The Simple Benefits of Walking

I got this article from a newsletter I subscribe to. It proves that any extra activity you do can improve your health and increase your life.

What's not to love about the single best thing you can do for your health? The simple act of putting one foot in front of the other makes you healthier, gives you more energy, and makes you younger. Plus, doing it lets you talk with friends, think through problems, and see what's new in the neighborhood. And if you happen to have some new walking gear, walking lets you show it off.

That's just the beginning. Check out a few other great things walking does for you:

1. Fends off the #1 killer: Regular walkers have fewer heart attacks and strokes, have lower blood pressure, and have higher levels of healthy HDL cholesterol than couch sitters do. In one study of women, a regular walking program did just as much in the heart-protection department as more vigorous exercise did.

2. Changes your RealAge -- pronto: As little as 90 days after starting a regular walking program, its age-reducing effects can be measured. Find out your RealAge now (RealAge.com).

3. Dims your chances of diabetes: Thirty minutes of walking a day makes your muscles more sensitive to insulin. That allows glucose to do its duty inside your cells rather than pile up in your bloodstream (that's what happens when you have diabetes) and cause other havoc.

4. Helps you kick the habit: Taking a daily 30-minute walk is one of the keys to the success of our YOU Can Quit plan. Even just a 5-minute walk cuts down on cigarette cravings -- it engages your brain's emotion centers, unleashing mood-enhancing hormones that decrease cravings and take your mind off that cigarette. And establishing a walking habit proves to you that you have the discipline to stick with your stop-smoking plan.

5. Slims you down: Burn more calories than you eat, and -- voila! You're wearing one-size-smaller clothes (find out just how many calories walking torches). Plus, walking can help squelch chocolate cravings and nix the stress and anxiety that often lead to overeating.

6. Keeps you sharp: Physical activity nourishes brain tissue and stimulates its production of neurons, synapses, and blood vessels. Some studies have found that walking can counter faltering memories in people over age 50.

7. Reduces stress: Anyone who has come back from a walk in a different frame of mind than they went out with can attest to this. Studies back up that walking benefits your mood -- and may even ward off depression and anxiety.

8. Revs up your energy: Not only can a walk perk you up when you need it, but also it helps improve the quality of your sleep, so you're more energetic all day long.

9. Boosts your immune system: Walking regularly can lower your risk of arthritis, macular degeneration, and even cancer by an astonishing 50% compared with people who don't exercise.

10. Keeps you going: Walking has the highest compliance rate of any exercise. Make your routine bulletproof: Get a buddy.

Dieting is Changing

The face of dieting is changing. For too many years we would diet, lose the weight, the weight would come back. Today diet company's and the diet guru's are taking a different approach. They have finally saw the light and they know the public doesn't believe the claims of quick weight loss and permanent weight loss any longer.

So now, the guru's are preaching reform. Change your life and be a healthier person. Live a healthy lifestyle and you'll lose weight. "Eat clean", that's the new catch phrase.

Sounds simple, ya. It's not that easy to forget everything you were taught as a child. To learn to like different foods. We are a product of our parents and other members of our family and if we have weight problems today it might be because of the way we grew up. So now as an adult, why is it that we are first realizing now at this stage of our lives, that we need to lose weight. Or maybe we knew about this problem earlier as a teen or even earlier in grade school.

You might know that today pre-school and even grade school kids are not as heavy as they were 10 years ago. Things are changing and young parents are making that change. Kids under 10 years are more physically fit. They are more active and I think that some are starting to eat better. So there is hope that our population will become healthier.

But for now we have to fix our own lives. If we truly want to be healthier we have to be more active and we have to eat better. Just going on another diet is probably not going to work. Oh sure, you might lose a few pounds but can you keep off the weight after you stop dieting. You see, there lies the problem. I'm one of those people who believe "diets don't work". It's a little like smoking because food can be additive with all the sugars, salt and other chemicals that manufactures use. Even when you buy produce or meat, chemicals are used to enrich the land where they grow the produce and chemical hormones are used in animals and poultry to stimulate growth. It's hard to get away from addictive food, but there's new foods coming out, like organic produce and free range poultry and hormone free dairy and beef.

I know what everyone is thinking, "those foods are expensive". Yes, I know, but eating healthy is more than just eating healthy foods, eating healthy also means that you have to cut back on the amount of food you eat. For families this won't be easy. Families have to agree that they want to eat healthier, and that means cutting out the snack food and the high-calorie drinks. After that's done the cost of the healthy foods won't change your food bill.

