Eating For Health

When the scale isn’t moving, it can be frustrating.   Many people shut down on their weight loss journey when they don’t see immediate progress.   But important changes are happening.   A relative called me.   They were dieting, adding exercise and did lose a few pounds.   But then they reached a plateau and were very frustrated.   How do you know your diet and new exercise habits are working when the scale doesn’t move?   Environmental Nutrition outlines six ways to know you are still making progress in the April 2024 article, “Look Beyond the Scale”.    Weight loss is a great indicator you are improving your health when you are dieting and trying to get in shape. But you don’t need to rely just on the scale in your weight loss journey.   There are also other wins for your health. 1.   Better health :   When one loses weight and adds more exercise to their routine, their body benefits in many ways even if they hit a pla...

The New York Times Well Blogs , featured their most popular health questions for 2015 Most Popular Health Questions You Asked This Year .   Some of these questions and responses are highlighted below. (Q and A adapted somewhat for this blog.) Q:   What is the Best Time to Exercise to Lose Weight? A:   Running on empty seems to work.   Some research shows working out on a completely empty stomach stimulates the body to burn more fat and even stave off weight gain.   But for me, exercising on empty would only lead to low blood sugar and poor performance.   Even before I go for a morning walk I at least eat a banana to have some energy. Q:   How Can I Reduce Belly Fat ? A:   Belly fat is not only of concern for appearance sake, it also can be a health risk.   The Mayo Clinic and other researches ( Central Obesity ) have noted those with large waists are more likely to have health problems such as cardiovascular disease than those ...

Last week we talked about people who start off on a diet, lose weight and then seem to stop losing.   Why?   I noted that SparkPeople had an interesting article on “8 Reasons Why You’re Not Losing Weight” written by a personal trainer.   We covered 4 of these reasons last week and this week we cover the personal trainer’s other 4 reasons.     Reasons for Not Losing Weight –   based on SparkPeople and good nutrition advice from a registered dietitian. 5.        Y ou are not being consistent –you need consistency to establish good habits. You start out strong, sticking to your diet and exercise routine.   Then you step on the scale and haven’t lost the weight you wanted and you fall into the trap of going off the diet and skipping the gym.   You say, “What’s the point?”   to justify going off the diet and exercise regimen.   Or you have that one dessert and then say you’ve ruined your diet and stop ...