People who sleep less than 7 hours a night, on average, overeat 385 kcal per day. This data was obtained by scientists from King’s College London in this study.
The study participants obtained these calories mainly from chips and various biscuits, preferring fatty carbohydrate foods to protein ones.
In general, this is a serious figure, for some it is practically lunch or dinner. What is 385 kcal?
half a kilo of low-fat cottage cheese or 150 g of fat,
Or
200 g beef stew,
Or
6 hard boiled eggs,
Or
4 potato pancakes with a spoonful of sour cream,
Or
a noticeable piece of cake,
Or
100 g of brie cheese.
To burn that many calories, the average person needs either an hour of cycling, or 45 minutes of intense running, or half a day of general cleaning without snacking.
Otherwise, they will settle on the sides at a rate of about 40 grams of fat per day.
And just imagine, in order not to gain these calories, you just need to go to bed on time!
Violation of the balance of energy received from food and spent during physical activity, in favor of the first. Scientists have recorded a significant increase in the consumption of simple carbohydrates and saturated fats over the past 50 years.
2. We move too little.
Everything is clear here, it does not need to be deciphered.
3. We sleep a little, at the wrong time.
Disruption of the body’s circadian rhythms – working the night shift, sitting at the computer or TV at night, and even regularly going to bed for about 24 hours – is enough for weight gain. In addition, people spend a significant amount of time not on the street, but indoors, depriving themselves of sunlight.
4. Age-related decrease in the synthesis of steroid hormones and enzymes, primarily of the digestive system.
It also contributes to an increase in the growth of adipose tissue and a decrease in the volume of muscle mass.
5. We eat a little protein.
We like carbohydrates more, and they are immediately deposited on the waist.
6. We live in conditions of chronic stress, which is absolutely unnatural for human physiology.
All modern life is accompanied by chronic stress: constant noise on the streets, a violation of the amount of light saturation, a violation of circadian rhythms, an unbalanced diet, a decrease in the amount of water you drink, an imbalance in the intestinal microbiota, a constant change of time zones (flights) and much more.
Stress should be in a person’s life, it makes him stronger and more stable. But only if the stress is short. Chronic stress leads to elevated levels of cortisol in the blood. And cortisol accumulates adipose tissue.
Cellulite is a collection of fatty tissue that protrudes from under the skin. It is most often seen on the buttocks, thighs and lower abdomen. Due to cellulite, the skin looks lumpy, folded, with small pits, somewhat reminiscent of cottage cheese or orange peel.
Although it may look ugly, cellulite is not a health hazard, it is purely a cosmetic problem. According to statistics, about 80-90% of women face it, so cellulite is often called normal adipose tissue. Men are more fortunate – only 10% develop such a problem.
Why does a cellulite occur?
It is formed when the connective tissue that attaches the skin to the muscles is stretched unevenly. To understand, imagine a sausage wrapped in a rope (or as it is also called a sausage in a net). The rope is connective tissue (they are also fibrous) strands, and the sausage, which is slightly pushed out between the strands, is adipose tissue. The adipose tissue protruding from under the fibrous bands in the form of small tubercles on the skin is cellulite.
Why is cellulite more common in women than in men?
There are two explanations for this. Firstly, the anatomical structure of the cords – in women they are attached from the skin to the muscles in parallel, while in men they cross over. More adipose tissue is placed between parallel strands, which is why women have more expressive buttocks and hips. Secondly, the high level of female sex hormones – estrogen. Therefore, cellulite often occurs when women produce a lot of estrogen, usually during adolescence or pregnancy.
What other factors contribute to the development of cellulite?
Excess weight makes cellulite more visible. However, it can be even in trained or thin people.
With age, the skin loses its elasticity, so in older people cellulite is more noticeable.
There is also a family pattern of inheritance: if parents had bright cellulite, then children are likely to encounter it too, so most likely the main cause of cellulite is genetics.
Is it possible to get rid of a cellulite?
It’s worth warning right away: no matter how hard you try, you won’t be able to completely get rid of cellulite. But there are ways to reduce its manifestations.
First, exercise. They will strengthen the tone of the muscles, which will smooth and improve the appearance of the skin. But in order to achieve the effect, you need to do it regularly, and the result will be visible not earlier than in 2-3 months. Secondly, the normalization of body weight, if there is excess weight. Thirdly, a cream containing 0.3% retinol, which must be applied 1 or 2 times a day.
If a cellulite is pronounced or causes severe inconvenience, then you can seek medical help. Of the more or less proven methods, the following are used:
Ablative laser and radiofrequency therapy. Influencing with heat from a laser or radio frequency radiation, the fibrous cords that stretched the adipose tissue are destroyed, as a result, the appearance of cellulite on the skin is reduced.
