Chose to lose weight to a level that doesn't compromise your health nor quality of life.
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I have found to lose weight I need to focus on what I am eating. Exercise has not been that helpful in directly losing weight. For unfit people my suggestion is you can improve your overall health by losing weight through managing what you eat.
While low glycemic diets are generally only recommended for people with diabetes I believe they provide excellent eating principles for all of us.
However you should not avoid exercise for ever. Consider slowly increasing your activity levels. You do want to exercise regularly as long term health is dependent on being moderately fit. Putting my money where my mouth is you will note from my other blogs I keep myself fit through regular and varied exercise.
The importance of exercise has been reinforced by a study that compared dieting with dieting and exercise. While the weight loss was similar across both groups the group that exercised improved their blood pressure, cholesterol and insulin sensitivity more than the group that did not.
Reference: Enette Larson-Meyer, Ph.D., R.D., assistant professor, family and consumer science, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyo.; Walt Thompson, Ph.D., professor, kinesiology, Georgia State University, Atlanta; January 2010, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise
Eat well and consider what exercise you would enjoy doing and how you can motivate yourself to undertake this exercise regularly.
Follow my guidance in Enjoy Losing Weight if you are over-weight.
Regards, Keith
The Three Bridges Half Marathon held in Wanganui on 12 December 2009 started in pouring rain. However the mild temperature meant the experience was more refreshing than chilling. By the end the sun was out and everything drying out. A lovely run that not only crossed three bridges (twice) but passed through beautiful parks on one side of the river and skirted the edge of the city centre on the other.
Its a very flat course, although my time didn’t reflect this! Some days you run well and other days… Great to be out and experiencing the run however.
The run was well organised with lots of support at drink stations and around the course. Well done to the organisers although best if you don’t finish the briefing one minute before the start.
And after the run there was a market to visit with food and crafts. The strawberries were huge and super tasty.
Overall the experience rated highly. All fitness levels were catered for with distances from 5km to the full marathon. Pencil a weekend in Wanganui for next year.
The American Diabetes Association is warning the number of diabetes cases is predicted to double. The two main drivers are the aging population and increasing rates of obesity.
While we can’t address the aging issue on an individual basis we can minimise the risk we will develop diabetes. Reduce weight through eating well is the main priority as being obese appears to be a major risk factor in developing diabetes.
An important element is controlling blood glucose levels. While a low glycemic diet has been recommended for people that already have diabetes or have recognised symptoms I recommend such a diet for everyone and follow the general principles myself. While a low glycemic diet sounds like it is a ‘medical treatment’ it can better be termed a common sense approach to eating well!!!
Keeping fit through regular exercise also helps overall wellbeing as well as contributing directly to reducing the risk of diabetes.
Eat well, exercise, feel great
Keith
The Three Bridges Half Marathon is a week away. A short run this morning while the temperrature was still brisk. Great to see lots of people out getting fit. A longer run tomorrow should be a good test of where I am in preparation for the half marathon. Having events to aim for helps my motivation to get out and exercise.
Looks like a perfect day for a dive. Might even get something for the BBQ!
Cheers, Keith
Exercise makes you hungry – not a new concept to most people I would have thought. However if you are seeking to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight you don’t want extra eating overwhelming the benefits of exercise in assisting to lose weight.
A small study of 58 overweight and obese adults found some lost weight through increased exercise while others appeared to have their exercise efforts counteracted by increased eating. For those who managed to lose weight exercise may have improved their body’s ability to signal when they were full. The researchers found these subjects were hungrier before breakfast but were not hungrier during the rest of the day.
The learning from those that didn’t lose weight is a general warning to all of who are managing our weight. We need to be aware of any tendancy to over eat after exercise and address this if it occurs.
It also reinforces the need to control our eating habits as the main contributor to losing weight.
