FitSugar

Yet Another Reason to Exercise and Eat Right

FitSugar — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 02:00:00 -0700

A new study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, found that if a woman, who has survived breast cancer, eats at least five servings of vegetables and fruits a day and walks briskly for 30 minutes, six days a week, her risk of death from breast cancer, goes down by 50 percent. Those who were both physically active and had a healthy diet were much more likely to survive through the follow-up period than the rest of the study group. Moral of the story? Both exercise and eating healthfully are key components to living longer, period. So if you don't do both, then you probably should start.

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Healthy and Not at ALL Ugly: America Ferrera

FitSugar — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 09:25:17 -0800

The whole world loves America, but not just because of her hit sitcom but also because she has a very healthy outlook on her body.

America tells the March 5th, 2007 issue of In Touch that she wasn't always so confident in her body:

On her body before: "I've tried almost every diet."

On her body now: "You have to build a normal relationship with exercise and food, for me it's not about looking like a supermodel -- it's about feeling good about who I am naturally."

On how she maintains her figure: "It's called a lot of stress and a lot of work!"

On working out: "I don't have much time to exercise, but when I do, I hike, run and do yoga."

On working with models: "Well in real life, I'm not sucking down pies or anything! I'm not unhealthy."

On sizes: "We're not all a size 2 and we're not all a size 0, and you know what? That's okay because some of us like to eat!"

Definitely a woman comfortable with her genes.

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American I"doll": Carrie Underwood

FitSugar — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 09:02:56 -0800

Carrie Underwood has been in the limelight ever since winning American Idol last season. Turns out that becoming an Idol is working out just nicely for her as she has a booming career, a cute new man and a slender new body.

How did she slim down? Underwood has claimed that she maintains a healthy diet by eating vegetarian and staying away from junk food, pizza and traditional southern fare. Typically you'll find her eating veggie burgers, soy-based sausages and the occasional protein bar.

Underwood does not claim to be a workout guru. While she does have a TreadMill, she doesn’t have a trainer and she will swim whenever she finds the time. Underwood also credits slimming down to, "Bouncing around on-stage," which is definitely a workout in itself.

I have always thought that Carrie looked great from the beginning of her career and that she did not need to lose weight, but I do applaud her for getting healthy during such a hectic time in her life. Cutting out the junk food is a great start for anyone looking to get healthier in 2007!

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Diet Tip: Exercise One Hour/Five Days a Week

FitSugar — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 03:00:00 -0700

When it comes to dieting, exercise really is the magic pill. Calorie restriction and exercise have long been known as the dieting duo necessary for success. Unfortunately the necessary amount of time spent exercising is often grossly underestimated.

New research from the University of Pittsburgh found that 55 minutes of moderate exercise, 5 days a week was needed to not only lose weight, but more importantly to maintain weight. The four year study, involving 200 women, emphasizing the calorie restriction alone is not enough. Moderate exercise is necessary for getting the weight off and keeping it off, which often proves more difficult than losing the weight in the first place.

Just a reminder: moderate exercise is considered any activity that makes you "slightly breathless," and should be at least 50 percent of your maximum heart rate (220 minus your age). A higher heart rate will burn more calories, so if you're exercising as part of your weight loss plan, feel free to work out in a higher heart rate zone. This heart rate calculator will help guide you.

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Fit Tip: Keep a Diet and Exercise Journal

FitSugar — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:30:00 -0800

Now that it's December and 2008 is only a couple weeks away, I'm sure New Year's resolutions are on your mind. Many people have the general goal to be fit, or to exercise more, but they are not quite sure how to make that happen.

Might I suggest keeping a diet and exercise journal? Keeping track of what you eat and how much you exercise can really help you stay on top of your goals. It pays to be organized. You can also write down your fitness- and health-related New Year's resolutions. Most importantly, you can write down your successes, too, like how much weight you've lost, or how you can run 20 minutes straight.

I like to use a blank book like this Moleskin Sketchbook ($16.95), because it allows me to write freely about anything I want. If you need a little more organization, you can get a BodyMinder Workout and Exercise Journal ($10.17), so you can keep track of all the details of your workouts, like how much weight you're lifting or how many reps you've done that day. If you love coloring, you could also get the Streamline Colors Fitness Journal ($7.95). It's a calendar that is color coded, so each day that you take a walk, you can color the box in yellow. If you do weight training, put in a dot of red. It's a creative and visual reminder to help you get moving. Sounds like a great gift idea for the health nut in your life (and you can even add it to your Christmas list).

With Teen Obesity, Inactivity Is Only Part of the Problem

FitSugar — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:32:46 -0800

I panic every time I see another "exercise doesn't work!" story - until I read between the lines and learn once again that exercise is a good thing. On the heels of its conversation-starting cover story on the exercise "myth," Time is tackling a new study of teen obesity that claims inactivity is only partly to blame for heavier kids.

