Do we have too many options when it comes to food? According to a study published August 2011 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, too many options may be one reason pounds are packed on.

On the flip side, the study found eating the same food over and over lead to boredom and a decrease in caloric intake.

Food Boredom is a Good Thing

Research indicates that repeat exposure to a particular food leads to disinterest. The response is called habituation and can lead to a decrease in caloric intake in the short term.

In the U.S. we are blessed with a wide variety of choices and all we have to do is enter a grocery store. The problem with variety doesn’t necessarily apply to having access to a wide variety of fruits and vegetables – not too many people can say they are overweight because they ate too many greens! – the problem comes from the overwhelming abundance of low-fat, low-nutrient options.

There is a ‘food addiction hypothesis’ that proposes some people overeat because they are not sensitive to normal habituation and require even more of a food to trigger disinterest.

There has not been a lot of research in this area to determine if the habituation process is different between individuals of a healthy weight versus those who are overweight.

The study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition aimed to study the long-term habituation in obese and non-obese women.

Habituation Equals Fewer Calories

Continue reading ‘Eating the Same Foods Can Help You Lose Weight’ »

We are three weeks into the new year, how are you doing with your New Year’s resolution?

If you are working to improve your health, physical activity must be a part of your plan. There are numerous benefits associated with physical activity, such as weight loss, lower blood pressure, improved arthritis, pain management, and improved cardiorespiratory fitness.

Research indicates that you need at least 150 minutes of moderate level activity each week in order to see the benefits of exercise. This can be broken down into 20 minutes each day or 30 minutes 5 days a week and should include both aerobic and strength training.

This isn’t a lot of time, but if your days are already packed scheduling time for a workout can be a challenge. Here are five tips to keep in mind as you plan your workout routine.

1. Workout in the morning if possible.

   Research has shown those who exercise in the morning tend to see more success. This is partly due to getting exercise out of the way first thing before obstacles can get in the way.

Continue reading ‘5 Tips for Planning Your Workout Routine’ »

Food digestion begins in the mouth, which is why how you chew your food can have an impact on not only digestion, but weight as well.

Chewing causes the mechanical breakdown of large food molecules into smaller particles. This increases the surface area of food exposed to digestive enzymes, such as salivary amylase that begins the digestion of carbohydrates in the mouth. A lingual lipase is also released in the mouth to begin the breakdown of fat.

How long do you chew your food?

Now, think about how long a bit of food stays in your mouth. Is it basically one or two bites and you’re swallowing? If so, does that give the digestive enzymes salivary amylase and lingual lipase very much time to do their job? Does that give you adequate time to break your food down into small particulars for increased surface area exposure? If you are like most people, probably not.

How does chewing impact your weight?

Continue reading ‘Is a Lack of Chewing Causing You to Gain Weight?’ »

Way too frequently people spend weeks losing weight, just to reach their goal, stop the diet, and then gradually regain the weight. It’s a terrible cycle to be stuck in.

A study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that individuals who successfully lost weight AND kept the weight off altered their principles after losing weight.

This was a telephone survey of 1165 adult who had successfully lost weight with some maintaining the weight loss. Researchers took the data and compiled a list of 36 behaviors at least 10% of the surveyed adults adapted.

Weight loss was defined as losing 10% or more body weight during the previous 12 months. So for a 200 pound individual this would equal a weight loss of 20 pounds.

Maintenance was defined as losing 10% or more body weight during the previous 12 months and keeping it off for one year or more.

How They Lost the Weight

Continue reading ‘The Right Mindset for Weight Loss’ »

If you are to successfully lose weight you will likely focus on eating fewer calories and increasing your activity to burn more calories. It’s important that you also address inflammation on your journey to lose weight.

Research on mice has shown a “switch” controlling inflammation in the hypothalamus (region of the brain that regulates energy) becomes “flipped on” in response to high fat diets. It also shows that “overnutrition” (i.e. eating too much) turns on this inflammatory switch.

An increased level of inflammation leads our cells to become resistant to insulin and leptin.