There's a lot of benefits to eating healthier, especially for kids. They won't be sick as much so they won't miss as many school days. They'll do better in school because they'll be more alert. And being more active in their lives will help them lose weight. For the adults, you will be more alert and sharper and being more active will help you lose weight. You'll be more productive at work and at home.  And being a good role model for your kids will get them motivated.

Start Adding Years To Your Life Today

We all talk about trying to get healthy, but most of us fail at the attempt. We think we know what we have to do, but we don’t seem to get it done. Maybe we don’t know how we just think we do. The way we use to lose weight in our younger days isn’t going to be the same and that’s why most of us fail.

Never give up trying though, any improvement you can make will add time to your life. Most of us want to be healthier and live longer and you think about all you could do with the extra years you could add to your life, but “how can I do it?”

The best way would be to totally start over. Start living your life like your young again. Start by changing your diet. Be careful what you’re buying at the store. If you remember to eat fresh, that’s the best way to remember what to buy. Cut out everything else. Lean meats and fish, half the meat should be fish. Easy on the dairy, no processed cheese, greek yogurt is okay. I like coconut milk or almond milk it has less fats and more calcium. Dairy can put on a lot of weight. Fruits and vegetables, nuts, dates and figs are all good. I like the diet of the Mediterranean people.  

There’s no calories to count. You make up your menu from the food pyramid. If you follow the pyramid you see that the bottom group of food you can eat every day, the middle section you can eat from once a week and the very top is meat (beef or pork) and only eat once a month. You can eat all you want but stick to the pyramid and don’t cheat. Physical activity is important everyday. and drink lots of water. You can have one glass of red wine with dinner.

This is not a quick weight loss plan, but you will become a healthier person and you will lose weight slowly. The more physical activity like walking the faster you’ll lose weight. Okay, this is step one to living longer.

Step two, is the physical activity. Yes the diet will make you a healthier person and losing body fat helps make you healthier, but the physical activity will strengthen your heart, strengthen muscles and give you better balance. Regular body strengthening exercise will get the blood pumping and keep it pumping. I understand that those of you that don’t exercise and don’t even know how and where to start, think that it’s too late for me. “I can’t do that, Yoga is for young people, I’ll break something if I try that.”

First of all, that’s not true. Anyone can do Yoga. There are poses for people of all sizes and all ages. Some seniors like to use a stationary bike. It’s simple to use and you will build up strength in your legs, work the joints in your feet, ankles, knees and hips. If it hurts at first, it’s because you’re not use to working those muscles. Start out slow for 10 minutes and add a few minutes a day and soon you’ll be walking around the block or walking through the mall like those young people. Retirement homes are teaching physical education and teaching seniors how to exercise. It’s never too late for anybody.

Step three for living longer is to keep your mind sharp. I know that this might seem crazy, but watching TV doesn’t stimulate your brain, it puts it to sleep. When you have leisure time you want to read. Do puzzles or learn a new language. I took a class at a community college a couple of years ago and I couldn’t believe all the seniors going to school. They take classes in everything. I want to take another class next semester, but you have to sign up early or the good ones are gone. I’ve been trying to get into a creative writing class for a couple of years, but the hours I want are always filled.

Writing is something else to do to stay active. Most people don’t know where to start, so I tell them to start anywhere. You don’t have to write a book, just write. Write about the last vacation you took or about your life growing up. You might not think that anyone is interested but now that I’m 60 something I wish I would have asked my grandparents and my parents more about their live. You can put your life on paper now, even if no one is asking. Generations from now they’ll want to know and you might not be here.

Those are the three steps to living longer and living healthier. Sometimes be spend too much time taking care of or worrying about other people and we don’t think about how important it is to take care of ourselves.

Using Your Heart Rate Zones Will Help You Lose Weight

How to Use Heart Rate Training

This is a great article from WebMd. Many of us that have given up on losing weight and not getting anywhere with their exercise program, may just be doing it wrong. I'm sure you have all heard the expression "in the zone"; this article will explain what that means.

Has your fitness instructor ever guided you through counting your heart rate? Maybe you’ve seen other people at the gym doing it? Or maybe you’ve attempted to hold on to the bars on a treadmill for a calculation mid-run?

