Diet Information

Many of us have the same reasons for wanting to exercise and lose weight…..look better, feel better, lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, decreased risk of some cancers, lower risk of heart disease, etc.

But did you know that making your waistline thinner will also make your wallet fatter?

It’s true! Losing weight will help you earn and save more money. “Studies have consistently shown that obese employees are paid less than normal-weight employees doing similar jobs” (Source: HealthNewsDigest.com - Palo Alto, CA)

A comprehensive study of wages in 1998 found that obese workers earn significantly less than than non-obese employees. How much less? About $3.41 per hour. This discrepancy was found only in those workers who had employer-sponsored health insurance, perhaps suggesting that the higher costs of insuring obese individuals was being passed on to the employees themselves. (Source: Bundorf and co-author Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at the Center for Health Policy/Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research).

So it’s possible that losing weight could eventually add substantially to your paycheck. But did you know that losing weight may also lower the amount of money you personally pay out in medical costs?

According to a study recently published in Health Affairs, obese Americans pay $732 more for health care each year than do normal-weight adults. So what would you do with an extra $732? Considering that $732 is more than double the annual cost of most gym memberships, it seems that joining a health club pays for itself.

We all have great reasons for wanting to lose that excess weight, and how we have two more: potentially higher wages and lower out-of-pocket medical expenses.

However, we do need to issue one word of warning…..when losing weight you may find that you need to spend some of that ’saved money’ on a new wardrobe. After all, you will have to buy some new ’skinny’ clothes!

Tracie Johanson is the founder of Pick Up The Pace, a 30-minute exercise studio for women focusing on fitness, health and nutrition for maximum weight loss. Please visit http://www.letspickupthepace.com/ for more information.

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As a registered dietitian, and someone who specializes in sports nutrition, I was appalled when the low carbohydrate fad came into popularity. However, I also predicted that in a couple of years people would become better educated and ready to really pay attention to how to eat for health.

Yes, people lost weight, but mostly because they eliminated many of the high fat, high calorie snack foods and meals they were previously eating. Unfortunately, the foods that promote health were also eliminated as all carbohydrates came under attack. Gone were the chips but also gone were the fruits and vegetables so high in health-promoting nutrients. Even worst of all was the increase in animal fats that are known to promote disease and inflammation.

Let’s first address why the low carb diets bothered me. Carbohydrates are one of the three major nutrients in our diet, known as macronutrients. Protein and fat are the other two. These three nutrients supply most of our calories, with alcohol being the fourth. All foods break down into glucose, which is our primary fuel and the only fuel for the brain. No matter what, the brain needs glucose to survive. Even some of fat breaks down into glucose. During the low carb diets, people were instructed to avoid all obvious carbohydrate foods, and in some diets were even encouraged to check their levels of ketones in their urine. Ketones are a byproduct of impartial fat metabolism for people who are not getting enough carbohydrate in their diets or, for medical reasons, are not utilizing the carbohydrates they are eating.

However, carbohydrates are the primary fuel for breaking down body fat during exercise. So, here we have people who want to lose weight trying to also exercise, but because they are not eating the primary fuel for that exercise, their exercise intensity suffers. As a consequence, they burn fewer calories during exercise and cannot burn as much body fat. Not only does science support this, but I would see this happen with my own clients. I also used myself to experiment on. One of my clients challenged me to try the Atkins diet. Never mind the effect of cutting out all my fiber in my diet (constipation), but by the third day I felt like I had lead feet when I tried to do my usual workout! I had no fuel in my body at all. By day #5, I felt I was doing my system more harm than good and went back to my fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Ahhh. Also, I had not consciously realized just how high my diet was in whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and how low it was in animal products, particularly animal fats.

This brings up the other problem I had with these diets. More research than I can mention has shown the advantages of a diet high in fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Because of the phytochemicals in these foods, it has been shown that people who eat high amounts of these foods not only weigh less but their health benefits from the high intake of antioxidants and vitamins. Studies looking at cancer and heart disease continually conclude that high intakes of these foods benefit health. My own experience with clients has also shown this. Most people already eat too few servings of fruits and vegetables. Once they increase them, however, they find themselves filling up on fewer total calories. Not only do they start to feel better but they start to lose weight!

Starches still have a bad rap, but once people realize the difference between one starch and another, we may actually see more people eating diets consisting of whole, unrefined foods. So, I guess the benefit of the high protein, low carb diets may be the new awareness that people have in the value of eating unprocessed, whole foods, and that all foods really DO fit into our diet.

Marjorie Geiser helps people overcome their confusion and distress they may feel when trying to add healthy eating and fitness into their busy lives. She offers a free, monthly newsletter on various topics of health. She is a Registered Dietitian, Personal Trainer and Life Coach. To learn more about her services, go to her website at http://www.megfit.com or email her at margie@megfit.com

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Gym owners, personal trainers and other industry experts know the real truth about health and fitness: exercise and proper nutrition is the only path to permanent weight loss! Forget all the “get slim quick” schemes out there promising you quick results with zero effort. Reality is the same thing you heard from your doctor: Eat sensibly and exercise regularly.

However, recently there have been two breaking news stories that have an impact on health and fitness. These two news items are so noteworthy they demand our attention.

Each story is a good example of how easy it can be to improve or damage your health.

Our first item shows how easy it can be to make small, sustainable changes to your life that will help you fight fat…..not make you thin, but help you fight fat. Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent for Reuters News Service, wrote a great story on the relationship between sleep and fat. The bottom line is that people who skimp on their sleep are more likely to be overweight. We’re not going to print the entire story, but here’s one quote: “In one study, people who slept only four hours a night for two nights had an 18 percent reduction in leptin, a hormone that tells the brain there is no need for more food, and a 28 percent increase in ghrelin, which triggers hunger.”

The second news item is a good example of how easy it is to undermine our weight loss efforts with poor nutrition. Hardee’s recently introduced what they’re calling the “Monster Thickburger”. A more suitable name would be the “Monster WeightGainer”! This burger packs 1,420 calories, which is about what many women should eat in an entire day! It also has 107 grams of fat, which is way more fat than anyone should have in one day! No wonder the introduction of this new burger caused Jay Leno to joke: “The Megaburger actually comes in a little cardboard box shaped like a coffin”.

Well, there we have it. Two fairly easy ways to either improve our health or damage our health. It’s easy to sleep, and it’s easy to eat a Monster Thickburger. Let’s make the right choices.

So, right after we get some sleep, we’ll see you at the gym!

Tracie Johanson is the founder of Pick Up The Pace, a 30-minute exercise studio for women, focusing on fitness, health and nutrition for maximum weight loss. Please visit http://www.letspickupthepace.com/ for more information.

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