Sure she looks better, but its the greatly improved health that keeps Alisha Neal devoted to the ketogenic diet to the point that she advocates it for others.

During the past six years, Neal has lost then kept off 160 pounds. She credits that weight loss, and the ensuing health improvements, to the diet she and others nickname keto.

A person on a ketogenic diet avoids carbohydrates, such as sugars, breads, potatoes and corn, and instead gets nourishment from fats and proteins, as well as vegetables that dont have carbohydrates.

The main guideline is to not consume more than 50 grams of carbohydrates in a day, she said. The amount of nutrients needed depends on body weight, she said: Someone who weighs 200 pounds should keep fat and protein around 100 grams each daily.

The average American eats 300 to 500 grams of carbohydrates each day, she said.

My journey started when I hit puberty, she said at a recent program at Calvarys Hill United Pentecostal Church. I started gaining weight.

Lots of issues

Between 2010 and 2013 she had two back surgeries, with about six months of bed rest to recuperate from them, she said. She had hypertension, fatty liver disease, thyroid disease, goiter disease, depression and anxiety.

By the time she as pregnant with her second child, her health was so bad she developed insulin resistance and gestational diabetes. When I had her [in May 2013], I was so sick an emergency Cesarean section was needed, she said.

After the baby, her gestational diabetes evolved into Type 2 diabetes.

Neal was only 28. Her doctor told her that if she didnt lose weight, she would have a heart attack before she turned 30. She was on seven medications and had to see her doctor quarterly.

She started keto in August 2013 to reverse her Type 2 diabetes, she said. However, her diet had other benefits as well: Her other medical problems went away.

Now Im on zero medications, she said, and she sees the doctor now only once a year.

Although she credits the ketogenic diet with her success, Ive never said the word keto to him [her doctor], because he is still in the mindset that people need fruits, grains and sugars as parts of a healthy diet, she said.

Carbs and sugars are inflammatory, she said, so stopping consuming them helped with my back and arthritis.

Before she lost weight, I stayed at a pain level of 8 or 9 on a regular basis, out of a 10-point rating system, she said. Now shes never above a 2 or 3, she added.

She remained on keto during her third pregnancy, which was healthy, she said.

The ketogenic state causes the body to burn fat for fuel instead of glucose, she said. That state is called fat adaptive.

When you become fat adaptive, your body does the work for you, she said.

The ketogenic diet is not a difficult diet to stick to, she said: The high fat and high protein keeps you full with keto, youre just not hungry, literally.

She most commonly eats eggs, meat, butter and cheese, she said. A typical dinner may be a salad or steak and broccoli.

She eats berries but not the other fruits, because they spike my insulin, she said.

Its harder to eat out while on a ketogenic diet, she said, but Hardees is a good choice: They will do any sandwich low-carb. At Chick-Fil-A, she has the roasted bites, grilled chicken tenders or roasted chicken bites salad.

Tough diet

To prevent feeling hungry enough to eat on the run, she always carries nuts, cheese or jerky in her pocketbooks for quick snacks.

For the keto diet in particular, and healthy eating in general, while shopping stay on the outside aisles, she said. Dont even go on the inside, where the prepackaged convenience foods are.

If it was made in a factory, dont eat it, she said.

The ketogenic diet isnt easy to start, she said: I was sick as a dog for a week, nauseous and just miserable.

It can be very hard on your body to detox from sugar, but its worth it, she said.

That sickness the comes from stopping carbohydrates is called keto flu, she said.

Keto flu is caused by low electrolytes and can be avoided by taking supplements of magnesium, potassium and sodium, she said.

Dont fall into gimmicks, such as keto coffee, she said they dont have any special advantages.

Never go back

Neal is suspicious of most artificial sweeteners, which she says spikes her blood sugars. She only uses Truvia.

Any ingredient with spelling that ends in ose is a sugar, she said.

Dont be tricked by diet sodas, she said, which are just as bad as regular soda.

Dont worry about craving certain foods, she said, because there are always tasty alternatives. One is cheese waffles, with the crunch and texture of traditional waffles.

Neal said her devotion to the carb-free lifestyle is easy to follow.

When youve been in excruciating pain, you never want to go back.

She has not cheated on her keto diet in five years, she said except for once.

Her husband talked her into eating a funnel cake one day. She threw up and remained sick for two or three days and her arthritis flared up badly.

Literally, keto saved my life, and thats why Im so passionate about it. I know theres a better life. The American diet is killing us.

Holly Kozelsky is a writer for the Martinsville Bulletin; contact her at 276-638-8801 ext. 243.

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Alisha Neal's 160-pound weight loss with keto -- and she said it saved her life - Martinsville Bulletin

One of the biggest pitfalls of being on a restrictive diet is, well, the restriction. Your favorite foodsmaybe even entire food groupsare off-limits. You may be excited that youre losing weight, but you really miss ice cream and chocolate and french fries. Arent there any diets that dont involve total deprivation and sacrifice of all your worldly pleasures?

