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Weight-bearing activities that work against gravity — aerobic activities like walking, running, cross-country skiing, dancing, skating and stair-climbing — use proportionately more calories at a given level of effort than swimming, cycling or water aerobics.

The more muscle groups involved in your activities, the more calories you are likely to burn. That is why working out against gravity uses more calories than non-weight-bearing activities. On the other hand, because activities like swimming put less stress on weight-bearing joints, many people can do them for longer periods, making up for the lower caloric burn.

If your workout includes hills (real ones or on exercise equipment), you will use more calories per minute than doing the same activity on level ground. But if you engage in resistance exercises — working out with weights or on machines that strengthen various muscle groups — you may gain several pounds of muscle that partly offset the loss of body fat.

In other words, you may lose fewer pounds than if you expended the same number of calories on an aerobic activity (cardio) like brisk walking or swimming, but you will be stronger and better toned. With greater muscle mass, your basic metabolic rate will rise and you will burn more calories all day and night. And since muscle holds less water and takes up less room than the equivalent weight of fat, by shedding fat and gaining muscle you can lose inches and sizes without losing actual pounds on the scale.

Keep in mind, though, that the time spent doing resistance exercise burns fewer calories than if the same time were spent on aerobic activities (cardio).

If you have a fitness question, send them to Matt!

If you’re in a Chicago this weekend, it’s a good time to pull out your running shoes and gym clothes.

Tomorrow is Chicago’s fifth annual Chicago Moves Day. The event is sponsored by the Mayor’s Fitness Council, and dedicates an afternoon to encouraging Chicagoans to live a healthy lifestyle.

At the event you’ll find area fitness trainers, fitness classes for all ages, health screenings and more, or start the day with a 5k Run. The two-hour event is broken into 10 minute exercise segments, with classes like Firefighters workout with the Chicago Fire Department, Arthritis Exercise Class from the Arthritis Foundation and a Kids Cardio Kickbox.

Then, Saturday you can attend the final Self Magazine Workout in the Park. The event is similar to the one that took place in Central Park last week, just without the special appearance by Jillian (see our coverage). The cost is $25 at Lincoln Park, Grove 8, from 11am-3pm.

Whether you’re in Chicago or not, the 30 minutes of activity, 5 days a week that the Mayor’s Fitness Council recommends is an ideal way to incorporate more physical activity into your daily life. Ride a bike, take the stairs, walk the dog or swim laps- it all counts!

I told you’d there would be new things happening at Diets In Review. One of which will be a new segment in the Diet Blog called “Food Finds”. These will be healthy alternatives to some of the foods we love and crave. I’ll only post them if I’ve tried them myself and they promise to be something I will eat again. I mean, if you can convince a picky eater like me to dig in to something new, you’ve probably got a winner.

First up, Stacy’s Pita Chips. I’m not lying when I tell you chips are possibly my biggest vice. Nacho cheese, BBQ, plain - you name it, I can polish off a bag without even thinking twice. So I’ve been on a mission to replace these chips, or rather, that crunch that accompanies my sandwiches.

I found Stacy’s Pita Chips and I think this is where I’m going to stay. The calories and fat are both lower than regular chips, and they have more fiber. I won’t lie, not the impressive amount I’d hoped for. They also have 3 Weight Watchers Points per serving, for those of you counting.

I tried the Naked with Sea Salt and the Cinnamon Sugar. They are fantastic, super crunchy, delicious flavor and they go well with my sandwich. These pita chips are baked and proudly boast that they are all-natural.

Finishing off a whole bag still won’t do me any favors, but I can satisfy my need for crunch and not feel so bad about it.

Nutrition Facts from CalorieKing.com.

Physical Fitness consists of five basic components which involve the heart, lungs, strength, endurance, and flexibility.

1. Cardiorespiratory or “Cardio”

The ability to do moderately strenuous activity over a period of time. It reflects how well your heart and lungs work together to supply oxygen to your body during exertion and exercise.

2. Muscular Endurance

The ability to hold a particular position for a sustained period of time or repeat a movement many times. An example of this would be performing a particular exercise 20 to 30 times consecutively without stopping.

3. Muscular Strength

The ability to exert maximum force, such as lifting the heaviest weight one time. It is possible to have muscular strength in one area, say your arms, while lacking strength in another area, such as your legs. Find that happy medium.

4. Flexibility

The ability to move a joint through its full range of motion; the elasticity of the muscle. This is how limber or supple you are.

5. Body Composition

The proportion of fat in your body compared to your bone and muscle. It does not refer to your weight in pounds or your figure.

See all of Matt’s Fitness Tips.

We want to share your hard work and success with everyone! Send your weight loss success story in 500 words or less along with your before and after pictures to be entered to win a signed copy of Jorge Cruise’s 12 Second Sequence.

We’re creating a space on DietsInReview.com to celebrate your successes, and soon you’ll find your photos and stories there. The winner will be announced in newsletter #5, June 10.

Email your success story and photos to contest@dietsinreview.com to be eligible to win!

