Author Archives: SarahS

About SarahS

Sarah Shultz is a connoisseur of trying new things, from food to hobbies. As a recent graduate of Central Christian College she is working on trying life in the real world. When she isn't hanging out at the DIR office she enjoys healthy baking, running, and cycling.

7 Splurge-Worthy Gifts to Buy for Yourself and Your Health This Year

It’s Christmas time, when we think of others and how we can show our love through tokens of appreciation. Before going broke buying presents, however, save a little bit for yourself to spend on something that could do a world of good in your life by providing a bevy of health benefits. From getting off medications to finding a surefire way to cope with stress, these gifts promise more than momentary satisfaction, they may just inspire a completely new lifestyle.

1. Hire a Personal Trainer

Sometimes, the choice to workout comes down to accountability. When exercising with a friend isn’t cutting it, hiring a trainer can be a great choice. They know what moves to do, how many need to be done to be effective, and how to do them so you don’t get hurt. They also take care of formulating a fitness plan with your goals in mind. Missing a 6 a.m. workout is a lot less likely if you know there’s someone waiting for you at the gym ready to charge your credit card whether you show up or not. Just be sure to make sure they’re accredited and look into what kind – not all certifications are created equal. Can’t make it to the gym? Sites like Wello will do video-chat training sessions to serve clients anywhere, anytime.

2. Get a Nutritionist

Do you have fitness down, but need help with the food part of being healthy? A consult with a nutritionist may be your answer. A diet book has no concern for what foods you like and dislike, certain allergies, and current fitness levels. A dietitian will. They’ll give you a proper eating plan to follow and do all the math and science stuff, like calorie counting, for you. Before picking one, make sure you have a certain rapport with them so that you’ll feel at ease, know they give clear directions that you can easily understand, and explain why certain foods are and aren’t necessary. They don’t even have to be local. Dietitians like Mary Hartley, RD do Skype consults. (more…)

Posted on December 12, 2023 by SarahS

Your Wheat Addiction is Making You Fat, Says Wheat Belly Author on Dr. Oz

Dr. Oz asks “are you addicted to wheat?”on his December 3 show. Oz invites William Davis, MD, author of Wheat Belly, to share his opinion on how modern wheat is destructive to human health.

“Nobody, no human, nobody in this audience should be eating this modern creation of genetics research,” says Davis, a cardiologist, on the show. He posits that the wheat today, which is genetically modified, has negative implications that were never anticipated when scientists started producing sturdier, mass-produced crops.

In Wheat Belly, Davis also writes that not only is wheat unhealthy, it is poisonous and addictive. Wheat is poisonous, he says, because it has so many adverse effects on humans. “There’s not an organ system or condition that has not been related to consumption of modern wheat,” Davis tells Oz.

Davis links wheat to stimulating brain receptors into wanting more refined carbohydrates, much in the same way heroin and opium produce cravings. He says that this adds around 440 calories per day to wheat eaters, a number that soon adds up and packs on belly fat.  (more…)

Posted on December 3, 2023 by SarahS

Run Free’s Fake Marathon Provides Laughs but Offends Some Runners

Marathons are difficult. They can be exhausting, sweaty, even humiliating. Sure, they come with the satisfaction of knowing you did the hard work of running a marathon, but when that’s not enough to get you to tie up your laces, the creative people at Ridiculo.us came up with another idea: stage a fake marathon.

The event, being staged in February, is counting on participants to snap pictures of themselves preparing for the race, showing off their race gear, and pretending to run, then compile all of those online to make it seem like the race really happened. It comes complete with T-shirts, race bibs, medals and race times, just no actual running. That’s why it’s called Run Free 2024, because the race is run-free. Participants are instructed to promote it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media to spread the word and get people talking about “the greatest race that never was.”

Kickstarter.com hosts all of the information about how to sign up. Backers who pledge certain amounts of money get special race packets that include the Run Free gear. Their goal was $999, but they reached their fundraising goal in under an hour, and ended up raising more than $15,000 to fund the project. (more…)

Posted on December 3, 2023 by SarahS

New Bariatric Surgery, POSE, Introduced on The Doctors

The Doctors introduced a new bariatric surgery method last week. It’s called the Primary Obesity Surgery Endoluminal, or P.O.S.E. 

