Answer To Your Fitness Questions" />Food Diaries Help With Weight Loss
July 8, 2008
TUESDAY July 8, 2008–According to a research study reported in The Los Angeles Times that tracked the weight-loss efforts of 1,700 obese and overweight adults. if you’re trying to lose weight, simply keeping a food diary has proven to nearly double the number of pounds you will lose.
The study, which will be officially published in the August issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, counseled participants to take in a variety of strategies: follow the so-called DASH diet (rich in fruits and vegetables and low-fat dairy), keep a food diary, and exercise moderately for 30 minutes a day. All participants also attended weekly support group sessions. In addition to being overweight, all participants were on medications to lower their blood pressure and/or cholesterol. 44% of the participants were African American, a group that hasn’t really been represented within weight-loss studies in the past of this type.
The average weight loss after six months was about 13 pounds. “The more food records people kept, the more weight they lost, ” said lead author Jack Hollis of Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Researh in Portland, Oregon. In the news release about the study, those who kept a food diary every day lost twice the amount of weight as those who didn’t keep one.
Although thirteen pounds doesn’t seem a big number, it’s about average for studies that are deemed successful in weight-loss, and losing that amount of weight is enough to help improve choloesterol, lower blood pressure and lower the risk of developing diabetes.
Why does recording your food habits matter and help? The authors aren’t really clear on it, but they suspect it helps one to really consider on what is going into one’s body. Also helpful for shredding pounds: The group sesions and physical exercise.
Goal Setting In Fitness
April 16, 2008
You have to start slowly, if you push yourself too hard at first you might not be able to finish the program or you can get injured if your body is not ready for an intensive routine, therefore it’s very important to start out at your own pace but yet pushes you gradually.
When it comes to working out, think about the variety of different exercises for your body, for example alternate walking, swimming, and biking. You will come to find out that the more variety there is in your exercise routine, the better results you will see, especially since your body reacts differently to different exercises.
As anything else, you must try to make exercise to your daily routine. Many times because of our daily lives we can’t find the time to exercise. For example, as we have such busy lives at work, school, family, etc. it would be good to combine physical exercise with the other parts of your life like combine studying with exercise, or exercise with your family, etc.
More important than anything else, you must have fun while working out. If you are not enjoying your workout sessions, you may not want to keep it up. A good strategy to stay committed is through properly educating yourself, goal seting, working out with friends or family, making a game out of it, and last of all patience.
Good luck everybody and let’s make some goals in start working out!
