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Friday, January 23, 2009
Diet: The Cookie Diet
The diet was introduced by Dr. Sanford Siegal of Siegal Medical Group in Miami. He says these carefully crafted cookies suppress your hunger throughout the day. You only eat one meal consisting of 6 oz. of lean meat (red meat is discouraged because of the high fat content) and one cup of steamed vegetables. You just have to make sure you eat 6 of these cookies.
Dr Siegal’s COOKIE DIET® Hunger-Controlling Diet Cookies Our famous cookies were created by Dr. Siegal in 1975 to control your hunger and help you stick to your diet. Each Weekly Box contains 7 Daily Bags of 6 cookies each and replaces 14 meals at a cost of about $4.20 per replaced meal when used as suggested. Includes a free one week sample of Dr. Siegal’s COOKIE DIET® brand Premium Multiple Vitamin & Minerals supplement. Flavors: Oatmeal Raisin, Chocolate, Blueberry, Banana and Coconut.
Price: $59 per Weekly Box (about $4.20 per replaced meal)
CONTAINS: Milk, Eggs, Soy, Wheat and Non-Vegetable Protein
- Eat when you are hungry up to 6 cookies a day
- The amino acids in the cookie increases your metabolism and steers off hunger
- Also, cut out sodas, fast food, red meat and sweets
- And incorporate exercise into your weight loss program
- Take a good multi-vitamin along with calcium and omega 3 fish oil
Diet in a Bag
Ela Prieto, a 39-year-old bank executive, lost 51 pounds, shrinking from a size 14 to a size 4. She was on the cookie diet for four and a half months, and then went off the diet and onto a maintenance program for the last two years, on which she eats about 1,200 calories a day, and exercises.
"The first five days, like on every diet, it's not easy," Prieto said. But instead of toting around a salad or a TV dinner, she just put her cookies in a Ziploc bag and kept them with her.
"And I'm not hungry," she said. "The cookies do satisfy."
They cookies are available in chocolate, raisin or coconut — but flavorful, they're not.
"They're not the world's best cookies — but they weren't intended to be," Siegal said. The makers or Oreos and Mrs. Fields shouldn't lose any sleep, he said.
The cookies themselves are low in fiber and two of the flavors are high in saturated fat, which can raise the risk of heart disease, Campbell said.
"Practically anyone who consumes only 800 calories per day will lose weight — the point is that, again, it's not a healthful way to lose weight," she said.
Not Enough Carbs?
Connie Diekman, the director of university nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis, was similarly unimpressed.
The six cookies daily supply a total of 60 grams of carbohydrates, which when added to the 10 from vegetables make the carbohydrate intake a total of 70 grams per day — much below the 100 to 125 grams per day minimum for health, Diekman said. Calorie-wise, each cookie is like a slice of bread, a nutritional mix of several different food types that is probably equivalent to half a serving of lowfat dairy, and half a fruit serving.
"Again, this is a low-carb, low-calorie eating plan that will promote weight loss, but not necessarily body fat change, making it a less-than-healthy choice," she said.
Siegal said that the cookie diet is not something patients would stay on permanently.
"It depends on how much weight you have to lose. Three out of four lose 15 pounds a month," Siegal said. "No one will follow a diet for a lifetime, so we change the method to get them to burn up more calories."
Although five pounds a month is often cited as a sustainable level of weight loss, Siegal says the quicker the better.
"The only people we see who maintain their weight are those who get to the goal set before them," Siegal said.
ABC News: The Cookie Diet
Posted using ShareThis
UPDATE: In The News Dr Siegals COOKIE DIET
SUCCESS STORY / SHERYL CAUTERO, 52
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
> Former weight: 224 pounds
> Current weight: 150 pounds
> Pounds lost: 74
> Height: 5 feet 4 inches
> How long she’s kept it off: Nearly two years. “I started Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet (www.cookiediet.com) in October 2005 and reached my goal in April 2006,” says Cautero.