POSE is performed without an incision, making recovery time significantly less. It is designed for patients wanting to lose between 25 to 60 pounds. The procedure, which takes about an hour, is done by inserting a tube through the mouth down to the stomach. Tiny tools then work to permanently fold sections of the stomach until its size is diminished sufficiently; in essence, shrinking the stomach. The device used in the surgery is cleared by the FDA for other tissue approximation procedures, but not yet for weight loss surgery.

The Doctors highlight the story of Gloria who chose the procedure after years of weight gain and useless dieting. She has lost 26 pounds so far, and expects to lose more. As with any weight loss procedure, changing her diet and fitness levels were also necessary. (more…)

Posted on December 3, 2023 by SarahS

17 Day Diet Author Mike Moreno Shares His Tips to Stop Aging on The Doctors

Join The Doctors on November 26 as they speak with Dr. Mike Moreno about the secrets of living a longer and healthier life. Moreno is the author of the popular 17 Day Diet and the more recent book, The 17 Day Plan to Stop Aging, released September 2024.

The Doctors seek to solve the puzzle of living longer, healthier, and happier through simple yet effective practices. In that pursuit they, along with Moreno’s help, present 17 ways to look and feel younger.

Two surprising tips shared in this episode include taking cold showers for health and following the old adage ‘forgive and forget.’

Cold showers help improve blood circulation and keep skin and hair healthy, as well as help to reduce stress and invigorate the senses. Forgiving others and not focusing on past hurts are two practices that have been proven to help lower one’s blood pressure and heart rate.

Moreno’s plan to stop aging follows the same prescription as his 17 Day Diet book, relying on four 17 day cycles to jump start a plan to reverse the effects of aging. The cycles aim to restore, rebuild, refine and renew. His bestselling diet is based on the practice of metabolic confusion where the body is not allowed to settle into a routine and therefore plateau. His plan to stop aging, on the other hand, is a guide to incorporate more good practices into one’s life in order to live as healthfully as possible. (more…)

Posted on November 26, 2023 by SarahS

Holiday Cocktail Calories Make More Work for New Year’s Resolutions

A new study on the drinking patterns of adults finds that the average adult American consumes 100 calories on a daily basis from alcohol alone. Does that not sound like much? It’s actually about 16 percent of total daily calories.

Nutritionist Connie Diekman, in a report by HealthDay, explains that even 100 unneeded calories per day from alcohol translates to a ten pound per year weight gain.

Not surprisingly, men aged 20 to 29 had the highest rates of alcohol consumption at 174 calories per day, and their chosen drink was beer. One 12-ounce beer is 150 calories. The study found that six percent of women and 20 percent of men consume more than 300 calories from alcohol each day.

Of course, not everyone drinks every day, and even if they do, moderate alcohol consumption is not necessarily unhealthy. The catch is what kinds of alcohol Americans are drinking, because a glass of red wine is a lot different than a piña colada.

For the approaching holidays, cut out much of the unwanted weight gain by remembering that liquid calories count and restricting your alcohol consumption or by replacing unhealthy drinks with slimmed-down options. (more…)

Posted on November 16, 2023 by SarahS

Lisa Lillien and the Lazy Girl’s Guide to Getting Healthy on Dr. Oz

Hungry Girl Lisa Lillien joins Dr. Oz on his November 14 show as they discuss her methods for eating well and staying satisfied while sticking to a healthy diet.

Lillien is not a nutritionist, dietitian, or doctor, but her Hungry Girl franchise has attracted millions of followers as she sheds light on how to sate your appetite the wholesome way. She started off with a free daily email of food tips and tricks, but that grew into seven best-selling books, a television show that airs on the Food Network and Cooking Channel, a weekly column on WeightWatchers.com, and regular contributions to other national media.

This time around on Dr. Oz, Lillien has a plan for women to eat twice as much this month and still lose five pounds. She brings four secret ingredients with her that will help bulk up your meals and in the meantime save you calories. She promises that these fixes are quick, easy, and delicious.

Dr. Oz, looking somewhat incredulous, asks Lillien, “You can eat all that stuff and still lose five pounds this month?”, to which she replies, “Ya! It works!” (more…)

Posted on November 14, 2023 by SarahS

Tony Horton’s 90-Day Plan to Transform Your Body on Dr. Oz

Tune in November 13 to see special guest Tony Horton visit the Dr. Oz show. The 54-year-old is famous for his brand of fitness books and DVDs, most notably the in-home P90X program.

