Things that effect your weight

I found this post that really explains what the big differences 

are that determine a persons size and weight. This should 

clear up the myths that might have heard.

Genetic makeup can determine size and shape

 When we say "genetic makeup," we're talking about everything you inherited from your ancestors, from the color of your eyes or the shape of your toes to the way your brain works and the way your body stores fat.

Your genetic makeup has a very big effect on your weight. 

It affects: Your basal metabolic rate. That's the rate at which your body uses energy (calories) at rest. Some people are born with higher basic metabolic rates than others. These people naturally burn more calories than the rest of us. Regular physical activity can raise your metabolic rate. Very low-calorie diets will lower your metabolic rate. A lower metabolic rate makes it easier to gain weight, because you don't burn calories as fast. Your body signals, such as your appetite and feeling hungry or full. Some people have slim legs, some have heavy legs. You can't change where your body stores fat. Typically, men store fat in the abdomen while women store more in the hips and thighs. As women age, more fat is stored in the abdomen.

Nutrition—what and how you eat—also affects your weight

The average American meal contains too many calories. It also contains too much saturated fat, cholesterol, animal protein, salt, alcohol, and sugar.

It can be hard to make healthy food choices:

• Emotions and easy access to fast foods and snacks are among the many things that influence our food choices today.
• Lack of time leads many people to eat on an irregular schedule or skip meals. People who do that have more trouble staying at a healthy weight than people who eat regular meals.
• Sometimes a food that seems like a healthier choice may not be. A low-fat cookie may have less fat, but usually it is high in sugar and has the same number of calories as a regular cookie. Potato chips that are "cholesterol-free" may still be high in fat and calories.
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  Physical activity—how much you move—is the third

   factor that affects your weight

  Being physically active is an important part of staying at a healthy weight.

  • Regular activity helps you stay fit. When you're fit, you feel better and have more energy for work and for your family. When you're fit, you burn more calories, even when you're resting.
  • Even if you are overweight or obese, you will benefit from being more physically fit. Improving your fitness is good for your heart, lungs, bones, and joints. And it lowers your risk for heart attack, diabetes, high blood pressure, and some cancers. If you already have one or more of these problems, getting more fit may help you control other health problems and make you feel better.
  • Moderate activity is safe for most people, but it's always a good idea to talk to your doctor before you start an exercise program.

  
  

Apple Cider Vinegar and Health

By Joy Manning

WebMD Feature

Reviewed by Elaine Magee, MPH, RD

I like this article, I take this myself and I have no more trouble with acid reflux. What this doctor is talking about is unfiltered apple cider vinegar. And this stuff is concentrated. It's on the same shelf at the grocery store but it costs a lot more. If you surf the internet you'll find there's one brand that stands out and it's an organic product and even if you find another, remember you want the unfiltered stuff that's cloudy in the bottle and try to buy the organic. I use one tablespoon in a 12 once glass of bottled water. I drink it first think in the morning before I brush my teeth. Like lemon juice this will hurt the enamel on your teeth. It will also damage your kitchen counters, be careful. If you want talk to your doctored I wouldn't give this to kids. All vinegar is an alkaline and the idea is to neutralize over active stomach acid. Your body does that already but some people make too much stomach acid so the vinegar help to tone it down a little. It's important you dilute this a lot because you can burn your throat. 

Apple Cider Vinegar and Weight Loss

Have you heard that apple cider vinegar will help you lose weight? 

The only study to test the idea in people was done in Japan. In the study, 175 obese but healthy people took either vinegar or water daily for 12 weeks. Their diets were similar. They kept food journals. At the end of the study, those who used vinegar had lost slightly more weight. On average, the vinegar group lost 1-2 pounds over the 3-month period. They gained it all back after the study was over.

The researchers suggest that vinegar may turn on certain genes involved in breaking down fats.

The effect is probably very subtle, says Chicago dietitian Debbie Davis, RD. “It may have some benefits in terms of weight loss and weight management, but it is definitely not a quick fix." 