Enter the 80/20 rule, which is basically everything in moderation in action: You eat healthy 80 percent of the time and indulge 20 percent of the time. Sounds great, right? Even better, its apparently a legit mindset to adapt to get in shape. In fact, Blake Lively recently credited the approach with helping her get in shape before film roles, with the help of her trainer, Don Saladino. (An important note: Some people use the phrase 80/20 rule to mean that weight loss is 80 percent eating right and 20 percent exercising, but for this article, were only focusing on how an 80/20 rule shakes out as a diet plan.)

But following the 80/20 rule is not as simple as munching on salads 80 percent of the time and enormous hot fudge sundaes the other 20 percent. There are best practices for successful weight loss. If you play your cards right, though, this approach to eating could help you reach your goals.

Heres everything you need to know about losing weight with the 80/20 rule.

You can apply the 80/20 rulewhich many people also call the 80/20 diet when talking about weight loss, though it isn't actually a diet in the traditional senseto many areas of your life that need a dose of moderation, because its just enough compliance and restriction to see changes but not so much that you cant ever kick back and enjoy yourself. Not having to follow something 100 percent to the letter can help you stick with it long-term, an important element in losing weight and keeping it off.

To apply this rule to your diet, you eat healthy or compliant foods 80 percent of the time and then eat more freely the other 20 percent of the time. The critical part of this plan is to determine what foods make up good calories and what foods make up bad calories, says weight-loss expert Matthew Weiner, MD, a bariatric surgeon at Tucson Bariatric. Its important to measure the ratio of good calorieslike those from fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds and beansto bad calories, like those from refined sugar, refined grains, cheese and other high fat animal proteins.

Depending on your calorie needs and weight-loss goals, you may need or want to move some of the healthy foods into the 20 percent category (like the animal protein, grains, and dairy). Those foods can be part of a healthy diet for many people, but others may feel better or have more weight-loss success when those foods are considered an indulgence. To hash out what types of foods and nutrients below in each category, you may want to work with a nutritionist.

If you want the best results then you have to do a little bit of math, says Amy Elizabeth Rothberg, MD, director of the weight management clinic at Michigan Medicine.

Before beginning, its probably wise to take stock of your daily and weekly intake, by logging calories a couple of days during a typical work or school week and also on the weekend, particularly with respect to alcohol and high-calorie food intake, she explains.

This will give you a baseline of how many calories you consume per day and over the course of a week, both of which are good to know, because you may eat more or less on some days compared to others (like if you work out on Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays, for example).

The 80/20 rule isn't really a dietit's a way of thinking about your food intake.

From there, you can decide how to frame your percentage split. You can calculate how many specific calories make up 80 percent of your daily or weekly intake, or count up how many meals and snacks comprise 80 percent of what you eat in total. Everything else you eat, then, would fall into the remaining 20 percent.

Both Dr. Rothberg and Dr. Weiner say it really doesnt matter whether you apply the 80/20 rule to each day (like eating three healthy meals and one treat) or to a seven-day week (like eating healthy for five days and then relaxing your diet restrictions for two). Either way, youre subject to the benefits and pitfalls of this approach to eating.

Dr. Weiner says that if you eat cleanly for five days but then binge on junk food, fast food, and sugary beverages on the other two days, you probably won't lose any weight. In fact, you could even gain some. Instead, you should still be eating healthy foods on 20-percent days, striving for what Dr. Weiner calls a modest deviation from an otherwise healthy diet.

Yup, said it: You can overeat good-for-you foods, too. Remember that, generally speaking, weight loss ultimately only happens when your caloric intake is less than your output. If youre stuffing yourself with healthy foods, you could be eating just as much as when you allow yourself a modest treat.

Limiting your indulgences to 20 percent of the time doesnt mean you have free reign to overeat on the healthier days, points out Dr. Rothberg.

Even if you crack the 80/20 code, you could still wind up not moving the scale much if youre neglecting other aspects of your health. Dr. Rothberg says people also need to reduce their overall portions, get regular exercise, and drink plenty of water.

By now, youve (hopefully) caught on that the 80/20 diet isnt a free pass to indulge in healthy or unhealthy foods. So how do you start eating like an 80/20 pro? That depends on whether youre applying it to your daily or weekly calorie intake.

You fill the majority of your meals and snacks with healthy, nutrient dense foods from the compliant list. When it comes time for your 20 percent indulgence, you reach for a snack bag of chips in the afternoon, a glass of wine with dinner, or a few squares of dark chocolate for dessert.

Remember: Even though youre allowed to indulge, you cant call half a pan of brownies a snack and expect to lose weight (even if your other meals are healthy!). The 20 percent refers to the ratio of good versus bad foods, but also to the amount of calories you eat every day.

You stick to your calorie goals for five days in a row (lets say weekdays, just to simplify). You dont have to be overly strictthat might leave you tempted to swing too far the other way when the weekend arrivesbut you should be trying to make healthy choices as close to 100 percent of the time as possible from Monday through Friday. When the weekend comes, you relax your calorie goals.