> Personal life: “I work as a senior group project manager and senior executive assistant to the president and CEO of a large advertising firm in Buckhead,” says Cautero. “My husband, Charlie, and I moved here from West Palm Beach, Fla., a little over a year ago.” They live in Milton.
> Turning point: “After looking at a photograph of me that was taken at my stepson’s wedding, I felt ashamed that I had let myself get so heavy. I stared at that photo and sobbed,” she says. “For the better part of my first 49 years, I had been on every diet you could name. I was determined to spend the next 50 years thin instead of fat. A friend of ours had been on Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet and she was getting miraculous results, but I was very skeptical; I couldn’t imagine eating cookies during the day and then just having dinner. With much coaxing, I decided to try Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet. I had results like no other diet I had ever experienced. I consistently lost two to three pounds each week. My doctor kept a close eye on me the entire time, and he was equally thrilled by the results.”
> Diet plan: For breakfast and lunch, she eats the meal-replacement cookies, which come in oatmeal raisin, chocolate, blueberry, banana and coconut. For dinner she eats a low-fat dinner of lean protein and two servings of vegetables. “Of course I always save a cookie for my snack in the evening. Drinking lots of water plays a big role in helping to keep satisfied,” she says.
> Exercise routine: “It wasn’t until after I lost all the weight that I started to exercise. Walking works the best for me, and a little weight resistance training,” she says.
> Biggest challenge: “The biggest challenge always is the little voice you hear inside that encourages you to go ahead and have a little, it won’t hurt,” she says.
> How life has changed: “My life has always been wonderful, but now when I look in the mirror I really love what I see —- I feel beautiful,” she says.
UPDATE: February 9, 2009 TIMES
Med watch: Dr. Siegal's Cookie Diet
Thursday, January 22, 2009
ABC News: Sarkozy's Secret: Exercise Improves Sex Life
Cedric Bryant, chief science officer for The American Council on Exercise, said that Sarkozy's trainer is likely recommending "the same pelvic floor exercises that many pregnant women are familiar with that their obstetricians will have them do.
"Most people have probably heard of Kegel exercises. ... These could certainly help with sexual function," he said. "It is not shocking that he would do this as an adjunct to a normal exercise routine to provide this adjunct benefit."
Pelvic floor activation has other benefits as well, ABCNews.com fitness contributor Stefan Aschan added. "Building your pelvic floor activation to create a stable environment, you create a strong platform to execute movement correctly without injuring yourself," he said.
It might not be just pelvic floor exercises that can lead to better sex. Bryant said that a number of studies have explored the links between exercise in general and enhancing sexual performance.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Genetic Code Leads to Individual Diet Program
Genetic information could lead to individualized diet programs
In the near future, your annual checkup will include the usual tests along with an analysis of your DNA. Each of us inherits certain traits, such as eye color or height, from our parents. We know the tendency for developing chronic illness is also inherited from our parents and grandparents.
Our DNA is like a secret code that carries all the information that makes us who we are. For example, if your parents, grandparents or siblings have diabetes, then your chance of developing diabetes is very good.
But can we change the way the story ends? Can we do something to prevent the heart disease that runs in the family genetics? Promising new research regarding diet and lifestyle suggests that is possible.
The study participants' genes were mapped out by researchers. In the first phase of the study, they followed a very high-fat diet and their genes were studied for any changes. In the second phase, the diet was changed to a low-fat diet for several weeks.
Imagine that genes are similar to a light switch that can be turned on or turned off. The high-fat diet turned on some of the genes responsible for heart disease, but during the low-fat diet phase the genes were turned off. Scientists are hoping to use our unique genetic information to pinpoint our best diet and exercise prescription.
Some clients with high blood pressure see dramatic improvement in control if they reduce the amount of sodium in their diet. Broccoli may help prevent colon cancer for someone with a certain gene but may not benefit someone else in the same way. The standard low cholesterol diet works for some people, but isn't as effective for others.
For dietitians, the research is exciting. We will be able to give clients individualized diets that match their genetics. There won't be a one-size-fits-all diet for those with high cholesterol or high blood pressure. Different types of exercise routines may be required for successful weight loss.