If you want to lose weight, you’ll still need to exercise and practice portion control.

Apple Cider Vinegar and Blood Sugar

While apple cider vinegar probably won’t make you skinny, it does appear to help with diabetes and blood sugar control.

Carol Johnston, PhD, directs Arizona State University’s nutrition program. She has been studying apple cider vinegar for more than 10 years and believes its effects on blood sugar are similar to certain medications.

“Apple cider vinegar’s anti-glycemic effect is very well documented,” Johnston says.

She explains that the vinegar blocks some of the digestion of starch. “It doesn’t block the starch 100%, but it definitely prevents at least some of that starch from being digested and raising your blood sugar,” Johnston says.

Not every expert feels as confident about apple cider vinegar’s power.

"Trying to use vinegar to treat diabetes is like trying to bail out a flooded basement with a teaspoon," says Michael Dansinger, MD, director of Tufts University’s diabetes lifestyle coaching program.

He advises patients to focus instead on their overall diets -- a strategy backed by a lot more research, he says.

If you have gastroparesis, a common problem with diabetes that slows stomach emptying, be careful. Early research shows apple cider vinegar may make this problem worse.

"I’m concerned that drinking vinegar, even diluted in water, increases acid in your system, which puts a strain on your kidneys and bones,” Dansinger says.

If you have diabetes and want to try apple cider vinegar, let your doctor know, and keep an eye on your blood sugar levels.

Johnston stresses that if you are on medication for diabetes, you shouldn’t stop taking it and substitute vinegar. If you're thinking about using it to help manage your blood sugar, talk to your doctor first.

Apple Cider Vinegar and Digestion

If you drink apple cider vinegar with a starchy meal, then the starches you don't digest will feed the good bacteria in your gut, Johnston says.

Davis recommends using unfiltered apple cider vinegar, “the cloudy kind, where you can see a blob in the bottle.”

That blob is known as “the mother,” and it’s full of probiotics and other beneficial bacteria. “This kind of vinegar can support immune function and, for some people, even help with constipation,” Davis says.

Tips on Taking Apple Cider Vinegar

Don't drink it straight. It’s so acidic that it could harm your tooth enamel and your esophagus.

Don't use a lot. “Dilute 1 to 2 tablespoons in a big glass of water, and sip it along with your meals one or two times a day,” Johnston says.

A Post From A Hungry Women

I reblogged this from one of my readers. She writes a good post on a subject that we all need to pay more attention to. Let me know what you think.

So I have decided that…I am going to start my diet…tomorrow.  I have assigned an official start date, in writing!

Now, this is going to be a little bit more difficult, as I am still in holiday mode but I just want to feel good about myself… that is all.

I am not egotistic or suffer from vanity (clearly). Looking HOT would be great but it is way down on my priority list. I want to FEEL good…it has nothing to do with how I look. I just want to have confidence. I want to not care what anyone else things about me. If I feel happy in a black plastic bag then damn it I want to wear that black plastic bag with pride. I think we have all at some point started a diet and within a few days we are thinking “Damn – I feel good” and although the dress may be a size 20-22 we feel different.

That is what I want. I want that feeling EVERY SINGLE day.

Lately, there are a lot of people saying that you should be big and proud and that big confident woman are an inspiration to us all. I am a big woman and I completely disagree. Of course, if you want to be overweight and feel good about that – then good for you! But the bottom line is it is unhealthy …and is just as unhealthy as an anorexic person. We need to see ourselves in the same bracket as a person with an eating disorder… because we too have an eating disorder. We are no better or no worse but fat people are called lazy and presumed to be unmotivated to change their lives but that is not the truth… we have an addiction.

Now I am not looking for pity. I am just trying to explain the difficulties of having this kind of eating disorder. I know I choose to eat the 10 packets of crisps but in a way… it feels like I have no control! You see a “normal” person becomes LESS hungry or LESS interested in food the more they eat. They become SATISFIED. The more I eat; I become hungrier and more interested in food. If I don’t feel stuffed to the brim then I need to keep eating until I can’t possibly eat anything else.