Well, your instructor isn’t crazy and the other people in the gym aren’t “too elite.” Heart rate zones are for everyone because they provide a way to quantify and manage the intensity of your workouts. In other words, heart rate zones are a measurable method for how much effort to put into a workout to lose weight, improve health and fitness, or maximize athletic performance.

The Five Zones

There are many approaches to heart rate training, but the standard “5 Zone” method is most common. Each zone is usually 10-20 beats apart, and has different health and performance benefits. Heart rate zones are typically used for running, but they can be used for any workout: cycling, swimming, strength training or a group fitness class.

TRAINING ZONE	% OF MAX HR	EFFORT	EXAMPLE DURATION	HOW IT FEELS	BENEFITS	EXAMPLE EXERCISES
Zone 1	50-60%	Very Light	20-40 minutes	Relaxed pace with easy breathing	Beginner level aerobic training. Improves overall health and helps recovery	Warm up, fast paced walking, active recovery between high intensity interval training (HIIT) intervals
Zone 2	60-70%	Light	40-80 minutes	Comfortable pace with deeper breathing and the ability to hold a conversation	Improves base endurance and aids recovery	Long-distance running, active recovery between HIIT intervals, group fitness class, strength training
Zone 3	70-80%	Moderate	10-40 minutes	Moderate pace and more difficult to hold a conversation	Improves aerobic fitness and optimal aerobic training	Tempo runs, group fitness class, strength training
Zone 4	80-90%	High	2-10 minutes	Fast pace with heavy breathing and muscle burn (lactic acid build up)	Increases aerobic fitness and anaerobic training	Group fitness class, intervals, time trial runs
Zone 5	90-100%	Maximum	0-5 minutes	Sprint pace with labored breathing, unsustainable for long periods of time	Develops maximum performance with muscular speed and power	HIIT, hill sprints, running speed work

Zones for Losing Weight and Recovery

Zones 1 and 2 are the recommended zones for losing weight. Don’t be misled by the relative low intensity: Fat is the primary fuel source when working out in these zones, so you can be confident that your workout will be effective. These zones don’t tax your heart or your muscles too much, so your activity can be performed for longer periods of time. Zone 1 is recommended for activating your metabolism when transitioning from a sedentary lifestyle, or for active recovery for more intermediate/advanced athletes. Zone 2 is an effective zone when you are building a base for training at higher intensity.

Exercising at high intensities can also have weight-loss benefits—for example, high intensity interval training (HIIT) completed at maximum heart rate intensity (Zone 5). Although you would burn less fat during the actual workout, you will burn fat after the workout while recovering. It’s recommended that new athletes proceed with caution in this zone, as it can be easy to overdo it, and cause injury. Before ramping up intensity, make sure your base is solid with a few weeks (for intermediate exercisers) to a few months (for beginners) of working out in Zones 1 and 2.

Zones for Improving Fitness

Zones 2 through 4 are focused on improving overall fitness and performance. Zone 2 is where you start to build your base endurance level, which gives you the ability to complete longer aerobic exercise sessions. Zones 3 and 4 focus on maintaining and strengthening your aerobic fitness.

Zone 4 also introduces the element of anaerobic fitness, which literally means “no oxygen,” and is the point at which lactic acid is introduced. That lactic acid is what makes your muscles burn in more intense exercises like sprints, intervals or strength training. People training in these zones are focused on building muscular endurance while maintaining endurance levels. Remember when you used to have to stop halfway through a kickboxing class, but now you can finish the full 50 minutes? Or that you used to run a 10K in an hour, but are now closer to 45 minutes? That’s because your aerobic fitness is higher!

Zones for Maximizing Performance

Zones 4 and 5 are ideal for athletic training to maximize speed and power. Advanced athletes will do workouts that push their heart rates to Zones 4 and 5. In Zone 4, you’ll “feel the burn” and, by working through it, athletes will become faster and have more power. Full training in Zone 5 is for fit and advanced athletes. It’s uncomfortable, and can only be sustained for short bursts of time. Training in these high-intensity zones is generally not something you should do every day, as your body requires some well-deserved rest to perform optimally during the next high-intensity workout. Of course, rest here doesn’t necessarily mean staying on the couch, but could mean a low-intensity recovery workout in Zone 1 or 2.

