Health » Weight

Weight ‘key’ in kidney transplant

Admin — Sun, 23 May 2010 00:58:42 +0000

Matching up the weight of donors and recipients boosts success in kidney transplants, suggests French research.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

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Exercise ‘key’ to weight loss

Admin — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 23:06:28 +0000

The recommended half an hour of exercise a day may not be enough to stop weight gain.

According to a US study of 34,000 women, an hour a day of moderate exercise is needed to fight the flab.

Overweight women need to diet as well as exercise, a Harvard team reports in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The UK government advises adults to exercise for at least half an hour five or more days a week.

"While 30 minutes exercise is recommended for health reasons, people need to exercise for longer to avoid weight gain "

Professor Paul Gately, Leeds Metropolitan University

The US study followed 34,000 middle-aged women over 13 years.

The women completed regular questionnaires about the amount of time they spent on physical activity.

They were classified into three groups: those who did the equivalent of less than two and a half hours of moderate exercise a week, between two and a half hours and seven hours a week, and more than seven hours a week.

The average age of the women was 54, and the average weight gain was 2.6 kg over the 13 year period.

The high exercise group gained significantly less weight than the rest.

But there was no difference in weight gain between the two lower exercise groups.

The only group who didn’t gain weight during the study were normal weight women who exercised for an hour or more a day.

Too late

Among the women who were normal weight at the start, the more they exercised, the less weight they gained.

But among those who were already overweight at the start there was no relation between exercise and weight gain.

The authors say clear guidelines on the amount of physical activity for the prevention of weight gain are essential.

They draw two conclusions: "Firstly once overweight, it may be too late because physical activity – at least, at levels carried out by study participants – was not associated with less weight gain.

"Second, sustaining high levels of physical activity (60 minutes a day) is needed to successfully maintain normal BMI and prevent weight gain."

This level of activity is higher than the minimum that the UK government recommends.

Spare tyre

A Department of Health spokesperson said: "The Chief Medical Officer recommends that adults do 30 minutes of physical activity at least five times a week. Children need 60 minutes of activity every day.

"As part of the Change4Life movement, adults are being encouraged to make simple changes, such as eating more fruit and veg, cutting down on fatty foods and being more active, in their diet and lifestyle which will help them lead longer, healthier lives — and lose that unwanted spare tyre."

But Professor Paul Gately, who runs Carnegie Weight Management Programme at Leeds Metropolitan University, said the government recommendation is the amount of exercise needed to reduce risk of ill health.

He said more exercise was needed to avoid weight gain, and an hour a day was in line with findings of previous research.

He said: "While 30 minutes exercise is recommended for health reasons, people need to exercise for longer to avoid weight gain."

He added that the International Obesity Task Force report in 2004 concluded that people who are overweight have to do more exercise to maintain their weight, up to 90 minutes a day.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

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Drinkers ‘may gain less weight’

Admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:04:24 +0000

Women can enjoy a tipple and stay slim, according to a study that shows moderate drinkers gain less weight than teetotallers.

Women who drank red wine gained the least, but the results held for other wines, beers and spirits.

Although alcohol contains calories, the US researchers believe the women may have substituted it for other food.

Their work in the Archives of Internal Medicine followed over 19,000 women over 13 years.

The women recruited into the study were aged 39 or over and of normal weight at the time they joined.

"It would be a mistake to think that drinking alcohol helps you loose weight"

Catherine Collins, British Dietetic Association

Over the next 13 years, on average, they gained weight progressively.

Those who drank no alcohol gained the most weight, and there was an inverse relationship between weight gain and alcohol consumption.

Even after accounting for lifestyle, dietary factors and things like smoking and exercise, the study found those who drank the least gained the most weight.

Moderate drinking was classed as drinking up to about two 150ml glasses of wine a day.

Although the study did not include men, the authors believe the findings may not apply to men.