Notice that says relax, not throw out the window." Overindulging on your 20 percent days, like eating fast food for every meal, wont help you with your weight-loss goals. For example, enjoy a portioned serving of your favorite cereal for breakfast, a healthy lunch, one drink with dinner, and either the mac-and-cheese side dish or the slice of carrot cake for dessert (not both).

Like literally every other diet on the planet, the 80/20 rule will work for some people but not others, and it has both advantages and disadvantages you need to be aware of if youre considering trying it out.

The bottom line: For people looking to overhaul the way they eat on a broad scale, applying the 80/20 rule allows for just enough flexibility to learn how to make smarter, healthier choices every day. If you need strict guidelines about calories and nutrients, though, the abstract boundaries of the 80/20 rule could set you up for frustration or failure.

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How To Apply The 80-20 Rule To Weight Loss, According To Doctors - Women's Health

Friday, February 07, 2020 4:30 p.m. CST

By Lisa Rapaport

(Reuters Health) - - Obese teens who diet to lose weight may have more success if they also focus on getting enough rest, a small study suggests.

"Sleep deprivation may be associated with increased caloric intake, and decreased physical activity, resulting in obesity," said senior study author Dr. Juan Manuel Malacara of the University of Guanajuato in Leon, Mexico.

To see if extra sleep might make it easier to lose weight, researchers asked 52 obese teens to eat 500 fewer calories per day than usual. Then, they chose 25 teens at random to follow a personalized sleep plan designed to help them get up to an extra hour of rest at night, while the other 27 kept to their usual sleep routines.

After four weeks, teens on sleep plans increased their average sleep time by about 1.2 hours a night and lost an average of 2.1 kilograms (4.6 pounds). Without the sleep plans, teens only increased their sleep by about a half hour, on average, and they only lost an average of 1.2 kg (2.6 lb).

The results suggest that promoting extra sleep may help dieters succeed with weight loss, Malacara said by email.

"Sleep can influence the secretion of hormones that regulate appetite, (reducing) craving for food and (making people) more likely to be successful in cutting calories," said Tianyi Huang of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.

"More sleep will make people feel less sleepy or fatigued during the day, then people are more likely to work out more, leading to higher energy expenditure, which is good for weight loss," Huang, who wasn't involved in the study, said by email. "Sufficient sleep can also reduce stress, which is known to favor weight gain."

Beyond its small size, another limitation of the study is that researchers didn't follow the youth for longer to determine whether sleep might impact their odds of achieving sustainable weight loss. Researchers also relied on teens to report sleep time in diaries and didn't objectively measure how much they slept.

The study also didn't look at exercise, or at what teens ate.

In theory, however, better-rested adolescents might be more conscious about choosing healthier foods and less likely to succumb to the temptation of high-calorie, high-carb sweets and junk foods, said Anna Rangan of the University of Sydney in Australia.

"Shorter sleep duration increases the time available for eating, especially in the evening where sedentary activities, such as watching television, and snacking on highly palatable and energy-dense foods are common," Rangan, who wasn't involved in the study, said by email.

Parents may need to encourage teens to change their evening routines, said Kristen Knutson, a researcher at Northwestern University in Chicago who wasn't involved in the study.

"One way to improve the sleep of teens is to avoid bright light at night, particularly right before bedtime," Knutson said by email. "This includes light from smart phones and tablets - although getting teens to put these away at night may be challenging."

The effort is worth it, though, to avoid poor sleep becoming a lifelong problem, said Stacey Simon of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and Children's Hospital Colorado in Aurora.

"Health habits learned in adolescence often continue into adulthood, so learning good sleep and eating strategies in adolescence is critical," Simon, who wasn't involved in the study, said by email.

The longer teens experience obesity, the greater the risk of future health problems such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, Simon added.

SOURCE: https://bit.ly/371rU5i Journal of Adolescent Health, online January 23, 2020.

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Teens who need to lose weight should quit staying up so late - KFGO News

NYPD Lieutenant Tara Deckert is a ring leader. By day she commands the Grand Larceny Division's Intelligence Unit, but she's got an undercover passion that plays out underground.

That's where the NYPD has its fitness center and where Deckert shreds calories. Her weight rap sheet has dropped 60 pounds.

"I had high blood pressure. I was having a hard time keeping up with the kids because I was overweight," Deckert told CBS News correspondent David Begnaud. "I said I've had enough. I'd been overweight since I was 5 years old. It was time to change."

She started eating right and started a WW (formerly known as Weight Watchers) group at police headquarters.

"Our group has lost over 3,000 pounds. That's the weight of a police car," she said.

On Thursday, Deckert joined a wellness walk in Brooklyn with two of her WW accomplices, Danielle Craven, who lost 75 pounds, and Shamira Gill-McGaney, who lost 140 pounds.