Cryolipolysis. The procedure reduces subcutaneous fat using a device that uses vacuum suction to lift tissue and bring it into contact with cooling plates.
Acoustic wave therapy. The doctor applies the gel to the affected skin and operates a small handheld device that sends out sound waves to break up the cellulite.
Operation. Your doctor may suggest one of a variety of surgical procedures to physically separate the fibrous bands under the skin (subcision) to smooth the skin.
All these techniques are expensive, they do not help immediately (certainly not after the 1st procedure) and cellulite will not be completely removed.
Therefore, it is better to learn to love your body and play sports.
With our appetite for low or zero sugar products increasing, artificial sweeteners are big business.
Food or drinks containing artificial sweeteners are often marketed as a healthier option, and it’s understandable why. Because artificial sweeteners are significantly sweeter than sugar, they can be used in very small amounts and contribute little to no calories. There are lots of types, but the most well researched are aspartame and saccharin.
A possible link between artificial sweeteners and cancer has been reported in the media. But despite lots of research in this area, there’s no convincing evidence that sweeteners in our food and drink increase the risk of cancer.
While there’s nothing to worry about from a cancer perspective, questions still remain about whether or not artificial sweeteners can help us lose weight. And as being overweight or obese increases the risk of 13 types of cancer, knowing whether they help is important.
But getting a solid answer to this question is tricky. Diet is notoriously difficult to study and so far, researchers have reached different conclusions. Overall, it looks like artificial sweeteners like aspartame aren’t causing harm, but they’re not having the big weight loss benefits that some people expected either.
Can we have our cake and eat it too?
If sweeteners are replacing a high calorie alternative, it seems logical that by reducing calories they should help with weight loss.
But whether this is the case is tricky to prove. It’s difficult to study the long-term impact of a specific part of our diet for lots of reasons. For one, measuring exactly how much people consume is hard. And there are lots of other things that could explain any differences – like other elements of a person’s diet or how much they exercise – so we need large studies that take these things in to account.
Most studies have looked at artificially sweetened drinks rather than sweeteners in foods, and the results are mixed. For this reason, the European Food Safety Authority won’t allow products containing artificial sweeteners to carry a weight loss health claim.
A 2016 review found that people using artificial sweeteners had both a lower calorie intake and reduced body weight. But these results should be treated with a healthy dose of scepticism as the study was conducted and funded by the International Life Sciences Institute, whose members include companies such as Coca-Cola, Red Bull and Pepsi. Each of these companies has a vested interested in the artificial sweetener business.
The results also don’t fully tally up with a more recent, independent analysis of 56 studies. This analysis found very little evidence to suggest low energy artificial or natural sweeteners, like stevia, are helping lots of people to lose weight.
But when 3 studies were picked out that only included overweight or obese adults, artificial sweeteners did provide a small benefit to weight loss. While positive for this group of people, the researchers say that larger and longer-term studies are needed to confirm this.
If not weight loss, then what about weight gain?
Surprisingly, some research has found that sweeteners might make us gain weight. But the latest review didn’t agree with this.
This raises an important question: if products containing artificial sweeteners contain less calories, why doesn’t the evidence show they are helping us to lose weight?
One explanation is something called ‘reverse causality’ – whereby people who are already overweight or obese are more likely to be choosing food or drinks with sweeteners to help with weight loss. This makes it difficult to say whether the artificial sweeteners or weight gain came first, or how one may affect the other.
But some researchers think there might be more going on, including effects on our gut health, appetite and desire for sweet foods.
But these are unproven theories.
Are sweeteners actually making us hungrier?
Throughout the day, our gut sends messages to our brain in the form of hormones. These hormones tell our brain when we are hungry or full. There has been some suggestion that sweeteners could interfere with these messages, and therefore make us eat more rather than less.
”When we eat food containing sugar, the gut produces more of the hormone that tells our brain we are full, and less of the hormone that tells our brain we are hungry. Currently, the evidence suggests that sweeteners don’t prompt the release of either of these gut hormones in humans,’ says Dr. Ana Pinto, a nutrition researcher from King’s College London (KCL).
Does a diet or low-calorie option at lunch equal more at dinner?
If sweeteners aren’t affecting our gut, is there a psychological effect?
Some research has proposed a reward effect, in which we feel we have some ‘calories to spare’ if we have replaced a high calorie product with a diet alternative.
Daphne Katsikioti, who also studies nutrition at KCL, explains: “‘Some researchers have suggested that when we eat or drink products containing artificial sweeteners, we later compensate for the ‘missing’ energy by eating more.”
But she adds that there’s good evidence to suggest that this doesn’t happen and that artificial sweeteners can be helpful to reduce calories.
