Tag Archives: Weight loss

Health

Weight loss: Do not focus on cardio for fat loss. Here’s why

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Researchers show that activity trackers overestimate calorie burn. If you eat back all the calories you have burned, you might not lose, in fact, gain weight.

If you want to lose fat and maintain your muscles, practice strength training while maintaining a calorie deficit diet. This does not imply that cardio will hinder your progress. Until and unless you are not overdoing it and pairing it up with your strength training, it’s good to do cardio.

As per some recent analysis, resistance training increases metabolism more than cardio, which can make weight loss easier as it lets you burn calories even when you are at rest.

With inputs from bdcarpenter Instagram page

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Dietitians Susie Burrell and Leanne Ward: This is EXACTLY how to speed up your metabolism 

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Leading dietitians have revealed how you can boost and speed up your metabolism, and while some of it comes down to your age, gender and body size, there are a few practical things you can do too.

Susie Burrell, from Sydney, and Leanne Ward, from Brisbane, said hundreds of clients cross their doors asking how they can speed up their metabolism in order to lose weight and get in shape for summer.

And while metabolism as a concept is quite complicated, there are three simple things you can do to help. 

‘Often, when it comes to your metabolism, the best thing you can do is get back to basics,’ Susie said on The Nutrition Couch podcast. 

‘We’ve all got a metabolism, regardless of whether it’s fast or slow.’

Leading dietitians have revealed how you can boost and speed up your metabolism (Leanne Ward and Susie Burrell pictured)

The first – and most important – thing you need to do if you want to speed up your metabolism in a notable way is build more lean muscle tissue (stock image)

1. BUILD LEAN MUSCLE TISSUE

The first – and most important – thing you need to do if you want to speed up your metabolism in a notable way is build more lean muscle tissue.

‘The ideal situation is to keep on top of your metabolism as you get older,’ Susie explained on the podcast.

‘So, as you move into your 30s and 40s in particular, and then the menopause, you need to work on building more and more lean muscle tissue.’

The dietitian said she often sees women in their 30s ditch their high intensity and weights-based workouts in favour of long walks and more gentle yoga.

But if you’re not doing a ‘very specific type of weight training’, you won’t be putting on lean muscle tissue – which can lead to a sluggish metabolism and the retention of fat mass. 

‘Often, I find with women that they didn’t have a very good metabolism before they got older as they weren’t doing adequate weight training,’ Susie said.

‘This then gets worse as they get older and there is a general decrease in their physical activity.’

Work with a personal trainer if possible to build a lean muscle level that is appropriate for your body. 

You should notice that your metabolism speeds up quickly, and you’re able to enjoy and burn off more calories.

The second point that Leanne was keen to highlight is just how bad being in a prolonged calorie deficit can be for your body (stock image)

2. DON’T STAY IN A CALORIE DEFICIT FOR TOO LONG

The second point that Leanne was keen to highlight is just how bad being in a prolonged calorie deficit can be for your body.

‘A lot of people use their metabolism as an excuse for being overweight as if it’s something you can’t change, but you can actually improve your metabolism by avoiding prolonged calorie deficits,’ she said.

‘Yo yo dieting or long periods in a calorie deficit are not good for your body, as they will slow you down and your body won’t use energy as well.

‘Short, sharp periods of calorie deficit are fine, but diets longer than six months just won’t work.’

She added: ‘It’s always important to remember, the smaller the deficit, the better as well. Reduce your calories by a small, consistent amount to see results.’ 

3. EAT MORE PROTEIN

Protein is key for bolstering your metabolism.

But both dietitians agreed that it’s not just a case of ‘more, more, more’ in order to see the best results with your body.

‘Protein does require slightly more calories to process, which means a slight increase in your metabolic rate when you eat it right,’ Susie explained.

‘A high protein meal at the start of the day is key here, as it can encourage the body to start burning calories well.’

The dietitians explained that someone who doesn’t feel hungry at the start of the day is someone who sends warning signs to them as food professionals.

‘This is them telling me that something isn’t working as efficiently as it should,’ Susie said. 

‘Perhaps their body is in storage mode, as they’re not being fed enough. When I’m working to get clients’ metabolisms up, I give them a high protein meal in the morning and then hope that they feel hungry three or four hours later.

‘Hunger is good, it’s a sign someone is burning their food well, as they should do.’

Leanne added that it can be good to see a dietitian or nutritionist when it comes to protein, as everyone’s requirements are different.    

For more information about The Nutrition Couch podcast, you can click here. 

