Workout at a High Intensity Level

 

Creating Weight-Loss

Weight loss is achieved by creating a negative caloric balance in your body. You need to eat fewer calories than you burn through exercise and metabolic processes. Your body will then turn to stored energy or body fat to fuel itself and your body weight will decrease. According to Dr. Len Kravitz, assistant professor of exercise at the University of New Mexico, research shows that significant weight loss is created by moderate to vigorous exercise and not low intensity exercise.

Fuel Contribution

When you exercise, your body needs to fuel itself from stores of carbohydrates and fat. It is a mix of fuel types and not just one or the other. The contribution percentages are what varies depending on the intensity or effort of exercise. When you exercise at a lower intensity, it is burning a higher percentage of fat and lower percentage of carbohydrates. As your intensity increases, this shifts so that you burn more carbohydrates and less fat, according to the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

Intensity and Caloric Burn

In theory, low-intensity exercise does sound like the answer because you are burning a higher percentage of calories from fat. However, it is calories in versus calories out that determines weight loss not where it comes from. Higher intensity exercise burns more calories so contributes to better weight loss results. Consider that you might burn 100 calories during a 20 minute, low-intensity walk. It is possible that 60 calories are from fat and 40 are from carbohydrates. Now increase this to a 20 minute, high-intensity run and you may burn 200 calories. If only 40 percent is from fat, you have burned 80 fat calories compared to 60 at low-intensity exercise.

Exercise Recommendations

To lose a significant amount of weight, which is defined as 5 percent or more of your total body weight, the American College of Sports Medicine recommends an accumulation of 225 to 420 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise each week. This should be a combination of cardiovascular and resistance exercise for the most health and weight-loss benefit. Choose activities that you enjoy as well as challenge you to stay motivated.

Considerations

None of this means that low-intensity exercise is bad. If you are new to exercise or have a chronic medical condition, it might be the best choice for you. Discuss limitations with your doctor so you have guidelines to follow. Low-intensity exercise is also a good way to let your body recover from higher levels of physical activity or a way to ease back in after a break. Listen to your body and adjust your exercise intensity accordingly.

Beef and Sweet Potato Stew

prep time:30 min

start to finish:4 hr

makes:4 servings

1 3/4 pounds boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed of fat to make 1 1/4 pounds lean beef stew meat

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled, halved lengthwise, and sliced 1/2 inch thick (3 cups)

1 medium onion, cut into wedges (1/2 cup)

1 3/4 cups Progresso® beef broth

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon salt

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 can (14.5 oz) Muir Glen® no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained

1/2 cup dried apricots or pitted dried plums (prunes), quartered

2 tablespoons chopped unsalted peanuts

Sliced green onion (optional)

1. Cut meat into 1-inch pieces. In a 3 1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker, combine meat, sweet potatoes, and onion. Stir broth, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, salt, and garlic into mixture in cooker.

2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 7 to 8 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

3. Stir in undrained tomatoes and dried apricots. Sprinkle individual servings with peanuts and, if desired, green onion.

Nutritional Information

2 cups: Calories 350 (Calories from Fat 80); Total Fat 9g (Saturated Fat 2 1/2g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 60mg; Sodium650mg; Total Carbohydrate 33g (Dietary Fiber 6g, Sugars 16g); Protein 36g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 210%;Vitamin C 20%; Calcium 10%; Iron 20% Exchanges: 2 Starch; 0 Other Carbohydrate; 1 Vegetable; 4 Lean Meat Carbohydrate Choices: 2
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Fast-Food “Hamburger”?

It comes from a cow, yes, but before being stuffed in the bun of a Whopper or Big Mac, fast-food hamburger patties pass through the hands of a company called Beef Products. Beef Products specializes in taking slaughterhouse trimmings traditionally used only in pet food and cooking oil and turning them into patties. The challenge is getting this by-product meat clean enough for human consumption, as both E. coli and salmonella like to concentrate themselves in the fatty deposits. So how does Beef Products go about "cleaning" the meat? With an approach similar to what you might use in your bathroom—by using ammonia. See, the company has developed a process for killing beef-based pathogens by forcing the ground meat through pipes and exposing it to ammonia gas. And not only has the USDA approved the process, but they've also allowed those who sell the beef to keep it hidden from their customers. At Beef Products' behest, ammonia gas has been deemed a "processing agent" that need not be identified on nutrition labels. Never mind that if ammonia gets on your skin, it can cause severe burning, and if it gets in your eyes, it can blind you. As an ingredient in one of the foods we consume most, our government doesn't even deem it important enough to inform eaters of its presence. Add to the gross-out factor the fact that after moving through this lengthy industrial process, a single beef patty can consist of cobbled-together pieces from different cows all over the world—a practice that only increases the odds of E. coli contamination. So if you're set on the challenge of eating fresh, single-source hamburger, pick out a nice hunk of sirloin from the meat case and have your butcher grind it up fresh. Hold the ammonia.

I wonder what God thinks about these creations? I think if we are to put Christ First we need to ask ourselves if He would eat these “burgers”.

Whole Wheat ?

Whole wheat, multigrain, 12-grain, "Made with whole grains"—there are many labels you can put on bread to make it sound healthy. What really counts when it comes to buying better bread? Fewer ingredients, key labels, and basic weight math.