To read the abstract go to American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Neil A King, Phillipa P Caudwell, Mark Hopkins, James R Stubbs, Erik Naslund, and John E Blundell
Dual-process action of exercise on appetite control: increase in orexigenic drive but improvement in meal-induced satiety
Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, Oct 2009; 90: 921 – 927.
regards, Keith
Training for the Three Bridges Half Marathon is in full swing with a two hour run undertaken today. For someone who was not fit six months ago this is great progress. It has been most helpful to have lost weight prior to starting the training. By losing weight previously I am not causing extra stress to my joints etc with the raised level of activity.
While my runs are typically between one and two hours I wonder what the minimum level of activity is to keep fit? I wonder where the recommendation of a minimum of half an hour of moderate exercise orginally came from. Has it been actually tested? So many studies are based on this level of activity but why is this standard being used?
So get off the couch and get moving. Any exercise is better than none.
Keith
The pressure is on. The Three Bridges Half Marathon in Wanganui is three weeks away. A 1.5 hour hill run yesterday indicates the training is on track.
I am aiming for 1 hour 45 minutes. To a runner this will seem a very modest target however the point is I’m not an athelete. If I can achieve this so can most people.
I have got to this point through two steps. Firstly I lost over 25 kgs. This rekindled an interest in getting and keeping fit. Since then I have been jogging and, in October, ran a half marathon to test my fitness. With little idea how well I would go I finished in 1 hour 50 minutes. To maintain this fitness I then selected completing the Three Bridges run as the next goal. Having a relatively short term goal helps keep the interes7t and motivation up.
I see a large number of overweight people out training – mainly walking, running and cycling. However from my experience exercise alone wont get your weight down. I found to lose weight I first needed to change my eating habits. In addition, once you have achieved the weight loss you don’t put the same stress on your body, particularly joints, when you are out training.
Go for a run, eat an apple. And, if you are looking for a goal consider participating in an event like The Three Bridges Marathon, Half Marathon or Walk.
cheers, Keith
According to research 100,500 cases of cancer in America each year are due to overweight/obesity. Obesity also affects the recovery rate after cancer treatment.
One of the authors, Melinda Irwin, recommends exercise for cancer survivors. It would appear exercise assists to regulate hormones, with regular activity improving survival rates for both obese and healthy weight individuals.
To read the article click on the link: American Institute for Cancer Research article
source: http://www.aicr.org/site/News2/
regards, Keith
We’re told to lose weight to stay trim and to keep active. However, will this really lead to better health, particularly as we age?
A study looked at the relation between body mass index, exercise, overall health, and physical functioning in people in their fifties. Results indicate maintaining ideal body weight is important in preventing decline in overall health and physical functioning. However, regular exercise can reduce the risk of health decline even among individuals who cannot achieve ideal weight.
The findings reinforce the importance of eating well to maintain weight and losing weight if need be. I recall another study finding over 30% of middle aged people are overweight. This would indicate many of us are at risk of poor health and would benefit from losing weight. The value of exercise is also reinforced and indicates the importance of maintaining activity whatever our age.
So eat well and keep moving, Keith
reference: Xiaoxing Z. He, MD, MPH and David W. Baker, September 2004, Vol 94, No. 9, American Journal of Public Health
The benefits of exercise in assisting to lose weight are disputed. While public information programs promote exercise in contributing to weight loss others claim the assistance is less than what is claimed. If you are very overweight and unfit you wont be able to undertake much exercise to burn calories.
My own view is that there are seperate benefits from losing weight and exercising even if exercise does not contribute greatly to weight loss in a direct way.
Once you have managed to lose weight how do you keep to your goal weight?
According to research findings published by the American Physiological Society exercise may contribute to maintaining your goal weight by reducing appetite, preventing fat cells from accumulating and prompting the body to burn calories from fat before burning calories from carbohydrates.
One benefical effect of exercise may be the change in the bodies ‘defended weight’ – the weight the body seeks to maintain. Apparently this makes the lower weight easier to maintain.
The study challenges the belief that the number of fat cells can not be altered by diet or lifestyle.
However the importance of eating well remains if you need to lose weight and stay at this lower weight.
So, exercise (and eat well) to maintain weight loss. Regards, Keith
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