FitSugar

Jackie Warner on Fat Burning and Weight Loss Supplements

FitSugar — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 10:00:45 PDT

I interviewed trainer Jackie Warner recently, and before we spoke I asked you all to submit questions for her. Sugar user LD fit was curious to know Jackie's take on weight loss and fat burning supplements like CLA.

Here's what Jackie had to say on the matter:

"I love certain supplements. There are some very safe supplements that don’t cause any harm to the body and you can take forever and I’ll give her a few. One is a branch change amino acids which are called ETAAs and they are the aminos that will help you with fat metabolism and then the other is glutamine, which is another amino acid. It is the only one to reach the blood stream barrier so it’s a very powerful one and the benefits to glutamine are numerous. Not just muscle building and weight loss but also a lot of studies have shown that it helps with memory and acuity. Then there is L-carnitine which is a good one to take - a major fat burner - and you can take it forever. These are all safe to take everyday, forever."

Jackie has more to say on the subject so keep on reading.

Internet Weight Loss Supplements: A Bad Idea and Bad For You

FitSugar — Wed, 21 May 2008 12:00:00 PDT

We've all gotten the spam messages in our inbox about pills promising immediate weight loss, without the help of diet and exercise. Sure, it may seem tempting, but new research has found that weight-loss supplements widely available for purchase online often include ingredients that are potentially hazardous to your heart.

I am not a fan of weight-loss supplements - I believe that the benefits of exercise and eating healthy far outweigh losing a few quick pounds. However, I know a lot of folks still invest in weight-loss pills, so I wanted to be sure that if you do, you know which ingredients raise a red flag in terms of safety. For a starter list of ingredients in weight-loss supplements that could be dangerous for your heart,

Healthy Dose Link Time: Adele Talks Body Image

Susi May — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:38:27 PST

Adele answers her critics and talks body image and cleavage - Blisstree
Before your workout, to eat or not? - Real Simple
Get inspired by celeb before and after weight-loss pics - Shape
Get a leg up! Three steps to stronger thighs - HuffPost Health and Fitness
SFO just got a little more chill: yoga room opens at airport - Newser
A handful of ways to lose weight at Walmart - Prevention
Submit your best asana to be in the pages of the magazine - Yoga Journal
Get the skinny on weight-loss supplements - Health

A Doctor Dishes: Which "Superfoods" Are Worth the Cost?

LearnVest — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:15:00 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

Most people you speak to these days are trying to stretch every dollar as far as possible - even the ones they spend buying apples and oranges.

Food prices are expected to increase yet again this year, and food manufacturers are making portions smaller without reducing prices. Not surprisingly, a recent Rasmussen poll found that 93 percent of adults report paying more for groceries now than they did a year ago.

So how can we supercharge our grocery dollars and get them to do overtime for us?

Yes, some foods are obviously a better nutritional deal than others (think apples vs. potato chips), but there’s another class of foods that blows the rest of the field away in terms of nutrients and health-protecting qualities: superfoods.

Superfoods can help prevent diabetes and heart disease, repair damage to your body’s cells, and more. But before you go piling them into your cart, know that some superfoods are better nutritional bargains than others. As a doctor and a mom, I’ve sleuthed out which ones are worth the extra cost in terms of their long-term health benefits. Below is the scoop on which ones may help you age better, ward off cancer, and more.

What to Know Before Buying Superfoods

Before we dive into what to buy, there are a few important things to remember about consuming these foods:

Eating foods fresh and in their natural state, especially fruits and vegetables (rather than in pill or powder supplement form), usually allows us to absorb the greatest amount of their nutrients. The way a superfood is processed or cooked can significantly lower its antioxidant content.
If the superfood can’t be eaten fresh, look for easy and appetizing recipes containing it. No matter how “super” a superfood may be, if you don’t know how to cook it, you’ll probably let it go to waste.

Are Superfoods "Good Buys" If I’m Shopping on a Budget?

Read on to find out.