The women in the study who drank appeared to substitute alcohol for other food, meaning their overall calorie intake did not go up that much.

They say men who drink might not do this.

Also the way men and women break down alcohol in their liver may differ, which help might explain why women do not pile on the pounds.

But British researchers cautioned that people should be wary of concluding they can shed pounds by drinking more.

Catherine Collins, dietician and spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association, said: "It would be a mistake to think that drinking alcohol helps you loose weight."

She rejected the notion that the calories in alcohol don’t contribute to weight gain.

"We know that alcohol calories do count. For binge drinkers, for example, alcohol can have a major impact on weight."

She pointed out that the study was based on women who were normal weight when they were recruited.

"These are quite an unusual group, who were likely to be mindful of keeping their body healthy," she said.

"Most women would have gained a few extra pounds by the age of 39.

"To be of normal weight by that age is quite a feat in itself.

"So findings about weight gain among this group may not be translate to others."

She said another limitation of the research was that it did not report how much snack food the participants ate.

"It may be that those who had wine as their treat ate less chocolate and snacks," she said.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

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weight loss,fat loss,healthy eating,healthy diet plan,excercising

Admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 03:01:54 +0000

credit: klf_bdf

The idea of combining both the healthy and balanced diet plan is to:

* provide variety in the diet* consume more grains, fresh fruits & vegetables which help increase energy levels* low fat intake – especially saturated fats* reduce sugar intake* lower salt intake* provide optimum health & vitality – it gives us the energy to be more active, this = rapid weight loss!

By now everyone has heard of eating a balanced diet for better health but some believe a healthy diet also means a balanced diet. In fact they are both different. A balanced diet enables us to obtain all essential nutrients present in a wide range of foods. If the balanced diet plan is consistent it will also provide a regular supply of vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients ensuring optimum health and vitality. Optimum health means less illness and health complications but more importantly increase energy levels for physical activity, this is great news for dieting and rapid weight loss. Its important to be aware that a balanced diet can also provide too many fats, refined sugar and salt. If any diet provides too much saturated fat, cholesterol and refined sugars it may be classed as unhealthy and not much use in any program. A healthy diet plan is mainly a consumption of natural, fresh and wholesome foods for each meal of the day, foods chosen are usually low in fats, sodium and refined sugars. The difference is a healthy diet plan provides us with some nutrients but the balanced diet plan provides us with all essential nutrients. The problem starts because we tend to eat very similar food every day especially if its our favourite we’ll naturally want to eat it more often. Consuming the same foods or types of food can lead to a deficiency in a certain nutrient only present in another food group, one not chosen in our diet plan. While on a diet we really need to obtain all nutrients the body requires while at the same time maintain a natural and healthy weight loss. Normally a healthy diet plan can help weight loss but a combination of the healthy diet and a balanced diet plan would be great for permanent weight control. We would consume low fat foods plus gain all nutrients. Providing all nutrients regularly gives us the vitality to exercise effectively. Possessing little vitality can give anyone that “can’t be bothered or too tired attitude”, I mean ever wondered why sometimes we feel so down and low in energy. Some experts believe deficiencies in some nutrients can reduce our ability to produce enough energy making us feel lethargic, although more research is needed.

