It’s the first day of spring and Mother Nature is about to crank up the thermostat, and you’re probably thinking about shedding those winter pounds. For best results, look no further than your kitchen sink;water is everywhere, and there are plenty of drops to drink. Additionally, the impending increase in temperature puts us at greater risk of dehydration, a preventable warm-weather affliction.
In an article published this week, personal trainer and blogger Tony Schober said, “Water makes everything in your body work more efficiently. From fat loss to lubricating your nose, it is involved in every human function.” According to Tony, when you’re not giving your body enough water, it will hold on to its limited internal supply, leading to water retention.” Once you start drinking more water, your body recognizes that it is getting a steady external supply, and it starts letting go of the water weight it’s been holding,” said Tony. The water weight is stored in the waist, face, and ankles, giving the body a bloated and puffy look. Read Full Post >
Based on the idea that a high fiber diet promotes nutrition and weight loss without hunger, F-Factor seems like a reasonable diet approach. The creator of the program, Tanya Zuckerbrot, is a registered dietitian who offers her clients 10 one-on-one counseling sessions as part of F-Factor, and it’s generating a lot of buzz.
With high profile clients like former CNBC host Donny Deutsch and current Miss Universe Olivia Culpo, the F-Factor diet plan has gained notoriety in recent months as being a viable weight loss option. The catch? This program will cost you $10,000 if you want the customized version.
For that hefty price tag, clients receive those ten personal sessions as well as an in-depth consultation and education process about weight loss and nutrition. Zuckerbrot also goes over the diet plan with her clients during this initial session, reminding them about the high intake of fiber the diet requires. If clients are interested, they can pay an additional $1,500 each for a supermarket tour and refrigerator and pantry makeover. The high cost of the program begs the question of whether or not F-Factor is worth it, though.
Obesity is killing Americans faster than a speeding train. OK, I might be exaggerating, but this disease, flagged as an epidemic, isn’t getting any better unless we as a society start actively living healthier lifestyles. Obesity causes a host of diseases and health problems that include high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, high cholesterol, joint problems, and even death.
That all seems par for the course, but did you know that obese individuals are more likely to die in car accidents? According to statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there was an 80% increase in fatalities in traffic accidents for obese individuals. What could be causing obese people to die more often in car accidents? An obese drivers’ lower body is ejected farther before the seat belt safely engages the pelvis, plus the extra tissue on the driver stops the seat belt from fitting snugly, thus making it harder for the driver to be held safely upon impact.
Another factor at play is the design of cars. Researcher Thomas M. Rice said, “Vehicle designers are teaching to the test – designing so that crash test dummies do well. Crash-test dummies are typically normal size adults and children.” Read Full Post >
Author Dara-Lynn Weiss’ airs her dirty linen in public in a controversial new memoir, “The Heavy: A Mother, A Daughter, A Diet.” She shines the light on a most important topic: How can we prevent our kids from becoming overweight? The Heavy chronicles the journey of a mother’s struggle to help her young daughter to get healthy. We first met Dara-Lynn and her daughter, Bea, last April in a Vogue essay from the overbearing mom’s point of view. Bea was deprived and publically shamed. It wasn’t pretty. The blogs condemned mom.
For sure, we need extensive interventions to curb the childhood obesity epidemic, but does the solution lie in a rescue by mom as the food police? The research does not agree. Dietitian Evelyn Tribole, co-author of the bookIntuitive Eating, outlines the studies nicely in this video, Warning Dieting Causes Weight Gain.
She shows how the act of dieting, independent of genetics, is a cause of overweight. Deprivation diets can lead to food obsession, binge-eating, and more weight gain. Dieting is passed down from mothers to daughters. Dara-Lynn had strange practices of her own with frequent weigh-ins and juice cleanses to keep the numbers in line. Studies show that a mother’s over-concern about her own size is later expressed in her daughter’s negative body image and feelings of low self-worth. Read Full Post >
We’ve completed our first ever side-by-side comparison of three leading meal delivery diet programs – Bistro MD, Diet To Go, and Freshology. This segment of the diet industry is large and continues to grow. Last year, John LaRosa of MarketData shared with us that the segment should “sustain 4.5% average annual growth from 2012 to 2014, reaching $1.09 billion in the latter year.”
Which one is the best? You’re always asking and we’re always wondering ourselves. So we finally sat down to find out.
The winner? Bistro MD. It was a stand out favorite on many levels, from nutrition to taste and quality, as well as packaging.
Diet To Go took the second spot, and Freshology rounded out the list at third.