I am really determined that tomorrow will be the answer to all my prayers. That tomorrow I will wake up and finally everything will make perfect sense and this “diet” will be a lifestyle change and I will be a new positive ball of loveliness.

I have great admiration for this women who know that she has a problem and knows she has to fix the problem. She has probably tried several times with little success but she doesn't stop trying. She will succeed, I know it and she knows it.

Not everyone can lose weight the same way. I personally think the Mediterranean diet could help her. You don't have to deprive yourself. No calories to count, just stick to the food pyramid for your food choices.

Spend more time walking. I like the 10,000 steps a day routine. That's enough activity to lose weight. 

The chart above is broken down in 3 parts. It's not a skimpy diet. You can fill-up, but stick to the plan. The bottom half of the pyramid you can eat every day. The walking you should do every day and only water with one glass of wine everyday. The top of the chart you can only eat once a week and meat only once a month. So if you've noticed the emphasis is on carbs. Animal fats are in the diet but only sparingly. The reason this is a heart healthy diet is because the animal fats are the ones that raise your LDL or Bad Cholesterol.

Fats from plants like avocados or olives are good fats and will lower your cholesterol. I know many people who have changed their diet and have been able to get off their medications.

If you really want to lose the extra flab you can get help, I write 4 blogs and I’ve written two E-books. E-books are the easiest and cheapest way to learn about any subject without groping through hundreds of website looking for the material you want.

My first e-book is “HowBadDoYouWantToLoseWeight” and it sells for $2.99 on most online bookstores like Amazon.com, BN.com, iBook, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, and Gardner books in the U.K.

My second e-book is available in the same stores. And on smashwords.com. If you use the smashwords' promotional code You can get my second book for $1.99 (TL96R). Just type in the search line “getting to a healthy weight”.

Weigh Yourself Everyday, It Can Help You Lose Weight.

This approach works especially well for men, study says

After I read this article I knew I had to reblog it. The whole idea is "by weighing yourself everyday, your keeping your eye on the ball". That's a term that guy's understand. It means to stay focused. I think we need to do that sometimes. That's why people wear fitness trackers, to stay focused on your goal. And some trainers and Doctors think by weighing yourself everyday you'll stay focused on your goal. Take a minute and read this, I think you'll see the science in his plan.

HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, June 19, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Checking your weight every day could help you slim down, researchers report.

A two-year Cornell University study found that tracking the results of daily weight checks on a chart helped people lose weight and keep it off.

"You just need a bathroom scale and an Excel spreadsheet, or even a piece of graph paper," study senior author David Levitsky, a professor of nutrition and psychology, said in a university news release.

People who lost weight with this approach in the first year maintained that weight loss throughout the second year, the researcher said. That result is significant because previous studies have shown that about 40 percent of weight loss is regained within a year, and nearly 100 percent is regained within five years, according to the study.

This approach "forces you to be aware of the connection between your eating and your weight," Levitsky explained. "It used to be taught that you shouldn't weigh yourself daily, and this is just the reverse."

While daily weight checks did help women, they had a much greater effect in men.

"It seems to work better for men than women, for reasons we cannot figure out yet," Levitsky said.

The study was published recently in the Journal of Obesity.

WebMD News from HealthDay                        By Robert Preidt

The truth about exercise

This article tells you the truth about exercise and why you need to exercise at any age.
Thyfault, PhD, is an associate professor at Kansas University Medical Center, where he studies the health effects of exercise.

“Exercise and physical activity is not something that you just do extra in your life to get extra healthy. Rather, it’s something that’s absolutely necessary for normal function,” he says.

Thyfault hopes to make more people aware that exercise benefits the body in ways that go far beyond muscle tissue and burning fat.

“We were meant to exercise quite a bit every day to survive, and now we’ve taken it away, and we’re actually causing dysfunction,” he says.

Exercise and Blood Sugar

He’s passionate about exercise because his research has shown again and again how critical it is to health. He says when he’s tried to cause disease, for example, by feeding rats or mice high-fat diets, he can’t do it as long as the animals are exercising.

