New York Times

Fasting Offers No Special Weight Loss Benefits New York Times At six months, both the fasting and the calorie restricted groups had lost 6.8 percent of their weight. By one year, the fasting group was down 6 percent, and the calorie restriction group 5.3 percent. In other words, there was no statistically ... There's new evidence that Silicon Valley's favorite diet could help you lose weight, but it comes with a catchBusiness Insider Study: Intermittent Fasting as Effective as Calorie Cutting for Weight LossChicago Tonight | WTTW Intermittent Fasting May Not Be Better for Weight LossConsumerReports.org The Verge -Live Science -Medscape -The JAMA Network all 101 news articles »

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Fasting Offers No Special Weight Loss Benefits - New York Times

The Habits Jessica Formed to Lose 75 Pounds Also Changed Her Life

I first saw Jess at Barry's Bootcamp she was taking class, but she may as well have been leading it. She was front and center on the floor, serving as our instructor's example of how to do all the moves properly. She was kicking some serious ass . . . and it was her third class of the day. After telling her "What I would give for your stamina," she was quick to tell me, "I used to be 245 pounds."

I didn't believe her until she pulled out her laptop and started showing me photos from her life in Wisconsin. The San Francisco-based lead instructor for Flywheel indoor cycling talks more about her next cardio class or which race she's training for than she does about her transformation. She set out with a goal that wasn't attached to numbers or a scale she just wanted to feel better. One thing lead to the next, and she's now a fitness powerhouse, all-star trainer, and major inspiration in the Bay Area. Oh, and she lost 75 pounds in the process. Check it out.

POPSUGAR: What made you decide to start your weight-loss journey?

Jessica Forseth: I was living in Minneapolis and hit a point where I realized I just didn't feel good. I had a somewhat regular workout routine but was always intimidated to try anything new or take other classes. Around that time I was hospitalized with two blood clots in my lungs. They weren't related to weight or even diet, but it was a bit of a wake-up call that I needed to create healthier habits, focusing on what I could control versus genetic disorders.

PS: What do you think contributed to your weight gain?

JF: Throughout college and even shortly after while still living in Minneapolis, I found myself going out three to five nights a week; whether it was just a happy hour or an all-nighter, the alcohol and appetizers or midnight meals all offset any healthy choices I had made during the day. Even as I became more active, it was never enough to offset the late-night mac and cheese, pizza, or the beer (hello, Wisconsin!).

PS: What approaches had you tried to lose weight?

JF: One day I just decided I needed to force myself to get in shape and stick to a plan my job title was even a planner, I thrive with a plan! and I signed up for a half marathon on a whim. Creating the training plan and just learning the best ways to fuel your body helped so much! When I moved to San Francisco, I got even more dedicated: I signed up for more races, added in cross-training, and was always reading up on nutrition, fitness, and recovery. I was tracking everything I ate and very, very, very disciplined. While this worked initially, it really wasn't sustainable; dwelling on every single calorie was an even bigger mental roadblock! My love for fitness and staying active was the key. I learned what foods fueled my body best. It's a positive cycle: the better you feel, the better you perform, which makes you want to keep it up!

PS: What's your favorite way to work out?

JF: I am a sucker for high intensity! I love loud music, high-energy atmospheres where I can just get lost in the moment and variety. I'm always mixing up cardio and strength training at Flywheel and Barry's Bootcamp or running around San Francisco sightseeing.

PS: What made you decide to become a Flywheel instructor?

JF: It's a funny story, actually. I used to be very anti-Spin class. I would take cycling classes at my gym as a way to force myself to cross-train and was always so bored and didn't feel like I got a great workout. I tried my first Flywheel class in Sunnyvale and not only did I get my butt kicked, I had a blast! I knew right then and there that I wanted to be that person helping everyone else find the fun in fitness and push themselves to places they didn't know they were capable of. Being able to turn a passion into a career has been so rewarding, especially since I can relate to everyone in that room, from beginner to advanced.

PS: What do you love most about Flywheel?

JF: I love the intensity and the community. There's something so empowering about a room full of people all working their asses off, no matter what their goal is. The torqboard and power scores keep me accountable, too! I like that I can just zone out and get lost in music for 45 minutes and come out feeling both refreshed and exhausted at the same time!