If you are ready for training in these high zones, it can be very effective. But for the less experienced, it can also produce injuries. No one wants a pulled hamstring.

Calculating Your Heart Rate Zones

Manually calculating your heart rate zones isn’t as difficult as it might seem. Smart science people created a formula that will give you a rough estimate of your maximum heart rate. Keep in mind that this is a general idea, and distribution can vary depending upon what formula is being used. There are more specific max heart rate tests out there, but this is a great place to start.

220 – Your Age = Maximum Heart Rate

To determine the range for each zone, multiply by the percentages listed in the chart above.

For example, a 30-year-old would have a max heart rate of 190 beats per minute (bpm). That person’s zones would be as follows:

Zone 1: 95 – 114 bpm
Zone 2: 114 – 133 bpm
Zone 3: 133 – 152 bpm
Zone 4: 152 – 171 bpm
Zone 5: 171 – 190 bpm

If you really don’t like math, some heart rate monitors will calculate the zones for you. For example, when you pair the Wahoo Fitness TICKR with the Wahoo Fitness app, just enter your max heart rate and it will do the rest. And, it might even lead you through a maximum heart rate test.

I Thought Exercise WasThe Dreaded Part Of Losing Weight

Exercise is the part of losing weight that turns off most people. They’re all motivated at the beginning and then the exercise part is the part that causes them to quit. I thought for years that that statement was true, but it's not.

Actually, both exercise and diet are the dreaded part of losing weight.
Yes, it is a part of the losing weight process but you don’t have to kill yourself exercises. Some people think that’s the only way to lose weight, you have to sweat it off. That’s just not true. It is true that you need exercise to jump-start your metabolism and start burning calories, but you can start slow.

Walking is a good way to get your body going. You want to try to do your walking as early as you can. Try and do your exercise for 30 minutes. Your metabolism goes dormant at night so you’re only burning the minimal amount of calories until you wake and start moving. At first you’re still burning a minimal amount and that doesn’t change until you start moving vigorously by walking fast or running or lifting weights, riding a bike, something to get your blood pumping. That’s why you need to exercise early, the faster you get your metabolism into high gear the more calories you’ll burn that day. Remember after dark your metabolism slows down. At night your body goes into a healing mode. That’s necessary for sleep.

Okay, some people will find the exercise part of losing weight the most difficult and others the diet part. I guess for me it’s the diet part. I love food and always find a reason to go off the diet. And for some people it’s both parts. After you get use to the exercise part it will make you feel better when you exercise. So I like to exercise, but for the “newbies” who never did much exercise it’s difficult to fall into a routine. This is why you need to begin slowly. A gym membership is o.k. but still go easy. Just go for the walking or treadmills or maybe the stationary bike. A beginner at exercise can easily get burned out or overdue. Do something you can do easily at first. You can challenge yourself later after a few months of conditioning. You want your heart to get use to exercising every day. This is were talking to your doctor is a great benefit. Your doctor will help you begin with a safe exercise program. Yes, you want to challenge your muscles but you can’t let your heart rate go too high for your size and age. Your doctor knows what the safe limit is for you. This along with a good diet program and in a few months you’ll see and feel the results of your hard work.

Don't forget to change what your eating. You can't just cut down on food, you have to eat the foods that help you lose weight. Do some research about food for weight loss. You can find anything on the internet.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

Losing Weight Might Be Easier Than You Think

If you want to know how to lose weight, there is no need to go searching the internet for diets fads and trendy weight loss programs. The truth is that all successful weight loss plans use essentially the same method. Of course, each diet guru and celebrity trainer puts a creative spin on it - which is why you see so many books and programs on the market. But the bottom line is that weight loss is determined by energy balance. And if you can change your energy balance you can lose weight.

How to Lose Weight with Energy Balance
Experts in the medical field, registered dietitians and health coaches agree that there is one way to lose weight. Don't waste any more time than you need to. Master the principle of energy balance to slim down once and for all.

Most people don’t think of their weight loss journey as a math problem. But in many ways, it is. There is a simple equation behind every successful diet, every successful weight loss program and every get-slim-quick plan. It’s called your energy balance. And if you can get your numbers to tilt in the right direction, you’ll lose weight and get the body you want.

What is Energy Balance?

Energy balance is simply the relationship between your energy input and your energy output.

The equation looks like this:

Energy Balance = Energy input – energy output

Sounds reasonable, right? To figure out your energy balance you need to gather a few numbers.

