High activity staves off pounds, especially for women

High activity staves off pounds, especially for women.

ScienceDaily (Dec. 20, 2010) — People will gain significantly less weight by middle age — especially women — if they engage in moderate to vigorous activity nearly every day of the week starting as young adults, according to new Northwestern Medicine research.

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Health & Medicine

• Fitness
• Diet and Weight Loss
• Obesity
• Cholesterol
• Sports Medicine
• Menopause

Reference

• Aerobic exercise
• Physical exercise
• Hormone replacement therapy
• Gymnastics

Women particularly benefitted from high activity over 20 years, gaining an average of 13 pounds less than those with low activity; while men with high activity gained about 6 pounds less than their low-activity peers. High activity included recreational exercise such as basketball, running, brisk walking or an exercise class or daily activities such as housework or construction work.

“Everyone benefits from high activity, but I was surprised by the gender differences,” said lead author Arlene Hankinson, M.D., an instructor in preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “It wasn’t that activity didn’t have an effect in men, but the effect was greater in women. Now women should be especially motivated.”

The study will be published Dec. 14 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

There could be several reasons for the gender difference, Hankinson said. Women are less likely than men to overestimate their activity, according to previous studies. “Men may not be getting as much activity as they report,” Hankinson explained.

In addition, men in the high-activity group compensated by eating more than their low-activity counterparts, which could have led to more weight gain. The highly active women didn’t eat more than low-activity women in the study.

There were many ways to achieve the study’s definition of high-activity levels, Hankinson noted. One way was 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity a week.

The study participants — 1,800 women and nearly 1,700 men — are part of the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study, a multi-center, longitudinal and population-based observational study designed to describe the development of risk factors for coronary heart disease in young black and white adults.

“This paper is another example of how the CARDIA study has contributed to our knowledge about the importance of initiating healthy habits early in life and vigilantly maintaining them,” said paper coauthor Stephen Sidney, M.D., associate director for clinical research at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research. “Common medical problems such as heart disease, diabetes and obesity have their origins in childhood and can generally be prevented by maintaining a normal weight, not smoking, exercising regularly and eating a healthy diet throughout life.”

Hankinson’s research is the first to measure the impact of high activity over 20 years between young adulthood and middle age and to frequently examine participants (seven times) over that period. Study participants are more likely to remember and accurately report their behavior with regular exams, she said.

Previous studies, Hankinson said, looked at a single exercise intervention’s effect on weight for a short period of time or examined participants in longer studies at only two points in time — the beginning and the end.

“We wanted to see if people’s activity levels during their youth were enough to help them keep weight off in middle age, or if they needed to up the ante,” Hankinson said. “It’s difficult to avoid gaining weight as you age. Our metabolic rate goes down. We develop conditions or have lifestyles that make it harder to maintain a high level of activity.”

“The study reinforces that everyone needs to make regular activity part of their lifestyles throughout their lives,” she said. “Not many people actually do that.” The active group in the study comprised only 12 percent of the participants.

Lower levels of activity had a negligible effect on weight gain in the study. “High activity was the only kind that made a significant difference,” Hankinson noted.

The CARDIA study is supported by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Insitute. The participants were 18 to 30 years at the beginning of the study and 38 to 50 at the end. They are currently undergoing a 25-year follow-up examination at ages 43 to 53 years.

Participants were recruited from four geographic areas in the United States: Chicago, Minneapolis, Birmingham, Ala., and Oakland, Calif.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided byNorthwestern University, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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Journal Reference:

1. Arlene L. Hankinson, Martha L. Daviglus, Claude Bouchard, Mercedes Carnethon, Cora E. Lewis, Pamela J. Schreiner, Kiang Liu, Stephen Sidney. Maintaining a High Physical Activity Level Over 20 Years and Weight Gain. JAMA, 2010;304(23):2603-2610 DOI: 10.1001/jama.2010.1843

 

 

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Save world hunger, eat less Carbs #gettoned

Jason Clay: How big brands can help save biodiversity

One American eats as much as 43 Africans in one lifetime.