PS: What's your weekly exercise schedule?

JF: I try to focus my own workouts on strength training. I teach 10 to 12 Flywheel classes a week and am always committed to riding hard with my class, so strength training is so essential to help me prevent injuries! On top of teaching, I will usually take three to four Flywheel classes, go to Barry's Bootcamp five days a week, and yoga one day. When I can, I sneak in a jog outside!

PS: How do you keep workouts exciting?

JF: The best thing for me has been finding group fitness and this community! I still love a good solo run or weightlifting session, but finding workout buddies helps make it social as well! Planks are a little less torturous when you can laugh about it with a friend next to you. Taking advantage of the Bay Area is also great just a stroll through the city hills with coffee and a buddy is a great booty workout!

PS: How much weight have you lost?

JF: In total I've lost around 75 pounds.

PS: What was the first big difference, other than the number on the scale, that really made you feel proud and excited?

JF: The biggest thing for me has been the mental change. That's what I am most proud of. I was always intimidated to try anything new or even ashamed and had the mentality that I could never do something or wasn't strong enough to even try. I've proven myself wrong so many times now that my mindset has completely shifted to "why not?" and now I LOVE pushing my limits and finding new ways to challenge myself. I was holding myself back and didn't even realize it!

PS: How do you track your weight loss?

JF: I've stopped weighing myself regularly so don't track it like I used to because I can always tell when I just don't feel as great as I know I should. That usually tells me more than the scale!

PS: What's a typical day of meals and snacks?

JF: I am always on the go running between classes, our three Bay Area studios, or my own workouts and meetings so I am adamant about starting my day with a good breakfast and carrying tons of healthy snack options. My go-to breakfast is an egg with avocado, berries, and coffee. All the coffee. I eat a lot of small meals or snacks throughout the day to keep me fueled: oatmeal with almond butter, RXbars, fruit, or nuts. I try to have a really big salad for lunch or some sort of protein and veggie combo to keep me going.

PS: Do you count calories? What's the range of calories you eat per day?

JF: I use MyFitnessPal to track; I find it keeps me accountable. Having spent years trying to lose weight, I am still very calorie-conscious, but now I try not to focus as much on calories as I do on eating clean, whole foods when I'm truly hungry. I'm so active I need the fuel, but tracking helps me choose better fuel sources. On average I range between 1,700 and 2,000 calories a day depending on my schedule and how many hours I will be sweating that day!

PS: What are the healthy staples that are always in your fridge?

JF: Eggs, avocados, berries, and veggies to roast. I've been on a big brussels sprouts and asparagus kick lately! I also always have easy to grab snacks like RXbars and Justin's Almond Butter packets to throw in my purse.

PS: How do you strategize for meals out?

JF: I try to look ahead at the menu and check out what the healthier options are. But let's be real, if I'm going out to eat, it's probably for a special occasion and I am going to enjoy the chips and guacamole because what is life without chips and guacamole? Or ice cream and cookies, but that's another story.

PS: Do you use a fitness tracker? Which one, and how do you think it helped you?

JF: I used to use a FitBit regularly. I loved being able to track sleep, workouts, and steps, but I don't think it was prepared for the amount of hours I sweat each day as I've broken three of them.

PS: What role did Flywheel play in your journey?

JF: Being able to turn my passion into a career and take all of my own experiences the ups, downs, good, bad, all of the lessons into the stadium and share with this community has been so rewarding. Everyone I get to interact with every day, from the riders to instructors to our leaders, inspires me and keep me motivated to keep pushing myself outside of my comfort zone and never settling. They make me want to be better and stronger and never look back. I just hope that every time I get on that podium I can inspire someone in that room to do something they didn't think they could do because I was once that person who could barely run a block and was too afraid to even try a cycling class.

PS: What advice do you have for anyone starting out on a weight-loss journey?

JF: Know that it's a long journey and it's never ending it's not about setting one goal and then being done. It's a forever goal. It's a lifestyle. Not every day will be the healthiest or best day, but know that's not the end. And find the fun factor in your fitness routine! Whatever it is friends, a class, your playlists that makes you look forward to your sweat sesh.