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Health

Why working out may not help as much as you think

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A new study of how physical activity impacts the metabolism of humans suggests that increasing levels of activity may bring diminishing returns in energy expenditure.

This is due to “compensatory responses in non-activity energy expenditures,” international researchers wrote in the study, published in August in the journal Current Biology.

For every 100 calories burned as a result of working out, the study says most people will net fewer than 72 calories burned.

“This suggestion has profound implications for both the evolution of metabolism and human health. It implies that a long-term increase in activity does not directly translate into an increase in total energy expenditure (TEE) because other components of TEE may decrease in response – energy compensation,” the study summary notes.

The group found that for 1,754 adults living “normal lives,” energy compensation averages 28% due to reduced basal energy expenditure (BEE) and that “this suggests that only 72% of the extra calories we burn from additional activity translates into extra calories burned that day.”

BEE is how many calories are burned simply by being alive.

For every 100 calories burned as a result of working out, the study says most people will net fewer than 72 calories burned.
Getty Images/iStockphoto

The researchers subtracted numbers from TEE to understand energy expenditure from exercise and other movement and used statistical modeling to draw these conclusions.

In addition, the degree of energy compensation for different body compositions varied considerably. 

The reason, the study suggests, could be due to among-individual differences in calorie compensation, with people who compensate more being more likely to accumulate body fat.

Alternatively, the researchers said, the process might be within individuals – bodies compensating more strongly for calories burned during activity and making weight loss more difficult.

“Determining the causality of the relationship between energy compensation and adiposity will be key to improving public health strategies regarding obesity,” the study states.

Notably, the study did not examine food intake.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that adult obesity prevalence in the U.S. was 42.4% in 2017 to 2018. 

A new study of how physical activity impacts the metabolism of humans suggests that increasing levels of activity may bring diminishing returns in energy expenditure.
Getty Images/iStockphoto

Obesity also impacts some groups more than others, with non-Hispanic Black adults with the highest age-adjusted prevalence of obesity followed by Hispanic adults and non-Hispanic White adults.

Another study published this month in iScience points to increased physical activity and improvements in fitness levels as key to reducing the risk of obesity-related health conditions and mortality – even with the absence of weight loss.

“We propose a weight-neutral strategy for obesity treatment on the following grounds: (1) the mortality risk associated with obesity is largely attenuated or eliminated by moderate-to-high levels of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) or physical activity (PA), (2) most cardiometabolic risk markers associated with obesity can be improved with exercise training independent of weight loss and by a magnitude similar to that observed with weight-loss programs, (3) weight loss, even if intentional, is not consistently associated with lower mortality risk, (4) increases in CRF or PA are consistently associated with greater reductions in mortality risk than is intentional weight loss, and (5) weight cycling is associated with numerous adverse health outcomes including increased mortality,” the University of Arizona and University of Virginia authors wrote.

“Adherence to PA may improve if health care professionals consider PA and CRF as essential vital signs and consistently emphasize to their patients the myriad benefits of PA and CRF in the absence of weight loss,” they said.

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How to lose weight in middle age without blaming metabolism

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Last week’s study that found you can’t blame middle-age weight gain on metabolism was a kick in the gut.

The global report, published in the journal Science, analyzed metabolic data from 6,400 people of ages 8 days to 95 years, and found that metabolism stays pretty much the same throughout our adult lives instead of slowing down with age, as long believed.

So what does this game-changing study mean for middle-aged people trying to lose weight?

“We have to look at all the reasons your body may have gotten heavier,” said Isabel Smith, MS, RD, CND, a nutritionist in private practice in New York City. “We’ve assumed that it’s because your metabolism has slowed down but actually we have to consider your sleep, your stress, your exercise, your alcohol consumption, your nutritional status and your hormones.”

The metabolism-free goal: Focus on eating nutritious foods instead of calorie counting, Smith said.

“The amount of food dieters aren’t eating is dramatic,” Smith said. “They’re eating an egg white for breakfast, skipping lunch, having five almonds mid-afternoon and some kind of dinner — and that’s not providing the nutrition they need.”

With metabolism out of the way as an excuse, Smith sees this as the perfect moment to rethink everything we thought would help us lose weight.

“I switch the paradigm and provide people with tons of nutrition to get their bodies and their brains everything they need, because most of us have inadequate amounts of nutrients to power our cells,” Smith said.

“This means lots of healthy fats, such as nuts, seeds and avocado, good sources of proteins such as responsibly farmed fish and six-plus servings of veggies a day,” she added. 

