FitSugar

Oprah's Weight Loss Show

FitSugar — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 04:00:00 PST

I am not sure if any of you saw Oprah's show this week about weight loss, but it was inspiring - to say the least. Guests on the show had lost a significant amount of weight without the help of pills or surgery. One female guest (pictured here) even lost a whooping 530 pounds. The best part? She credited the Internet as being a major player in her decision to lose weight.

There were a few common threads behind all their unhealthy habits they shared before losing the weight, such as: drinking a lot of soda, binging late at night, sugar addictions, major lack of exercise, and eating way too much fast food.

Each person had their own reasons and methods for losing weight. However, again, I saw a few common threads in their methods, such as: cutting back on refined carbohydrates, cutting out junk food altogether, starting an exercise program, strength training, and eating five to six times per day.

Losing 10, 20 or even 50 pounds pales in comparison with the hundreds of pounds these folks lost. All you have to do is start with baby steps and before you know it you'll be jogging strides. If they can do it, so can you.

To see the full set of the before and after pictures from the show

View 13 Photos ›

Source

Nighttime Fasting: A New Way to Lose Weight?

Shape — Thu, 24 May 2012 04:09:52 PDT

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar. This week Shape turns to Cynthia Sass, a registered dietitian with master's degrees in both nutrition science and public health.

If you couldn’t let anything cross your lips from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m., but you were allowed to eat anything you wanted for eight hours a day and still lose weight, would you try it? That’s the apparent bottom line of a rat study published in the journal Cell Metabolism, which recently stirred up the weight loss pot.

Top 50 Summer Diet Foods for Weight Loss

Scientists put groups of mice on different diet regimens for 100 days. One group of rodents ate healthy food while animals in two of the groups chowed down on high-fat, high-calorie feed. Half of the junk food eaters were allowed to munch whenever they wanted to while the others only had access to feed for the eight hours they were most active. The conclusion: even though they ate a fatty diet, the mice who were forced to fast for 16 hours were almost as lean as those who ate the healthy fare. Interestingly, the round the clock junk food eaters became obese and developed health problems, even though they consumed about the same amount of fat and calories as the time-restricted junk food fed mice.

See if a nutritionist thinks nighttime fasting works after the break!

Sugar Shout Out: Find Out the Fate of Your Favorite TV Shows

Katie Henry — Wed, 16 May 2012 23:55:09 PDT

3 Ways to Say Goodbye to Belly Fat

Jenny Sugar — Mon, 14 May 2012 01:53:32 PDT

A nutritious diet and regular exercise have helped you reach your weight loss goal, but you're still trying to get rid of that little extra pooch around your midsection. Here are three things you can do every week to help you achieve a trimmer belly.

When eating: Take an honest look at your diet and your bathroom schedule. Your belly might not be caused by fat, but by air trapped in your digestive system. If you're not getting enough fiber (you need 25 to 30 grams a day), constipation can cause bloating. Here are some common reasons women don't get enough fiber and how to overcome them. On the other hand, overdoing it on fiber or eating too many gas-producing foods like broccoli, apples, or beans can also make your belly stick out. There are also foods you can eat, like blueberries, that are proven to diminish belly fat, so be sure to include these five fat-blasting foods in your diet.
When doing cardio: Studies show that including interval training in your cardio sessions is proven to diminish belly fat. If you find that you normally stick to a consistent pace when running, biking, or swimming, mix it up by adding 10- to 60-second fast-paced or sprinting intervals.
When strength training: Basic crunches can help tone your abs, but they only target certain abdominal muscles. Incorporate full-body exercises like side planks as well as balancing moves on a ball or on one leg to target all the muscles in your core.

Phone It In: Free Apps to Help You Drop Pounds

Jenny Sugar — Wed, 09 May 2012 14:03:47 PDT

Losing weight is a difficult struggle for most, but you don't have to go at it alone. For busy women wanting to drop pounds, being able to keep track of weight-loss goals on their phone is not only convenient, it offers the support and motivation needed to follow through. Here's a list of the best weight-loss apps - and they won't cost you a dime!

Lose It!: Fill in some important info about yourself, including age, height, current weight, goal weight, and how many pounds you want to lose per week and you're ready to go. The app tells you how many calories you should have each day to meet your weight-loss goal, and also keeps track of the calories you consume each day and the calories you lose via exercise. The "My Day" feature gives you a quick snapshot of your day, how many calories you've consumed and burned, and how many cals you have left. Easy to use and easy to read.
Easy Weight Loss Tips: We could always use more advice on how to lose weight, and this little app offers quick diet, exercise, and nutrition tips to help you on your quest, such as, "Keep a bowl of cut-up vegetables in a see-through container in the refrigerator."