How Do I Input Energy?

We input energy in the form of kilocalories, or "calories." Calories are simply a unit of energy or heat. The food we eat and the drinks we consume provide different levels of energy, or calories. Protein and carbohydrate each provide 4 calories per gram, and fat provides 9 calories per gram.

One of the best ways to start a weight loss program is to determine your current level of energy input or caloric intake so that you can make adjustments to your energy balance. A typical woman may consume anywhere from 1200 to 2500 calories per day depending on her size, activity level and lifestyle factors.

What is My Energy Output?

Energy output happens when your body uses energy. We often refer to this as "burning” calories. Even when you’re sleeping, your body uses energy to perform basic functions like breathing and circulating blood.

You also expend energy during activities of daily living, like washing dishes or shopping, and of course, through physical exercise. These activities make up about 15-30% of your total calorie burn each day. The last 5-10% of calories are burned through the thermic effect of food, when you eat and digest meals and snacks.

There are different ways to calculate the number of calories you burn each day. Many people use one or two methods to determine the most accurate number.

Tip the Scales to Lose Weight

If your energy input and your energy output are perfectly balanced, you won’t lose weight. A perfect energy balance creates a stable weight. To change your weight you need to tip the scales so that they are no longer balanced.

A positive energy balance occurs when your energy input is greater than your energy output. That is, you eat more calories than your body needs. Your body stores excess energy or calories as fat. This results in weight gain.

Weight gain = energy input > energy output

Weight loss occurs when you create a negative energy balance. That is, you burn more calories than you consume. When this imbalance occurs, your body burns stored energy in order to function and you lose weight.

Weight loss = energy input < energy output

When you evaluate your own energy balance, it's best to get the numbers as accurate as possible. Small differences in energy input and energy output can make a big difference in your weight.

Calculate Your Own Energy Balance

Are you ready to calculate your own energy balance? Here are two sample equations to use as a guide.

Dieter #1: Megan

Calories consumed each day: 2000

Calories burned each day: 1750

2000 (energy input) - 1750 (energy output) = 250 calories

Megan has a positive energy balance of 250 calories per day. That doesn't sound like much. But over the course of a week, her estimated balance would be 1750 calories or enough to gain a half pound of weight.

Dieter #2: Carol

Calories consumed each day: 1800

Calories burned each day: 2050

1800 (energy input) - 2050 (energy output) = -250 calories

Carol has a negative energy balance of 250 calories. Over the course of a week, her body will need to burn 1750 calories of stored fat to meet its needs and she will lose roughly one half pound of weight.

If the Math is Simple, Why is Weight Loss So Hard?

So if weight loss is just a simple equation, then why is it so difficult to lose weight? Because there are many factors that affect both your energy input and your energy output. Things like your medical status, your age and your mood affect your energy balance equation every day. Weight loss is a simple equation, but finding the right balance requires a little bit more work.

If you are at the beginning of your weight loss journey, or if you are questioning your current diet and exercise plan, the energy balance equation is a perfect place to start. You don't need to buy fancy tools or invest in an expensive weight loss program. Try to make some changes on your own. Evaluate the factors that affect your caloric intake and caloric output. You have control over some factors (like activity level) and no control over others (age, gender). Simply change what you can to tilt the scales of your energy balance equation and reach your weight loss goals.

Most people gain over a long period of time and this is how we differ from our ancient ancestors; they would eat as they needed energy and only as much as they needed to go on. Before there was money and jobs, people only worried about survival. Man was part of the food chain and were being hunted by large animals like we hunt animals today. They were constantly on the move burning energy and eating mostly roots and fruit during the day also hunting for small game that they could eat at night. Man was eating by instinct like wild animals do. If you have ever noticed, animals in the wild always maintain a perfect body weight. But domestic animals that live with us will gain too much weight and end-up with all the diseases that man has; cancer, obesity, joint problems and other illnesses. Animals in the wild will stay healthy except for injuries.

What are we doing wrong, what happened? Thin people like a marathon runner will burn his energy first and then eat something to replace that energy. He will use up all he has before he eats to replace it. We are eating before we need the energy or calories and then we try to burn all those calories we ate. We are working backwards and that's why we can't win. When you eat the calories first you will probably never burn all the calories you ate. And you never burn the body fat because your first burning the new calories you just ate. I hope that makes sense to you.

