What happens when two British journalists participate in a crash diet experiment to lose five dress sizes in five weeks, aiming to end up a UK size 0 (U.S. size 2)?
The mental/emotional effects are as interesting as the body changes.
It's worth a watch on YouTube; here's the first of five episodes. You can find the rest by searching for "Super Skinny Me" on YouTube.
Showing posts with label science. Show all posts
Showing posts with label science. Show all posts
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Friday, March 7, 2008
Incidental Exercise -- Why Not?
I recently read that an office worker who jiggles his or her foot or does some other incidental little nervous motion off and on during the work day burns about 75 more calories per day than someone who doesn't. That's not much, but it adds up over the course of a month or a year or several years. (And we are in this for the long haul, are we not?)
Since reading that, I've been noticing people at my work. Some basically sit still for eight hours a day. Other stand up, sit down, stretch, wiggle, pace, etc. The latter has got to be healthier.
I'm trying to add more movement to my day -- both the little wiggles and jiggles and tics and flexes and stretches, and the more deliberate exercises. One way I am adding movement/exercise is by doing it just *whenever*. In other words, I don't wait until I have a 30 minute chunk of time to exercise. Some days, that 30 minute chunk is just never going to come. Instead, I can walk during my 15 minute break or work out for 20 minutes of my lunch hour. Why not do squats while I brush my teeth? Why not do lunges while I wait for something to heat in the microwave? Why not stretch while I watch TV?
Once upon a time, I watched two hours of TV every Thursday night and stretched for the whole two hours on a regular basis. (Well, for a whole TV season, anyway!) I was as flexible as I've ever been. It was relaxing and it felt good. It burned calories. Why not?
Since reading that, I've been noticing people at my work. Some basically sit still for eight hours a day. Other stand up, sit down, stretch, wiggle, pace, etc. The latter has got to be healthier.
I'm trying to add more movement to my day -- both the little wiggles and jiggles and tics and flexes and stretches, and the more deliberate exercises. One way I am adding movement/exercise is by doing it just *whenever*. In other words, I don't wait until I have a 30 minute chunk of time to exercise. Some days, that 30 minute chunk is just never going to come. Instead, I can walk during my 15 minute break or work out for 20 minutes of my lunch hour. Why not do squats while I brush my teeth? Why not do lunges while I wait for something to heat in the microwave? Why not stretch while I watch TV?
Once upon a time, I watched two hours of TV every Thursday night and stretched for the whole two hours on a regular basis. (Well, for a whole TV season, anyway!) I was as flexible as I've ever been. It was relaxing and it felt good. It burned calories. Why not?
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Comfort Me With Apples
The Bible says "comfort me with apples" in the Song Of Solomon. So why do my comfort foods always involve cheese?!
Or chocolate? Or carbs with fat, like grits with butter, or mashed potatoes with cream, or rice with cheese melted on top?
There are people who can't eat when they are upset. I am NOT one of those people. (I’ve tried to be, believe me.) In fact, I tend to want to eat more when I am upset. Just recognizing that tendency has helped me combat it, but I still need to learn to be comforted by something other than food. Or at least by a smaller amount of food. Or maybe I need comfort foods that are less caloric.
Maybe I should try apples, like the Bible says. According to realage.com , eating a fruit that is high in fiber and water before (or instead of) eating something else is a proven weight-loss helper. The fiber and water are filling and satisfying in the belly and the chewy crunchiness is satisfying to the mouth.
The same source also recommends eating eggs instead of some similar-caloried breakfast or snack food because something about them fills you up better. A study showed that people who eat an egg at breakfast actually eat less at lunch than if they had eaten something else.
So maybe my new comfort foods are going to be eggs and apples. The dangerous temptation for me in that, is that they both go way too well with cheese!
Or chocolate? Or carbs with fat, like grits with butter, or mashed potatoes with cream, or rice with cheese melted on top?
There are people who can't eat when they are upset. I am NOT one of those people. (I’ve tried to be, believe me.) In fact, I tend to want to eat more when I am upset. Just recognizing that tendency has helped me combat it, but I still need to learn to be comforted by something other than food. Or at least by a smaller amount of food. Or maybe I need comfort foods that are less caloric.
Maybe I should try apples, like the Bible says. According to realage.com , eating a fruit that is high in fiber and water before (or instead of) eating something else is a proven weight-loss helper. The fiber and water are filling and satisfying in the belly and the chewy crunchiness is satisfying to the mouth.
The same source also recommends eating eggs instead of some similar-caloried breakfast or snack food because something about them fills you up better. A study showed that people who eat an egg at breakfast actually eat less at lunch than if they had eaten something else.
So maybe my new comfort foods are going to be eggs and apples. The dangerous temptation for me in that, is that they both go way too well with cheese!
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
This will make you put down that cookie
According to an article at BestLifeOnline.com, fat cells are not the lazy, inert slobs we think they are. They are not just sitting around making us look bad. Oh, no. They are busy trying to kill us.
Sounds like the plot of a bad horror film doesn't it? Attack of the killer fat cells! (Oh wait, maybe it was already a movie -- I think it was called "THE BLOB."
Anyway, what the article says is that fat can actually be considered an endocrine organ, meaning that it is producing and secreting various substances all the time. And guess what? For the most part, those substances are not good for us. Surprise, surprise, surprise.
The secretions are called "adipokines" and they include hormones and other compounds that cause high blood sugar, raise blood pressure, and inflame the arteries possibly causing arterial plaque to come loose and block blood flow. Yikes! I'm going to remember that the next time I hear a cookie calling my name.
Sounds like the plot of a bad horror film doesn't it? Attack of the killer fat cells! (Oh wait, maybe it was already a movie -- I think it was called "THE BLOB."
Anyway, what the article says is that fat can actually be considered an endocrine organ, meaning that it is producing and secreting various substances all the time. And guess what? For the most part, those substances are not good for us. Surprise, surprise, surprise.
The secretions are called "adipokines" and they include hormones and other compounds that cause high blood sugar, raise blood pressure, and inflame the arteries possibly causing arterial plaque to come loose and block blood flow. Yikes! I'm going to remember that the next time I hear a cookie calling my name.
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