Jason Clay is a WWF vice-president who works with big corporations to transform the global markets they operate in, so we can produce more with less land, less water and less pollution. Full bio and more links

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Reasons to Celebrate

Results

Thats what I work for.  Its EXPECTED.

Back to school time means time to measure.  I have made appointments  starting Tues and Thurs this month.

Make sure you meet with me  and measure to set new goals.  We will train through FALL break and remeasure again.

Now is the time to get your mind right about being fit for Xmas.  What better time to be in your best health then around your family?

get up, get fit, get toned

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Drew Carey: Down 80lbs

Drew Carey: “It Sucks Being Fat.”

Funnyman Drew Carey also showed up at the CBS Summer Press Tour Party last night after having lost an astounding 80 pounds through a low carb diet and exercise!

Photos via BauerGriffin

Wow! He looks amazing.

The newly svelte host of “The Price is Right” showed off his new bod on the red carpet Wednesday night in Beverly Hills, where he told reporters: “It sucks being fat.”

Since losing the weight, “I’m not diabetic anymore. No medication needed.”

And all he had to do was say good-bye to the bread and chips.

“No carbs,” he told People magazine in describing his new diet. “… not even a cracker. No bread at all. No pizza, nothing. No corn, no beans, no starches of any kind. Egg whites in the morning or like, Greek yogurt, cut some fruit.”

[…]

“I like being skinny,” says Carey. “I was sick of being fat on the camera. Really, I just got sick of it.”

Poverty – In My old Ky home

I live in KY, the frontline in the War on Poverty in America.

My belief is that for this state to make a turnaround we have to focus on women and children.  The percentages of low birth weight babies, children in poverty and children in single-parent families has increased over the past 10 years in KY.

IMHO, everything in the past 50yrs has failed us to a certain degree. Our education system, our industry, our healthcare and “common wealth” in general have all produced a state that is the lowest in every major statistical category. We are poverty in America.

In Kentucky, 102 babies are born with low birth weights, this has many problems

• respiratory problems
  
• difficulty feeding (malnourished, dehydrated)
  
• vision problems
  
• behavior problems
• learning disabilities
  
• mental disease
• also linked to obesity and diabetes
  

Kentucky has one of the highest rates of women who smoke during pregnancy. About 30.5 percent of Kentucky women who are of child-bearing age smoke.  Smoking while pregnant leads to low-birth weight babies.

Obesity can also lead to low birth weights because obese woman typically require premature delivery due to health complications of the fetus and delivery.

To prevent low birth weights, women should stop smoking, practice healthy eating habits, and get regular physical activity before becoming pregnant.

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Empowering the Everyday Woman: #gettoned

If you walk on a treadmill or have a “gym” membership then I wrote this number for you.

Empowered benefits of weight training for women who Get Toned.

1. Builds Confidence
2. Burns extra carbs and fat calories when you aren’t working out
3. Improves your digestion bc you will want to eat healthy to keep your tone
4. Improves immune system (eat out less, less germs, less disease)
5. Increases bone density (especially important for ladies over 35)
6. Improves posture and strengthens core (your love-handles are smaller)
7. Improves mood (bc you look so damn good)
8. Lowers blood pressure
9. Improves muscular endurance (best shape of your peers)
10. Makes you look good in your swim/birthday suit!

4th of July picnic eating tips

July 4th is fun, dont make it a drag by worrying about what your going to eat.

Keep these 5 tips in mind

• Eat small – don’t fill up the biggest plate with tons of food, keep it small and simple
• Share – easy way to save calories is to give them away, split a hamburger with somebody or give the last few bites to the dogs
• Eat protien first – save the casseroles for Thanksgiving, eat the vegatables instead
• Moderate – taste all the treats, try to sample something you like.  Don’t pig out
• Drink smart – be accountable for the sodas and alchohol you drink, some cans are two servings, your body will burn all the alcohol first

Happy Birthday America

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Too Sweet for Sweetness? Natural vs Artificial Sugar

Image via Wikipedia

All sugar is the same, white sugar, brown sugar, molasses, it all comes from either sugar cane or sugar beets.  We manufacture corn for sugar and make artificial sweeteners (Phenylalanine and Aspartame)  for products to add taste and freshness.