Is the HCG Diet Safe?

Leta Shy — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 10:37:42 PST

Have you been convinced by the constant barrage of HCG diet testimonials? The diet has recently become the talk of the Internet, even though it was developed over 60 years ago.

The HCG diet claims this: HCG (or human chorionic gonadotropin), a hormone found in pregnant women, is supposedly responsible for releasing stored fat to feed the baby in utero. By restricting your caloric intake while injecting the hormone or taking HCG drops daily (typically for 23 days, but many people stay on the diet until they reach their desired weight), the hormone encourages your body to release its fat stores to keep you nourished - leading to weight loss that can be as high as a pound a day. Sounds good, but is it safe? We spoke with Adam Bornstein, editorial director of LIVESTRONG.com, to learn more about the diet and its safety.

Does It Work?
Judging by the amount of success stories seen on TV or on the Internet, the answer is yes. Many users have said that the HCG diet is not only effective, but sustainable. Guests on a recent Dr. Oz show, for example, said that they lost as much as 50 pounds on the HCG diet. Dr. Oz's guests also explained that the diet was only difficult for the first few days, after which the pounds melted away without the users ever feeling hungry.

Experts, however, aren't so ready to give the diet a stamp of approval. For one, there are no studies addressing whether there are long-term side effects in using the pregnancy hormone, and there are no studies that illustrate if the hormone actually helps your body burn stored fat. "There's no research that can actually back up these claims. It's all hypothetical," Bornstein said. The fact that dieters lose weight quickly can most likely be attributed only the dieter's ability to stick to a strict 500-calorie diet and not the HCG hormone itself.

Read on to learn if going on the HCG diet is safe.

Will Yoga Help Me Lose Weight?

Jenny Sugar — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 03:07:02 PST

Trying to slim down and wondering if yoga is the answer? In order to lose weight, you need to burn calories, and like anything physical, doing yoga can help you achieve that goal, but it depends on what style of yoga you do. You want to choose vigorous vinyasa, power, or ashtanga classes rather than slower-paced styles such as kripalu or iyengar. These classes move quickly so they really get your heart pumping - you can burn over 400 calories per 90-minute class! These styles also incorporate poses that strengthen your muscles, and more muscle mass also contributes to your caloric burn.

What about Bikram? While this style of yoga involves practicing in a super-hot room so you sweat your butt off, sweating alone isn't what results in dropping pounds. You'll experience water weight loss, but as soon as you rehydrate with a few gulps from your water bottle, you'll "gain" it right back.

Keep reading to find out how to get the greatest calorie burn from yoga.

The Health Risks Associated With Diet Pills

Heather Dale — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 11:49:30 PDT

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, right? I always find the infomercials produced by diet pill companies entertaining; you know, the ones where they promise significant weight loss in just one to two weeks. I'm sure if I drastically restricted my food intake and took appetite-suppressant medications for seven or more days, then these claims might not be so far off. But at what cost?

When we surveyed you all on this topic a while back, many of you answered that you had tried diet pills before. Although I'm not part of this group, I've often wondered if these pills are worth it - and by worth it, I mean, are they worth enduring some of the less than desirable side effects like cramping, gas, diarrhea, and increased blood pressure and heart rate to shed pounds the "quick fix" way? What happens when you stop taking the pills? And are the pills that are supposed to be used in conjunction with physical activity and a well-balanced diet any better?

Keep reading to learn more on the health risks associated with these drugs.

Kirstie Alley's DWTS Weight Loss Tally: 38 Inches

Leta Shy — Wed, 25 May 2011 17:31:38 PDT

Now that DWTS is over, everyone is, as usual, talking weight loss. This time the weight-loss winner is Kirstie Alley; earlier in the season, the actress claimed that she was a size four-six, the result of losing 60 pounds before the show (which she's said was due to diet supplements that she endorses).

To show off her success, Kirstie even wore the same dress on her final dance that she wore in the very first episode, tailored to fit her now that she lost the weight. "My dress is half the size it was when we started," she said - reportedly lost a total of 38 inches.