Horton brings an exclusive program to the Dr. Oz stage made specifically for Dr. Oz show viewers, a 90-day plan intended to transform your body for life. Horton tells Oz that anybody can do his fitness plan and the results will last for life. He gives three cardinal rules to follow and a ten-minute workout that everyone can do. (more…)

Posted on November 13, 2023 by SarahS

Dr. Oz Says Obesity Isn’t Our Fault in Interview with Hormone Diet Author

Doctor Oz’s newest fat-burning prescription has the doctor picking up a blow torch and liquefying a mountain of butter in a depiction of how jump-starting your hormones can melt away fat fast.

“When you learn how to manipulate these magical hormones to work together, your fat, flab, ripples and rolls will melt away,” he promises on his November 12 episode.

Oz’s guest on the show is Dr. Natasha Turner, naturopathic author of The Hormone Diet, a bestselling book about creating a hormonal balance in the body for weight loss, living better, and looking younger.

“Hormones are your internal thermostat that control the metabolic rate of every single cell in your body,” Oz says on the show. “When the system is out of balance and it crashes, everything slows down and just won’t move.”

Doctors Oz and Turner contend that resetting the body’s hormones will supercharge weight loss attempts, even if you’ve been trying for years with little or no success.

“It’s not your fault folks, it’s the biology of blubber,” says Oz. (more…)

Posted on November 12, 2023 by SarahS

Khloe Kardashian Drops 10 Pounds the Right Way Before X-Factor Debut

Although Khloé Kardashian has tried her share of lose-weight-quick dieting strategies in the past, she revealed that her diet before her first appearance as co-host of The X-Factor consisted only of making healthier eating choices the old-fashioned way.

The 28-year-old told People magazine after the show that she trimmed down ten pounds by reducing her intake of sweets as well as cheese, a personal favorite indulgence, and working hard not to binge eat. She tries to keep up with a consistent exercise program and is changing her diet slowly to make sure she can realistically keep it up.

Kardashian said she’s learned that crash diets do not work long term. “When I used to do things like crash diets or things too fast, it never stuck because it wasn’t a lifestyle change,” she told reporters.

The star posed for the cover of Life & Style magazine in May 2024 for an article about how she lost 20 pounds in 20 days. Although that’s over the recommended amount of weight loss in such a short period of time, Kardashian said she did it through healthy meals prepared by her chef and extended daily workout sessions with her husband and a personal trainer.  (more…)

Posted on November 12, 2023 by SarahS

Chaz Bono to Lose 50 Pounds with Help from Dr. Travis Stork

Chaz Bono, child of singing sensations Sunny and Cher, has had his share of difficulties throughout life. The pressures of having famous parents, an addiction to prescription painkillers and alcohol, and a long journey from being born a girl to choosing gender reassignment surgery have been closely scrutinized in the media throughout his life. Now Bono is about to tackle another difficult issue, his weight.

The writer, musician, and LGBT activist reveals on The Doctors November 14 how he has struggled with his weight his whole life. Dr. Travis Stork lays out a plan for the 250-pound, 5 foot 5 1/2 in. Bono to lose 50 to 80 pounds. An upcoming episode will reveal the transformation.

Although he said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight that discussing his weight is painful for him, Bono knows that he needs to get help for the problem. “I don’t like to talk about this issue. It’s very personal for me, and very difficult,” he said.

While we applaud Bono’s effort to achieve a healthier weight, it is interesting that he chose to get help from Stork, an emergency medicine physician with no background in weight loss management. He has his M.D. from the University of Virginia and worked at Vanderbilt Medical Center’s emergency room, specializing in trauma care and acutely ill patients. Although well-qualified as a physician, a specialist in weight loss, with experience in fitness training and nutrition, would be a better match for Bono. Stork is better known for his appearance on The Bachelor than any weight loss program. He wrote a weight loss book called The Lean Belly Prescription, but then, he also penned Don’t Be That Girl, showing he feels his expertise is very multi-faceted. (more…)

Posted on November 9, 2023 by SarahS