Keep reading to hear about two more free weight-loss apps.

13 Health Gimmicks You Can Stop Wasting Money On

Business Insider — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:15:21 PDT

Consumers have a tendency of falling for the next big health gimmick. Save your money on health duds with these Business Insider tips.

No matter how many times we're told otherwise, Americans' obsession with get-healthy-quick schemes will likely never die. Too bad most of these fads aren't worth their weight in salt - or your hard-earned dollars. We've put together a list of some of the worst budget-sucking health trends that still persist today.

Coconut Water

Coconut water may be nature's version of Gatorade but some brands have already caught fire for over-hyping its nutrient content. Vita Coco agreed to settle a $10 million class action lawsuit over an independent study that showed the drinks didn't pack near as many electrolytes as advertisements implied. Some coconut waters are also loaded with added sugar, which will do nothing to help your waistline.

Alternative: Pick up your own young green coconuts on the cheap from an Asian produce market. Just crack them open with a cleaver and pop in a straw.

"All-Natural" Foods

30 percent of Americans bought more natural foods in 2011, according to a Rodale study. But what are we really paying more for? There's no clear cut regulation on what makes food "natural," which means just about any company can slap that label on its packages, add a fancy green theme and jack up the price.

Says Andrew Schrage of MoneyCrashers: "Before buying any food that is touted as being 'all natural,' take a look at the ingredient list before you check out. Keep in mind that butter and salt are indeed natural ingredients. So stocking up on natural foods may not achieve anything other than increasing your grocery bill."

Read on for more.

5 Fitness Myths That Mess With Results

Prevention — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 04:31:20 PDT

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from Prevention here on FitSugar!

By Jenna Bergen, Prevention

With so many people offering advice on weight loss, it can be hard to separate fact from fiction. All too often I’ve overheard a hardworking gym-goer sharing a well-meaning but ill-informed tip with another exerciser. And I’m not the only one who’s heard fitness folklore being swapped on the training room floor. I spoke to top experts in the field to find out the common fitness myths they hear from clients. From the pseudo miracles of the "fat-burning" zone to the misguided magic of working out on an empty stomach, these fitness falsehoods should never be followed.

Nine Exercise Moves You're Doing Wrong

Myth No. One: Keep your heart rate in the fat-burning zone

If you've been exercising at 60 to 70 percent of your maximum heart rate in order to shed flab faster, you could be slowing your slim down. "The fat-burning zone is a complete myth," says Wayne Westcott, PhD, Prevention advisory board member and fitness research director at Quincy College. "While it's true that you burn a higher percentage of fat calories when exercising at a moderate pace, you burn fewer calories overall." For instance, if you get on a treadmill and walk at a 3.5 mph pace for 30 minutes, you might burn 250 calories. If you raise the speed to seven miles per hour, you’d burn 500. Bottom line? "It’s much better to go at the faster speed." Prefer the elliptical trainer? Make sure you're not making one of the top 10 elliptical trainer mistakes.

Myth No. Two: Boosting cardio is the best way to bypass a plateau

"The most effective way to lose weight is to include both cardio and weights in your routine," says Jari Love, star of the Get Extremely Ripped: 1000 Hardcore DVD. "One study found that when individuals cycled for 30 minutes a day, they lost three pounds of fat and gained a half pound of muscle in eight weeks. But individuals who cycled for 15 minutes and weight trained for 15 minutes a day lost 10 pounds of fat and gained two pounds of calorie-burning muscle."

Try This Workout to Drop Two Sizes by Summer!

Keep reading! We bust three more myths after the break.

3 Ways Going Vegan Helps You Lose Weight, 3 Ways It Makes You Gain

Jenny Sugar — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:24:16 PDT

Celebs like Alicia Silverstone, Alanis Morissette, and Olivia Wilde all benefit from a vegan diet - now add actress Mischa Barton to the list. The 26-year-old actress showed off her slim and healthy figure on the set of Oasis singer Noel Gallagher's new music video. Mischa told Us Weekly, "I've been running like three miles a day," and added she also loves juice cleanses and vegan food.

Vegan diets are becoming more associated with weight loss these days, and while omitting animal-derived products like meat, dairy, and eggs can help achieve weight loss, going vegan doesn't instantly drop pounds from the scale. Check out how ditching animal products from your diet can help you lose weight, but how it can also cause you to gain.