Finally, some people have suggested that the intense sweetness that comes from sweeteners could lead to a particularly sweet tooth in the long term. The latest review found very little evidence of this, so more research is needed to pin down if this a possible side effect of artificial sweeteners.
To sweeten or not to sweeten?
Despite the theories, the European Food Safety Authority have ruled that artificial sweeteners in food and drink pose no threat to our health if consumed within daily allowances. For aspartame, this is equivalent to 15 cans of diet coke. That’s a stark contrast to what we know about the harms of having too much sugar.
But products containing sweeteners often don’t offer much nutritional benefit. And the lack of convincing evidence that they can help with weight loss shouldn’t be overlooked.
The take-home message is sugary drinks aren’t a silver bullet for weight loss. But if you drink a lot of sugary drinks and think a diet version might help you cut down on sugar, that’s a good step and is very unlikely to do you any harm.
(HealthDay)—Heavyset folks who exercise regularly shouldn’t get discouraged if they can’t seem to shed more weight, no matter how hard they try.
A new study suggests that their regular workouts are still contributing to better overall heart health, making them “fat but fit” and helping them live longer.
People who are obese-but-fit have lower resting pulse rates, less body fat, higher lean muscle mass and better heart function than those who are obese and don’t regularly exercise, according to the findings.
“The cultural and clinical practice should start shifting from not just focusing on weight loss for health benefits, but really promoting and maintaining a certain exercise level—building up your cardiorespiratory fitness so you can run longer, go up more flights of stairs,” said lead researcher Dr. Grace Liu. She is an assistant professor with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
“That itself, even if you don’t lose weight, is going to lead to beneficial changes that end up leading to you having a longer life span,” Liu said.
The study findings were presented Saturday at the American Heart Association annual meeting, in Chicago. Research presented at meetings should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Previous research has shown that higher fitness is associated with lower risk of heart-related death, even in the obese, Liu said. It’s also been shown that people who are obese-but-fit can have a comparable life span to fit people of normal weight.
For the new study, Liu and her colleagues compared two different groups of obese people who participated in the Dallas Heart Study, a long-term research effort aimed at improving diagnosis, prevention and treatment of heart disease.
The investigators used data gathered for the study to identify nearly 1,100 participants with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more, which is the technical definition of obesity.
The researchers then sorted the obese people based on stress tests that revealed their VO2 max, a measurement of the maximum amount of oxygen a person can utilize during intense exercise.
There were 716 people who qualified as obese and fit based on stress tests, and 356 qualified as obese and unfit.
Obese-but-fit people had 44 percent lower pulse rates, 37 percent better heart function and 43 percent lower body fat than those who were obese and unfit, the findings showed. The obese-but-fit participants also had BMIs that were 37 percent lower than those who didn’t work out.
These results should be encouraging to people who started exercising to lose weight but have been unable to keep losing it, Liu said.
“The majority of the people reach a plateau where they no longer lose weight even though they’re still active and exercising, and trying to build up their fitness,” Liu said. “At that point, even if you stay the same weight, you’re still gaining the benefits of having higher fitness.”
Much of the benefit these people gain is from increasing their lean muscle mass, said Dr. Salim Virani, an associate professor of cardiology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
Muscle weighs more than fat, and it provides a significant boost to your metabolism, said Virani, chair of the American College of Cardiology’s Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease Council.
“Muscles are very good at taking care of excess sugars in your blood,” decreasing your risk of diabetes and its heart-related complications, Virani explained.
“Even if you are obese, there is a lot of hope by becoming physically fit,” Virani said. “Just being physically active adds a lot of mileage in terms of cardiovascular health. It’s not all about losing weight. There’s a lot more to becoming physically active.”
By Carli Jay As Told To Alexandria Gomez
July 7, 2017
Before: 280
After: 140
Up until starting my journey three years ago, I was big my entire life. Having grown up in Australia, I was quite active, but I had foodie parents and often found myself overindulging. However, I always owned it because I thought that being overweight was in my genes and that I’d always be that way. I was always a confident, happy, popular kid. Yes, I was about three times bigger than my friends in high school, but I never let that stop me from enjoying my life. I went to the beach, had a boyfriend, played sports, and lived a very social life. But throughout that time, I was always chewing on something.
There was a major shift for me when I moved to the U.K. from Australia in 2010. Between working a desk job 60 hours a week and no longer having access to fresh foods and the active lifestyle prevalent in Australia, I began gaining more weight.
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The Change
1/6
Carli Jay
The Change
My desire to become healthier came in three major waves. In the summer of 2013, I went on vacation to Mexico, where I was in a bikini on the beach, canoeing, and paddle boarding. During that trip, I realized I missed that active lifestyle I had back in Australia. There, I had an inkling that I wanted to make a change, so I took some ‘before’ shots. However, I returned back to the U.K. and did nothing about it.