By submitting your story and photos you are authorizing their use on DietsInReview.com.

Check out this brief message from our Senior Editor about the new additions to DietsInReview.com.

Hey, drop that doughnut, officer! That’s the message (sort of) from dietitian Rana Parker to the Los Angeles Police Department.

The image of the carb-addicted pudgy police officer seems to be counter-intuitive, considering the physical nature of the job. So, the LAPD proudly boasts that they are hiring a dietitian to help slim down their force, and reverse the trend of expanding waistlines.

The LAPD has been facing a shortage of recruits, so they’ve relaxed their body fat limits to 22 percent for men and 30 percent for women.

As may be expected, there has been some resistance from the not-so-thin Blue Line, but there have also been some welcoming arms, and more importantly, successes.

Parker’s presence has helped some officers drop weight, which should make a stressful job less weighty. The common joke of the police officer in front of a 7-11 munching on a doughnut and sipping coffee makes for an easy laugh, but it’s not the whole story. While, there may be some truth to the stereotype, the obvious problem is that when you combine odd and long hours with a stressful profession, it’s a recipe for dietary disaster.

I applaud the LAPD, as one of the best ways we can honor the service of these heroes and heroines is to help them fight a battle some of them are losing - the battle of the bulge.

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve posted pieces on public health policy as it relates to full-disclosure of restaurants’ nutritional information. The publicity and efforts are slowly revving up, as it becomes more and more evident that unhealthy food is a serious concern in society.

If you come to the table of discussion with an open mind, you can see how, in essence, there is little difference between junk food and some of the “milder” drugs. In fact, there are rumblings to consider junk food as legitimately addictive. Researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute are saying their findings “could provide the basis for new policies aimed at treating fast food more like cigarettes.” Anyone who has had a bag of Doritos can attest to the addictive nature of unhealthy snack food. There are also some expert calls for tempering the junk-food junkie connection argument a little.

“Overeating and drug addiction may converge on some of the same neurons,” says Endocrinologist Barbara Kahn. “but other pathways are also involved. And from a biochemical point of view, the two are not the same thing. Drug addictions are much stronger.”

It is a political tightrope, for sure. Most people don’t want government acting as a nanny to its citizens, but at the same time, there can be some reasonable compromises, such as taking soda and candy out of schools (we limit adolescent access to other things) and printing nutritional information on restaurant menus.

Adults don’t need parenting, so I certainly fall on the side of consumers needing to be the ultimate decision-makers, but they do need to have the ability to make those decisions as informed as possible.

I’m really pleased to introduce you to Matt Johnson, the new resident fitness expert at DietsInReview.com. Matt joins us with a wealth of experience as a fitness professional and we’re excited about the contribution he’ll make to the site.

He has been a personal trainer for six years and continues to do so. Matt has a B.S. in Exercise Science from Wichita State University, where he is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Exercise Science. He is the Director of Personal Training for Genesis Health Club in Wichita and is a Certified Personal Trainer with NASM (the National Academy of Sports Medicine).

Each week, check out the Diet Blog on Monday, Wednesday and Friday to find Matt’s latest post about fitness and exercise. You’ll also find tips from Matt in the DietsInReview Newsletter. It promises to be information you can use. Also, we invite you to send Matt your questions related to fitness and exercise.

Welcome, Matt!

All this week, the Today Show will be looking at some of the most popular diet programs on the market.  Each day they will highlight one, featuring a woman who has followed the weight loss plan for three months. Matt quoted a daunting statistic, 66% of American adults are overweight. It’s not a number that should surprise anyone, but make the lingering “obesity epidemic” that much more real. 

This morning, all eyes were on Jenny Craig, and the newest recruit Lisa Abbott. Lisa said she’s been struggling with her weight for more than 12 years. She gave birth to twins, life got busy, like many American women and moms, her weight took a back seat to everything else. She said that this time, she was ready to feel healthy and ready to be a positive role model for her daughters.

Lisa followed Jenny Craig for the past three months- documenting the entire experience for the Today Show. Her starting weight was 181 pounds, and on the show this morning she had lost 18 pounds, currently 163.

The Jenny Craig program in the past few years has been made very popular by stars like Kirstie Alley, Valerie Bertinelli and now Queen Latifah. Just like these divas of weight loss, Lisa Abbott also stuck exclusively to the Jenny Cuisine frozen meals. Three meals a day, perfectly portion controlled, supplemented with fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and a total daily caloric intake of 1200 calories.

Lisa admitted to being hungry in the first few weeks, as the calories were far below her usual. She said in time, that went away. Her stomach is now much smaller and even if she wanted to eat a larger portion, she said she just can’t do it. She expressed her surprise at how good the Jenny Craig meals were, saying they were “very good and very tasty.”

In addition to the Jenny Craig diet, Lisa has a consistent exercise regimen, working out at 24 hour Fitness (also known as the Biggest Loser gym).

Tomorrow, tune in to the Today Show as they follow one woman on Weight Watchers, the 40+ year weight loss giant.

For more information, read our reviews for Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers.