A monthly column on diet, exercise and my weight loss journey.
Over the last few months, there has been no shortage of news crossing my desk having to do with weight loss. Here’s just a few reports I thought you would find interesting.
DOESN’T TAKE MUCH
You probably know by now that doing exercise will help you live longer.
The real good news is that it doesn’t have to be a lot of exercise to get years added on to your life. According to a report in The Lancer, a research journal, people who had relatively low activity — they exercised 92 minutes a week or about 15 minutes of exercise a day — had a 3-year longer life expectancy compared to people who were inactive.
LOSING EVEN 15 MINUTES OF SLEEP CAN LEAD TO WEIGHT GAIN
Weight gain is not only an outcome of overeating or lack of physical activity. Even small lifestyle habits can make a huge impact on your waistline. According to research published in JAMA Internal Medicine, after examining the sleeping pattern of 120,000 people researchers concluded that our sleeping pattern can be closely associated with weight management and overall health. At the end of the study, it was found that people with body mass indexes (BMIs) above 30 (which is categorized as obese) only slept about 15 minutes less on average than those with lower BMIs. When you are tired, your hunger hormones called ghrelin spikes and your fullness hormone leptin decreases. This makes you more hungry and you tend to eat more, leading to weight gain. Feeling sleepier can also increase your average calorie intake by 300 per day. The sleep requirement of every individual varies, but a common observation is that getting sleep for less than seven hours can lead to fluctuations in weight. The ideal sleeping time for most people is between 7 to 9 hours.
MUSTARD OVER MAYO
Want to lose weight? Switch to mustard. According to the book, Healthy Lunchbox, if you use mustard on your sandwiches instead of mayonnaise, you can lose up to four pounds a year without doing anything else.
Now, while all these tips and tricks are interesting food for thought, you and I both know that nothing is going to change without taking deliberate action and going it alone is hard. Do you need some extra help in your diet and exercise goals? Let me point you to the people that helped me lose 65 pounds in 16 weeks – the staff at Cool Springs MD. Dr Lodge and his team of personal trainers, dieticians and medical professionals are ready to help you with their stated goal for everyone to be “Happy, Healthy and Whole”
What has helped you lose weight? Any tips you would like to share? I welcome your feedback, thoughts and ideas and look forward to sharing them in a future article. You can email me at [email protected] or feel free to call me during my live radio show – weekdays between 3 pm – 7 pm on 94 FM The Fish. (800) 826-3637