It wasn’t until another trip that November when things shifted completely. I love to travel and one of my biggest bucket list items was to go skydiving in Dubai. Once I got there, I was informed that I couldn’t do it because of my weight. This was the first time in my entire life that I’d been held back from something because of my size and I hated it. This pushed me even further in the direction of change until one morning in February when I could barely get out of bed. The entire left side of my body felt numb because being overweight gave me such poor circulation. That day, once I finally got out of bed, I wiped the dust off my old stationary bike and did fifteen minutes. I also committed myself to trying to eat healthier that day. I’ve been making small, healthier changes ever since.
The Food
2/6
Carli Jay
The Food
I think a lot of people fail at weight loss because they make drastic changes that aren’t sustainable. I didn’t even set out to lose weight originally, but instead to become healthier. I started small by writing down everything I ate daily and tallying the calories. I had no clue I was eating over 4,000 calories a day. I’d look where I was overspending calories and try to cut little things out here and there. One week I’d go without a second dessert, the next week I’d cut out soda and that second dessert. I continued adjusting every four to five days for four months until I’d created a much healthier diet. Over the first four months alone I lost 28 pounds. I continued cooking more and swapping healthier foods in until I reached my goal weight in 2016 of 140 pounds.
Now, I avoid sugar and dairy, though I haven’t cut them completely. I start my morning with coffee and eggs with spinach and tomatoes or yogurt with nuts and seeds. Then, I have a midmorning snack, which is usually a banana or nuts. Lunch is usually chicken or salmon with lentils or grains. In the afternoon, I might have some of my homemade veggie chips as a snack. Dinner is also protein-based but usually steak with vegetables. I don’t always have dessert, but when I do, it’s probably yogurt or anything with dates.
The Workouts
3/6
Carli Jay
The Workouts
I started off small with my workouts as well, doing less than half an hour on the stationary bike every second day. By going slow in the beginning rather than forcing myself, I actually began looking forward to exercise. After a month, I was working out on the bike every weekday and occasionally doing an hour session on the weekends. After seeing some results four months in, I joined a gym. The first day I walked in, a personal trainer approached me asking if I wanted to lose weight, and that’s when I smiled and said, “No thanks, I’m going to do this on my own.” And that’s exactly what I did.
I did my own research and found that weight training is great for preventing loose skin, so that’s what I did, along with cardio. Every day, I was in the gym for 90 minutes doing yoga, rowing, swimming, or hill sprints. After two years, I started going twice a day. It’s truly become my passion.
STICKING WITH IT
4/6
Carli Jay
STICKING WITH IT
One thing that keeps me going is the community I’ve built through my Instagram account. I get so many messages from women around the world and I want to continue being a positive influence in their lives.
Taking progress pictures also keeps me motivated because it reminds me how far I’ve come. As for plateaus, I just look at those as new challenges and meet them with excitement.
THE REWARD
5/6
Carli Jay
THE REWARD
I never could have imagined three years ago that this would be my life. It really makes me feel as though anything is possible, which has given me a new, positive outlook on life. Aside from improving my health and feeling/looking better, I’ve found passion and a path in life to help others. I feel so lucky that I get to continue down this track and inspire people. Plus, halfway through my journey, I was able to reward myself by finally skydiving in Dubai!
MY NUMBER-ONE TIP
6/6
Carli Jay
MY NUMBER-ONE TIP
Make sure you want this for you. Find out why this matters to you and commit to it. Even more importantly, learn to love the journey and yourself at every stage. You’ll get to know yourself on another level, body, mind, and soul.
One of the most important elements of successful weight loss is establishing a support system. For some this means leaning on friends, family, and coworkers. But that’s not always enough. Sometimes, you need a community of people who truly understand the challenges you’re facing because they’re going through it, too.
There are hundreds of weight-loss communities to choose from, but the least obvious has to be Reddit. But the social networking site’s LoseIt subreddit is a community that’s collectively lost over a million pounds and an average of 39 pounds per user. On this thread, users share their victories, struggles, and tips.
To help you with your goals, we’ve combed through this group discussion for the best pieces of weight-loss advice.
Here’s what we found.