“Inactivity is the foundational piece that has to be there for these diseases to develop,” he says.

In one experiment, for example, he took healthy people who were walking at least 10,000 steps a day and asked them to walk less -- around 5,000 steps a day, about as much exercise as the average American gets.

Thyfault quickly saw changes in how well their blood vessels worked and how well they could control their blood sugar after meals. The study participants looked like they were on their way to getting type 2 diabetes.

“What we think is that if that level of activity continues for a prolonged period of time, disease develops,” he says.

In fact, a long-running study sponsored by the government, called the Diabetes Prevention Program, tested this. It split more than 3,000 overweight adults with pre-diabetes into three groups. The first group got a lot of help to eat better and exercise more, with a goal of 150 minutes a week. The second group took the drug metformin, which helps the body respond better to the hormone insulin. The third group took placebo pills.

Exercise and a healthy diet worked better than the pill. After 4 years, compared to the placebo group, the people who ate better and exercised cut their risk of getting diabetes by about twice as much as the group taking medication -- a 58% reduced risk of getting diabetes compared to 31% in the medication group.

Exercise and Fat

Laurie J. Goodyear, PhD, is a senior investigator at Joslin Diabetes Center and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School. She is studying the effect of exercise on fat, specifically the layer of white fat that sits just under the skin.

Most people know that exercise burns fat. It’s the reason most people hit the treadmill in the first place.

But fat isn’t just a place we park extra calories. “The tissue has a lot of other properties,” she says.

“Exercise really makes fat healthier and helps it burn more energy.”

Specifically, she says, exercise shrinks the size of individual fat cells, and the cells develop more energy-producing parts called mitochondria.

That means that fat tissue is burning more calories, even at rest, Goodyear says.

In one experiment, she took white fat from exercise-trained mice and transplanted it into inactive mice. Nine days later, those mice had better blood sugar control and their bodies responded better to insulin than mice that got fat from other inactive mice. What’s more, transplanted fat from exercised mice completely reversed the negative effects of eating a high-fat diet.

“What we’ve realized is that fat isn’t simply storage,” she says. “We see about 4,000 genes in fat tissue change with exercise. It’s not just that fat cells get smaller.”

Exercise also affects the lining of blood vessels, a layer of tissue called the endothelium that’s just a single cell thick. When this layer of tissue is damaged, it’s easier for dangerous blood clots to form.

Michael D Brown, PhD, a professor of kinesiology and nutrition at the University of Illinois at Chicago, has discovered that when the body is inactive, the cells in the endothelium get sluggish and don’t sit in the vessel wall properly. But exercise, which causes blood to flow more swiftly and under greater pressure, realigns the cells.

About 12 hours after a single bout of exercise, the cells have repositioned themselves to be in line with the flow of blood. This helps blood vessels work better, keeping them open and elastic, rather than stiff, narrow, and clogged.

In the brain, recent studies have shown that physical activity makes the brain more connected by bulking up the white matter, the wiring that transmits signals between nerve cells. And older adults who exercise have more gray matter in areas of the brain responsible for self-control, memory, and decision making.

Exercise also beats medication for some ailments. In head-to-head tests, it works as well or better than pills for depression. In other conditions, like Alzheimer’s and arthritis, it’s been shown to delay disability.

It’s enough to convince anyone to lace up. Or at least it should be.

Yet that message seems to be falling on deaf ears. This year’s survey by the Physical Activity Council found that 28% of Americans say they are totally inactive. It’s the highest level of physical inactivity measured by the survey since 2007.

Thyfault takes this personally. His 42-year-old father died of a heart attack when Thyfault was just 3. He has two young sons of his own, and he doesn’t want to leave them prematurely.

To keep himself healthy, he tracks his own steps every day.

“I’m kind of obsessive about it,” he says.

If you're ready to get going but not sure where to start, Thyfault recommends three levels of fitness.

He says level one is just to walk and keep track of your steps. You can do this with a trendy fitness tracker, but even an inexpensive pedometer or a smartphone app will do the trick. Your goal should be at least 8,000 steps a day.

