Researchers have identified a virus (AD-36), that when caught by humans can turn stem cells into fat cells!
Apparently it can also potentially turn someone who was once thin to become overweight.
The symptoms someone exhibits when they catch this virus are also quite similar to those of the common cold.
So this begs the question...
Do you feed a fever or starve a cold?
watch out for this fat cell found here
Surround yourself with good food!
You've heard it before, but that's all you need to do. And it is just that simple.
First place place to tackle is, obviously, your home.
Next up: Work
This is the worst place for bad snacking for most people. When birthday parties roll around or during the holidays {luckily those days are behind us for a little while} the office is ripe with tasty temptations.
In the Car
There you have it, just a few simple tips to help keep you from going overboard during the day and digging back in to that Ben-Jerry's at the end of the day.
Anyone else have any other snacking tricks that they would care to share with the rest of the class?
Having lived in Winnipeg for the last year, I should be getting used to this snow business. But I tell you, it's getting tough trying to get out and exercise even at the best of times throughout the Winter {which is practically 8 months long!}
I have been trying to practice what I preach by going out and playing hockey at the local rink daily because the University gym is closed throughout the holidays {Grrrr!}
But skating is being made near impossible because the snow just keeps dumping down on us! I even went as far as to shovel the entire ice rink {in skates} because no one else had done it recently. Unfortunately, as soon as I was finished and was about to enjoy some nice stick and puck, Mr. Zamboni came out and started cleaning the ice!
I didn't even get a chance to enjoy the fruits of my labour.
Needless to say I left. Although it might have also been due to the minus twenty degree {Celcius} temperature.
Nonetheless! I fear that someone is trying to thwart my attempts to stay fit as this holiday season draws to a close. {Fitness Grinch?}
Luckily, I have been walking the dog, and that snow in the yard doesn't shovel itself!
Has anyone else found it difficult to get out and about this holiday season or are you just as good at making excuses as I am?
Now I'm sure that there are a million blog posts and articles on how to prevent packing on those holiday pounds out right now, but...but...well, here is another one.
Enjoy!
1) Take part in as many outdoor activities as you can (even if it is -40)
2) Walk. If you can walk to your Christmas Day or New Years feast, do it! Saves a buck or two on a cab fare if you are a little worse for wear after too much egg nog at Grandma's.
3) Eat those veggies! Most holiday feasts usually have many plates of veggies that largely ignored in favour of the mashed potatoes and gravy. Load up on those and you'll be feeling much better at the end of the night!
4) Don't deprive yourself! When those holiday treats come out, eat them! If you try to hold back you'll just end up wanting them more and when the levee breaks, you'll eat the whole [gingerbread] house!
That's it. Enjoy the holidays!
cool pic found here
A research team out of the University of Pennsylvania has recently published a study in JAMA that showed that financial incentives are very effective weight loss tools.
If being healthy isn't enough, cold hard cash better be!
57 healthy participants (aged 30-70) were randomly placed into one of three weight loss programs in which the goal was to lose 1 lb every week for 16 weeks.
The groups were laid out as follows:
1) Monthly Weigh-Ins: No reward
2) Lottery Incentive Program: if they met their goals they could win money!
3) Deposit Contract that the participants could match.
After the 16 weeks, the lottery incentive group lost an average of 13.1 lbs while the deposit group and no money group lost 14 lbs and 3.9 lbs respectively.
Interestingly, at the 7 month follow-up; both incentive groups had still kept a significant amount of the weight off!
9 lbs for the lottery while only 6 lbs for the deposit group and 4 lbs for the penniless folk
So how much did they all earn for their weight-loss endeavours?
Participants in the lottery group walked away with a cool $378.49 while the other reward group earned a handsome $272.80!
The study concluded that it would be prudent to explore longer periods of incentives to see if a sustained weight loss could be achieved from this reward system.
Chasing that dollar!
These numbers are actually quite interesting because in a previous study in The American Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (2007), researchers showed that a mere $7 was enough to motivate workers to lose an average of 3 lbs in 3 months. Not huge numbers but any amount of sustained, healthy weight loss is always a good thing.
It is well known that those who are obese spend far more on health care every year than those who are at a healthy weight, or even just overweight.
So where is the line?
How much might it take for employers or health care programs to be able to offer cash or other incentives for weight loss in the workplace? Obviously a very dicey issue, but something I am sure may be pursued further as companies look to cut health care costs by any means necessary in the coming years.
Do you think lottery weight loss systems, or Biggest Loser (The Office anyone?) type competitions might make their way into the workplace in the future?
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