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6 Reddit Users Share What REALLY Helped Them Lose Weight
1/6
Cheryl Seligman
“The only way I managed to finally break this binge-eating cycle was to give all my money, credit cards, etc., to my wife as a temporary measure. I allowed myself zero spending at all. For six whole months, I carried no cash or cards on me, and my wife did all the shopping and made all the other household purchases. I couldn’t even trust myself to get gas for the car because I knew I couldn’t resist grabbing a bag of chips along the way. But with time, not eating junk food became a habit. Now, I don’t crave it anymore. And, in the process of breaking that habit, I saved money. A f**k-ton of money. It turns out I was spending almost $50 per day on fast food and other junk that I didn’t need. By the time spring rolled around and my wife gave me my wallet back, I realized we had piled up an extra $8,000 in our bank account, just from me not stuffing my face.” —Scrivener83, down 95 pounds
Check out some of the weirdest weight-loss trends through history:
6 Reddit Users Share What REALLY Helped Them Lose Weight
2/6
Cheryl Seligman
“Walking the dog is a great way to get exercise in! I started by committing to 30- to 40-minute walks every morning and night, and then slowly upped it to an hour or more. At that point, I was averaging 12,000 to 15,000 steps a day. Eventually, I found it to be therapeutic. I would listen to music, podcasts, or call my family while walking. At sunrise or sunset, the view can be especially stunning and it makes you realize how damn lucky you are to be able to walk around and just enjoy the world.” —acciointernet, down 30 pounds
6 Reddit Users Share What REALLY Helped Them Lose Weight
3/6
Cheryl Seligman
“For me, finding something filling and tasty goes a long way. Costco/West End chicken skewers are awesome. Each skewer is roughly 75 calories, and I feel like three to four are more than enough for a filling entree. [I also rely on] Bai variety packs. I like soda, a lot. So having other flavored options that help cut out calories is fundamental to me.” —PatrickKelly2012, down 75 pounds
6 Reddit Users Share What REALLY Helped Them Lose Weight
4/6
Cheryl Seligman
“I saw this Youtube video that I forgot the name of, but the message was basically that this woman is making garlic bread for herself and her overweight friend. As soon as the garlic bread comes out of the oven, her friend shoves it in her mouth without chewing and swallows three or four pieces. Her justification was ‘I love garlic bread.’ But what she just did does not reflect that. Someone who loves garlic bread would wait for it to cool and chew it slowly to savor it. Similarly, many people struggle with weight loss because they ‘love food.’ If they could adopt the mindset that loving food means having respect for it, that makes a huge difference.” —ROSCOES-JUMPSUIT
6 Reddit Users Share What REALLY Helped Them Lose Weight
5/6
Cheryl Seligman
“The most important thing you need to do to lose weight is to stick with your plan the best you can every day. So what if you have a bad day? Or a bad week? The only time you truly fail is when you stop trying. One perfect day is no competition for 10 good or okay days. Sometimes it pays to start small. Even baby steps are steps!” —sarahboola, down 100 pounds
(Get the secret to banishing belly bulge from WH readers who’ve done it with Take It All Off! Keep It All Off!)
6 Reddit Users Share What REALLY Helped Them Lose Weight
6/6
Cheryl Seligman
“I started off eating about 1,400 calories a day, which I continued to lower until about 1,200. At first the idea of eating only that much seemed insane, but then I learned that I really, really love vegetables. Broccoli and green beans pretty much became my best friends. I didn’t even come close to dropping any of my favorite foods though! I still had cheesecake and ice cream, just smaller serving sizes every now and then instead of every single day.” —xBinx, down 55 pounds
Don’t freak out; adapting a healthier lifestyle WILL change your dating life. When I committed to my wellness utilizing some serious Indiana Jones-style “soul archeology,” things began to shift way beyond changes to my bodacious bod. I’ve looked at my relationship to food, my body, self-care, and, of course, how I view dating. I’ve figured out what sh*t in my life hasn’t worked, and have had the courage to change it.
One of the biggest things I’ve experienced has been an upgrade in my perception of self-worth.
What does all of this have to do with dating? Everything.
Getting healthier is an emotional journey. When you wake up at 360 pounds, unable to walk a city block without pain, there’s a good chance you’re carrying as heavy a weight in your soul as you are your 5 foot 4 frame. My decision to become healthier sets me up to thrive in my own life. I’m not a finished product in a “before” and “after” photo; every day I make a choice to show my body love. Every day, I make a choice to practice patience and self-acceptance.
I’ve had confidence in my skin at every size. It wasn’t till both my parents had medical scares that it dawned on me that I might not be living a healthy lifestyle. Shortly after this, I realized I was making the same mistakes with men in my dating life again and again; I wasn’t finding the healthy relationship I really wanted.
For years I attached myself to guys who weren’t “showing up” for me. Because I craved a George Strait, country-music style love, I held down the fort in unhealthy relationships. I thought each guy would be different. They never were. Different guys couldn’t fix the fact that what I really needed was to believe that I was worthy and deserved more.
Here is what I have learned:
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1. For a larger woman who loves fitness, there’s a “dating pool limbo” and I’m stuck in it.