For breakfast that might mean seedy bread with avocado and a sprinkle of chia seeds or flaxseed (with an optional egg), followed by an arugula salad for lunch, complete with shaved veggies (carrots, beets, fennel), sunflower seeds, fresh mint, sustainably raised salmon, farro, olive oil and lemon vinaigrette. For dinner, team a different protein (tofu is also an option) with cauliflower, asparagus and broccoli sautéed with garlic, herbs and avocado oil.

Still hungry? Snack on a handful of pistachios with berries and one or two squares of dark chocolate.  

Squat: While holding a five-pound weight, plant your feet on the ground, bend your knees and keep your heels on the ground. Lower your body as far to the floor as you can. Exhale as you rise. Note: Use a chair if needed for stability.
Courtesy of Mark Koester

Pair Smith’s eating plan with cardio, strength training and muscle-building moves for a fighting chance of blasting the pounds, said Mark Koester, director of fitness at the 92nd Street Y. “Weight training is really important because you’ll burn calories more quickly the more muscle you have on your body, since muscle tissue burns more calories than fat tissue does.”

He encourages 150 minutes of exercise a week: 30 minutes a day, five days a week. The ideal mix is cardio — such as walking or biking, to strengthen your heart and lungs — one day, followed by strength training the next.

For the latter, Koester recommends a quick-moving circuit training session focusing on legs, back, core and chest. This includes 10 to 15 reps of exercises — squats, bent-over rows, dead lifts, chair planks and chest presses — with a 10 to 15 second break in between (or long enough to catch your breath). Consider starting with a five to 10-pound weight if you’re just beginning.

Ultimately, Smith wants people to try to banish the “M” word from their vocabulary.

“Instead of giving up and thinking you’re fighting a battle against your own metabolism, this is an opportunity for us to look at how we’re taking care of ourselves,” she said. “Look at what you’re eating, make sure you’re drinking enough water and not overdoing the caffeine and alcohol and think about how you feel. That’s more important than anything else.”

Bent-over rows: While holding a five-pound weight in each hand, bend your knees slightly and lean forward at the hips to about a 45-degree angle. With your core braced, bring the weights towards your shins with your arms fully extended. Then pull your elbows past your ribs, bringing the weights towards your midsection.
Courtesy Mark Koester
Chest press: With a five-pound weight in each hand, press the weights up towards the ceiling while lying on a bench.
Courtesy Mark Koester
Dead lift: Bow at the hips in a 90-degree angle, maintaining a flat back and soft bend in the knees. Squeeze your glutes and hamstrings, then come to a standing position. Do this while holding a five-pound weight in each hand.
Courtesy Mark Koester
Chair plank: Place your palms on a flat, elevated surface with your elbows directly under your shoulders. Walk your feet back until your body is in a flat, push-up like position. Brace your core. Squeeze your glutes and shoulders while you breathe naturally. Hold.
Courtesy Mark Koester

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Metabolism doesn’t slow down in middle age: shocking study

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Packing on the poundage? Sorry, suckers: We can’t use middle age as our excuse for that spread anymore!

A revelatory new study has determined that metabolism, long thought by most of humankind to decline progressively during adulthood, is actually stabilized between the ages of 20 and 60 — when it actually starts tanking.

An international team of killjoy researchers, whose work was published Friday in the journal Science, discovered that metabolism is at its highest in infants — naturally — who burn calories about 50% faster than adults. That rate declines yearly by about 3% until they reach the age of 20 or so, when metabolism plateaus through middle adulthood. At 60, the slump returns at a depressing rate of about 1% more per year until we drop dead.

A new study has determined that metabolism is actually stabilized between the ages of 20 and 60 — when it actually starts waning. What this means: We can no longer blame middle age as the reason for packing on new pounds.
Getty Images/iStockphoto

What this means: We can no longer blame middle age as the primary reason for amassing newfound weight. For accuracy, researchers accounted for metabolic differences in volunteers, such as body size muscle to fat composition.

“Metabolic rate is really stable all through adult life, 20 to 60 years old,” said study author Herman Pontzer, an associate professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University, who spoke to NBC News on Thursday about the research.

Pontzer went on to pontificate about new data that’s likely to send a shiver down the lucrative wellness industry’s collective spine:

“There’s no effect of menopause that we can see, for example. And you know, people will say, ‘Well when I hit 30 years old, my metabolism fell apart.’ We don’t see any evidence for that, actually,” said Pontzer. His new book, “Burn” (Avery) is about new frontiers in bariatric health.