The Truth About Your Weight:What does your weight say about you? If you think about it, that number doesn’t tell you a whole lot. The scale shows your weight, but does it tell you how much of that weight is muscle and how much is fat? Or how much of that weight is water, bones or organs? A bodybuilder’s weight could be off the charts because of extra muscle, but does that mean he’s overweight or fat? Most of us would say no because we know that weight doesn’t tell the whole story.Knowing your body composition is crucial information if you really want to get results and, unfortunately, the scale doesn’t tell you that. Another reason scale weight isn’t so reliable is that it changes all the time. All of us experience weight changes throughout the day, sometimes by as much as 10 pounds depending on what and how often we eat and drink. You could gain weight right now by putting on a pair of heavy boots, but does that mean you’ve gained fat? No. Just as taking those boots off doesn’t mean you’ve lost any fat.While the scale isn’t completely useless, it may not be the best tool for people just starting a fat loss program. If it doesn’t help you stay on track and reach your goals, maybe it’s time to throw out the scale for good. When you talk about losing weight, what you usually mean is slimming down. But slimming down doesn’t always mean losing weight. It may sound odd, but it’s possible to get thinner without actually seeing a change in your weight. This happens when you lose body fat while gaining muscle. Your weight may stay the same, even as you lose inches, a sign that you’re moving in the right direction. But, if the scale doesn’t change, you may not even be aware that you’re getting real results. Knowing the difference between losing weight and losing body fat can change how you get results and may even change how you look at your own body,so just keep exercising and Healthy eating NO matter what your weight scale is say.

http://www.2tastyfood.com

Healthy Diet Is A Key To Healthy Weight Loss

Admin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:01:50 +0000

credit: ~Brenda-Starr~

Since ages, there exists a thinking in the minds of people that losing weight is something that is related to your dinning habits. But unfortunately, this isn’t true. The process of loosing weight does start with the time and type of food you eat, but there are certain other crucial things to be kept in mind and followed.
The past few years have been the worst in the history of health and nutrition because more and more people came in the ambit of a disorder known as obesity. It is this disorder that has given rise to many other diseases like the cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, diabetes, gall bladder diseases and even some forms of cancer.
With your ever busy schedules and increasing responsibilities, you find it hard to keep a check on the things that you are eating and munching at the regular intervals. This is the sole cause of you being over weight. So it becomes necessary for you to keep a check on your eating habits and you should go in for a diet plan that is nutritious and healthy.
For this you can follow a comprehensive weight loss program. There are numerous weight loss techniques and methods available in the market, that considerably help you to reduce your weight. So depending on your comfort, you can opt for any of them. These weight losing programs help you to correct your dietary habits as it is the foremost step for a healthy body. Your aim should be of reducing the calorie intake and inculcating different types of nutrients. Restricting the excessive calories intake will show you better and faster results.
Apart from this, following a regular exercising routine also helps a lot. Cardiovascular training is the most effective form of exercising. This exercise considerably burns your calories. Other exercises like aerobics and circuit training are also very helpful.
Obesity has turned into a chronic condition in the recent years. And all the credit goes to our changing and bad lifestyle habits. Though it can be a temporary problem, but sometimes you may find it difficult to come out of its ambit.
Being obese is a life long, frustrating condition. And if not attended properly it can increase and bring with it various other problems. So it becomes necessary for you to keep a check on your eating habits and your deteriorating lifestyle. Only a healthy body is the key to beautiful life. And a healthy body can be only achieved if you are on a healthy diet.

