News Flash: There's Too Many Diets Out There

This was an interesting article about how confusing it is out there with all these diets.

Some good quotes:

In her quest to shed pounds, Amy Jamieson-Petonic tried the cabbage-soup diet, a hot-dog and peanut-butter diet, and just about everything in between. Then, after an "aha" moment as she tried on a size 22 coat, she said, "No more." She started eating smaller portions and healthier foods, and took up running. Lo and behold, she slowly lost 100 pounds. Fifteen years later, Jamieson-Petonic, now a 38-year-old registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, has kept off all the weight. "Real people can do this," she says.

Shocking. Eat less and healthier and exercise more. Interesting concept.

Here's a couple of the interesting diets that they talked about in the article:

The Astrology Diet

In "Zodiaction: Fat-Burning Fitness Tailored to Your Personal Star Quality," trainer Ellen Barrett and astrologer Barrie Dolnick promote an exercise and eating plan based on the 12 astrological signs. Scorpios are "fiery" and need "cooling foods," says Barrett. "It sounds fun, but there's no scientific backing for it," says the ADA's Andrea Giancoli.

I'm a little lost for words to comment on that.

Here's another:

The Blood-Type Diet

In "Eat Right 4 Your Type," Peter D'Adamo, a naturopathic doctor, argues that people should eat according to their blood type. A type A, he eats lots of fish and avoids processed meats. "There's no evidence that different people with different blood types need different diets," says Willett. So what's the appeal? People "think it's more personal than other diets," says Giancoli.

That's an interesting observation about how people are attracted to this diet because it feels more personal. People who have tried a lot of different diets (and fail each time) think that their bodies operate somehow differently than all the people that have ever lived on the planet. So they fall for these kinds of diets.

Detox Diets

For some reason, people think our bodies are full of all kinds of toxins," says dietitian Tara Gidus. Some detox diets, including "21 Pounds in 21 Days," call for "cleansing" with colonics. Translation: enemas. The problem with using them to clear the colon of waste: "it's not really waste at all," says Northwestern University gastroenterologist Alan Buchman. "What people describe as 'toxins' include the normal metabolic products of digestion and the normal bacteria that produce vitamin K and folic acid - and other substances that keep the colon healthy.

First, you can't help but laugh to think that people actually believe that their body is some kind of swampland for deadly toxins. Second, always keep this in mind when you start a diet and they have as part of the plan a "detox" phase in the beginning, then walk away from the diet. The only reason they have that phase is to get you to lose a ton of weight (mostly water and lean mass) in the beginning so you stick with it and dish out more money for something that you can't live the rest of your life doing.

I'm going to disagree with this last quote though:

The final word goes to James Hill, who runs the University of Colorado-based National Weight Loss Registry, which tracks dieters who have kept off 30 or more pounds for at least a year. What's their secret? They eat a low-fat diet and watch their total calories. They eat breakfast and weigh themselves often. And they get 60 to 90 minutes of exercise a day.

As I've stated in the past, it's not the lower fat levels that are making you lose weight, it's that you're getting in less calories. And you don't need 60-90 minutes of exercise a day. If you workout efficiently with strength training and intervals, you can get the results that you want with just 30-45 minutes of exercise, 3 days a week.

www.leanbodyfitness.com

Start of Summer

Well, we're at the start of the Memorial day weekend. Start of summer (well unofficially).

Summer brings up shorts, swimwear, cookouts, swimming, and unfortunately bad eating and drinking habits.

Well, it gets worse. This article gives you some horrible news on some of your favorite summer drinks.

Sorry to break it to you but, stay away from them. It's just not really worth it if you are striving for better health and fitness. They're full of empty calories and although they seem like it might be innocent having even one a week, it's going to cause a set back in reaching your goals.

So stay away, or I'll sic this vicious beast upon you:



Have a nice and relaxing Memorial day weekend and I'll be back online in the middle of next week.

www.leanbodyfitness.com

Gabby's Food Addiction

Gabrielle Reece has a good article here about food addiction. She comes right out and says:

Food is a drug, and a lot of us are addicted to it. We get stressed, we reach for a donut to soothe our souls. Lonely? Pizza is a warm companion. Feeling bad about ourselves? Ice cream eases the pain.

I need to revert back to an old blog entry of mine here that goes over steps to help you get over things like this and to be able to build up more of your self-esteem and self image in order to reach your ideal health and fitness goals.