"I lost a person," Gill-McGaney said. "I was just telling the ladies in the car, my daughter, at the time she was 8 years old, and she used to have to help me get dressed. I couldn't do it on my own."

"She was putting my socks on for me and she said, 'Mommy, I feel like I'm your slave.' I died. I'm like 'Okay, that's it, can't have my baby feeling like a slave,'" Gill-McGaney said.

In all, 2,082 NYPD employees have lost more than 8,000 pounds. It's all part of a partnership with the WorkWell NYC program, which launched with WW in June 2016. Nearly 40,000 city employees have collectively lost more than 170,000 pounds.

Deckert, Craven and Gill-McGaney will be on stage Saturday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for Oprah Winfrey's 2020 Vision tour. But on Thursday there was a surprise: Winfrey, who is a major investor in WW, joined their walk.

Asked to finish the sentence, "The tour thus far has taught me ...," Winfrey said, "Taught me that there is unity in the country around the issue of wellness, that everybody wants the same thing. They want a better life for themselves so that they can be better for their children and their families."

Winfrey said she told Gill-McGaney that the amount of weight she lost used to be her goal weight.

"I was prediabetic before. All of that's now done," she said. "And now my numbers are glowing. I just checked with my doctor the other day."

Excerpt from:
NYPD weight loss group loses thousands of pounds, gets visit from Oprah Winfrey - CBS News

EVERY new mum knows that welcoming a baby into the family can be completely exhausting.

But for 19-stone Clare Slater, her weight made motherhood feel like an even bigger challenge.

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The 33-year-old could barely carry her son or get up off the floor after playtime with him - and it was making her feel "unattractive" and "unhappy".

Determined to make a change, Clare, from Brigg in North Lincolnshire, decided to join a slimming club and overhauled her diet in August 2019.

She has since shed nearly ten stone and has finally gained the energy to look after her little boy.

Now weighing a trim 12 stone, Clare said: "I really do feel like a new woman.

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"Parenting is completely different now because I have the energy and mobility to be the fun and active mum I set out to be."

Clare had ballooned to 18st 11lb after years of gorging on cakes and pastries.

"I was a complete sugar addict, I would never have been able to just have a square of chocolate," she said.

"I loved cakes and pastries, but I was unable to have them in moderation."

However, Clare's wake up call came when she became a mother in January 2019 - and it made her realisethe huge toll her weight was having on her mentally and physically.

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She said: "In January 2019 we welcomed our son into the world.

"By the summer I was struggling to carry him and getting up off the floor after playtime was exhausting. "All I ever wanted to be was a fit and healthy mum and that was the complete opposite to how I was feeling.

"Being a new mum is a challenge in itself but when you arent feeling your best it can feel almost impossible."

All I ever wanted to be was a fit and healthy mum

By August, Clare had "had enough" of allowing her weight to make her feel "unhappy and unattractive."

"I signed up to a new LighterLife Xpress Slimming Club in Brigg on the 15 August to start the Total plan, so I could lose a stone a month," she said.

"I had done the LighterLife programme previously but never continued on with the Management plan.

"I was so chuffed to be slim that I lost sight of the challenges that lay ahead.

"Then after I moved town I didnt have a LighterLife group nearby and slowly life got on top of me.

"This time I was determined that my story would have a different ending."

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Before long, Clare saw the weight drop off - without having to deprive herself of any of her favourite treats.

She added: "I loved being back on the LighterLife programme, the strictness of having just four Foodpacks a day was perfect for me because it took away the obsession with food.

"The Salted Caramel Bar soon became a favourite of mine. In my first week I lost a whopping 9lb."

Clare credits her mentor, Vivienne, for helping her to stay on track with her weight loss journey through weekly meetings.

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"I really enjoyed developing a new mindset and taking the time to reflect on my food triggers to really make life long changes," she said.

"Being surrounded by likeminded people during your weight loss journey is so important because it allows you to be really open and honest with your feelings and acknowledge the negative behaviours that got you to this place."

Clare has completed her weight loss programme and now weighs a svelte 12st 2lb - having dropped an impressive 6st 9lb.

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And the mum now feels more "empowered" to make better decisions around her eating "rather than just reaching for cake at times of stress or tiredness."

As well as boosting her own self esteem, Clare says her weight loss has also had a positive impact on her family's life.

She said: "Losing over six and a half stone has not only changed my life but my husbands and sons too. "My husband is so proud of me for getting back to a positive place both mentally and physically.

YOU CHAR LOOK GOOD Charlotte Crosby thinner than ever after 1st weight loss with dark hair

SLIM MARSH Kym Marsh shows off body transformation after hitting gym following Corrie exit

WEIGH TO GO Bullying victim with PTSD has lost 14st after quitting emotional binges

REAL RESULTS Emily Simpson shows off her impressive weight loss

ULTIMATE REVENGE BODY Woman dumped for being too fat to have a baby loses 12st in a year

SLIM PICKINGS I got a revenge body after boyfriend said my slimming made him insecure

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Exclusive

WEIGH-HEY I was a size 24 but lost 10 stone in a YEAR after I couldn't fit in my plane seat

WEIGH-HEY YouTuber reveals she shed 3 stone by drinking coffee and exercising LESS

"I was dreading going back to work and being faced with buying much bigger clothes and worrying what people would think of me.