Image Source: Jessica Forseth

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In Touch Weekly

DILF Alert! Nathan Griffith Shows off His Weight Loss in Sexy New Pic In Touch Weekly The Teen Mom 2 star took to Instagram to show off his weight loss progress and we must say, he is looking good. MORE: Find out What Jenelle Evans Is Saying About Baby No. 4. "Progress," he captioned the image. and more »

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DILF Alert! Nathan Griffith Shows off His Weight Loss in Sexy New Pic - In Touch Weekly

A Weight Watchers meeting. The study found that those given a year-long pass to weight-loss classes lost more weight and were better able to keep it off than those on three-month programmes or those using self-help guides. Photograph: Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images

Overweight or obese patients should be offered 12 months of weight-loss classes rather than the standard three months, according to research showing that the move could prevent tens of thousands of cases of obesity-related diseases over the next 25 years.

The study found that those given a year-long pass to weight-loss classes lost more weight and were better able to keep it off than those on three-month programmes or those going it alone with self-help guides.

While offering a year of classes would be more expensive than the typical three months, improvements to quality of life mean the switch would meet measures of cost-effectiveness set by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice).

One of the things we see with weight loss is that the more weight you lose, and the better you keep it off, the bigger the health benefits, said Amy Ahern, first author of the study from the University of Cambridge.

Published in the Lancet by a team of researchers from institutions across the UK, the study involved 1,267 overweight or obese participants split randomly into three groups. Just over 200 of them were given self-help guides on how to lose weight and a short explanation by research staff. The remaining participants were split equally between those who were offered weight-loss classes for three months, and those offered them for 12 months.

The team followed up on the participants after three months, one year and two years. To reflect a real world scenario, participants were also allowed to use weight-loss techniques other than those offered to their group.

The results show that, on average, those offered self-help guides lost 3.26kg after a year, while those offered weight loss classes for three months or 12 months lost 4.75kg and 6.76kg respectively.

Those on the 12-month programme also had a greater drop in waist circumference measurements, fat mass, and markers of risk for diabetes, such as blood glucose levels, compared with both of the other groups.

After two years, participants in all groups had regained some weight, but those who had been offered 12 months of weight-loss classes still fared best, weighing on average 4.29kg less than at the start of the study.

The researchers then used a model to explore how much the different weight-loss classes would cost over a 25-year period.

The upshot was that offering three-months of weight loss classes would save about 2.68 per person over 25 years compared to offering self-help guides, as a result of savings from a drop in cases of weight-related diseases.

However, moving from offering a three-month to a 12-month weight-loss programme has a net cost of 49 per person, over a 25-year period.

But the researchers found that, compared to offering three-months of weight-loss classes, 12-month courses were estimated to result in 1,786 fewer cases of weight-related diseases including hypertension, diabetes and heart disease over 25 years per 100,000 individuals.

Despite the 12-month programme being more expensive than either three months of weight-loss classes or the use of self-help guides, researchers say the quality of life gained by individuals means that according to Nice benchmarks it would be considered to be cost effective to move to offering the longer course.

It isnt cost saving, but the benefits are considered to be worth the extra cost by Nice standards, said Ahern.

But the team do not expect 12-month programmes to be rolled out any time soon, pointing out that local authorities are strapped for cash and that currently even provision of three months of dieting classes is patchy.

Weight management services are typically commissioned by the local authority and you have got to consider that savings in the NHS in 25 years dont necessarily resonate with the local authority now, said Ahern.

While the study received co-operation and some funding from Weight Watchers, the authors say the company had no role in the research itself.

Naveed Sattar, a professor of metabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow who was not involved in the study, said the research builds on previous studies showing that commercial weight-loss programmes are more effective than those provided by the NHS.

What, as a nation, we need to decide is can we fund that more widely and for longer to help people get a grip on their understanding of their diets and help them lose weight and sustain that weight loss for a longer period of time and therefore retain better health? he added.

The new study, he says, offers important evidence that it should be possible and it is cost effective, he said.

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Give overweight patients a year of weight-loss classes, say researchers - The Guardian

Credit: Instagram

Some feel like Gia Giudice is 16 going on 36!

