss program is backed by psychology - Engadget

In a recent post on Medium, writer Michael Easter unearthed a study from 1944, when the University of Minnesota simulated a POW camp for 36 male volunteers.

It was part of a wartime effort to gather information on starvation a mind-bending 20 million people died of malnutrition during WWII, soldiers and civilians alike and over nine months, researchers drastically curtailed the amount of food each subject was allowed to take in. They started them with 3,200 calories a day, but eventually brought them down to 1,570, and kept them at that number for 24 straight weeks.

The volunteers bodies became emaciated. During this diet, meanwhile, they were still expected to do two hours of physical labor a day, and walk at least three miles. All told, its the sort of extreme experiment that would only happen during an era like WWII. But despite being almost 80 years old, its findings are hyper-relevant to today, especially in the United States, where dieting is a national pastime: two-thirds of the country is overweight or obese, and 45 million Americans attempt a diet each year, fueling a $33 billion weight loss business.

The study exhibits why weight loss is such a pesky pursuit in the modern age. When we shed pounds by cutting calories, our resting metabolisms simply regroup the body of a 160-pound man starts to burn calories at the rate of a 60-pound child. This was once an evolutionary advantage, meant to protect hunter-gatherer types from several days spent chasing gazelles or searching for berries. But these days, it just leads to weight loss plateaus. Worse yet, in order to burn fewer calories, the body stops sending regenerative cells to organs and muscles.

During the study, many of the men also became obsessed with food. Theyd read cookbook recipes well into the night, and they dealt with an ever-present hangriness. They found focusing on anything other than food impossible. Once they left the U of M and were allowed to eat again, they consumed at a prodigious, Michael Phelps-like level, averaging over 11,000 calories a day. (Thats about 60 donuts. Yeah.)

This, of course, led to significant weight gain. In the end, many of them gained more weight than they had lost during the experiment. This corroborates recent research, which suggests that for every two pounds someone loses, their brain is intent on eating an extra 100 calories a day. An over-the-top dieting process essentially catalyzes our cravings while fiddling with our concept of fullness. And in our era, its easy to meet those massive cravings with processed foods high in sugar, salt and fat.

Research on weight loss best practices is ongoing and on the other side of the coin, recent science has suggested that simply prioritizing exercise isnt an ideal way forward for burning calories. But the takeaway here is to be sparing and cautious with fad diets, especially those that simulate a famine. While they may indeed help you lose weight, its possible that the aftermath wild mood swings and cheat meals could cause more damage in the long run. Its better, as always, to find a consistent balance and champion non-processed, whole-food, plant-based ingredients on a day-to-day basis.

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How Weight Loss Can Lead to Disturbing Binge Eating Habits Down the Line - InsideHook