"Instead, Ill be heading back feeling and looking great.

"I fit back into all of my back of the wardrobe thin clothes and I cant wait to walk into this new chapter with confidence and positivity."

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Sugar addict mum reveals incredible 6.5st weight loss WITHOUT giving up her fave treats - The Sun

Experts say these are the most effective ways to lose weight after 50

There's no reason you can't look as fit and fabulous at 50 as you did at 40.

But there is one hitch: Even stars with personal trainers and nutrition coaches have to work a little harder to lose the pounds once they hit this milestone age.

One of the main reasons you'll have to put in extra effort: Your body composition changes as you age. You lose muscle mass at an average rate of 3-5% for every 10 years after age 35, and this can impact the way you burn fat. Your body goes into its aging stage as it leaves the growing one, says Dr. Luiza Petre, a New York City-based weight loss and management specialist, and assistant clinical professor of cardiology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. When this happens, your body doesnt need as much energy as it used to, she explains.

What's more, all those years of playing sports, running after your kids and walking up and down stairs take their toll. You may notice that your joints are a little stiffer and your muscles are a little sorer than they were a few decades ago. Then, there's the issue of your ever-evolving metabolism.

According to the American Council on Exercise, your resting metabolic rate, a.k.a. your body's ability to burn calories while sitting on the sofa doing nothing, decreases by about 1-2% per decade due to muscle mass loss and increased fat mass. Our diets usually don't change enough to account for this metabolic adjustment, meaning weight can creep up slowly but surely with every birthday.

"There are a number of roadblocks people in their 50s will face when trying to lose weight," says Brian Durbin, a NSCA-certified strength and conditioning specialist and personal trainer. "But once you know what they areand how to work around themit's easy to be successful at dropping pounds."

One of the best things you can do at any age is shake up your routine and try something new. Follow these tips to help you drop the pounds, and keep them off for good, courtesy of some of the worlds best weight-loss experts, dietitians and personal trainers

First stop after you celebrate the big 5-0your doctor's office. Your doctor can assess your current state of health, address any health problems that may be affecting your weight (like pre-diabetes or sleep apnea) and help you come up a plan for diet and exercise, says Dr. Petre. Your doctor may even be able to recommend a physical therapist or personal trainer for you.

Have your doctor check your hormone levels. As we age, progesterone, testosterone and other hormones decline, which sets the body up for storing fat instead of losing weight, says Dr. Jennifer Burns, a naturopathic physician in Phoenix. "Simply getting your thyroid, adrenal glands and other hormone levels checkedand then taking the appropriate steps to bring them back into balancecan go a long way toward helping people in their 50s lose weight," says Burns.

Dr. Tami Meraglia, author of The Hormone Secret: Discover Effortless Weight Loss and Renewed Energy in Just 30 Days, agrees, adding that she believes the hormone to focus on is testosteroneespecially for women over 50 who are trying to get fit. "There is ample discussion in the medical community about the effects of estrogen loss, but few people are aware of the importance of sufficient testosterone levels, which can help a woman slim down," says Dr. Meraglia. In fact, research shows that balanced testosterone levels reduce blood glucose levels, which may help promote weight loss and shrink stubborn belly fat.

Declaring that youre going to lose 20 pounds before your beach vacation next month is unrealistic, not to mention unhealthy. Be honest with yourself. How do you feel? How healthy are you? Making life changes takes courage and mental fortitude, says Dr. Petre. Break up big goals into smaller, more achievable ones. Focusing on how you're feeling and the positive changes you're making to your lifestyle, instead of the number on the scale, will help you stay motivated to reach your goals. Triumphs make your courage grow, she adds. Small achievements amount to large goals achieved.

There are dozens of different eating plans buzzing around the internet, each claiming to help you shed the pounds without feeling deprived (some of best diets for weight loss in 2020 are the Mediterranean Diet, the DASH Diet and WW Freestyle). If you're not sure which one works best for your lifestyle, talk to a dietitian, who can break down the pros and cons and help you choose one that fits your nutritional needs and goals. An RD will also give you ideas on how to resolve road blocks that may get in the way of your goals, like emotional/stress eating, food sensitivities, nutritional deficiencies and meal-prep fatigue.

At 50, you've been around the block enough times to know that fad diets don't work. No crazy fasts, cleanses, cutting out fats or complex carbohydrates or proteins, says Jillian Michaels, health and wellness expert and author of The 6 Keys: Unlock Your Genetic Potential for Ageless Strength, Health and Beauty. Instead, consider following a medically supervised, clinically proven plan. Dr. Petre explains that these types of programs have a weight-loss success rate of more than 75%, especially if they involve personal support and weekly check-ins.