Teresa Giudices daughter is coming under fire after she promoted a weight loss shake on her Instagram account, despite the fact shes just a teenager.

Between school and sports I love having a #310shake! It's so much more than a weight loss shake and 40% off @310nutrition products are seriously delicious! she captioned her photo.

And now fans are coming after the Real Housewives of New Jersey star for not setting a good example for young girls.

It's pretty sad you are promoting weight loss drinks. What kind of example are you setting for other girls your age? one user commented on her post.

Body image is such a big issue with young girls and you shouldn't promote it. I understand you want to be healthy and lead a healthy lifestyle, but there's so many other different ways of doing it, the person continued.

Weight loss drinks are full of sugar and most of them are genetically engineered..def not healthy.

Another user said, Anything related to weight loss, no matter how it is spun, should not be on a kids [sic] profile. Shame on you #310nutrition. Gross.

Not to mention, Gia came under fire last year when it was revealed shes dating an 18-year-old.

"[Gia] likes to keep her private life private, but they go to school together. Hes a senior, and hes a great kid. Hes amazing," Teresa previously told The Daily Dish.

What do you think about Gias Instagram promotion? Is she too young to be advertising weight loss products?

Let us know your thoughts below!

More:
Gia Giudice Slammed For Promoting Weight Loss Product - Wetpaint

Xconomy Boston

Zafgen took a big hit last year when two patient deaths forced it to abandon its most advanced drug, belaronib. The company is now looking to a new experimental weight loss drug for diabetics to turn its fortunes around, with the first glimpse at early data released this afternoon.

Many caveats apply. The data are from a short, small Phase 1 trial. The drug, ZGN-1061, has to prove in much larger, longer studies that it can safely lead to significant weight loss to have a chance to be a commercial product someday.

But the drug is critical for Boston-based Zafgen (NASDAQ: ZFGN), which has said ZGN-1061 should be just as effective as beloranib and much safer, to boot. When the patient deaths came to light in late 2015, the FDA suspended testing of beloranib and Zafgen cut short the trials that had been underway. In July 2016, Zafgen shelved the drug, shares plummeted to all-time lows, and the company cut 34 percent of its staff and put all its resources behind ZGN-1061. Leerink Partners analyst Joseph Schwartz wrote recently, The future of the company now rests on ZGN-1061s success.

Like beloranib, ZGN-1061 is an injectable small molecule drug that is supposed to stimulate the body to burn more fat. It blocks the activity of an enzyme called methionine aminopeptidase 2. The drug is being developed, initially, for patients with type 2 diabetes who are also obese.

The first human data from ZGN-1061 show that 22 overweight or obese patients received either a low (0.2 mg), medium (0.6 mg), or high (1.8 mg) dose of ZGN-1061 twice a week for four weeks. Seven received a placebo.

Those on ZGN-1061 lost an average of 4.6 pounds (low dose), 2.2 pounds (medium), or 3.8 pounds (high), respectively, after four weeks of treatment, while placebo patients lost 0.51 pounds. But the company would not disclose how much the patients had lost as a percentage of body weight. Without percentages, its impossible to know how significant the weight loss is.

Zafgen CEO Tom Hughes, who has led the company since 2008, says those numbers are a drop shy from early testing of beloranib in the past. He expects the weight loss effect will be identical once the drug is tested in a large group of exclusively diabetics. Were pretty confident well have a very strong effect once we get into the right population, Hughes says.

The deaths in the beloranib trial were due to pulmonary embolisma blood clot that gets lodged in an artery in the lungs. Hughes says there has been no evidence of blood clotting effects in ZGN-1061 so far. (Zafgen also tested different doses of ZGN-1061 in 28 healthy volunteers.) The most common side effects seen so far with ZGN-1061 were mild gastrointestinal issues and headaches.

These results are just a start for Zafgen. It will dose at least 100 obese type 2 diabetes patients with ZGN-1061 in a Phase 2 trial expected to start later this year and produce data in 2018, according to chief medical officer Dennis Kim. Its important to note that beloranib also produced striking weight loss early on, but serious blood clots didnt occur in patients until larger, longer trials. Hughes, though, says because of Zafgens experience with beloranib, it is now proactively measuring patients taking ZGN-1061 for a number of other markers indicative of clotting. We didnt know at the time that beloranib would pose such a risk, he says.