Losing Weight Through Healthy Dieting

Admin — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 12:00:53 +0000

The hallmark of a successful diet is one on which you are able to lose weight, while still feeling as if you are getting enough to eat. While that may sound impossible, making healthy choices about what to eat is just as important as how much you consume. Learning to diet sensibly can help you to lose or maintain your current weight, while getting all the nourishment and emotional satisfaction that your body needs. Following are some expert tips to help you get the most out of your diet.
Diet Tips for Losing Weight
Dieting is never easy, but knowing how to avoid some common dieting traps can help you to stick to your resolve.
1. Eat a Healthy Breakfast Every Day. While many dieters opt to skip breakfast, doing so actually hurts your attempt to lose weight. If you wait until lunch to eat, your bodys metabolism will slow down and any calories you consume for the rest of the day will take extra time to burn. Even a piece of fruit or a slice of whole wheat toast can give your metabolism the boost that it needs.
2. Get a Diet Buddy. If you have a friend who is also trying to lose weight, team up to keep each other honest and provide moral support. Knowing that there is someone else you can turn to for encouragement can help you to stay true to your diet plans.
3. Read About Ingredients. Instead of just finding out how many calories a certain product contains, look at the complete nutritional value of the item. Reading the label can tell you how much sodium, fat and carbohydrates are loaded into your meal. Calories are very important to weight loss, but they are not everything.
4. Supplement Your Diet with Vitamins. When you are trying to lose weight by reducing certain types of food, you may be unconsciously limiting important nutrients and vitamins from your diet. Adding a vitamin supplement to your plan will help you to keep balanced and healthy.
5. Plan Ahead When Eating Out. Knowing what you want to order before you even arrive at the restaurant can help you to avoid looking at the menu and giving in to temptation. Try to frequent restaurants that have fresh salads and offer a variety of low calorie choices.
6. Stop Eating When You Are Full. It may seem like common sense, but many people feel the need to finish everything on their plate, or eat until they feel stuffed. It also helps to eat slowly since the brain can take up to 20 minutes to register that the stomach is full.
7. Add an Exercise Program. Combining a sensible, healthy diet with even a moderate exercise regime will significantly enhance the results you see on your waistline.

Healthy Dieting: Eat 5 Meals a Day and Lose Weight!

Admin — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 09:02:42 +0000

A lot of fad diets rely on depriving the body of food, but if you look at creatures in nature you will see that you need to eat regularly for healthy dieting.

While you need to eat regularly you need to know about portion size in relation to your body for healthy dieting and this is relationship is explained below.

Understand the concepts of regular eating and portion control and you can enjoy healthy dieting, lose weight and never feel hungry.

Let’s look at these concepts in more detail.

3 meals a day is a man made concept

If you look at healthy eating three meals a day (or less on many diets) is not ideal, you should be eating five meals a day.

Some simple examples from nature will illustrate this point.

Bears are creatures that eat huge meals infrequently to sustain them. They carry a lot of body fat to feed them over time i.e they are binge eaters.

If you look at animals such as dear, elk and horses they graze and have similar proportion of body fat to humans.

These animals are eating every few hours, our ancient ancestors did and you should to for healthy dieting.

There are reasons why you should, that are linked to our body and how it functions.

By eating frequently you achieve the following:

1. Eating frequently prevents hunger pangs and curbs over eating.

2. Eating more often keeps your metabolism working quickly so you burn calories more efficiently.

3. Food is also absorbed more efficiently and quickly when we eat regularly.

In affect you will feel healthier and have more energy as you will be using your metabolism as nature intended.

This is what healthy dieting is all about:

Creating the ultimate conditions to burn fat, in the most efficient way and never feeling hungry.

OK I can eat 5 meals a day how much can I eat?

Here you need to know about portion control.

Eating five times a day means you can eat enough to satisfy you, but its important to know how much you can eat in relation to your body size and there is a very easy way of doing this.

You can count calories, but let’s be frank who has the time or inclination to do this?

The trick is to use your hand.

A portion should be the size of your fist or the size of your palm.

Want a baked potato?

Get one the size of your fist

Want some fish?

Get a portion the size of your palm

Eat naturally for healthy dieting

Now you need to eat quality fat carbohydrate and protein.

The trick here is to eat “naturally from the earth” and avoid additives and sugar.

For example, a meal should contain the three groups how about Salmon, brown rice and veagatbles? Or maybe a baked potato Turkey and vegetables?

Follow the above and you can eat 5 meals a day.

If you are in a hurry make your other two meals up before hand, some nice tasty salads (go easy on the dressing) some rice and fish.

Other healthy dieting tricks

Make sure you eat breakfast (the most important meal of the day) and get as much fibre as you can, as a lot of it is not absorbed and passes through the body. It also makes you feel full and has generally less calories than other foods.

The other trick is to drink lots of water ice cold. Many hunger pangs are simply thirst pangs, so get plenty of water by drinking it ice cold.

