Here is an interesting article posted today in Yahoo about the link between belly fat in middle age and the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease much later in life.

Alzheimer’s is a form of dementia, and a great deal of research recently has linked it to inflammation in the body, particularly inflammation related to heart disease.

Also, recent research suggests that fat is not just a bunch of excess weight on your body that sits there and looks unattractive. It is actually releasing various toxic substances into the body which then add to the inflammation.

For more information on the latest findings on the link between belly fat and Alzheimer’s disease, see:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080327/ap_on_he_me/belly_dementia;_ylt=AtHYNmW1_OBWh.1_R1agdI0_cbYF

For more news and information on Alzheimer’s disease, and good nutrition and weight control, you might also be interested in:

Johns Hopkins Memory Topic Page

Johns Hopkins Nutrition Topic Page

Johns Hopkins Weight Control Topic Page

Johns Hopkins Nutrition and Weight Control White Paper

How large is a portion?

A lot of us think we are reading the food labels correctly, or eating right in a healthy way, but there are a couple of things to keep in mind.

First of all, how many servings are actually in the box/can/bottle? I had a discussion with my mother recently, a smart woman, who said “Oh, there isn’t that much sodium in a can of tomatoes.” Well, the number may seem small on the can, but when you see that there are 11 servings in it, it adds up! Especially if you have high blood pressure and have to watch your salt intake.

It even happened to me the other day—a little tiny protein brownie, the serving size was HALF the pack, I ate the whole thing and was wired on sugar and chocolate for the rest of the day!

So it is easily done!

What about those large bags of potato chips? No matter what the brand, you know you can never eat just one!

Not to mention the fact that the large the bag, the easier it is to just keep dipping into it, and then say oh, it was only ONE bag.

When it comes to calculating the calories of food that is not prepackaged, we are not very good at quantities.
And yes, a tiny gram of fat or two CAN make a difference. The New York Times, of all institutions, ran an article by some male twit that said there was not much difference in the fat content per ounce between breast or white meat turkey and thigh or dark meat turkey.
White=1 gram per ounce
Dark=3 grams per ounce.

There’s only one problem.
HOW MUCH IS AN OUNCE?

One ounce of cheese, meat, turkey=2 dice

Then we come to a second problem—what American EVER eats only one ounce of turkey? Or meat etc.  some of the burger chains are offering 4 to 6 ounce burgers.

Going back to our turkey example, even if you only ate 3 ounces of turkey, your grams of fat and calories from fat would go from 3 to 9 if you chose the dark meat turkey.
6 ounces, from 6 to a whoppping 18 grams of fat.

So we need to be better judges of what we eat

One ounce of cheese, meat, turkey=2 dice
A cup-the size of a closed fist
A medium piece of fruit or vege like a potato-the size of a closed fist
3 ounces of meat-the size of a deck of cards

This article from the Utah Dept of health gives you the sobering statistics about the number of Americans who are overweight. And how being overweight puts you at risk for many dangerous diseases:
http://www.checkyourhealth.org/nutrition/nutrition_pd.htm

If you think you are lacking in willpower, or just hate to count calories, one solution might be to get a portion plate, small, partitioned plates to help you measure a portion accurately (so long as you don’t go heaping it too high!)

Some of them are quite colorful and are useful reminders of all the different food groups you are supposed to eat each day.

http://www.nutrawize.com/perfect_portions.htm
http://www.theportionplate.com/

So if you want to lose weight and keep it off, avoid large bags or cans of anything, and when cooking for yourself, avoid Portion Distortion by carefully and realistically calculating how much you are actually eating.

How do you lose weight successfully?

The average man is supposed to take in 2500 calories a day, for a woman, 2000.  If you want to lose a pound a week, you would need to shed 3500 calories from your diet, as an example.

So, there are two ways to do it. One is to shave off 500 calories a day.

This will be more or less easy to do depending on what your food diary says.  Can you cut an extra snack or two here and there, cut down on portion sizes, or give up the coffee with full cream in it, and go for skim instead? Every little bit helps.

Another way is to do more physical activity, and also eat less or shave off those little unnecessary calories here and there.

You will feel a bit less deprived with the latter method, and also be building a better body at the same time.

In addition, muscle burns fuel more efficiently than fat, so the more you do to build muscle, the more your body will run like a well-oiled machine, rather than one clogged with grunge. Fat is the grunge in your body than clogs your arteries and makes you feel so sluggish you don’t want to exercise.