Losing weight for me works best if I have an energy shake in the morning, first thing, then workout, then eat a high-protein breakfast after the workout. I prefer ham and eggs or greek yogurt and fruit. High-protein breakfast cut my cravings and I don't even think about food until lunch.

Think about your diet this way. If your hungry two hours after you eat then you didn't eat the right food. Cravings are the way your body tells you that it needs nutrition, but you have to decide what kind. If you decide wrong you will have more cravings and this will continue on until your body get what it needs. Meanwhile you're adding pounds. Be smart about what you eat and you'll eat less and spend less money.

Do Americans Eat And Drink Too Much Sugar?

This article explains a lot about why some people have trouble dieting. 

Sugar and the sugar substitutes used in foods used are the biggest

problem we have trying to lose weight. 

By Rita Rubin, Reviewed by Hansa D. Bhargava, MD 

On average, Americans get about 16% of their daily calories from added sugars, according to the FDA. Earlier this year, the agency proposed changing the Nutrition Facts Label to tease out added sugars from the total sugar content in foods and drinks.

On a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet, 10% of calories from added sugar represents an amount equal to a dozen teaspoons right out of the sugar bowl -- not that people are dumping that much sugar on top of their breakfast cereal or into their lattes.

Naturally occurring sugars in whole foods such as fruit are of no concern,  but “added sugars probably matter more than dietary sodium for hypertension, and fructose in particular may uniquely increase cardiovascular [heart and blood vessel] risk.” Dietary guidelines should shift focus away from salt and more toward added sugars, he writes.

A typical 20-ounce bottle of sugar-sweetened soda has 15-18 teaspoons’ worth of sugar, although you might not see that word on the label. Other names for added sugars include high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice concentrate, molasses, honey, and sucrose.

Even foods that you wouldn’t think of as sweet have added sugar, often in the form of high-fructose corn syrup. In the U.S., this ingredient “is in a lot more foods than you realize,” such as ketchup, mustard, and bread, says Jill Kanaley, PhD. She's a professor of nutrition and exercise physiology at the University of Missouri. High-fructose corn syrup is a preservative, giving packaged foods a longer shelf life, and it plays a role in color and texture, Kanaley says.

Sipping Sugar

Why should Americans cut back on sweetened foods and drinks? The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s working group on added sugars says there's strong scientific evidence that added sugars, especially sugar-sweetened drinks, raise the risks of excess weight and obesity, as well as type 2 diabetes. The group also found “moderate” evidence connecting added sugars to high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke, along with tooth decay.

The American Heart Association recommends even stricter limits on added sugars -- no more than 150 calories a day for men, 100 for women-- than the dietary guidelines working group. The main reason for restricting added sugars is because they're a major contributor to obesity, according to the group’s scientific statement on dietary sugars and heart health.

“Soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages are unlike most things in the diet in that they provide nothing of value, but are major drivers of diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and other health problems,” Michael Jacobson, PhD, said in a statement issued after the last meeting of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. Jacobson is the director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). “It’s encouraging to see the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee use such strong language recommending reduced consumption of those beverages.”

The scientific community is beginning to realize that when it comes to sugars, all calories are not created equal, he says. Studies have shown that different sugars have different effects on metabolism.

Simply switching from sugar-sweetened soft drinks to watercould make a big difference, he says. “Soda’s not just calories. It’s calories in liquid form. The body doesn’t seem to compensate as well.”

In other words, if you scarf down a late-afternoon snack of a cookie with 150 calories’ worth of added sugar, chances are you might not eat quite as much at dinner. But a glass of soda that packs 150 calories of added sugar won’t stick to your ribs the same way as that cookie, so you won’t eat less to compensate for those empty calories, Jacobson says.

“There’s so much evidence on soda, because it’s kind of the easiest thing to test,” he says. “It’s pure sugar water, and it’s very widely consumed.” In February 2013, CSPI petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to determine safe limits on sweeteners used in soft drinks.

The Obesity Link

The effect of added sugars on health is a subject of ongoing debate, though. Just a week before the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee met in December, speakers at a conference entitled “Advances & Controversies in Clinical Nutrition,” sponsored by the American Society for Nutrition and the Tufts University School of Medicine, downplayed sugar as a major cause of obesity.