The actress, while she has yet to announce an official weight-loss figure while on the TV show, tweeted that she had lost over 10 pounds only about two weeks into the show. Some of that was the result of a 1,400-calorie diet even while working out five to seven hours a day. Not fueling your body enough during a grueling workout is the opposite of sustainable and healthy weight loss - you'll have no energy and lose muscle mass, and restricting calories can lead to a slower metabolic rate. Even Kirstie agreed; she said she was upping her calorie intake after falling and feeling dizzy from low blood-sugar earlier this month.

Regardless of how much or how she lost the weight, she's has shown how fun it can be to dance the pounds off! Are you happy for Kirstie's weight-loss success?

The Paleo Diet: Are Our Ancestors the Key to Weight Loss?

Michele Foley — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 14:57:57 PDT

The Paleo Diet, or Caveman Diet, is gaining momentum in the fitness world as a healthy way to lose weight. My trainer is all about the Paleo Diet - a meal plan based on the dietary habits of our Paleolithic, cave-dwelling ancestors. We're talking wild game, meat, and seafood, and vegetables, fruit, seeds, and nuts. What you won't find as part of the Paleo Diet are foods that developed during the agricultural and industrial eras like grains, dairy, legumes, refined sugars, and any other processed foods.

Given the Paleo Diet's low-carb leanings, it makes sense that it's gaining popularity as an effective way to lose weight. On the calorie meter, protein, vegetables, and fruit give a lot of bang for the buck, and the elimination of grains, refined sugars, and legumes can dramatically drop a person's daily calorie intake. The big question is whether or not the Paleo Diet is healthy and can be sustained for the long run.

Keep reading to find out if the Paleo Diet is a healthy solution to weight loss.

From the Community: 8 Easy Ways to Rev Up Metabolism

Fit Community — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 13:15:14 PDT

Looking for ways to speed up your metabolism and shed a few pounds this Summer? FitSugar reader eNutritionist has eight suggestions on how you can do just that; she shared this post in our Diet and Fitness Tips community group.

Whether you're trying to lose weight, or you just want to maintain a sleek physique for the Summer, boosting your metabolism is an effective way to burn extra calories. In this article I have put together a few diet and exercise tips to rev up your metabolism, so you can burn fat faster and look fabulous in the sunshine!

Power breakfasts - Always eat a healthy breakfast. After going 10-12 hours overnight without food, your energy reserves are low so your body, and perhaps more importantly, your brain, needs fuel. When you skip breakfast your metabolism slows to conserve energy and this can actually make it more difficult to maintain weight. Many studies have shown that people who regularly eat breakfast are less likely to be overweight than people who don't; they're also more inclined to eat less during the course of the day. Like any other meal, a balanced breakfast should include foods from each of the major food groups: some protein, a reasonable amount of complex carbohydrates, and a little fat. These three nutrients will help stave off hunger pangs and keep blood sugar levels balanced until lunch. It's also a good time to get at least two servings of fruit. For instance, one small glass of fruit juice or a sliced banana and some raisins sprinkled over your cereal. If you can tick off two servings at breakfast you are providing your body with a good boost of vitamins and minerals and are well on target to reaching your "five a day."
Eat little and often - As strange as it may sound, eating frequently can actually help you lose weight. This is because our bodies can burn calories from digesting and absorbing food. Grazing on small, regular snacks throughout the day can help keep your metabolic rate elevated for up to two to three hours after eating. Ideally, snacks should be spaced around your breakfast, lunch and dinner to help balance blood sugars and sustain energy levels. Healthy snacking options include a handful of plain nuts and seeds, natural yogurt with mixed fruit, raw vegetable sticks with hummus, a slice of rye bread topped with low fat cottage cheese, or rice cakes with almond butter. Aim to have two to three small healthy snacks a day at two to three hour intervals for a calorie burning boost.

See even more tips after the break!