I can imagine clients would be less frustrated and more willing to make changes if they were more likely to see positive results.
Low-Carb Diet Burns Liver Fat
The researchers say that their findings may have implications for treating obesity and related diseases like diabetes, insulin resistance and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
Instead of looking at drugs to combat obesity and the diseases that stem from it, maybe optimizing a diet can not only manage and treat these diseases, but also prevent them.
Researchers randomly assigned 14 obese or overweight adults to either a low-carbohydrate or low-calorie diet, and monitored seven lean subjects on a regular diet. They observed that participants on a low-carbohydrate diet produced more glucose from lactate or amino acids than those on a low-calorie diet. Understanding how the liver makes glucose under different conditions may help regulate metabolic disorders with diet.
People on the low-calorie diet get about 40 percent of their glucose from glycogen, which is comes from ingested carbohydrates and is stored in the liver until the body needs it.
The low-carbohydrate dieters only get 20 percent of their glucose from glycogen. Instead of dipping into their reserve of glycogen, such subjects burnt liver fat for energy.
The significance of the findings lies in the fact that the accumulation of excess fat in the liver can result in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) -- a liver disease which is associated with metabolic disorders like insulin resistance, diabetes and obesity, and can lead to liver inflammation, cirrhosis and liver cancer.
The people on a low-carbohydrate diet have livers that burn excess fat throughout their entire body and the result could help them if they have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
Medically speaking nonalcoholic fatty liver disease or nonalcoholic steathhepatitis (NASH) it often called the "silent" liver disease. The major feature in NASH is fat in the liver, along with inflammation and damage. Most people with NASH feel well and are not aware that they have a liver problem. Nevertheless, NASH can be severe and can lead to cirrhosis, in which the liver is permanently damaged and scarred and no longer able to work properly.
NASH affects 2 to 5 percent of Americans. An additional 10 to 20 percent of Americans have fat in their liver, but no inflammation or liver damage, a condition called “fatty liver.” Although having fat in the liver is not normal, by itself it probably causes little harm or permanent damage. If fat is suspected based on blood test results or scans of the liver, this problem is called nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
Both NASH and NAFLD are becoming more common, possibly because of the greater number of Americans with obesity. In the past 10 years, the rate of obesity has doubled in adults and tripled in children. Obesity also contributes to diabetes and high blood cholesterol, which can further complicate the health of someone with NASH. Diabetes and high blood cholesterol are also becoming more common among Americans.
NASH is usually first suspected in a person who is found to have elevations in liver tests that are included in routine blood test panels, such as alanine aminotransferase (ALT) or aspartate aminotransferase (AST). When further evaluation shows no apparent reason for liver disease (such as medications, viral hepatitis, or excessive use of alcohol) and when x rays or imaging studies of the liver show fat, NASH is suspected. The only means of proving a diagnosis of NASH and separating it from simple fatty liver is a liver biopsy.
For a liver biopsy, a needle is inserted through the skin to remove a small piece of the liver. NASH is diagnosed when examination of the tissue with a microscope shows fat along with inflammation and damage to liver cells. If the tissue shows fat without inflammation and damage, simple fatty liver or NAFLD is diagnosed. An important piece of information learned from the biopsy is whether scar tissue has developed in the liver. Currently, no blood tests or scans can reliably provide this information.
NASH is usually a silent disease with few or no symptoms. Patients generally feel well in the early stages and only begin to have symptoms—such as fatigue, weight loss, and weakness—once the disease is more advanced or cirrhosis develops. The progression of NASH can take years, even decades. The process can stop and, in some cases, reverse on its own without specific therapy. Or NASH can slowly worsen, causing scarring or “fibrosis” to appear and accumulate in the liver.
As fibrosis worsens, cirrhosis develops; the liver becomes seriously scarred, hardened, and unable to function normally. Not every person with NASH develops cirrhosis, but once serious scarring or cirrhosis is present, few treatments can halt the progression. A person with cirrhosis experiences fluid retention, muscle wasting, bleeding from the intestines, and liver failure.