James Rippe, MD, a cardiologist who helped organize and spoke on the panel about sugar and health, acknowledged that “it’s not an unreasonable thing to limit sugar,” because it can cause weight gain.

But added sugars are the least of the obesity problem, Rippe said. From 1970 to 2010, he said, the average number of calories Americans took in daily rose by 474, but only 39 of those extra calories come from any type of added sugar.

But “if you try to say something positive about sugars, God help you, the mommy bloggers will kill you,” he said.

Rippe is a professor of biomedical sciences at the University of Central Florida, and he's the founder of the Rippe Lifestyle Institute in Celebration, FL.

Fructose is the sugar in fruit, vegetables, and honey. Although population-based research has linked the obesity epidemic to eating and drinking more high-fructose corn syrup, a link doesn’t prove cause and effect, Rippe says.

“I think you could point to a lot of things” that occurred at the same time that use of high-fructose corn syrup and obesity trended upward in the U.S., Kanaley says. More reliance on technology and less exercise could be one explanation for the obesity epidemic, she says.

But, Jacobson points out, obesity rates have nearly plateaued at the same time that the total amount of sales of caloric sweeteners has leveled off.

Even so, he says, “too many people are adding a ton of calories from soda. It is the only food or beverage that’s been demonstrated in clinical studies to cause weight gain.”

Is The Time I Eat Really Important?

Watching when you eat, without necessarily changing what or how much, may yield big health benefits, including weight loss.

Although more research is needed, intriguing new findings in people and mice suggest that eating within a strict 8- to 12-hour time frame each day changes metabolism at the genetic level, lowering blood sugar and body weight, even without cutting calories.

Scientists think the changes may be powerful enough to lower the risks for cancer, heart disease, dementia, and diabetes.

The latest study on this phenomenon, called time-restricted eating, looked at the link between meal timing and blood sugar control in more than 2,200 women. The average age of women in the study was 47, and the average body mass index (BMI) was 28, making them overweight, but not Obese.

Poor blood sugar control is a risk factor for diabetes and cancer, among other things. Blood sugar that swings wildly before and after eating indicates that the body isn’t very sensitive to insulin, the hormone that signals cells to take in calories from food. That means more insulin has to be released from the pancreas to get the blood sugar into cells. The trouble is that extra insulin doesn’t just impact blood sugar. It also promotes the growth of cells -- including cancer cells. And over time, the body can’t keep up with the demand for more and more insulin. When that happens, blood sugar levels climb dangerously high, leading to diabetes.

The women in the study reported what and when they ate and gave blood samples. Researchers could see how high their blood sugar climbed after meals and how steady their blood sugar had stayed over the previous 2 to 3 months. About half the women reported not eating or drinking anything for at least 12 hours, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., for example. The other half fasted for less than 12 hours, eating both early and late.

“What we found, in general, [is] that women who fasted for longer nightly intervals had better blood sugar control than those who didn’t fast as long, and that was independent of other eating behaviors such as how many calories women were eating,” says study researcher Catherine Marinac, a doctoral candidate in public health at the University of California at San Diego.

It's a very interesting study of eating behavior and not calories. The whole idea of fasting everyday for 12 hours and not really watching your diet is very interesting. I'd like to see more research done on this. Maybe this is really the way to lose weight.

Why Can't We Lose Weight?

Typically we all have similar problems that keep us from losing weight. We start out with good intentions but after time we tend to fall into one of the three categories listed below. 

1. "All or None" Mindset
Many people adopt and hold true to the mindset of PERFECTIONISM or "All or None". This mindset shows itself in numerous ways, but most often, it rears its ugly head during conflict. Many clients I have had are OK as long as everything is going well. Their choices are sound, their thinking is pure and their mood is good. However, as soon as one area of life causes stress this creates a spiral of negative thinking and their mindset goes from "I am in control" to "This isn't working, I quit!" The stress could be a work conflict or poor food choice or a missed exercise session.
The "All or None" mindset makes it difficult to maintain success because the thought process relies on Perfection. A better plan is to understand that negative situations happen to everyone and will happen to you on occasion. Learn to handle stress with a proper perspective and the ability to understand that every choice counts towards achieving your goal or to delay it.