Even if you've never picked up a dumbbell in your life, now is the perfect time to learn to love the weight room (but seriously, if you're a newbie, work with a trainer first so you don't hurt yourself!). Because the secret to losing weight over 50 is this: Build more muscle mass to increase your metabolism (you've got about 20% less now than you did when you were 20). "The good news is you can turn all of this around with a well-structured weight-training routine," Durbin says. "That can help you regain the ability to lose weight like you were able to 20 years ago," he says. Aim to lift weights at least twice a week, whether you use free weights or machines or do bodyweight exercises. It doesn't hurt to lift every dayjust make sure to work different muscle groups or train differently each day.

Janna Lowell, a Los Angelesbased personal trainer, says she gets the best results among her 50-somethings when she has them do some cross training in the pool. Tired joints can keep you from getting a great workout, she says, and aches and pains can turn some people off exercise completely. "Water exercise is easy on the joints and can boost range of motion as well," says Lowell. "Even better, caloric expenditure is about 30% greater in the water than on land due to the resistance water creates." No pool? No problem. Walking is another great, low-impact cardiovascular exercise, as are cycling, kayaking, yoga and dancing.

If you're going to put in the effort to block out the time, don't let your exhaustion or aching joints hold you back from going all out! Alex Allred, a former national and professional athlete turned personal trainer, says this is one of her biggest pet peeves among 50-year-olds. "Far too many people think that just because they showed up, they're working out," says Allred. "But really, you need to be focused on what you're doing and pushing yourself hard enough to break a sweat or at least complete the full range of motion of a certain exercise." Not sure if you're doing a move properly? Ask! "I wish more people would flag down a trainer and ask, 'Am I doing this correctly?'" says Allred. It can make the difference between making the most of your exercise time to lose weight and wasting your time or injuring yourself.

If an aching back, wonky knee or creaky hip has kept you from working out on a regular basis, make an appointment with a physical therapist, suggests Samira Shuruk, an ACE-certified personal trainer. "After 50, many people have sustained injuries and don't know what their activity options are," she says. "Getting advice from a professional can truly help." Physical therapy can also help you rehabilitate an old injury or ease joint and muscle pain, setting you up for pain-free workouts.

Just like pop music isn't the same as it was when you were in your 30s, your metabolism has changed, too, which means you're burning about 250 fewer calories each day. So if you continue to eat like you did in the early 2000sand don't increase your exerciseyou'll inevitably gain weight, says Dr. Katie Ferraro, a registered dietitian and assistant clinical professor of nutrition at the University of CaliforniaSan Francisco School of Nursing. Eliminating the junk food in your diet and replacing it with loads of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins can make cutting calories painless, she says.

Its not just what you eat, but how you eat that matters in your 50s, claims Dr. Anthony Dissen, a registered dietitian nutritionist and Vice President of Nutrition at WellStart Health. He suggests focusing on fullness, not portion control, when you are planning your meals. If our stomachs arent full, we dont feel full, and well stay hungry, he points out. When it comes to healthy weight loss and management, we want to strike that important balance between eating until we feel full and satisfied while still decreasing our overall calorie intake.

Between paying college tuition for your kids, juggling more and more responsibilities at work and dealing with aging parents, your 50s can be a prime-time for stress, says Durbin. The result? Emotional eating and a schedule that seems too jam-packed for regular exercise sessions. The solution: Schedule your workouts like they're doctor's appointments, he says. Sticking to a consistent routine can not only help ease stress, it can also help you stay on track with your diet. After all, who wants to ruin the benefits of a tough sweat session by eating a donut?

One great thing about being 50you are completely over the social pressure to stay out late. Doing your best to get seven to eight hours of snooze time every night is key to helping you lose weight, says Michaels. Dr. Petre adds that the two hormones that regulate appetiteleptin and ghrelingo into overdrive without regular shut-eye. This can trigger excessive hunger and lead to poor food choices and weight gain at any age, she says. Find a list of proven of sleep strategies right here.

Its important to practice mindfulness, especially when youre eating. The more we try to multi-task while we eat, the more likely we are to overeat and not feel as satisfied by the meal or snack weve just eaten, Dr. Dissen explains. By simply taking a breath and treating our mealtime as special, it allows us to really taste our food and notice its flavors, textures and tastes. Mindfulness can aid in stress relief, too. Michaels suggests practicing five to 10 minutes of meditation a day.

Whether it's treating yourself to manicure or taking a mental health day from work, taking care of yourself shouldn't be looked at as a luxury. The smallest gestures can make a big difference in reducing stress, which can make a big impact on your weight loss. Plus, when you show yourself a little more love, you can use that energy to do things that support your goals, like eating healthy, exercising and meditating. Not sure how to start a self-care routine? First ask yourself why you need more time to take care of yourself. Are you working too many late hours at the office? Do you feel burned out and wish you could be calmer? Once you figure out why you need to make some more time for yourself, it can help you decide what will be a good activity or routine for you.

