The fitness field is replete with pseudo-science especially regarding diet, dieting and diets. While personal trainers may have some ‘expertise’ in nutrition based largely on what they learned in their certification prep courses or at professional conferences, they also have some serious biases often based on what’s worked for them. These could be appropriate forRead More
weight loss
On Fatness, Genes and Real Life
A post-New Year article in Bloomberg Opinion addressed a topic that invariably arises in early January, in the US at least: how can I drop the holiday weight I’ve gained? It addressed the issue less from how to lose it than why some gain more of it. The article was based on the research of Dr.MaryRead More
REAL News April 2018
April 2018 New Thoughts on The Body’s Response to Exercise An Australian study published in Cell Metabolism (Jan. 2018) hypothesized that the cells communicate with each other in response to physical activity. Vesicles, tiny protein-filled packages, “contain genetic material and proteins that carry messages to other parts” of the body that all have connections toRead More
Not Again: Don’t Count Calories, but Calories Count
Weight management and weight loss (and, by association, weight gain) are two peas in a pod…but only eat one of them! I have written on this topic so many times in opinion pieces and in scientific reviews that I’m reluctant to do so again. But this most recent article in the NY Times has inspired meRead More
REAL News February 2018
February 2018 The Breakfast Debate, Part XXXX A recent study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology confirms what your mom told you well before you could read: Eat your breakfast. Previous studies have suggested that breakfasters have lower rates of obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and hypertension, as well as better glucoseRead More
Now hear this: Intermittent Fasting Works IFFFF…
The latest ‘fad’ diet plan making the news today is ‘intermittent fasting’. This entails any one or combination of restricted eating not by food quality or quantity but by timing. That is, there are various versions of this program that in some form or fashion restrict when you can eat. Hence, intermittent = every soRead More
On Intermittent Fasting: Better than other low-cal diets?
There are many ways to diet for weight loss but every single one of them require reducing caloric intake. Every diet, every diet book, and every diet guru merely promotes a way of making calorie reduction palatable. This is done by making recipes that supplant the many trigger foods or components, like sugar, fats, whiteRead More
Part 1: Sane Weight Loss: The 2/3 Diet
Normally I don’t get so worked up about weight loss but this article in the WaPo, “Intermittent fasting vs daily calorie-cutting diets: Both help you lose weight”, on top of last night’s gathering at Table 3 on behalf of the Renfrew Center’s 10th year in Nashville has me thinking diet. Generally, as a trainer ofRead More
Bariatric Surgery Helps Teens Fight Obesity
A recent study just came out touting the benefits of bariatric surgery for obese teens. This article found that kids who had the surgery to bypass the stomach, reducing the amount of food and its absorbability that can enter the system, and causing immediate and long term metabolic changes that positively impact health, not simplyRead More
Picking Insurance is Secondary Compared to Taking Care of Your Self
The ACA, or Obamacare, is a federal attempt to provide easy shopping for health insurance plans on what are called exchanges. While the effort to make it easier to shop and compare plans is valiant, it’s still not that easy to make a decision what with all the variables one has to considerRead More