Physical activity will also improve your mood, and if you do it out of the house, it will keep you away from the fridge and TV remote.

If you can burn 500 calories a day by, say swimming 10 laps, and cut back a bit on some of the extra calories you see yourself putting into your mouth when you review your food diary, you should start seeing the pounds come off in no time.

Keep to your goals, and you will feel fit and fabulous, and while easy weight loss may be just a fairy tale, being fit will help you live happily, and healthily, ever after.

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Well, millions of Americans do, to the tune of billions of dollars a year.

With over 60% of us overweight,  it’s time to grow up and give up that fairy tale once and for all.

Everyone wants to be fit, fabulous, and fancy-able, with little or no exercise, while still being able to eat whatever they want.

Sorry, that is a fairy tale. And a dangerous one.

There is no such thing as eating whatever you like without consequences. Even thin people would start to pile on the pounds if they did not engage in any physical activity.

Also, our metabolisms change as we get older. Just look at athletes who blow up like balloons as soon as they retire.

There’s NO magic pill or potion for weight loss.

A diet bar is not going to take the place of a good solid, satisying meal, and you will probably only rebound after a couple of days and devour everything in sight.

Shakes are full of carbs more often than not, and along with the diet bars, probably contain a lot of not so healthy ingredients and a lot of fat, because fat helps you feel full.

All these fast fixes will never work. We all know what does: successful weight loss still comes down to a simple formula. You have to burn more calories than you take in.

Calories are a measure of the amount of energy provided by the food you eat. The more calories you eat, the more energy you are giving your body. If you give your body more energy than it can use the body will store it as fat. If you start to diet, it will break into those fat stores, and you will start to lose weight.

But that is a big if. You have to get the whole process kickstarted, and that isn’t easy because it takes about 2000 calories to put a pound on, but about 3000 to 3500 to take it OFF.

And then there is the dieter’s plateau, where the person gets to a point where the scale just won’t budge. Why? Because your body is hanging onto that fat in case of famine. So you have to convince it to keep on letting it go, which often means even fewer calories and even more exercise.

Sounds terrible, right? No wonder so many diets fail!

So let’s call it an eating lifestyle rather than a diet, and let’s look at it from a budgeting point of view.  If you know you only have $20 to spend per day because you are saving up for, say, a great cruise, you try to stay within that $20.

So now let’s look at your calorie budget. Just write down everything you eat in one day. If it comes out of a package with calories labeled on it, great.

If it is a piece of fruit, say, or a potato, go to a calorie calculator online and type it in, then write down the number there.

You can keep track of your daily calorie intake easily if you have a free google gmail account by going to
www.google.com/ig/
and logging in and adding the little widget to your personalized desktop.

There are many good calorie counters on the web, this one is fun and gives nutritional information on the foods as well, and also helps you to be able to read a food label
http://thecaloriecounter.com

The average man is supposed to take in 2500 calories a day, for a woman, 2000.  If you want to lose a pound a week, you would need to shed 3500 calories from your diet, as an example.

Losing weight can be a challenge for even the most determined person, especially when you hit a plateau, that infuriating period of time when you continue to eat right, exercise, and seem to starve yourself, but don’t see the scale budge for weeks.

 Or worse still, you go through all that, and see your weight go up.

It is not easy, since metabolism and genetics as well as lifestyle all play a role in weight loss, but the only one you can control, or try to control, is the latter.

While the basic equation of weight loss is simple, you have to burn more calories than you consume, the trouble is that a pound gained is NOT equal to a pound lost. It is actually 2000 calories to put on a pound and 3000 to take it off.

The good news is that by adding a few new weight-conscious measures here and there every day to burn more calories, you can win the battle of the bulge and budge that pudge.

Increase your activity, and decrease your unnecessary calories. Portion size is key. If you get a bit nibbly, those 100 calorie snack packs can help.

The most successful dieters keep food journals to track exactly what they eat each day, and when. By becoming aware of your habits, you can see where you ‘lose control’ also where you can whittle down calories without losing out on nutrition. Also, the FDA is recommending a 2000 calorie a day diet, but is that really practical given how many of us lead a sedentary, inactive lifestyle? And it is 2500 for men!

Once you pinpoint your “hungry” times, you can head them off with healthy snacks like carrot and celery sticks with low fat dressing. Soup is also filling, and we often associate soup and salad with going out to dine and so we can feel really satisfied with a lot less food if we start each lunch and dinner in this way, and make sure to avoid any cream based dressings of soups due to the extra calories from fat.