Insulin plays a messenger role in that it tells cells it is time to take in glucose (sugar). If cells become resistant to insulin, they ignore the message that it is time to take in more glucose, glucose is converted to fatty acids, and is stored by our fat cells. If insulin resistance is persistent, eventually the fat cells will no longer respond and increased levels of fatty acids will remain in circulation.

Leptin is a hormone that triggers satiety. This is your body’s way of telling you you’ve had enough to eat. When production of leptin is hindered, we do not feel satisfied and tend to eat more.

As inflammation causes the cells to ignore the messages of insulin and leptin, you are more likely to consume more calories (because you still feel hungry) and potentially store increased levels of fat due to the increased level of circulating fatty acids.

Continue reading ‘The Effect of Inflammation on Weight Loss’ »

Do we have too many options when it comes to food? According to a study published August 2011 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, too many options may be one reason pounds are packed on.

On the flip side, the study found eating the same food over and over lead to boredom and a decrease in caloric intake.

Food Boredom is a Good Thing

Continue reading ‘Lose Weight By Eating the Same Foods’ »

If you are working to lose weight you need to make adjustments to your food choices. However, don’t forget what you drink has an impact on your success also. There can be a surprising amount of calories in beverages.

Let’s say you are reducing your calorie intake to 1500 calories per day. If you stop at Starbucks for a 16 oz Vanilla Frappucino with 2% milk, a 12 oz. can of Dr. Pepper with lunch, and a 16 oz. sweetened ice tea with dinner, you’ve consumed around 565 calories just from what you drank. . . and this is assuming you consumed water between meals. That leaves you just 935 calories to “spend” on food for the day if you are going to achieve your goal of 1500 calories per day.

1. Portion size

Keep your portion sizes small. For example, you do not need a 12 ounce glass of juice in the morning, cut back to 6 ounces of fruit juice or better yet replace the juice with a piece of fruit. A 12 ounce glass of juice contains 192 calories.

2. Read food labels correctly

Continue reading ‘Hidden Calories in Beverages’ »

You are at greater risk of heart disease if you were overweight as a teen, compared to those who gained weight later in life. However, it was never clarified if this was because overweight teens become overweight adults OR does being overweight during your teen years cause irreversible damage.

Good news has come out of recent research published in The Archives of Internal Medicine that indicates losing weight mid-life can reduce heart disease risk if you’ve been overweight since your teens.

This research was conducted by Harvard Medial School reviewing data on 19,000 Harvard alumni who entered their freshman year of school between 1916 and 1950. Follow up on these individuals occurred over 82 years and evaluated at habits, heart disease, body mass indexes.

Study results found the heaviest students were most likely to become overweight adults. Obese freshmen men had almost double the risk of dying from heart disease later in life compared to those of normal weight during their college years. Freshmen men who were overweight their freshmen year also had a substantially increased risk of dying from a heart disease.

The good news came when researchers factored in middle age and any change in weight at that time. Men who began college overweight or obese, but lost weight and were considered normal weight in middle age no longer had an increased risk of dying from heart disease.

Continue reading ‘Midlife Weight Loss Reduces Heart Disease Risk’ »

I wanted to let you know today about a Weight Loss site that will allow you to download a ton of weight loss-related gifts. And the best part is that it is absolutely FREE!

If you’ve had enough of plodding along year after year and you want to improve yourself and your health to make this your BEST ever year, then you need to go here: http://weightlossgiftsgiveaway.com/go/114

The Weight Loss Gifts Giveaway will be open only for a VERY LIMITED TIME from October 6th to October 27th, 2011. When you go there you’ll find a multitude of products – all FREE – provided by Weight Loss experts from all over the world. Here is just a small sample of what you will find:

Continue reading ‘Weight Loss Gifts Giveaway Offers Best Selection of FREE Health and Wellness Related Products, Services & Memberships’ »

There are a variety of factors that impact your success losing weight. The results of a recent long term study shed light on the impact your food choices and lifestyle choices have on weight gain.

The Study

This study included 120,877 women and men participants who were followed for 12 to 20 years. Relationships between diet, lifestyle, and weight changes were examined.

The Results

Continue reading ‘Losing Weight Involves More Than Simply ‘Eat Less, Exercise More’’ »