How a Vegan Diet Encourages Weight Loss

Hamburgers, hot dogs, steak, sausages, barbecue chicken, ribs - meat tends to be high in saturated fat, cholesterol, and waist-expanding calories. In comparison, meat-free alternatives like tofu, veggie burgers, tempeh, and seitan are much lower in calories, but still high in protein, making them diet-friendly foods.
Butter, whole milk, and cheese are also high on the caloric scale, and if you're ditching them, that means skipping out on a slice at the pizzeria down the street and saying no to a cone at the local ice cream parlor. Of course there are still plenty of vegan alternatives to dairy products, but as long as you're not overindulging in them, you'll most likely still lose weight.
Going vegan encourages eating a primarily plant-based diet, which includes tons of veggies like kale, carrots, broccoli, and spinach. They're low in calories and high in fiber, so they make you feel full without busting the calorie bank. And since your hunger is satiated, you'll end up consuming less calories throughout the day.

Keep reading to find out how a vegan diet can lead to weight gain.

Gluten-Free Doesn't Mean Better For You - or Does It?

Leta Shy — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 11:21:22 PDT

A recent opinion paper in a leading medical journal says that going on a gluten-free diet for nonmedical reasons is a waste of money, since many people invest in expensive gluten-free foods that end up containing more carbs, sugar, and calories than their gluten-filled counterparts. But the news hasn't stopped celebs from continuing to tout the restrictive diet as the reason for their weight loss. Miley Cyrus is the latest to say that her new skinnier figure is due to going gluten-free. While she says she had to eliminate gluten because of an allergy, she took to her Twitter to say that everyone should give it a try. "Everyone should try no gluten for a week! The change in your skin, phyisical [sic] and mental health is amazing! U won't go back," she tweeted.

A growing number of people have tried out a diet free of the protein found in commonly eaten grains like wheat, barley, and rye. Spurred by even more endorsements from celebs like Gwyneth Paltrow and Oprah, many people believe that adopting a gluten-free diet can help them have more energy, lose weight, have clearer skin, and feel healthier overall. Gluten-free products have cropped up on supermarket shelves around the country, exponentially more than the prevalence of gluten sensitivities (which spells good news for those who used to search high and low for suitable foods!). But is it for everyone?

A recent Time survey found that the restricted diet's popularity is due to the fact that most people are gluten-free for the wrong reasons. While only about eight to 12 percent of people buy gluten-free goods because they have a gluten intolerance - including the one in 133 who have celiac disease - a recent poll found that almost 50 percent of people asked thought that "gluten-free" meant healthier, and 30 percent bought gluten-free foods in order to manage their weight. And while it's true that giving up things like pizza, pasta, and bread does mean low-carb, buying products labeled gluten-free doesn't necessarily mean you'll be sticking to your Dukan diet - the carbs in, say, gluten-free cookies and bagels are still there.

But a gluten-free diet may still be beneficial no matter what your allergies - read on to see why.

4 Weight Loss Lessons Learned From A&E's Heavy

OnSugar Blog — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 03:05:45 PDT

Here are four weight loss lessons that OnSugar blogger Coach Lark Says learned from the A&E series, Heavy.

What I like about the A&E show Heavy compared to The Biggest Loser is that it demonstrates clearly how challenging it is to achieve lasting weight loss. Under a 100-percent controlled diet and with full-time trainers for five to six hours a day on a strenuous exercise program, these people are losing one to two pounds a day.

Then, after a month, they go home to see if they can keep losing weight. They get a trainer at home and the council of a nutritionist. Frequently, they gain weight back during the period when they have to integrate the program back into their daily lives.

It’s a struggle, but all the episodes I’ve seen, ended with weight loss of 90-150 pounds after six months.

The take home message:

Find ways to bring accountability into your diet. Know how many calories you are consuming roughly and add them up each day. A food journal for a month or two can be very educational.
Know that a 300 lb. person exercising intensely for five to six hours a day can subsist healthily on 1,200-2,000 calories a day. When you eat this lightly, you only feel like you are starving. Your body will actually love it.
Work out hard to stoke your metabolism. By building strong muscles you get tons of energy, look great, and burn more calories - allowing you to consume more without weight gain.
No one’s body is perfect. We are all a bunch of beautiful weirdos. So get comfortable with your body and show it some love! It’s the only body you’ve got, after all. Might as well accept it.

Want to see more? Start following Coach Lark Says or start your own OnSugar blog. We'd love to post your inspiring stories and helpful advice here on FitSugar too!