Once you’re hitting that goal on a regular basis, level two is to do three to five defined exercise sessions each week, with a goal of 30 to 45 minutes of aerobic activity -- like running or pedaling on an elliptical -- each time.

Level three is to add a couple of days of resistance training each week.

Goodyear agrees and says getting more exercise will make a difference you can feel.

“I always feel that if I’m consistently exercising I have more energy. People sleep better when they exercise routinely, and then your body just becomes more efficient,” she says.

WebMD Health News

How many people do you think are overweight

Only 25 percent of men and 33 percent of women at a healthy weight, researchers say

By Dennis Thompson

HealthDay Reporter

You want to read this if you think being overweight isn't any biggie.

MONDAY, June 22, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Fewer than one-third of Americans are currently at a healthy weight, with the rest of the population either overweight or obese, a new report finds.

About 35 percent of men and 37 percent of women are obese. Another 40 percent of men and 30 percent of women are overweight, researchers said in the June 22 issue of JAMA Internal Medicine.

"Obesity is not getting better. It's getting worse, and it's really scary. It's not looking pretty," said Lin Yang, a postdoctoral research associate at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Obesity has been linked to a number of chronic health conditions, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers and arthritis, Yang said.

"This generation of Americans is the first that will have a shorter life expectancy than the previous generation, and obesity is one of the biggest contributors to this shortened life expectancy because it is driving a lot of chronic health conditions," she said.

The new report used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey gathered between 2007 and 2012, involving more than 15,000 men and women age 25 and older.

Based on the data, researchers estimate that more than 36 million men and nearly 29 million women in the United States are currently overweight. About 32 million men and 36 million women are obese, the researchers found.

Overweight is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 29.9, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. BMI is calculated by comparing a person's weight to their height.

For example, a 5-foot-9 man who weighs 169 pounds or a 5-foot-4 woman who weighs 146 pounds both have a BMI of 25, and would be considered overweight, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Obesity is defined by the CDC as any body mass index 30 or higher. A 5-foot-9 man who weighs 203 pounds or more is considered obese, as is a 5-foot-4 woman who weighs 175 pounds or more.

More Americans are overweight and obese these days, compared with federal survey data gathered between 1988 and 1994, Yang said.

Back then, 63 percent of men and 55 percent of women were either overweight or obese, with a BMI of 25 or greater. Today, around 75 percent of men and about 67 percent of women are either overweight or obese, according to the study.

The new obesity figures did not come as a surprise to Dr. Elliott Antman, president of the American Heart Association.

"It's in line with what we already knew, and it provides some numbers on the magnitude of the problem," Antman said of the new study. "It puts a face on the issue, and it's a significant problem."

Obesity is related to increases in diabetes, high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol, "all of which converge on an increased risk of heart disease and stroke," he said.

America's weight problem is an issue that will not be resolved through a purely medical solution, Yang and Antman said. Politicians and officials at the federal, state and local levels will need to weigh in with policies that increase the number of calories people burn and decrease the amount of unhealthy foods they ingest.

For example, communities need to adopt plans that will make it easier for people to get around on foot or riding a bike, rather than sitting in a car, Yang said.

"America is a very much car-dependent country. We know car driving is a chunk of sedentary behavior," she said. "More walking or bicycling would increase the physical activity of the whole nation."

Policymakers also need to find ways to improve the availability of inexpensive, healthy food, Antman said. Right now, processed food and fast food that is high in unhealthy sugar, salt and fat tends to be more affordable and available in America's communities than healthier options.

"Fast foods are less expensive, so that individuals trying to feed a large family might tend to purchase them rather than fresh foods, which are harder to find and more expensive, and therefore less economically appealing," he said.

WebMD News from HealthDay

I get the problem, kids want fast food and in order to get kids to eat, you buy food that they want. It seems that no matter how well you train your kids to eat, after they start school, they eat the same things their friends eat. There lies the problem. 

