Tag: Weight loss

Will skipping breakfast help you lose weight?
Many of us have a favorite diet. Some of us eat more plants and try to follow the Mediterranean diet, since it has been shown to help keep one’s brain healthy and reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s. To lose weight, some of us believe that fasting is the way to go and that skipping breakfast can help. But, “authorities” from Dr. Oz to the Mayo Clinic to WebMD encourage us to eat breakfast to maintain a healthy weight or even to lose excess weight. The data does not support their claims. In fact, skipping breakfast could help you lose weight.

A 2014 study published in Frontiers in Public Health suggests that it can be beneficial to extend the time between your last meal of the day and your first meal of the following day. You can do that by skipping late-night eating or delaying or skipping breakfast. Whichever you do, the study suggests you may decrease your risk of obesity and its comorbidities.

Stat News reviews a range of studies and reports that you can skip breakfast without fear of gaining weight. Or, you can eat breakfast with no guarantees it will help you lose excess weight or maintain a healthy weight. It turns out that the overwhelming majority of studies are based on the weight of people who regularly eat breakfast and the weight of people who regularly skip it. Yet, their weight might have no relation to whether they ate breakfast or not.

While studies can find an association between people who eat breakfast and people who have healthy weights, these studies do not show causation. In other words, there is no evidence to suggest that eating breakfast leads to weight loss or healthy weight.

Here’s more from Just Care:
May 12, 2016
One tip for losing weight: Don’t focus on weight loss
An older adult’s weight, as much as his or her blood pressure and cholesterol level, is important to health. Being overweight puts older adults at higher risk for type 2 diabetes and heart disease, among other chronic conditions, and reduces their ability to function. The National Institutes of Health has one tip for losing weight: Don’t focus on weight loss. Instead, set the right goals. Here’s how to do it:
- Focus on a healthy diet and exercise. Don’t focus on weight loss.
- Be specific about the behavior change you want to accomplish. “Walk more” is not concrete. “Walk a mile three times a day” is concrete, but can you really do it?
- Set realistic goals. Don’t be overly ambitious.
- Change your goals over time, depending upon how you’re doing.
- Reward yourself as you make progress. Even small progress should be rewarded.
- Track your behavior. Consider keeping a log of either what you are doing every day, such as food you’re eating, or distance you’re walking, or outcomes, such as how much weight you’ve lost.
- Make it easier to eat less. You are not likely to feel full until 15 minutes after you’ve eaten. But, eating slowly helps you feel fuller faster, as does eating a lot of fruits and vegetables
No matter what your weight, a loss of just five percent of your starting weight can have significant health benefits. If you have Medicare, keep in mind that Medicare covers weight-loss counseling. And, if you are trying to help someone you love lose weight, here’s a tip. Putting aside weight loss, here are five ways to feel at your best.

There is no evidence in the literature that dietary supplements or medications for weight loss work.
March 10, 2016
To support loved ones who are overweight, be kind

Many of us try to influence our partners and other loved ones to be fit and healthy. But our words can backfire. Research reveals that to support your loved ones who are overweight, it may be best to love them as they are. People wanting to lose weight are more inclined to do so when the people around them are kind to them and not directing them to do so.

To be clear, there is a difference between the social support a partner or spouse can offer to someone who is trying to lose weight and the social control a partner or spouse can try to exercise over a person trying to lose weight. Researchers have found social support beneficial in that it provides a person with support in the face of challenges. In contrast, social control, which suggests an attempt to influence a person’s health behavior may only be beneficial if it is positive and seen as supportive so that it makes the person feel good.

The research does not indicate which types of social control are more likely to be seen as supportive. Nor does the research reveal differences between a spouse and a good friend acting to control a behavior. But, the person, the context and kindness all appear to be key.

Another recent study, “A Little Acceptance is Good for Your Health,” reveals that women in particular do not respond well to weight loss pressure. They want their friends and partners to tell them they look fine, to be accepting of their weight. If they are told they should lose weight, the women often feel shame and lack of self-esteem. They are more likely to ignore the advice or do the opposite and gain weight.

In sharp contrast, when partners and friends support women, the study found the women were more likely to feel better about themselves. They were more likely to be self-motivated to lose weight or maintain their weight. Other research shows that when one spouse models healthy behavior, it can help the other spouse.

FYI, Most people do not know it, but Medicare covers weight-loss counseling. Medicare covers other preventive care services as well, including nutrition counseling, cardiovascular screening and smoking cessation counseling.

A Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health study shows that diet soda is no solution for weight loss.

February 24, 2016
Exercise! You can help your spouse

There are seemingly endless reasons to exercise. Exercise can help with balance. Exercise can lower your risk of stroke, heart disease and diabetes. Exercise can even help you recover faster in hospital. The latest research from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health reveals that when you exercise you can help your spouse. Yes, that’s right. If you increase the amount that you engage in physical activity, your spouse is more likely to do so as well.

The research further suggests that if you’re hoping to help someone to exercise, you probably should discuss it with both the person and the person’s partner or friend. Apparently, counseling a couple to exercise is more likely to get them to exercise than counseling one of them alone.

Exercise is really important for wellbeing. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends at least two and a half hours a week of moderate activity such as brief walking—20 minutes a day. The health benefits are significant for people of all ages, races and ethnicities and the risks are small by comparison. If older adults cannot engage in that much exercise because of a chronic condition, they should still exercise as much as possible.

Too many Americans do not get anywhere near enough physical activity. You will be doing both yourself and your spouse a favor if you exercise as much as possible.

May 15, 2015