Weight Management Articles

The diet industry targets the overweight population with promises of becoming slimmer. They gauge success by pounds and inches. The average weigh loss lasts for a short while, and then it creeps back up with a vengeance.

Diets Linked to Weight Gain

The data is in and has been for quite awhile. It is estimated that 80% or more of dieters regain the weigh back. Many times there is a rebound effect that makes gaining easier and packs on even more weight than before the diet.

The new research points to the fact that this new weight gain isn’t just a shortage of will power. According to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine, hunger-related hormones disrupted by dieting and weight loss can remain altered for at least a year, fueling a higher than normal appetite.

“Maintaining weight loss may be more difficult than losing weight,” says lead researcher Joseph Proietto, Ph.D., a professor of medicine at inVictoria, Australia. “This may be due to biological changes rather than a voluntary return to old habits.”

Scientists have known for years that hormones found in the gut, pancreas, and fatty tissue strongly influence body weight and processes such as hunger and calorie burning. This is also true: a drop in body fat percentage, for instance, causes a decrease in the levels of certain hormones (such as leptin, which signals to your brain when you’re full) and an increase in others (such as ghrelin, which stimulates hunger).

What wasn’t well known, until now, was whether these changes in hormone levels persist after an individual loses weight.

Weight control is not Due to Lack of Willpower

The challenge is in establishing the right foundation. The efficiency of the main stream diets for long term weight loss has emerged as a failure. There are many reasons for this: one is they don’t address the cause, and second they are a modified version of the American diet referred to as the (SAD) diet.

“You can initially 5 to 10 percent of your weight on any number of diets, but then the weight comes back,” said Traci Mann, UCLA associate professor of psychology and lead author of the study. “We found that the majority of people regained all the weight, plus more.

Sustained weight loss was found only in a small minority of participants, while complete weight regain was found in the majority. Diets do not lead to sustained weight loss or health benefits for the majority of people.

One of the problems is things change hormonally, metabolically after you gain weight so even after you take it off you may not go back to your ideal weight. Gherlin is the hormone than tells us to eat. Leptin is  the hormone that lets us know when to stop eating. When these are working like they should no amount of will power will work.

Ideal Weight

Reaching your ideal weight is a goal that can be achieved with a lifestyle change based on your personal make-up. Everyone responds to different foods in their own unique way depending on their body’s chemistry.

The American way to treat obesity is with medications, operations, and crash diets. The real way to treat weight control is eating for your metabolic type. This will correct hormone imbalances to safety bring you to your ideal weight.

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a condition, which can be avoided. It is where fatty deposits accumulate in the linings of artery walls, which in turn restricts the flow of oxygen to the legs, feet, arms and other areas.

This is now an epidemic that is plaguing the elderly. This condition significantly increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. Also, the condition is now affecting the 40 something population. They now are not only predisposed to the condition, but have asymptomatic PAD.

Peripheral Artery Disease

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is hardening of the arteries in the peripheral parts of the body which include the legs, feet, arms and other outer parts. In the early stages most patients will present no symptoms and will not be diagnosed.

Researchers have studied whether minimally invasive treatments like angioplasty and/or stenting should be offered to asymptomatic PAD patients. Again, the answer is to bandage a problem that is preventable. Since PAD in the legs affects an estimated 10 million people in the United States and the condition is considered a red flag for an impending heart attack or stroke the only course of action should be prevention.

When PAD produces symptoms they are noticeable. There is pain or heaviness in the legs when walking to pain in the feet/legs at rest. This can progress to sores/wounds on the feet and toes and eventual to gangrene. When plaque blocks the leg arteries blood and oxygen can’t flow freely to the area.

Study

Researchers reported at the American Heart Association’s scientific sessions 2007 that the prevalence of asymptomatic peripheral artery disease is steadily increasing.

The lead author Andrew D. Summer, M.D. of the study and a cardiologist and medical director of the Heart Station and Cardiac Prevention at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown,Pa.said: “We were interested in seeing if the prevalence of peripheral artery disease in the general U.S. population is increasing, specifically among people who don’t have known coronary artery disease.”

Researchers hypothesized that the prevalence of asymptomatic PAD is increasing and the escalation is associated with a rise in the prevalence of other common cardiovascular risk factors, including diabetes, smoking, obesity and hypertension.