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Experts say these are the most effective ways to lose weight after 50 - Alton Telegraph

CATHERINE Tyldesley shot to fame as Eva Price when she turned up in Weatherfield back 2011.

However, since then the actress undergone something of a body transformation.

The actress has been very open about staying healthy and in 2019 she underwent the12-week Ultimate Performance transformation plan.

It includes superset weight workouts targeting compound exercises and bigger muscle groups.

Her diet includes nutrient and protein high meals and green, fibre rich veggies.

Catherine also revealed how her tough dance regime on Strictly Come Dancing in 2019 and the subsequent tour has seen her figure honed even more.

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Catherine used to weigh 15 stone and was a size 22 at the age of 18.

However a decade ago she lost a whopping six stone.

Catherine is now a size eight.

In February 2020 she revealed how she had lost even more weight doing the Strictly tour.

In a snap on Instagram, she pulled her skirt to reveal inches of space where her waist used to be.

She tagged Strictly in the photo on Instagram, and said: "It's official, I need a pie. Lost my junk."

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Catherine has said in the past that she dropped from a size 22 to 10 by ditching Coronation Streets pies and bacon butties.

Speaking about her time on Corrie, she previously said: Its just fitting it around your schedule. If I was working Id go on walks.

On night shoots there are a lot of pies and bacon sandwiches floating about but I took stuff with me.

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Catherine Tyldesley weight loss how did the ex Coronation Street actress lose weight? - The Sun

The journey to weight loss is not an easy one and any person battling extra kilos can tell you the immense struggle behind it. When 28-year-old Chetna Madaan decided to lose weight and get back in shape, she knew it would take immense dedication and discipline. From feeling exhausted all the time to being an inspiration to everyone around her, Chetnas journey is all weight loss inspiration you need!Name: Chetna MadaanOccupation: TeacherAge: 28 years

Height: 5 feet

City: New Delhi

Highest weight recorded: 85 kgs

Weight lost: 20 kgs

Duration it took me to lose weight: 6 months

The turning point: I was certainly let down by a lot of unsolicited diet advice from people around me, but nothing was as hurtful as not being able to fit into the clothes of my choice. Owing to my weight, I also felt extremely lethargic and drained out. Hence, I decided that I no longer wanted to feel this way and decided to love myself a bit more by embarking on the journey of fitness.

My lunch: Chapati, a portion of rice, a plate of salad, a bowl of dal and vegetable

My dinner: A plate of salad and a bowl of soup

Pre-workout meal: 1 apple and a cup of green tea

Post-workout meal: I have a portion of sprouts and egg whites

I indulge in: Potato sandwich and chicken seekh kebabMy workout: I keep it a point to keep switching my workout routine. So, I do anything between walking, yoga, exercise, jogging and running.

Low-calorie recipes I swear by: I vouch for stir-fried vegetables and roasted chicken breast

Fitness secrets I unveiled: If there is just one takeaway from my weight loss journey, it is the fact that you need to be mentally strong and determined to become physically fit. Your tenacity certainly plays a crucial role in your journey towards a healthier you.

How do I stay motivated? Seeing that I was losing inches from my body was enough to keep me motivated. Moreover, I also felt energetic and light after I began my quest to lose weight.

How do you ensure you dont lose focus? I make it a point to track my weight loss journey as it keeps me motivated to stay on my fitness journey.

Whats the most difficult part of being overweight? Undoubtedly the hardest part of being overweight is how I felt lethargic and extremely tired all the time.

What shape do you see yourself 10 years down the line? I do not aspire for any particular body shape. Rather I want to stay healthy and fit for all the years to come.

What are the lifestyle changes you made? I made a couple of lifestyle changes and made it a point to follow them strictly. Some of them are:

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Weight loss story: This teacher lost more than 20 kilos in just 6 months! Heres how she did it - Times of India

LUCAS COUNTY, Ohio Medical experts are weighing in on how restrictive dieting and drastic weight loss/gain can impact your body.

When the average person tries lose weight over a healthy, regulated period of time, the goal is to burn fat and build muscle, which then helps you slim down, which can't be done in 24 hours.

When someone who's already very active tries to lose weight over a short period of time through these extreme methods, they are only losing water weight. This causes their body to be dehydrated and can cause them to under-perform.

If you have to maintain a certain weight for a sport, doctors recommend the best way to do that is to treat your body the same during the off season.

"I think the safest thing is to stay close to your competing weight. Try and keep your off-season weight close to your in-season weight for your competing, just so you don't have to do drastic measures to lose weight in a short period of time," said Dr. Steve Wing, a Promedica Emergency Physician.

Cutting weight as an athlete can also lead to metabolism problems later in life.

"Weight cycling is linked to weight gain in the long run. Our metabolism tries to maintain a homeostasis and weight cycling is an attempt to change that homeostasis," said Amy Good, a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist.