Zafgen was developing beloranib for the rare genetic disease Prader-Willi Syndrome, which causes a dangerous, insatiable hunger. It could have been the first approved Prader-Willi drug in more than 15 years. (Xconomy detailed the saga, and its impact on the Prader-Willi community, here.)

For now, the company will steer ZGN-1061 clear of rare, severe obesity-related conditions.

We have some work to do first, Hughes says.

Ben Fidler is Xconomy's Deputy Biotechnology Editor. You can e-mail him at bfidler@xconomy.com

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Future At Stake, Zafgen Gives First Glimpse of New Obesity Drug Data - Xconomy

With a growing number of people in the world struggling with to lose weight, its no wonder there are so many fad diets being promoted through mainstream media.

According to the WHO, around 52% of the worlds population is either overweight or obese. Many of these people have tried to lose weight at least at some point in their lives, and some have even experimented with extreme dieting by following fad diets.

But as research shows, anextreme weight loss diet is not only ineffective as a long-term solution, but itcan be extremely damaging to your health.

Extreme weight loss diets usually involve severe calorie restriction with the goal of shedding a great amount of weight in the shortest amount of time possible. While these diets will inevitably lead to great weight loss within the first few weeks, you need to keep in mind that you run the risk of losing muscle tissue before you get the chance to shed fat.

According to medical experts, extreme dieting will first lead to water weight loss, then to muscle atrophy, and at the very last stage, to fat loss. Researcher G.L. Thorpe has explained this a very long time ago stating that our body does not selectively burn fat when we eat less. It rather, wastes all body tissue, including the muscles and bones.

The reason why your body targets muscle tissue first when you are starving yourself is because it aims to preserve energy when food is sparse. To explain this further your body needs more energy in order to maintain muscle tissue than it does in order to maintain fat.

When theres a shortage of energy from food as in cases of extreme dieting, your body will attempt to remove one of the bodys greatest energy consumers the muscles.

This will happen even if you do weight-loss exercises that you may think help build more muscle. But the bad news does not end there.

Keep in mind that a loss of muscle mass leads to a lower basal metabolic rate, and a lower metabolic rate leads to, youve guessed it more weight gain. These facts explain why so many people experience the jo-jo effect following an extreme diet.

A study published in The Journals of Gerontology found that calorie restriction reduces energy expenditure. What this means is that being on an extremely low-calorie diet will lead to a slower metabolism making future weight loss difficult if not impossible.

Furthermore, diets that are extremely low in calories are often very restrictive and as such, unable to meet your bodys needs for essential nutrients. In other words, being on say, an 800-calorie diet is likely to lead to nutrient deficiencies which can seriously harm your health.

A study that was published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition examined the prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies in popular diets, and the results were striking.

The study found that a restrictive weight-loss diet called The Best Life Diet met only 55% of daily micronutrient requirements while the very popular South Beach Diet met only 22% of the daily requirements for micronutrients. Other negative consequences of crash diets and other highly restrictive diets include osteoporosis, depression, kidney stones, and in severe cases scurvy when the diet is deficient in vitamin C.

First off, you need to keep in mind that successful weight loss always comes on gradually. This means switching to a healthy eating habit that you can follow for years to come as well as exercising on a weekly basis.

You also need to eat fewer calories than you usually do for weight loss to take place. According to a study published not so long ago in the Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, consuming fewer calories is the most effective weight loss strategy, especially when combined with low-GI and moderate fat intake. Just make sure that you reduce your calorie intake by 300-500 calories as recommended by Harvard Health Publications.

For instance, if your usual diet consists of 2500 calories, start eating 2200 calories. Your body will take the time to adjust to this modest caloric deficit, but after a while, you can drop a few calories lower.

Just make sure that you dont eat anywhere less than 1200 if you are a woman or less than 1500 if you are a man to avoid micronutrient deficiencies. Other things to help you lose weight include finding daily weight-loss motivation tips to help keep you going and checking your health with your doctor to see if underlying health conditions are stalling your weight loss.

Instead of following fad diet trends that you see being promoted by slim celebrities, nutritionists would suggest you follow healthy eating instead.