Your body has to heat it to body temperature and you will burn 400 calories a week!

Now you have done the above you will feel healthy and control your weight as nature intended.

Don’t forget a bit of exercise and by this we don’t mean hours in the gym. Simply do some brisk walking don’t take the lift try and walk up the stairs etc

Add in some swimming or cycling twice a week, its not to hard and remember, we were not born to just sit around were active beings.

Healthy dieting made simple

The above diet tips will help you burn fat efficiently, eat as your supposed to, feel healthier and fitter which is what healthy dieting is all about.

Simply think about how we evolved through time and you will see the logic of the above.

Healthy Diets – Ten Steps to Easy Weight Control

Admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 07:31:42 +0000

Healthy diets promoted by many companies and gurus are anything but healthy diets – in fact, they can be harmful to your long-term health.

So if you are looking for healthy diets then you should consider if they take into account the 10 points below, which are universal in scope and are actually not that difficult to follow.

1. Balance Fat and Protein

Fat should supply around 30% of your total daily calories. Limit your intake of fat by having more vegetables in your diet.

Eat lean meats, light-meat poultry without the skin, fish, and low-fat dairy products. In addition, make sure you limit vegetable oils and butter in your diet.

Protein should be around 15% of your calorie intake. Don’t fall for the myth of so-called healthy diets that recommend eating protein at the expense of fat, it’s not natural and can cause health problems.

2. Limit Your Intake of Saturated Fat

This is the kind of fat, found mostly in animal products, that increases blood cholesterol levels and has other negative health effects. It should supply less than one-third of the calories derived from fat.

Keep your cholesterol intake below 300 milligrams per day.

3. Eat Foods Rich in Complex Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates should contribute around 55% of your total daily calories. Don’t fall for the hype that carbohydrates are bad for you they are not, just make sure you eat complex carbohydrates.

To help get the right sources, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and six or more servings of whole grains. This will help you obtain the 25 grams of fiber you need each day.

4. Avoid too Much Sugar

Many foods that are high in sugar are also high in fat. Look at the labels to see how much sugar is in a product – many products say they are low in fat, but they are high in sugar, and this turns to fat.

5. Eat Green, Orange, and Yellow Fruits and Vegetables

Examples would be broccoli, carrots, cantaloupe, and citrus fruits. The antioxidants and other nutrients in these foods are increasingly important in helping protect against a variety of diseases.

6. Variety

Eat a variety of foods – this really is the key to a balanced diet. Don’t try to fill your nutrient requirements by eating the same foods every day – it won’t work.

7. Limit Sodium Intake

Your sodium intake should be a maximum of 2,400 milligrams per day. This is equivalent to about a teaspoon of salt. Therefore, Avoid salty foods and be careful to check food labels carefully for sodium content.

8. Vitamins and Minerals from Food

Supplements cannot substitute for a healthy diet, which supplies nutrients and other compounds besides vitamins and minerals. Foods also provide the “synergy” that many nutrients require so that they can be effective, and be broken down in the body and utilized correctly.

9. Maintain a Desirable Weight

Don’t ignore exercise, it only needs to be moderate, you don’t have to kill yourself in the gym! The two biggest causes of obesity are processed unnatural foods and our modern lazy life style.

10. Enjoy your Food

If you drink alcohol, eat chocolate, crisps etc you can – but don’t overdo it. Why shouldn’t you eat what you really enjoy? There is no reason why you can’t.

Healthy Diets are Balanced Diets

There are many healthy diets to choose from, and they’re all different, but the basis of any healthy diet should take into account the 10 points outlined here.

More dieting and general health information and FREE exclusive diet and health magazines, are available on our web site: http://www.net-planet.org

Lose Weight – the Truth About Baked Potatoes as Part of a Healthy Diet

Admin — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:30:05 +0000

When planning a healthy diet in your attempts to lose weight do not overlook the simplicity and versatility of the baked potato.