1/5
Photograph courtesy of Sarah Sapora
1. For a larger woman who loves fitness, there’s a “dating pool limbo” and I’m stuck in it.
Let’s talk really straight here: Lots of guys are attracted to larger women. But those men, in my experience, don’t appreciate a plus-size woman on a health journey.
The men I’ve come across who do value health and fitness, haven’t been into a woman like me. They want a package that’s smaller and sculpted. Is this true for all guys? Of course not! But this is what I’ve come across so far. Ideally, I’d like to date someone who’s into wellness himself, or someone capable of appreciating my journey.
2. I’ve swapped “drinks” for activities—and I like it.
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Photograph courtesy of Sarah Sapora
2. I’ve swapped “drinks” for activities—and I like it.
You know what makes a great date? Going to a board game cafe or a bookstore. It spawns more natural conversation than posing perfectly on a barstool nursing a gin and tonic. Lots of social activities revolve around alcohol, but these days I limit my “adult beverage” consumption.
I’d rather eat my macros than drink them. Also, eating (decently) clean has made my tolerance laughably low! I save the tequila for special occasions and try to focus on activities that facilitate conversation like a walk, coffee, or Kundalini yoga class over sitting at a bar.
Side note; I’ll never forget the first time a date said to me “let’s just walk there” and I didn’t freak out because I knew my body could handle it. #NonScaleVictory
(Kick-start your new, healthy routine with Women’s Health’s 12-Week Total-Body Transformation!)
3. I have less to prove.
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Photograph courtesy of Sarah Sapora
3. I have less to prove.
In the past, I would have never showed up for a first date in anything less than a bodycon dress flaunting my assets. This was my “power uniform” and I wore it like armor. These days I rely less on my clothes to “make a statement” about who I am and more on my energy. I’ve realized I don’t have to showcase my body or “ante up” overt sexuality to show my value. I am valuable as I am, without any bells and whistles.
4. Lack of respect is the ultimate deal breaker.
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Photograph courtesy of Sarah Sapora
4. Lack of respect is the ultimate deal breaker.
I used to be pretty ambiguous about the standard I deserved in a partner. I made excuses for cruddy behaviors because I didn’t see I was worth more. I didn’t truly know what respect looked like from a partner or from myself for my own body, emotional health, and my purpose-driven life. These days, I show up for myself in a major way. I know I deserve nothing less from someone I’d date.
Watch men and women share what their dealbreakers are:
5. I am truly OK being alone until I find what I am looking for.
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Photograph courtesy of Sarah Sapora
5. I am truly OK being alone until I find what I am looking for.
At 38, I’m flying solo and living an independent life. And of course there is an awareness that I’m getting older. But I’m not anxious about it. I get to wake up every day and create something beautiful with my life! I would love a partner to share it with me, but I know I’m damn good at creating my own joy, and I live with energy and enthusiasm about the future. I don’t need someone else in order to feel complete.
Dating while on a health journey forces you to be clear about who you are, and what you are looking for. It means less prospective partners, but deeper and more intimate connections when you do meet someone. While I haven’t found that “one” partner yet, my entire equilibrium has shifted. My focus is now on living the best life I can, regardless of if I am dating or alone. Until I come across someone to share the journey, I get the kick-ass job of continuing to honor myself with loving thoughts and actions.
It’s a tale as old as time and we’re not referring to the Disney magic of Beauty and the Beast. We’re talking about salt and the long-standing idea that you should slash your sodium intake to keep your blood pressure in check and reduce water weight, a.k.a. bloat. (Kick-start your new, healthy routine with Women’s Health’s 12-Week Total-Body Transformation!)
But in his new book, The Salt Fix, James DiNicolantonio, Pharm.D., claims that cutting back on salt can actually prevent you from losing weight. DiNicolantonio suggests that when your body is depleted of salt, it amps up your brain’s reward system (the thing that makes you feel ahhhhmazing after polishing off a doughnut or bag of chips). And when this area of your brain is going HAM, you’re more likely to crave and eat a dessert or treat that you normally wouldn’t. That can be an issue if you’re trying to shed pounds.
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The theory is based on a 2004 study of mice published in Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior. For that study, the researchers found that when mice were low in sodium—a key mineral for many bodily functions—their brains appear to “sensitize” their reward system or create a hyperactive reward system.
So should we all give low-sodium diets the boot?
Well, like other animal-only studies, this one should be taken with a grain of salt, says Keri Gans, R.D.N., C.D.N., author of The Small Diet Change. While it’s true that depriving yourself of any ingredient (even salt) can cause increased cravings, those urges to eat junk are likely spurred by feeling restricted—not necessarily a change in brain chemistry, she says.
But does following a low-salt diet actually work against your weight loss goals? It depends, says Gans.