Summer and colleagues analyzed data from three successive National Health and Nutritional Examination Surveys, conducted in two-year increments from 1999 and 2004.The researchers then looked at the prevalence of risk factors such as: diabetes, hypertension and smoking in the 5,376 participants, age 40 and older, with no prior history of cardiovascular disease. What they found was that the prevalence of PAD had significantly increased from 3.7 percent in the 1999-2000 survey to 4.2 percent in the 2001-2002 survey and 4.6 percent in the 2003-2004 survey.

Not surprisingly PAD was highest among those ages 70 and older. There also was an increase in each age group including 40 to 49, and 50 to 69 year old subjects. The authors said the prevalence of obesity, diabetes, hypertension and smoking also increased over these three surveys. Researchers hypothesized that the prevalence of asymptomatic PAD is increasing and escalation is associated with the rise of the above mention common cardiovascular risk factors.

Common Sense 

There is no reason to hypothesize why the prevalence of PAD is increasing. There is every reason to believe that this condition is starting in the under 40 population. It shouldn’t be surprising to find this across all ages, it is a condition linked to our lifestyle. What cause plaque buildup in young adults are the same factors that cause them in the peripheral arteries.

The American lifestyle is a double whammy it harms us on two levels the first is what we do, and the second is what we don’t do. We overload our body with toxins that can’t be adequately eliminated, and deny what it needs to prevent all these horrific conditions.

The one barrier to health that can be addressed is the American diet. What are needed are people willing to watch their diet and become more active, and then we will stop manufacturing disease.

There is plenty of finger-pointing when it comes to what people eat. There is very little said about muscle strength. The fact is muscle strength combats aging. Science is discovering the unique health benefits to being fit. From diabetes management, cancer risk reduction,  cardiovascular health, and cognitive abilities exercise offers a multitude of benefits.

There is a harmonic relationship between muscle power and health. Muscle strength makes life a whole lot easier. As one gets older and slower, the size and strength of the muscles are the deciding factor in the rate of decline in aging. Muscle volume supports your daily activities. To have stronger muscles means that size is important. You need enough to support daily activity, and slow down age related changes.

Physical Performance

Physical performance is dependent on muscle strength. Muscles are a necessary tool for being able to engage in daily activity. The first through people have at times: is it worth the sweat to maintain a high level of strength. This isn’t about flexing or building hard as rocks muscles. This is about unleashing enough strength to make life easier, and not miss out on the senior years.

Age-defying looks and vitality depend on muscle power. There are many concrete ways to build muscles at any age. The sooner you make this a daily goal the better. What build muscles are the same things that keep you fit and active.

The way to stay fit is to feel the clay of the tennis court against your feet, or the grass on a golf course. Taking up running, jogging or walking, or just getting your feet wet jumping into the pool for a swim.

To really outsmart father time means to take steps to ensure you reach the goal of maximizing your performance. This means anything from yoga to strength training. There is nothing like working out to meet your goal using anything from aerobics to Pilates.

 Repetitions

Working our isn’t what you did last week, last month, or last year it is what you are doing currently. Small daily goals become the motivation for more movement.

Hitting the gym is the best way to perfect all sport performances. What may seem like monotony becomes an inspiration as you develop a passion for fitness. What you hear from most people is a mixed message: they know they should workout, but they don’t like the work involved. When you are feeling really good you want to be moving and not sit glued to the couch. Any workout that you enjoy, from the Asian healing arts to the modern day Zumba classes will optimize your health. 

Fuel Sources

Exercise takes endurance, and to most fitness experts’ food is part and parcel of training. Foods need to provide an energy boost, and a means to a fast recovery. In real life the only thing that provides energy is good nutritional practices.

Recommendations run far and wide. Every whole food has its place from organic superfoods to good enzymes. Amino acids are important as are all vitamins and minerals. Good sources of protein work well. There are vegetarian athletes who have learned what works for them. The most important factor is to be aware of what you put into your body. Sugar along with processed foods will not supply your body with sustainable energy.

Everyone deserves a body that is trim and fit. There are limitless possibilities to make your body into a fine tuned instrument. Small steps will pay off big time in helping you unleash the power you already have. Exercise is an investment in the future, which can make prime time anytime, from youth to the senior years.