Baked potatoes are a great source of nutrients (especially the skin) and are a great comfort food on dark, chilly winter nights. Potatoes are an outstanding source of potassium, a substantial amount of vitamin C and are a useful source of vitamins B1 and B6, and are also so easy to prepare. By themselves, potatoes are low in fat and calories. Baked potatoes even lose weight as they cook!

Sweet potatoes can be cooked in the same way and go particularly well with spicy fillings/accompaniments.

When buying baking potatoes choose potatoes that are not wrinkled, have green patches or have started to sprout. Select ones that are evenly sized and shaped. They will keep for several weeks if you keep them stored in a well-ventilated, cool dark place.

When preparing the potatoes for cooking scrub them well under cool running water and prick them several times with a fork to prevent them from bursting and reduce the cooking time. Do not wrap them in foil as this holds in the moisture and steams them. Instead, place them directly onto a baking rack. Turn them halfway through cooking time to prevent them browning too much on the underside. The secret to a great baked potato is the heat of the oven. You can tell when your potato is ready when a fork easily pierces the skin. If it’s too hard bake it a little longer being careful not to overcook or the skin will dry up.

Baked or jacket potatoes as some prefer to call them are so under rated as they can be delicious, complete meals if you bake them properly and have a tasty topping or filling. However, they can be just as delicious if sprinkled with salt and black pepper or herbs

The perfect jacket potato is steamy soft and fluffy on the inside and crisp on the outside. Cut the potato length wise and using oven gloves or a clean kitchen towel squeeze from each end to make the inside erupt out of the center or make a cross along the top and heap over your topping.

Toppings as the name suggests are something that you simply put on the top of your baked potatoes. Fillings are when you scoop out the inside of the baked potato, place it in a bowl and mash it then mix it will your favourite filling and pile it back inside the shell again.

To complete your meal put your chosen topping or filling on the potato and serve straight away with a side salad.

Balanced Healthy Diet — Lose Weight Easy With Sensible Eating

Admin — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:59:33 +0000

We tend to eat as if each meal is our last. This was my biggest pitfall but with some sensible eating tips and a balanced healthy diet I managed to make some serious progress and lose weight easy.

Open a large bag of chips with the intention of just a few and before you know you have eaten more than half the bag. And then it would be rude to put the bag back in the cupboard; you might as well finish them off.

Missing or cutting out meals with the mindset that this will help our weight loss plans can lead to us struggling to lose weight easy. Our metabolism will slow and our body will store calories.

These sensible eating regular meal tips will help you to lose weight easy.

Tip 1: It does not necessarily matter if we eat three, four or five meals a day as long as we are eating at regular intervals. Eating at regular intervals will help to keep a balanced metabolism.

Tip 2: By eating more regularly you increase your chances of having lower energy intake. Several studies published reports finding that lower levels of cholesterol in your bloodstream are associated with frequent eating.

Tip 3: Your blood sugar levels are more likely to stay stable if you eat regularly. This is advantageous because it will help prevent hunger cravings. Hunger cravings lead to excessive snacking and eating more at the next mealtime.

Tip 4: If possible try and cook foods in bulk. When making stews, lasagna, cottage pies, try and cook double the amount of food so you can freeze the second portion. This can then be eaten for a meal a few nights later.Â This can be great when you working late or have had a busy day asÂ you save on cooking time.

A side benefit of eating at regular meal times is the strength and unity it brings to your family to have time to all sit and eat together.

The key to sensible eating is to avoid large fatty stodgy meals. Snacking in between main meals should focus on fruits, fresh juices, natural nuts, berries or fresh vegetables. Not coffees, cakes or chocolate.

Having a banana instead of a bar of chocolate could save you two hundred calories.

Eating a balanced healthy diet at regular meal times will help you to lose weight easy.

Learn to lose weight easy and fast by downloading my free e-book from www.loseweightwithoutstarvingyourself.com