 

Marion Nestle, author of the San Francisco Chronicle's Food Matters column, does a great job making common sense of the myriad labels and marketing blather on bread:

To decide whether these have anything in them worth eating beyond their calories, you must inspect labels to make sure the first ingredient is whole grain, the total number of ingredients is small and devoid of unpronounceable chemicals, the fiber content is at least 2 grams per 1-ounce serving and the label says 100 percent whole wheat. Anything less is reconstituted white bread with occasional pieces of the original grain added back.

Nestle explains the basics of what makes bread whole wheat, as opposed to just white, then offers up a simple, if not exactly easy, method of comparing apples to apples in terms of wheat content:

Food labeling rules do not make it easy to figure out fiber content. Some white breads list 1 gram of fiber, but watch out for serving size. It takes two slices to reach half a gram, which can be rounded up to 1.

Whole wheat bread with 2 grams of fiber per 1-ounce slice may have four times as much fiber as white breads. But watch out for breads listing 3 grams fiber; their slices may weigh nearly 2 ounces.

The whole column is a kind of revelation for your Lifehacker East editor, who has been known to just stare at the 45 different breads on display at Wegmans, then just grab the Italian and admit defeat. It's why we also decided to try and make sense of "Organic" and other food labels on our own.

Whole wheat, but not the whole story [SFGate]

Success Story

I read an interesting success story. Check it out.

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B0CWxUX376HTZjJhY2E3OGEtM2U3Ni00YmNmLTkzZDAtYjFlY2I0NjQ3NWY3&hl=en

Zumba Mondays 6-7pm

We had our first class of Zumba last night and I’m amazed at the workout I got. We will be doing Zumba every Monday night from 6-7pm. Invite your friend and join our dance party.

10 Steps to Manage Your Weight

Practice these simple, everyday food and fitness smarts to keep your hard-fought new weight.

You've just lost weight and you don't want to see that number go back up on your scale. With these 10 tricks from dietitians and successful dieters, you'll be able to maintain your weight with ease.

1.Build more lean muscle. Maintain, or even increase, your metabolism by continuing to build lean muscle. "Muscle has a higher metabolism than fat does," explains Emily Banes, RD, clinical dietitian at Houston Northwest Medical Center. If you don't yet train with weights, add this type of exercise to your overall program now. If you do, increase the amount of weight you're working with to keep yourself challenged.

2.Fight off hunger with more filling foods. A three-year University of Pittsburgh study of 284 women between the ages of 25 and 45 found that those who avoided weight gain the best were the ones whose meals kept them feeling full. "Keeping that feeling of fullness can be done with foods high in fiber — think fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein," says Jenna Anding, PhD, RD, of the department of nutrition and food science at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.

3.Avoid temptation. The University of Pittsburgh study also found that women who best controlled their weight were good at resisting the temptation to binge on forbidden treats. This doesn't mean never indulging in a gooey dessert again, but rather picking — and limiting — your moments. There are many ways to avoid daily temptations, including planning ahead when eating out and banning your worst weaknesses from the house.

4.Count calories. Another hallmark of successful weight maintenance, according to the University of Pittsburgh study, is regularly counting calories. Use your calculator to keep a running total throughout the day if that helps you keeps track of calorie consumption. Maintaining weight loss is hard; it's okay to be as careful as you were during the weight- loss phase of your diet.

5.Plan your meals in advance. A maintenance diet has a lot of the same components as a weight-loss diet. Having a meal-by-meal plan that you can stick to, although it has more calories than your diet plan did, can act as a guide to keep you on track.

6.Consider adding minutes to your exercise plan. Experts recommend at least 30 minutes of physical activity five days a week, but emphasize that the more you exercise, the better able you are to maintain a weight loss. You should aim for 60 to 90 minutes of physical activity every day.

7.Measure your portions. According to a Center for Disease Control (CDC) study of more than 4,000 U.S. adults, the biggest factors in success were measuring portions and fats, the most caloric foods, in particular. This doesn't mean you have to carry a food scale everywhere you go, but using it as often as possible at home will teach you how to eyeball portion sizes at restaurants and immediately know how much to eat, and how much to take home in a doggie bag.

8.Weigh yourself daily. The same CDC study reported that people who weigh themselves once a day are twice as successful at keeping off lost weight as those who don't step on the scale as often. Daily weigh-ins, which can be discouraging when you're on a diet, can be a boon during maintenance; they let you see, and stop, any slow creep upward as soon as it happens.

9.Include dairy in your diet. According to a study of 338 adults, those who ate three or more servings of low-fat dairy daily were more likely to keep off the weight than those who ate one serving or less. For women in particular, this has the additional benefit of improving bone health.

10.Let your plate be your guide. When you can't count calories or measure portions accurately, Banes recommends using the "plate method" as a way to control the amount you're eating. A great tip for dieters, it works just as well for people on a maintenance plan. Simply put, when you serve yourself using this method, at least half your plate should be vegetables and the remaining space should be divided evenly between lean protein and whole grains. If you go back for seconds, limit yourself to vegetables, fruit or low-fat dairy.

By Madeline Vann, MPH

Medically reviewed by Pat F. Bass III, MD, MPH