Another method is to cut out all beverages other than water. Soda, juice, wine and beer add up to a lot of calories really quickly. They can also create havoc with your appetite, especially alcohol and it often giving people the munchies, or luring them into eating fattening snacks. Cutting out high-calorie beverages (including those supposed Vitamin waters that are full of sugar) and replacing them with water or seltzer, or adding seltzer to your juice or wine if you have to have it, make a refreshing spritzer, will make a major difference to your figure, while still supplying your body with the hydration it needs throughout the day.

Liquids will also make you feel fuller faster. Studies also show that milk can help you eat less and lose weight, plus help you metabolize your food better.

As for changing your activity level, you can take the stairs instead of the elevator, park further away from the stores so you will be forced to walk, and move your feet from side to side when you are waiting for a bus or train.

Gardening, yoga, golfing, can all help you boost your calorie burn, plus, anything that gets you out of the house and away from the fridge is a bonus. Also, building lean muscle can help you speed up your metabolism, because your body will run more efficiently and burn up calories faster as a result.

You can also work different parts of your body each day, for best results. Try some of the workout programs on Fit TV, yoga, weights, aerobics. Or rent the fitness DVDS from Netflix on topics like Abs, legs, and so on. Find the ones youlike and do them in a daily rotation.

If you incorporate even a few of these changes into your daily routine, you will begin to see those stubborn pounds slowly melt away, and better still, stay away. You will also have more energy and more muscle, leading to a leaner, firmer, more efficient body.

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There are a great number of simple things you can do every day to help limit your calorie intake without feeling deprived. Here are a few smart tips for healthy weight loss you can start using today:

• Look at the size of your dinner plate. Choose a smaller one and don’t pile up the food on it.
• Eat small portions of a variety of foods, to eliminate cravings or feeling deprived. That way, you allow yourself more variety in what you eat
• Eat lots of fresh fruit. It has a high-water to calorie ratio, plus fiber to help you feel full.
• If you’re craving a sweet chewy snack, opt for a healthier alternative like prunes, apricots, or other dried fruits.
• Don’t punish yourself for naughty foods. Instead, make a deal with yourself, like “I can eat whatever I want so long as I have a non-creamy soup and salad with low fat non-creamy dressing first.” Those two items will fill you up and stop you from over-indulging. (cream adds tons of calories from fat, so it’s best to avoid it!)
• Remember your ratio!
  2000 calories 1 pound gained
  3000 calories, 1 pound lost
  Do the math to help you stay on track

• Avoid commercial fast-food like the plague. Go for quick and easy recipes at home, and make enough for leftovers for lunch or dinner you can zap in the microwave quickly.

• Always bring a healthy snack with you to avoid temptation in public.

• Always eat salad and some lean protein before you go out for a party or social occasion like a dinner out in a restaurant. It will stop you binging, and the energy spikes that come with starving and then indulging.

• Practice eating mindfully. Do not do anything else while eating, like checking email or talking on the phone. Chew your food slowly and savor the taste and flavor of every bit to get the most satisfaction and not be tempted to cram down a whole lot more.

• Cranberry juice is a great pick-me-up by itself, or as a spritzer. It is fantastic for relieving cystitis and keeps your bladder in good working order. Just watch the high fructose corn syrup used to sweeten some brands, and juices which are not pure juice. You can get a small bottle of concentrate in health food stores.

• Keep your toothbrush and mouthwash handy after every meal. Not only will it help keep your mouth fresh, in your medicine cabinet. Not only does mouthwash freshen your breath, food never tastes quite so lipsmackingly good before or after you’ve brushed your teeth!

Above all, enjoy, and be optimistic.
Little changes can add up to big results!
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Healthy Eating at the Holidays?

It almost seems impossible, doesn’t it? A total contradiction in terms, in fact.

But if you eat well all year round, you are much less likely to feel like a pig swilling down everything in sight. Sure, you can have a seasonal treat or two, but there is no need to go for seconds. Or thirds! Let alone the whole fridge of leftovers.

The trouble with the holidays is that they seem to get longer every year, with a stretch of indulgence that extends from the candy at Halloween, through the turkey with all the fixin’s at Thanksgiving, to Christmas, and right on to New Year’s (and possibly even Valentine’s Day if we aren’t careful!!)