There are health risks with both cutting and gaining weight quickly, especially when an athlete is young.

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Health experts weigh in on cutting weight for sports - WTOL

College Compass is a bi-weekly blog that aims to help students navigate the highs and lows of college life.

The combination of late nights and heavy drinking will eventually take a toll on anyone living such a lifestyle for prolonged periods of time. Since many college students are surrounded by this kind of living, these unhealthy habits can feel difficult to break and when the weather hits freezing temperatures, the mere idea of change feels close to impossible.

When I first arrived at college, my imagination soared with fears about the apparently inescapable freshman 15 that haunted me. But in my experience, the freshman 15 was just another college myth that I quickly forgot once I realized its falsehood. The stress of college life and my new jam-packed schedule kept me away from snacking and I rarely found myself overeating at Market Central.

With that being said, as I acclimated to college life and Market meals, I began to notice the shift that everyone warned me about. While I only gained a few pounds, I couldnt help but feel out of control of my weight. Not only did I abhor working out, but I could rarely find the time to do so between my classes, and I often had meetings at night. So I tried out other less healthy and less effective methods. I would often minimize my meals during the day but my efforts would go to waste when I lost control at night and as someone who never enjoyed cooking, my midnight snacks canceled out all my daytime efforts.

After a couple sporadic sessions at the gym with no reward and weeks spent yo-yoing, I decided it was time to resort to more extreme measures in my case the keto diet. The keto diet calls for a daily intake of 20 grams of carbohydrates per day, which equates to a small apple. While it cuts out all carbs and sugar, it calls for high fat and moderate protein. While I initially planned to follow the diet for a month or two, once my body had adjusted to ketosis, the alternative metabolic state, I found it difficult to wean back to normal food consumption.

While I certainly lost the extra pounds on the keto diet, the constant restriction kept me in a permanently irritable state. As a true food lover, it was physically painful for me to share photos of pasta from Italy on my food Instagram account when I hadnt consumed pasta in around six months. Not only was it difficult for me emotionally, but eventually I had to stop because of the negative health effects.

Not only was I lacking nutritional value from fruits and vegetables, which goes against the diet, but the excessive fat led to other health issues. After officially putting a halt to the diet, Ive spent the last few months trying to figure out how to maintain a weight Im comfortable with while remaining healthy. As someone who has experimented with various diets throughout my life, at 21 years old, Ive finally begun to realize that moderation truly is key. I care about the way I look, but I value my mental and physical health equally, and what I consume or dont consume affects that directly.

Unlike methods focused on losing weight as fast as possible, a slow and steady method will eventually show results and in a less harmful way. Ive learned that the more I deprive myself of food I want to eat, the more Ill end up eating more of it later on. Depriving myself of food is not only unhealthy, but its often unsustainable and leads to metabolic irregularities and binging, which reverses any progress.

In addition, any diet that completely cuts out a certain food group should most likely be avoided. Every food group has its importance and nutritional value and shouldnt be ignored nor overly emphasized. So without a doctors approval and a nutritionist tracking your progress, diets should probably remain moderate, especially at such a young age.

With that said, theres nothing wrong with staying in charge of your body and weight. While portion control, frequent exercise and minimal snacking might be a difficult change to make, eventually itll show its merit. Weight loss may not happen overnight with these alterations, but theyll last longer and feel better than the diet starts tomorrow methodology that often encourages overeating and starvation the next day.

While I dont necessarily recommend a full implementation of Weight Watchers, the diet encourages a healthy mindset towards eating that anyone can adapt. Weight Watchers follows a personalized point system based on each persons individual weight and their goals. However, fruit, vegetables and chicken count as free points so dieters can eat unlimited amounts and as Oprah Winfrey likes to advertise she still eats bread everyday.

If you dont necessarily want to start any actual diet plan, meal prep can be just as effective to cut out snacking and cut down on proportions. Without measuring food intake or determining how much you want to eat ahead of time, it can feel difficult to restrain from overconsumption. Meal prep is not only time-efficient, but it helps limit food intake. Sometimes when I buy a bag of nuts, Ill lose track of how many I eat, and Ill end up going through the bag in one sitting. Meal prep, or preparation, means literally prepping food in advance so you know how much youre eating and rethink exceeding that amount.

And if youre feeling really ambitious, a gym routine wouldnt hurt either. Although working out wont necessarily work wonders if your diet doesnt follow the same pattern, its still a good way to balance out extra calories and stay in shape.

After many years of dieting, Ive learned that these forms are far healthier and more sustainable than calorie-counting, which can create unhealthy eating and obsessive dieting habits. They also encourage mindfulness and portion control, which are the kinds of habits students should learn in college. In many cases, immediate weight loss is synonymous with temporary weight loss. Students dont need to cut out all the sweets, they just need to rethink how frequently they consume them.

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College Compass: College dieting the healthy way - University of Pittsburgh The Pitt News