Common products with added sugar: (1 gram = 1 teaspoon)

• Chinese Fortune cookies one cookie 3.5 grams
• Baked beans one-cup serving 15 grams
• Ketchup single pack  4 grams
• Flavored Yogurt single serving size 24 grams
• BBQ sauce one-cup serving  9 grams
• “Reduced” salad dressings one-cup reduced-calorie French dressing 58 grams
• Lemonade single serving of the drink has almost 17 grams
• Caramel Flavored popcorn 18 grams per ounce serving.
• Granola bars 11 grams

Natural Sugar

There’s a natural sugar in fruit and plants called “fructose” which has gotten a bad name over the years.  The body metabolizes sugar into glucose so the brain can use it for energy and if a body already has ample energy readily available then anything extra will be turned to triglycerides and fats by the liver.  Fructose is easily converted to fat if not needed, which causes a problem for people who do not move alot or burn enough calories.  Overweight to morbidly obese persons have free-flowing sugar in their bodies waiting to be used and the build up of high blood sugar will contribute to bone, joint and heart diseases.   When I worked at the hospital my favorite patients to train were Type II Diabetics because 15mins of exercise helped control blood sugar and alleviate joint pain while burning calories to reduce fat stores and get them off medications.  I had a blast!!

Man-made Sugar

We manufacture sugar from plants and also use chemicals to make aspartame and phenylalanine (Equal, Nutrasweet and Splenda) which can increase desire for sweets, kill taste buds and decrease insulin absorption by the body and contribute to adult-onset diabetes.

Aspartame causes additional problems because of its chemical breakdown. A molecule of aspartame consists of two amino acids (phenylalanine and aspartic acid) linked by a molecule of methanol, the alcohol found in antifreeze. At 30C (86F), lower than body temperature, the three components come apart and each has distinctive effects. The methanol is metabolized in your body to formaldehyde and then to formic acid. Both of these are very potent metabolic poisons.

Phenylalanine and aspartic acid both mimic brain neurotransmitters. They can disrupt the balance of these chemicals, causing depression, seizures, memory problems and problems with concentration and learning. They may also be a factor in the development of neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and ALS (Lou Gherig’s disease), as well as multiple sclerosis. (http://www.alive.com/)

I personally drink diet sodas with phenylalanine and I can’t pass them up when they are on sale, call it an addiction or craving, it doesn’t matter.   I would rather choose natural fructose over any manufactured sugars because factories mean profit and profits for big companies are not always health conscious.

The choice is yours.

Pick your poison.

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Harmful or Fatal if Swallowed – Hidden Chemicals

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Think of this  

Since 1950 we have added chemicals to our bodies that were never heard of before we manufactured them and put into products we use: insecticides, cosmetic and personal-care products, cleaning solutions, paint, fuel, food, and industrial pollutants from factories.

Synthetic chemicals don’t belong inside the human body and it is only common sense to take into consideration that they’re not good for you.  Some of the chemicals pass inspection because levels present are not enough to elicit harm to our bodies.  Then one day they’ll have a huge recall because some food or toy slipped through the cracks and caused damage to children.

My biggest concern about these chemicals is that as we make new ones to industrialize the world, we are finding more sickness and disease.  More cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, obesity, aggressive flus, ADD, and immune deficiencies.

Heres some easy ways to protect yourself.

• Choose organic products.
• Eat fewer fatty and processed foods.
• Use soap and water instead of more chemically intensive household cleaners.
• Forgo optional treatments on carpet, furniture, and car upholstery.

I understand we can not  eliminate our exposer to all the harmful chemicals out there but if we are aware  (body awareness) then we can make change.

All of us can, if you will.

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Fast Food Lunch: Sonic Grilled Chicken Wrap

Chicken Wrap

Grilled all white meat chicken breast, fresh lettuce, ripe tomatoes and light ranch dressing all wrapped up in a warm flour tortilla. Like a delicious pocket of goodness just waiting for you to take it home.

394 calories

14g Fat

27g Protein

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