I'm not one for Government intervention, but manufactures are being allowed to put ingredients in our processed foods that are causing health problems and causing us to gain body fat. The public has to complain to law makers to tighten regulations on foods. Processed foods are killing us. Processed foods are causing major health problems that are  ruining our health system. Most people can't afford health insurance any more because of their pre-existing conditions. The Affordable Care Act has tried to address those costs, but it's failing to address the biggest problem. The raising cost of health care has slowed down. In 5 years, I think the premiums will be unaffordable once more. 

Just because your older, you don't have to look it.

This post from WebMD tells about how your diet can alter your looks and age your skin and effect your health. 

What you put on your plate might affect what you see in the mirror. But a few tweaks to your dining habits can go a long way to keeping your skin youthful and your body healthy.

 

"Poor-quality foods, like trans fats, cause inflammation -- and aging is basically a chronic inflammatory state," says Timothy Harlan, MD. He's assistant professor of medicine at Tulane University School of Medicine. "Can you look older because you're eating crap? Absolutely."

For example, eating too much sugar and processed carbohydrates (like pasta, bread, and baked goods) can lead to damage in your skin's collagen, which keeps your skin springy and resists wrinkles, says Andrea Giancoli, MPH, RD. She's a policy analyst for Beach Cities Health District.

What's more, these foods put your overall health on the line. They are tied to diseases like heart disease and diabetes, she says.

Other foods, like fruits and vegetables, are good for your skin.

Foods to try and cut-out

Potato chips and french fries. Anything that's deep-fried in oil can add to inflammation throughout your body. Especially avoid trans fats. It can raise your LDL "bad" cholesterol and lower HDL "good" cholesterol, which increases your risk for heart disease.

Check food labels on baked goods and crackers, and avoid "partially hydrogenated oils" and "vegetable shortening."

Doughnuts and sugary pastries. They're packed with sugar, which Giancoli says may be linked to the development of wrinkles.

Hot dogs, bacon, and pepperoni. Processed meats are usually high in saturated fats and have nitrates in them. Both of those can lead to inflammation.

Fatty meats. These are also high in saturated fats. The key with meat is to keep it lean. Tenderloin cuts tend to be leaner. Look for ground beef that is at least 95% lean. Ground turkey breast and chicken breast are other lean options.

Alcohol. Moderate drinking may be good for your heart, but heavy drinking can rev up the aging process. "Moderate" is one drink per day for women (such as a 5-ounce glass of wine or 12-ounce glass of beer) and two drinks for men.

Foods to Favor

Go for a Mediterranean-style diet, Harlan says. Vegetables, fruits, whole grains, low-fat dairy, and lean protein can help fight inflammation and keep you looking your best, he says.

Eat whole foods that are closest to their natural state as possible, says Giancoli. For example, instead of apple sauce, try a fresh whole apple.

Try eating more of these foods:

Romaine lettuce. It's high in vitamins A and C, which curb inflammation. Also try broccoli, spinach, arugula, watercress, escarole, and endive.

Tomatoes. They're rich in a nutrient called lycopene. So are watermelon, grapefruit, guavas, asparagus, and red cabbage.

Salmon. It's high in omega-3 fats, which fight inflammation. Tuna is another good choice.

Lentils and beans. These are good sources of protein and are loaded with fiber and nutrients. Try black beans, split peas, limas, pintos, chickpeas, and cannellini beans.

"Your skin is essentially made of protein, so if you don't get enough healthy protein in your diet, your skin will reflect that," Giancoli says. "Along with fish, beans are a great way to get it."

Oatmeal. Whole grains such as oatmeal, whole wheat breads and pastas, brown rice, and quinoa help curb inflammation.

"These also have B vitamins in them, like thiamine and riboflavin, which are important for skin as well," Giancoli says. If you don't get enough, it can give you rashes and make your skin look scaly, she says.

Go for a variety and make this way of eating a habit.

"If you're not getting enough of the good stuff on a regular basis, you won't be able to produce healthy new skin cells in the way that you should," Giancoli says.