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Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Weight Loss Surgery Not a Magic Bullet

First, I have to say this week has been going great. I had a phenomenal set of workouts so far ... I track my daily training in my online training journal for anyone to follow. I found that my struggle in the past was waking up early to train. My mentality was "Oh, I have to get up" and then there's always the flood of excuses (too tired, too weak, etc). This time I changed my strategy and instead of going straight to training, I go downstairs, settle in with a cup of coffee, and wake up first. So far it's worked ... no matter how beat down, sore, or tired I feel, it's not tough to get up just for a cup of coffee, and by the time I'm done, I'm awake and ready to train.

More on Obesity: Epidemic or Not?

There is an interesting twist to the entire obesity argument in this blog entry (click here to read) — in a nutshell, the author agrees that more people ARE getting obese, but the question is this: if you are overweight, but eat well and train consistently, are you truly at risk for health issues? I tend to agree, that there is a vast difference between being sedentary and eating poorly vs. being overweight. In the former, you might not even BE overweight, and can still have your health at risk, while in the latter, some research suggests an overweight person who exercises is still 2 1/2 times less likely to suffer a heart attack than a person of "ideal" weight who doesn't lift a finger. Interesting.

Alternative Medicine and Crohn's Disease

Finally! There is now a study being conducted to examine alternative treatments for Crohn's disease. The article reports that almost half of people suffering try "natural" or alternative remedies, but cites that there are not many studies to support whether or not these treatments are effective.

Tasty Food Helps us Lose Weight?

There is an interesting article that foods altered by adding artificial flavors called "tastants" may help overweight people shed extra weight. Dr. Alan Hirsch says, "This approach uses natural physiology to help people lose weight." Supposedly the people with the additives felt full faster and lost 30 pounds over a trial period as opposed to 2 pounds from a control group. The study is intriguing but why do we keep insisting on altering our foods? Let's make this artificial, add this chemical, create this pill ... all for a good cause, right? How about just eating wholesome, healthy, natural foods? It's interesting that people will acquire a taste for coffee, beer, and wine, but when it comes to healthy foods, instead of trying to acquire a taste, we'd rather strive to have it added from a test tube. I've got a more novel idea: why not take the bland foods typically associated with weight loss, and instead spice them up naturally with recipes like the ones my daughter teaches at LizzieMarieCuisine.com?

Weight Loss Surgery Not a Magic Bullet

I have known a few people who have tackled weight loss surgery. Unfortunately, that's all they tackled. They refused to really transform their eating habits or exercise, and so they end up slowly gaining the weight back ... and what's worse, eating a half cookie instead of a whole one because your stomach is smaller doesn't help improve overall health one whit. Doctors at Duke University Medical Center now caution that weight loss surgery not a magic bullet for diabetics. So much for the angle of hype that the rapidly growing weight loss surgery industry tried to heap on us ... the worse underhanded advertising in my opinion is the ones that play on health fears — for example the dairy industry convincing you that there product is the only way to prevent osteroperosis or helps you lose weight (consumers often think this is a health message from the government instead of a multimillion dollar advertising campaign from the dairy industry).

Here is the "money paragraph" from the above article:

"We're a culture of quick-fix people," he adds. "Everybody loves the idea that diabetes is gone the day after surgery. But we know that an important mechanism in place when the operation fails over the long term is poor behavior. High-fat junk food and sweets, grazing or constant eating between meals, lack of exercise, those are major contributors to failure, and failure causes recurrent diabetes. If it were purely a metabolic effect, one could argue that the metabolic effect should still be present."

I agree!

Fat Loss Myths

Here's a short, but sweet, article about workout myths.

Are Detox Diets Magic Cures?

As I wrote about in my own article about How to Juice Fast, I don't believe these are miracle cures and certainly shouldn't be used specifically for weight loss. However, these programs do have their place and it's great to see some more balanced articles about detox diets (click here).

Safe Exercise in the Heat

It's summer ... while we've had a reprieve here in Georgia (it's been nice, staying the 80s for the most part), it can be hot, hot, hot, and your exercise should incorporate this fact. Read about how to keep cool and stay fit. I also have an article about proper hydration on the site called The Long Haul.

That's it for now ... off to do my next cardio session!

Warmly,

Jeremy Likness

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posted by Jeremy Likness | 5:50 AM


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