At 60, the metabolic rate slumps full-force — about 1% more per year until death. Also, “there’s no effect of menopause that we can see, for example,” study author Herman Pontzer said. “You know people will say, ‘Well when I hit 30 years old, my metabolism fell apart.’ We don’t see any evidence for that, actually.”
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As part of a global experiment, 6,400 participants, aged 8 days to 95 years were asked to perform “doubly labeled water” test, in which some of the hydrogen and oxygen atoms were replaced with their isotopes, making their pathway easily traced through urine samples.

“By calculating how much hydrogen you lose per day, and how much oxygen you lose per day, we can calculate how much carbon dioxide your body produces every day,” Pontzer explained to NBC News. “And that’s a very precise measurement of how many calories you burn every day, because you can’t burn calories without making carbon dioxide.”

The findings, said Pontzer, were a long time coming as scientists now have access to such a large test group.

Pontzer also said, “This was the first time that we had the ability to do this with a really big data set that would allow us to pull apart the effects of body size and age and gender and all these things on our energy expenditures over the day.”

The study is shedding new light on how our cells age, indicating that our metabolism has less to do with physical activity and more with our biology.

“People thought, ‘Well, maybe it’s because you’re less active, or maybe it’s because people tend to lose muscle mass as they get into their 60s, 70s and older,’ ” said Pontzer. “But we can correct for all those things. We can say, ‘No, no, no, it’s more than that.’ It’s that our cells are actually changing.”

In an editorial published in tandem with the study, University of Wisconsin geriatrics researchers Timothy Rhoads and Rozalyn Anderson suggest that the study results point to a link with age-related diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, often appearing around 60.

“The [health] decline from age 60 is thought to reflect a change in tissue-specific metabolism, the energy expended on maintenance,” they wrote, according to NBC News. “It cannot be a coincidence that the increase in incidence of noncommunicable diseases and disorders begins in this same time frame.”

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Plant-based diet can slash the risk of heart disease by up to 52%, study finds 

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Eating a largely vegan diet made up of plant-based foods can slash the risk of heart disease by up to 52 per cent, new research suggests. 

A variety of fruit and vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, skinless fish and chicken, nuts and legumes are all key to staving off health problems later in life.

Conversely, researchers advise that young adults limit saturated fat, salt, red meat, sweets and sugary drinks to prevent heart attacks in middle-age.

While they didn’t look at the reason behind the link, previous research suggests plant-based diets can lower your blood pressure, improve cholesterol and help you lose weight – all risk factors for heart disease.  

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Eating a largely vegan diet made up of plant-based foods can slash the risk of heart disease by up to 52 per cent, new research suggests (stock image) 

VEGETARIAN DIETS CAN LOWER YOUR CHOLESTEROL 

Plant-based diets really do lower cholesterol, according to a review of nearly 50 studies.

Vegetarians generally eat more greens, fruits and nuts which means they have a lower intake of saturated fat, researchers found.

These foods are naturally rich in components such as soluble fibre, soy protein, and plant sterols (a cholesterol found in plants), all of which lower cholesterol. 

The research, led by Dr Yoko Yokoyama, from Keio University in Fujisawa, found vegetarians had 29.2 milligrams less of total cholesterol per decilitre (one tenth of a litre) than meat-eaters. 

The long-term study, led by scientists at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health in Minneapolis, looked at the diet of some 5,000 people over a 30-year period and whether they developed heart disease. 

They were not told what to eat. Instead, the quality of their diet was assessed at the start of the study and then after seven years and 20 years based on the A Priori Diet Quality Score (APDQS).

The APDQS was made up of 46 food groups split into beneficial foods (such as fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts and whole grains); adverse foods (such as fried potatoes, high-fat red meat, salty snacks, pastries and soft drinks); and neutral foods (such as potatoes, refined grains, lean meats and shellfish). 

This was done based on their links to heart disease.

People who got higher scores ate a variety of beneficial foods that largely made up a plant-based diet, while those who scored lower ate more adverse foods.  

During 32 years of follow-up, researchers found that 289 people involved in the study developed heart disease (including heart attack, stroke, heart failure, heart-related chest pain or clogged arteries).

They also discovered that those who scored in the top 20 per cent on the long-term diet quality score (meaning they ate the most nutritionally rich plant foods and fewer adversely rated animal products) were 52 per cent less likely to develop heart disease.

Meanwhile, between year seven and 20 of the study when the ages of participants ranged from 25 to 50, those who improved their diet quality the most were 61 per cent less likely to develop heart disease, compared to those whose diet quality declined the most during that time. 

Researchers advise that young adults limit saturated fat, salt, red meat, sweets and sugary drinks to prevent heart attacks in middle-age (stock image)

There were few vegetarians among the participants, so the study was not able to assess the possible benefits of a strict vegetarian diet, which excludes meat and fish.