She's got some great advice on how to start on the right path:

First, you have to acknowledge that you don't have the will power on your own. The cravings and callings are bigger then you (for now). What can you do about it? Get help. Go see a doctor or nutritionist that will put you on a program. This is not about failure or being a bad person, this is about finding a way to get healthy and strong. Nothing else. Beating yourself up is not going to do anything. Love yourself enough to feel you deserve a little help.

There's nothing wrong with going to talk to someone. Go talk to your doctor, nutritionist, a personal trainer, or all of the above. There's no shame in going to these people. Don't think of yourself as being a failure in doing so. You need some help and you need professionals to help get you on that track.

www.leanbodyfitness.com

Soldier Training

I don't really find this surprising but, it seems that government does:

Soldiers get sprained ankles, torn ligaments and stress fractures just like competitive athletes,

gee, ya think?

So now the Army is going to research the mechanics of soldiers to find out exactly how injuries such as sprains, tears, and fractures occur (particularly in the lower body). Once that's done, training programs will be designed to help build up the strength and endurance of soldiers in of hope of preventing those injuries:

The tests are designed to recreate the most problematic activities for soldiers, usually repetitive motions that can cause strain on knees, backs and shoulders. Soldiers in the 101st learn to rappel and jump from helicopters, and the landings can be dangerous.

And it concludes:

Researchers hope to develop training programs that soldiers can begin before their next overseas deployment, which could happen as soon as this fall.

www.leanbodyfitness.com

The Scoop on Trans Fat

Trans fats. Not good. Basically, it’s a man made product. There are really only a few places you can find natural sources of trans fat. You’ll find trans fats in mainly products like margarine, vegetable shortenings, and a number of different processed foods (crackers, cookies, some potato chips, etc).

You can tell that a product has trans fat in them when you look at the ingredients and you see the words “partially hydrogenated,” mostly in vegetable oils. What trans fats do is increase your LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) and decreasing your HDL cholesterol (your good cholesterol). It basically does the opposite to the two types of cholesterol than what we want them to do. This in turn, increases the risk of coronary heart disease.

There is some good news though. Starting January 1, 2006, the FDA required that food companies specifically list the amount of trans fats that are in a serving of the product. Another bit of recent news is that starting July 1, 2007, New York city will be the first American city to ban the use of trans fats in foods that are served in restaurants in the city.

So read those nutritional labels! Stay away from foods that contain the word “hydrogenated” in the ingredients listing and you’ll be sure to reduce your chances of bad heart health.

End the week with probably the best picture of the week of the new puppy, Scarlett.



www.leanbodyfitness.com

Sticking to your workout

Here's a good article that appeared in Men's Health, written by Adam Campbell on how to stick to your workout.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Switch your training partners
Working out with a partner who will hold you accountable for showing up at the gym works well—for a while. But the more familiar you are with the partner, the easier it becomes to back out of workout plans. "Close friends and family members don't always make the best training partners because they may allow you to slack off or cancel workouts," says Jacqueline Wagner, C.S.C.S., a trainer in New York City. To keep this from happening, find a new, less forgiving workout partner every few months.

I think what happens if you workout with someone that you don't know, you get self-conscious, but that can actually motivate you because you don't want the other person to think you're a slacker. So, you end up not only showing up for every workout, but you also workout at a nice high intensity.

Here's another one:

Think about fat
Your body is storing and burning fat simultaneously, but it's always doing one faster than the other. "Understanding that you're getting either fatter or leaner at any one time will keep you body-conscious so you won't overeat or underexercise," says Alwyn Cosgrove, C.S.C.S., owner of Results Fitness Training in Santa Clarita, California.

I would also add that it's important not to undereat and overexercise. You need fuel in order to burn fat, at the same time, you need recovery time in order for your body to repair the muscles you destroyed during the workout. It's all about finding that balance.

Last one:

Plan your workouts in advance
At the start of each month, schedule all of your workouts at once, and cross them off as they're completed. For an average month, you might try for a total of 16 workouts. If any are left undone at the end of the month, tack them on to the following month. And make sure you have a contingency plan for bad weather and unscheduled meetings. "You're about 40 percent more likely to work out if you have strategies to help you overcome these obstacles," says Rod Dishman, Ph.D., an exercise scientist at the University of Georgia.

Would you build a house without a plan written out first? No. That's why you need a plan to reach your fitness goals. Layout a workout for a full month and you've got a plan. Just make sure you follow it!

Oh, can't get away without posting another picture of the new addition to my family:



www.leanbodyfitness.com

Weekend

Sorry folks. Didn't get chance to research for today's blog. Will be able to in the next couple of days. Been dealing with this new precious little puppy all weekend long. You know how it goes.

www.leanbodyfitness.com