First off, you shouldn’t cut out just a single ingredient or nutrient in an effort to drop pounds, Gans says. Focusing on just removing salt from your diet isn’t going to be the golden ticket to losing weight because in doing so, you’re disregarding other nutritional factors that are essential for weight loss. Instead of picking items based on their sodium content, you should consider how much fiber and protein (key nutrients to staying fuller longer) versus calories and saturated fats a product has, she says.
Similarly, when you make a low-salt routine your main focus, you might end up eating products advertised as “reduced sodium” or “sodium-free.” These seem like a good option, but they can be loaded with added sugars and calories, Gans says.
Eliminating any single ingredient from your diet, especially when it’s something you love, is just going to backfire, says Gans. So, if you’re total salt junkie (a.k.a. one of those people who’d choose a bag of chips over a cupcake any day of the week) banning sodium from your diet will likely lead you to make unhealthy choices and sabotage your goals.
There’s also the fact that you need a certain amount of sodium to function and maintain hydration and electrolyte balance. So when you cut way back on salt, you could deprive your body of what it needs, says Lisa DeFazio, R.D. Instead of eliminating salt as a weight loss or debloating tactic, DeFazio recommends capping your intake at 400 to 500 mg per meal.
DeFazio and Gans recommend choosing snacks such as air-popped or microwaveable popcorn because you can add a little bit of salt for taste (and fill that salt fix). Plus, popcorn is low in cals and high in fiber, which are the actual keys to weight loss. Other good low-salt snack options for weight loss: kosher dill pickles, roasted edamame, roasted chickpeas, and lightly-salted nuts.
Bottom line: Cutting back on salt is still a great way to reduce water weight, but going below 400 to 500 mg a meal might leave you with cravings.
Normally, I hit the scale each morning as part of my daily routine. I’m not desperately trying to lose a few pounds, but rather maintain my weight and identify trends between what I eat, how I feel, and how well I ride.
Regularly tracking your weight has its benefits. You can learn whether you’ve fueled yourself properly during or after a big ride (if you lost weight, you didn’t take in enough calories). Similarly, by weighing in before and after a ride, you can learn how much water you’ve lost through sweat. Both pros and enthusiasts alike can use this information to figure out how much to hydrate during a workout. (If you are trying to lose weight, the training tips in Bike Your Butt Off!, published by Rodale, will help you meet your goals fast.)
But I wondered—are there any downsides to my habit?
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San Francisco-based clinical nutritionist Stacy Roy doesn’t recommend her clients weigh themselves. “I encourage a healthy relationship with food and one’s body, and I believe the scale can often interfere with that,” she says.
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Food is so much more than calories and numbers, Roy stresses: It provides energy and develops muscle, and if you’re focused on the scale, you’re no longer eating intuitively.
Robin Farina, former pro-cyclist and co-owner of Revolution Coaching, also advises against daily weigh-ins. “Weighing yourself each day is not necessary,” Farina says. “For those of my clients who are specifically in weight-loss mode, I recommend weighing once a week at the same exact time of day and using the same scale.”
So I decided to quit weighing myself for a month, and see what happened. Here’s what I learned.
I realized knowing my weight had become addictive…
The first week was unexpectedly hard. Those first few days, I constantly wondered, “How much do I weigh?”
I had trouble resisting the urge, and ended up having my boyfriend secretly note the numbers on the scale while I closed my eyes, so I could see the numbers after my month was done.
Even after I’d quit fully committed to the experiment, I still sometimes accidentally weighed myself purely out of habit. (Get the secret to banishing belly bulge from Women’s Health readers who’ve done it with Take It All Off, Keep It All Off!)
… Then I quit caring about it.
After about two weeks, I finally felt okay with not weighing myself. I realized that seeing (or not seeing) the number on the scale bore zero impact on the rest of my day.
If there were a weight fluctuation worth worrying about, I realized, I’d certainly know by the way my kit fit, or if my climbing times suddenly slowed.
I started listening to my body more.
And that meant eating more—but not a lot more. I grazed on carbs more frequently throughout the day, but I also did a better job of downing drinks with electrolytes. I may have also given in to a third slice of deep-dish pizza at dinner when I normally would have shut down those “I’m still hungry” vibes.
RELATED: 6 Signs Your Training Is Paying Off
I had some great workouts.
While it’s hard to say whether weighing myself ever improved my cycling performance, it certainly didn’t hurt it. I had some fantastic workouts over this month, nailing some intervals I’d struggled with in the past. (Conversely, if you do need to shave off a few pounds, this is how much improvement you’ll in your performance when you lose weight.)
In the end, I gained some weight.