2. Failing to Plan
A second pitfall I often see is that many people do not plan their meals or workouts. We wait for motivation to strike before we act. This is the opposite of what needs to be done to gain success.
You must schedule your workouts as a "non-negotiable priority" and attend these important appointments with yourself. You must plan and schedule your meals in advance. If you wait until you get hungry to think about what you are going to eat you increase your risk of making poor food choices and eating items that are not in your plan. This may lead to a loss of control (see "All or None").

3. Lacking Consistency
Often, individuals begin a plan when they become distressed about something (health, appearance and/or fitness), making multiple drastic changes at once, in an all-out effort to achieve as much as possible as quickly as possible. Generally, repeating mistakes from their recent past.
When you attempt this method in addition to the busy schedule you may already have, you can become overwhelmed and may cease a few of the more important acts of attaining your goal. Consistency is accomplished by placing priority on the actions that are most vital for your desired outcome and continuing these actions. You cannot get to your goals with a "tomorrow" attitude.

So, what's the answer, how can I be successful at losing weight. The same way you succeed in your job or business. You never stop trying and never give-up. If your not succeeding your just doing it wrong and you need to start over and make a new plan. There's a hundred different  diets to lose weight and none of them work for everyone. You have to find one that works for you.

New USDA Dietary Guidelines

U.S. dietary guidelines, the government’s benchmark for balanced nutrition, have changed. Nutrition experts now provide different dietary recommendations including scrapping high-cholesterol foods and the 300-milligram-a-day cholesterol limitation.

The guidelines endorse a diet that includes limited amounts of meat and suggest more plant-based foods and seafood. Diet should include fruits, vegetables and whole grains while limiting salt intake and saturated fat.

This is an important change , the government has actually gotten on the same page as a lot of diet gurus. I think we'll be seeing some changes now and in the future on labeling of packaged foods, school lunches, and other institutional meal programs and also restaurant menus. All the changes will take time, but I think public pressure has finally taking over. Personally, I want to see better labeling on foods. Some foods still have no nutrition labels and I still see menus with almost no nutritional information. Restaurants in particular use sauces and creams which make it difficult to estimate nutritional value. I can't help but think that it's done on purpose. Some entries you order can't be served without the sauces. I would rather see menu items that can be ordered with or without. Then list the nutritional value of the sauces separate from the entrée.

How to lose weight and keep it off:

The new guidelines:

Eat breakfast every day (instead of just having a cup of coffee or tea)

Eat smaller meals more often (instead of a large lunch and larger dinner)
Eat fish 2 or 3 times a week (instead of just red meat)
Eat blueberries or strawberries (instead of just pie, cake, cookies, and candy)
Eat heart-healthy nuts like almonds, walnuts, pecans, and Brazil nuts
Eat more vegetables like tomatoes, broccoli, carrots and Brussels sprouts
Eat more slowly, taking at least 1/2 hour for each meal

For information on the Mediterranean Diet look at the pages listed on my first webpage.

Drink More Coffee--Live Longer

A National Institutes of Health study found that older coffee drinkers, even those who drink decaf, have a lower risk of death than those who don't drink coffee, and people who drink more coffee actually live longer and have a reduced risk of diseases like Alzheimer;s and diabetes. Coffee is the largest source of antioxidants in our diet--even more than fruits and vegetables combined. To achieve these benefits you must drink 4-5 cups of coffee per day. Drinking more than 5 cups does not improve your benefits.

Drink More Water

5 glasses of water a day (or as much as you can)
Drinking water at a certain time maximizes its effectiveness on the body
2 glasses of water after waking up - helps activate internal organs
1 glass of water 30 minutes before a meal - helps digestion
1 glass of water before taking a bath - helps lower blood pressure
1 glass of water before going to bed - helps avoid stroke or heart attack

Eat More Vegetables

The U.S. advisory panel revamping the government's dietary guidelines recommend Americans eat at least 3 cups of dark green vegetables like broccoli or spinach; 2 cups of orange vegetables like carrots and squash; 3 cups of legumes like lentils and chickpeas; 6 cups of starchy vegetables like potatoes, corn and green beans; and 7 cups of other vegetables like tomatoes, onions and lettuce.

Addressing weight loss, the advisory panel wrote: "The healthiest way to reduce calorie intake is to reduce one's intake of added sugars, solid fat and alcohol - they all provide calories, but they do not provide essential nutrients." Living longer and having a better quality of life is a subject addressed by countless experts and non-experts alike.

Medical Disclaimer: This information is not intended to substitute for the advice of a physician.