Obesity rates in teenagers have triple between 1976 and 2004, with lack of exercise the suspected culprit. But a new report published in Obesity Reviews says that physical activity levels among teens have actually stayed fairly steady. So does that mean that exercise doesn't matter? Hardly, so read more.

Unfortunately, this latest study only looked at activity levels, not eating habits, and the participants were self-reporting on their own habits, which can lead to unreliable data. These figures merely suggest that the increase in teen obesity can't be explained away by teens' lack of exercise, according to Dr. Youfa Wang, the lead author of the study. Here's more:

So does this mean that exercise isn't important in controlling weight? As tempting as that conclusion might be, Wang and other health experts say that's not exactly what the new data show. . . . While exercise may not contribute directly to weight loss, it is critical for maintaining a healthy weight, since it helps calibrate the balance between energy taken in and energy burned off. "The data is too gross, and too general, to assume that [exercise doesn't count]," warns Dr. Janet Walberg Rankin, a professor in the department of human nutrition, foods, and exercise at Virginia Tech. "We need to have a dual approach to weight involving both activity and diet. I would hate for people to take away from this study that activity has nothing to do with weight."

Phew! Thanks, doc. I also hope that's not what people take away from this study. In fact, to me, it says the opposite. If teen obesity is going up because teens have increased their calorie intake without increasing their activity levels, then that seems to say pretty clearly that exercise does make a difference. Do you agree?

Not Matter How You Approach it a Calorie is a Calorie

FitSugar — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 12:15:00 -0800

There is a constant discussion going on in the medical and fitness community over what is better (in terms of shedding pounds): Diet or exercise?

Turns out, that a calorie is just a calorie, and researchers have found that dieting is just as effective for losing weight as exercise. They also found there is no way to selectively lose fat in certain spots (spot reducing) and that adding muscle mass does not somehow boost metabolism and help dieters take off even more weight.

Here's a novel idea: If diet and exercise are equally effective in losing weight, imagine how effective they can be when done in conjunction with each other. I'm just saying...

Exercise No Good For Weight Loss?

FitSugar — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 14:30:17 -0700

A couple of years ago the Cardio Free Diet introduced popular culture to the concept that exercise and weight loss were incompatible. Recently we learned that exercise doesn't boost fat-burning. Now Time magazine's new cover story investigates the seemingly detrimental relationship even further. A thumbnail sketch of the article: exercise makes you hungry, so you eat more and don't lose weight.

Should you give up the treadmill forever? Learn more.

Diet Tip: Keep the Formula Simple

FitSugar — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:45:00 -0700

We read it time and time again, but one of the simplest rules of weight loss is often ignored: To lose weight, you need to expend more calories than you take in. There are plenty of dieting strategies to help you do this, from keeping a food diary to cycling calories. But the magical, yet simple, formula remains the same.

In a recent column on Yahoo Health, personal trainer Debbie Rocker elaborates on this quintessential weight loss equation with some common-sense reminders, which I can certainly use from time to time! To see Rocker's advice, read more.

Rocker hammers home the equation with a few crucial points; here's more from the column:

Adding (more) exercise, and not changing your diet at all, will cause weight loss only if you are burning more calories than you are taking in . . . So if you are exercising enough to push the equation over to the deficit column (where you are basically in the red with calories - spending more than you are taking in), then you will begin to lose weight.

Reducing your food/caloric intake and not adding exercise will result in weight loss only if you have reduced food intake enough to tip the energy balance to the negative, whereby you are taking in less than you are expending.

Obviously, adding exercise and reducing your caloric intake, will make it more likely that your equation will swing over to the negative - the weight loss side. And of course, the greater the difference between intake and expenditure, the faster the weight loss (or gain, depending on which way the equation swings).

What do you think: Is it really that simple?

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Heidi Klum's Got a Good Take on Her Post-Baby Bod

FitSugar — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:30:38 -0800

Thanks to a healthy attitude - and a little encouragement from hubby Seal - Heidi Klum is working to get her body back in shape after baby number four. Still, if you're expecting the supermodel to take a turn in the annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, you might be surprised to learn that she won't be walking the runway this year, but playing hostess duty instead.

In an interview with US Weekly, it seems this mom is a little more realistic when it comes to shaping up her body after giving birth. Heidi told the magazine:

"I wouldn't say I'm back in the shape yet. But I don't know. Everything changes when you get older. It was different when I was 31 with the first one. Now, being 36 with the fourth one, it's different."

It seems to me the mom is setting a realistic expectation for getting back in shape and going about it the right way. She knows that it takes some work to get the bod you want, saying that, "For me, it always works to get back into it immediately. I think that if you wait too long, it kind of sticks on and it stays there forever. I have to be motivated." Still, she's not gym-crazed or diet-obsessed, adding that she's not exercising too much for now: "I walk on the treadmill a little bit. I walk on the driveway. I'm very active with the children." Sure, she's blessed with some supermodel genes (and possibly a very long driveway), but even still, Heidi's take on weight loss seems surprisingly down-to-earth to me - do you agree?