I weighed myself at the end of the month and found… that I had gained a few pounds. There are a few explanations for that, according to cycling coach and exercise physiologist Jason Boynton. One possible culprit: since carbohydrate molecules are hydrophilic, and I’d upped my carb intake, it’s possible that I increased my body’s carb stores and gained some water weight.
The Takeaway
If you’re going to obsess over a daily stat, you may be better off tracking sleep quality, hydration, or resting heart rate, rather than what the scale says each day.
Going forward, I’ll likely weigh myself less often—once a week at the most. Like Roy suggests, when I weigh myself daily, I think about what my eating means for the number I’ll see in the morning. I felt happier (and more importantly, rode better) by eating intuitively. To do that, I have to focus on what’s on my plate—not what’s on the scale.
The article I Stopped Weighing Myself, And This Is What Happened originally appeared on Bicycling.
If you’re trying to lose weight, an overhaul of your eating habits is a good way to begin. Focusing on whole foods, cutting down on sugar, and packing in fruits and veggies at every meal can go a long way.
And while eating healthier overall is a great start, it can be a little bit tricky to figure out whether treating yourself to dessert is just part of a balanced weight-loss plan or if it’s actually screwing you over.
The good news is that you don’t need to give up all dessert in order to successfully lose weight, says Rachel Meltzer Warren, R.D.N., a Jersey City, NJ-based registered dietitian and nutritionist. “It’s not realistic to tell people to never eat dessert; that’s not something I expect of my clients, or myself!” says Metltzer Warren.
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So instead of swearing off ice cream, Girl Scout cookies, and doughnuts, she suggests digging into a treat once or twice a week. She says this shouldn’t derail your progress as long as you keep your portions in check. (Learn how bone broth can help you lose weight with Women’s Health’s Bone Broth Diet.)
“What I see with clients is that it’s all about resetting your habits so that when you do eat a doughnut or cupcake, you really appreciate and enjoy it,” she says. “When sugary treats are your default sweet food and you eat them every day, you overdo the calories and the enjoyment of the treat barely registers anymore,” says Meltzer Warren. But when you make those high-calorie desserts an every-once-in-a-while thing, the calories go a lot further in terms of satisfaction and they don’t make a huge dent in your calorie or sugar intake for the week.
Plus, you can always swap out unhealthy desserts for more healthful options or evaluate what causes your sweet tooth and try to curb those cravings.
“If you have a sweet tooth, think about the area where you tend to overdo it,” Meltzer Warren says. If you always have dessert after dinner, a good strategy can be to switch to a healthier sweet food like fruit for most of the week. However, an even better option is to retrain your brain to associate dinner with something like sipping herbal tea or brushing your teeth post-meal. Then, treat yourself to something you really look forward to like a piece of cake or ice cream once or twice a week. Make it a really good one. And enjoy every single bite.
Raise your hand if you’ve ever found yourself halfway through a bag of quinoa chips before asking yourself, “Wait, am I just eating because I’m bored?” Or sad. Or anxious. Or fill in any other emotion here.
You’re definitely not alone. “As humans, eating is linked to so many emotions,” says Lauren Fowler, R.D.N., a specialist in mindful eating. “Many people turn to food as a way to cope with emotions when they don’t know how to express them.” (Kick-start your new, healthy routine with Women’s Health’s 12-Week Total-Body Transformation!)
Emotional eating may be totally common, but it’s unhealthy for two major reasons, says Karen Koenig, L.C.S.W. First, using food as a way to cope with the stress of prepping for a big presentation at work or dealing with a breakup means that we’re not learning real ways to deal with those feelings. Taking a meditation break or squeezing in a sweat session are much better ways to cope. Putting food on top of your feelings is like taking a short cut. “Secondly, we also habituate to a pattern of ingesting unhealthy foods and taking in more than our body needs for nourishment,” says Koenig. In short, you’re avoiding your real emotional issues and gaining weight. Fun, right?
Should you be worrying about your stress levels? Ask a Hot Doc:
So how do you stop all the mindless munching? “Oftentimes emotional eaters have no sense of when they’re hungry for full,” says Danielle Shelov, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist who specializes in eating issues. “The best way to stop feeding our feelings is to let ourselves feel them.”
The key is to pay close attention to the signals your body is sending you. Before reaching for a handful of snacks, check in with your tummy. Are you actually hungry or are you really getting an emotional cue from your body?
Another trick is to set a goal to only eat three meals and two snacks for the next three days, says Shelov. “Then see what happens in the moments you would normally graze or go back for more food.”
And when you feel the urge to start emotionally eating, jot down the feelings that are sending you to the fridge. “This way you are not eating aimlessly—it is thoughtful and measured.”
The bottom line: Check in with yourself and feed your feelings with more mindfulness—not munchies.