‘A nutritionally rich, plant-centred diet is beneficial for cardiovascular health,’ lead author Yuni Choi said.

‘A plant-centred diet is not necessarily vegetarian. People can choose among plant foods that are as close to natural as possible, not highly processed. 

‘We think that individuals can include animal products in moderation from time to time, such as non-fried poultry, non-fried fish, eggs and low-fat dairy.’ 

Fellow author David E. Jacobs said: ‘As opposed to existing diet quality scores that are usually based on small numbers of food groups, APDQS is explicit in capturing the overall quality of diet using 46 individual food groups, describing the whole diet that the general population commonly consumes. 

‘Our scoring is very comprehensive, and it has many similarities with diets like the Dietary Guidelines for Americans Healthy Eating Index (from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service), the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet and the Mediterranean diet.’

Meanwhile, a separate study published last month found that eating red and processed meat such as bacon, sausages and ham can significantly increase the risk of developing heart disease.

Analysing data from 13 different studies involving 1.4 million people allowed the team from the University of Oxford to examine the impact of meat on health.

They found that for every 50g per day of processed meat, such as bacon, ham and sausages eaten, the risk of coronary heart disease goes up by 18 per cent.

For unprocessed meat such as pork, lamb and beef, the risk increased by nine per cent over no red meat. There was no risk increase with poultry. 

The team say their study didn’t investigate the cause, but suggest it could be down to higher concentrations of saturated fat in red meat and salt in processed meat. 

The latest study has been published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

WHAT SHOULD A BALANCED DIET LOOK LIKE?

Meals should be based on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, ideally wholegrain, according to the NHS

• Eat at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every day. All fresh, frozen, dried and canned fruit and vegetables count

• Base meals on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, ideally wholegrain

• 30 grams of fibre a day: This is the same as eating all of the following: 5 portions of fruit and vegetables, 2 whole-wheat cereal biscuits, 2 thick slices of wholemeal bread and large baked potato with the skin on

• Have some dairy or dairy alternatives (such as soya drinks) choosing lower fat and lower sugar options

• Eat some beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins (including 2 portions of fish every week, one of which should be oily)

• Choose unsaturated oils and spreads and consuming in small amounts

• Drink 6-8 cups/glasses of water a day

• Adults should have less than 6g of salt and 20g of saturated fat for women or 30g for men a day

Source: NHS Eatwell Guide 

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Terrifying Magnetic Mouth Clamp is a Safer Weight Loss Tool

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Researchers in the United Kindom and New Zealand have developed a unique alternative to bariatric surgery—invasive medical procedures performed for weight loss purposes—with an oral magnetic locking device that limits how far the wearer can open their mouths and, in turn, the type of foods they can eat.

One of the most important skills to learn for effective long-term weight loss is a proper diet, including smaller portions. Procedures like gastric bypass surgery make this easier by physically shrinking the size of a patient’s stomach, limiting how much they can eat at every meal. But it’s an invasive procedure that comes with the same risks as any procedure that requires a patient to undergo anesthesia. It’s also expensive, often costing tens of thousands of dollars, and it’s just as complicated and expensive to reverse.

Decades ago a procedure that involved physically wiring a patient’s jaws shut was a popular alternative for weight loss, but it was permanent and came with its own challenges, including limitations on proper oral hygiene. The DentalSlim Diet Control functions in a similar manner, but less permanently. It uses magnets to power a temporary locking device that limits the wearer to opening their mouths just two millimeters, restricting them to a liquid diet without inhibiting speech or breathing in the process.

The DentalSlim is attached to the wearer’s molars by a dentist using orthodontic cement so it will never accidentally fall out, but the magnetic locking mechanism it uses means it can also be occasionally disengaged and the wearer’s dietary restrictions can be temporarily relaxed. Every patient with the DentalSlim installed also carries a special tool so the device can be quickly unlocked in an emergency. (Imagine dealing with the common side effects of a night spent bar hopping if you can only open your mouth two millimeters.)

In a trial of the device that was detailed in a study published in the British Dental Journal, seven healthy, obese patients were fitted with the device and spent 14 days following a strict low-calorie liquid diet. On average they lost a little over 14 pounds using the DentalSlim, which is impressive, but such results also require a strict adherence to the type of liquids being consumed. Sipping milkshakes for two weeks straight won’t produce similar results, but if you’re going to the trouble of having a device like the DentalSlim installed, you’re ideally committed to what’s needed to make it an effective weight loss tool.

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