In our offices, there are snacks and treats galore, all within easy reach, adding hundred of extra calories to our diet before we even know we’ve swallowed.

Of course we love spending time with our friends, but food and drink become even more of a center of attention than the usual lunches, brunches and dinners.

There are many ways you can control your calorie intake at the holidays. Get a hot air popper (the microwave popcorn is getting very bad press these days), pop your corn, and add a bit of butter spray to it if you are eating it then and there. You can also pop extra, don’t butter it, and bring it to work with a bowl. If you feel like having hot pop corn, you can give it a few seconds in the microwave, and presto, you have a hot snack without a ton of oil, artifical flavor, or chemicals.

Other good choices would be carrot and celery sticks, apple, raisins, to stop you from reaching for the cookie tin or the bowl of nachos and guacamole just waiting to be devoured.

In particular, watch out for the empty calories in alcohol and desserts during the holiday season. They have NO nutritional value, and are NOT a couple of new essential food groups.

Vegetables are, but beware of the hidden calories in mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, and any veggies swimming in butter. The same can be said of seafood and fish.

Also off the menu would be cream-based soups, and anything with a cream sauce on it. We are not only talking calories here, we are talking high in saturated fats. The same is true of nuts. If you are having poultry, avoid the dark meat.

If you are cooking for the holidays, you will have a lot more control. Plan a menu with lots of well-seasoned dishes. A little seasoning can go a long way toward curbing cravings. Try not to taste everything in sight, and do start with soup and salad so that you will already be pretty full before you ever get to the main event.

Beware of the dreaded leftovers as well, which can extend one day of indulgence into several. Send a little care package home with your guests, or freeze them into small tasty lunch sized homemade TV dinners.

If you are going out for the holiday to friends and family, eat before you go. Again, soup and salad are excellent choices for making you feel full and satisfied. Be polite, but don’t load your plate.

Also, if you are at a buffet, either take a small plate, or load it with salad or veggies first, then the more caloric foods. Make sure you load up on good lean protein if it is available, but again, no sauces or dark meat.

Avoid the dreaded dessert if possible, and beware of eggnog. If you do have to indulge, you and a friend might ‘buddy up’ and agree to share, just to keep an eye on one another. After all, a taste is better than none, and will help you not feel so deprived.

One final check up:  remember, it takes only 2000 additional calories to put on a pound, but 3500 to take one off. Do the math as you deal with your holiday meals, and that should keep you on the straight (and slim!) and narrow, even with temptation coming at you from all sides.

Happy Holidays!

About the Author: Joan Mullally is head of online development at  JohnsHopkinsHealthAlerts.com and a frequent contributor to popular health-related websites such as WeightLoss-Goddess.com.

Today, many men and women (and children) around the globe, but particularly in America, are significantly overweight, some so heavy that they are considered to be morbidly obese. That means that they are so overweight, it is considered a likely cause of death!

 As a result of so many in this country being overweight, a growing number of people find themselves starting different diet programs all the time, going for fad diet after fad diet hoping for some sort of miracle for them being overweight.

Unfortunately, most people who embark on a diet plan fail to lose weight. Or, even if they lose, it often not only creeps right back on, but in many cases, it rebounds back again, so that they end up even heavier than they were before they started attempting to diet. Dieting can cause you to put on weight because you are playing with your metabolism in a potentially dangerous way.

Many of the fad diets being promoted are hazardous to a person’s health. While you may lose weight at the outset on one of these diet plans or programs, many of these plans are not designed to promote a healthy and balanced eating lifestyle which you can sustain long-term in order to keep the weight off.

In the final analysis, when it comes to healthy living and reaching and maintaining an appropriate weight, the only true course of action in which you can follow is a balanced diet and exercise, and those are not things that you can get out of a pill bottle or a box.

By eating a balanced diet, you will be able to maintain the energy and nutrition levels needed to keep your body running like a well-fuelled and well-oiled machine.

For those of you who hate counting calories, the facts are sad but true. To gain a pound takes 2000 calories. To LOSE one, takes 3000, because your body stores fat to later be used for energy.

Do the math! Only regular exercise or physical activity is going to help you budge the pudge!

Regular exercise will also help you maintain a healthy, toned and trim body, and a toned body helps you burn more fat, again, because your body is operating efficiently.

Through a balanced diet and regular exercise, you can not only reach your weight goal, you can get the pounds off and keep them off.

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