What is a ‘diet’? For the most part, a diet is what and how you eat, where the ‘how’ is as critical as the ‘what’. It is not, technically, a pre-packaged plan laid out by either yourself, a dietitian, a trainer, a book author or a TV personality. A diet is more holistic and doesRead More
weight loss
Why are Women Getting Fatter Faster than Men?
A scary title about women getting fatter faster than men in the WaPo raises a question that the article itself does not venture to answer: WHY? The article throws around a bunch of statistics and it’s well worth it for the wellness communities to study. Troubling shift in American obesity: Women surge ahead of men,Read More
Low Carb Will Take You Only So Far
Since the Paleo diet became such a fad, courtesy of CrossFit and other high-protein promoters, science has struggled to address the ratio issue in our diets: that is, whereas once high carbs were promoted for athletes, now suddenly high protein and high fat diets which limit carbs were showing success not just in athletic performanceRead More
Sleeplessness Causes Munchies
Anyone who’s ever pulled an all-nighter knows you tend not to eat, or drink, healthy stuff as the night wears on. But even if you don’t intend to stay up all night, if you have insomnia at times or the baby cries out frequently, it’s worth noting that some of the same metabolic events occurRead More
Help the Kids Cut the Sugar Habit
This is a great article with sound advice on how to help your kids – and maybe you – cut the sugar habit. Some good facts, good pointers but one really solid, absolutely essential bit of advice at the end which stings: change YOUR own behaviors. Let’s face it- kids do learn from us soRead More
On Thinness, Weight Management, and Stupid Subtitles
A recent study, linked below, addresses the different attitudes and lifestyle choices of those who are thin vs those who are dieting to be thinner, we presume. The study’s press release has a few unaddressed issues I want to address. For example, what are the BMIs of each group? Also, since the subjects all volunteeredRead More
Alcohol and Body Weight Don’t Mix Well
Years ago, I read an article in a lay journal about alcohol’s effect on body weight. It mentioned three ways by which drinking alcohol affects weight gain. First, it is a load of empty calories, which means a small amount has a lot of calories that our bodies prefer not to use in a healthfulRead More
Part 2: The Science of Weight Loss Just Got Messier
Earlier this summer I wrote about one of the latest three news articles to shake up the summer dieter’s doldrums, an article in the Washington Post about the new federal dietary guidelines that de-emphasizes breakfast. (The Weight Loss Agenda Just Got Messier) Today I wish to tackle the age-old dispute first proffered by Dr. Atkins:Read More
The Weight Loss Agenda Just Got Messier
Earlier this summer, three news articles blasted out of the summer doldrums to shake up everyone’s ideas about weight management and dieting. In a likely futile effort to reconcile what each says with what the scientists are trying to say, I will address each in its own right in this three part series. First, thereRead More
The Weight Loss Conundrum, Continued: Diet vs Exercise…or Both?
The latest controversy, which we’ve seen played out over the past 30 years, comes to you from two doctors: one, a pediatrician, the other a researcher in weight management. The former wrote in the NY Times; the latter wrote in an exercise science newsletter. The former used a lot of research to stand on hisRead More