By switching to healthy eating instead of say, a low-carb diet that does not work, youll be able to shed weight slowly and still meet your bodys needs for key nutrients.

When your body is healthy, and your organs well-nourished, you are more likely to experience successful long-term weight loss. Another reason why this is so is because healthy eating is much easier to stick to in the long run when compared to impossible and restrictive diets.

According to an entry published in the Scandinavian Journal of Food & Nutrition, switching to healthy eating involves making big lifestyle changes, focusing on food quality, and balancing your nutrients.

The same entry lists the health benefits of healthy eating which include reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and of course, an improved body composition.

You may hear stories of people losing a huge amount of weight by following impossible diets. These stories are usually parts of marketing campaigns for weight-loss products and dieting books that are potentially detrimental to your health. Sticking to proven facts is the only way you can lose weight successfully and safely.

Weight loss requires that you cut down on your calories gradually without jeopardizing your health. It also involves regular exercising to increase energy expenditure and to build more muscle tissue.

The post If You Want To Lose Weight, Do It In The Right Way appeared first on Lifehack.

This post was syndicated from Lifehack. Click here to read the full text on the original website.

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If You Want To Lose Weight, Do It In The Right Way - Nigeria Today

Despite what the diet industry is telling you, your weight isnt an accurate measure of health, according to executive director for the Eating Disorder Support Network of Alberta Sue Huff.

Ahead of International No Diet Day on May 6, Huff explained weight and health are often confused with each other.

They arent the same thing, Huff said. People can be healthy at all sizes.

She said most people aren't aware of the risks associated with dieting or fast weight loss.

Trying to lose a lot of weight quickly can turn on an eating disorder in people who are genetically predisposed, she said.

Dieting can also be harmful to the brain, according to Calgary psychologist Dr. Angela Grace.

Any time there is restrictive dieting, youre denying the body nutrients to survive and thrive, she said. We all need food but its more important to focus on the nutrients youre putting into the body, not what youre taking away from (it).

She encouraged people who want to lose weight to find ways to nourish their bodies instead of restricting their intake.

We have a multi-billion dollar diet industry that preys on peoples low self-esteem, on their body-esteem, and promoting that thin equals health, Grace said.

Look at restoring overall health and wellbeing for your whole life not just narrowing it down to thinness.

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Albertas eating disorder support network says weight doesnt equal health - MetroNews Canada

LIAM SCARROT lost 130lbs by doing this one simple exercise.

FACEBOOK/LIAMSCARROT

Liam Scarrot had always been fit growing up.

The Australian man would spend his days playing football and cricket, his parents would cook healthy meals and even at 17 he would go to the gym five days a week.

However, after he broke his leg at work the weight began to pile on.

When I was recovering, I got sacked and told I was useless, since I was on crutches, he told Mens Health.

That put a huge mental strain on me and I really went down hill. The start of the end you could say.

Liam put on over 2st while recovering from the broken leg which made his self-esteem plummet.

He turned to food for comfort. His daily diet would exceed 4,000 calories a day and would gorge on junk food, soft drink, alcohol and desserts.

At 18, Liams weight ballooned to 21st 4lbs. It wasn't until five years later, when in a long-term relationship, Liam decided to make a change.

He began to write down everything he ate and focussed on portion sizes and he would also take a walk regularly this alone helped him drop 3st 5lbs.

LDN Muscle founder Tom Exton shows off his shredded body

1 / 18

People were coming up to me, and noticing me, and saying how good Im looking and it honestly made me feel so good, I couldnt help but keep going, Liam explained.

Liam hit a weight-loss plateau but credits walking every day with helping him break through it.

These daily 40-minute walks eventually turned into 40-minute runs and this is when he decided to join a gym.

Now, Liam goes to the gym four times a week and has taken up strength training along with cardio.

Liam also changed his diet, cut out the sugar, and loaded his meals with protein and vegetables.

He also credits seeing a therapist as one of the major things that helped with his weight loss.

I had to keep telling myself and pushing myself to just keep going.

Its all a mental thing. If you can win the battle in your head, you will get what you want to achieve.

Continued here:
The ONE simple exercise that helped this man lose over 9st - Daily Star