Liver transplantation is the only treatment for advanced cirrhosis with liver failure, and transplantation is increasingly performed in people with NASH. NASH ranks as one of the major causes of cirrhosis in America, behind hepatitis C and alcoholic liver disease.
Though NASH has become more common, its underlying cause is still not clear. It most often occurs in persons who are middle-aged and overweight or obese. Many patients with NASH have elevated blood lipids, such as cholesterol and triglycerides, and many have diabetes or pre-diabetes, but not every obese person or every patient with diabetes has NASH.
Furthermore, some patients with NASH are not obese, do not have diabetes, and have normal blood cholesterol and lipids. NASH can occur without any apparent risk factor and can even occur in children. Thus, NASH is not simply obesity that affects the liver.
While the underlying reason for the liver injury that causes NASH is not known, several factors are possible candidates:
insulin resistance
release of toxic inflammatory proteins by fat cells (cytokines)
oxidative stress (deterioration of cells) inside liver cells
A major attempt should be made to lower body weight into the healthy range. Weight loss can improve liver tests in patients with NASH and may reverse the disease to some extent. Research at present is focusing on how much weight loss improves the liver in patients with NASH and whether this improvement lasts over a period of time.
People with NASH often have other medical conditions, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or elevated cholesterol. These conditions should be treated with medication and adequately controlled; having NASH or elevated liver enzymes should not lead people to avoid treating these other condition.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Treadmill Tips
Treadmill Tips
According to my trainer if you want to add muscle or tone-up first you have to lose the fat and the best way to lose fat is cardio. He loved the treadmill. Every time I went to work out he had me start a 20 minute warm up at a 3.0-3.5 pace. After my weight workout, I had to finish with a 45 minute walk at a slightly higher pace. He was a stinker about this and would sometimes increase my pace to 3.8 to 4.0 Even though it was tough at times...it worked.
Another thing about a treadmill or any other cardio exercise. Your body gets used to the routine...so mix it up. Change your pace or incline. Many machines offer different work out programs. So if you feel that you are not losing any weight try this, also it keeps you from getting bored (makes the time go faster).
Remember to always start out slow then do your program and follow-up with a cool down period for about 5 minutes so your heart rate and muscles can return to normal.
As I stated in my heart rate/heart zone post you must know your target heart rate to get results. Check out your target heart rate on that post.
Here is an example of how you can manually change (not using a programed routine on your treadmill) your cardio program using different inclines.
Burn fat and calories and build your lower body with this 300-calorie-burning treadmill routine from a fitness pro.
Minutes MPH Incline
0:00-3:00 3.0 1 warm-up
3:00-3:30 3.5 2
3:30-4:00 3.5 4
4:00-4:30 3.5 6
4:30-5:00 3.5 7
5:00-6:00 5.0 1
6:00-7:00 4.0 1
7:00-7:30 4.5 2
7:30-8:00 4.5 4
8:00-8:30 4.5 6
8:30-9:00 4.5 7
9:00-10:00 3.5 1
10:00-11:00 6.0 1
11:00-12:00 3.5 1
12:00-12:30 5.0 2
12:30-13:00 5.0 4
13:00-13:30 5.0 6
13:30-14:00 5.0 7
14:00-16:00 3.5 1
16:00-17:00 6.0 1
17:00-20:00 3.0 1
20:00-25:00 2.8-2.5 0 cool down
Remember:
- Increase your speed during a few of your workouts, keep your body guessing and it will give you better results. The best time to change your speed is mid-way through your workout.
- Vary your stride during flat inclines to stretch out your legs and use different muscle groups
- Combine a higher pace with various inclines.
The most important Treadmill Tip is give it a few months and before you know it you'll look at yourself and find out it was worth every minute. As with any exercise, please consult your physician especially if you have any medical issues.
Here is Model Kim Strother's workout. She has changed her routine.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Stop Dieting...What's Your Hot Body Weight
It's the beginning of the New Year and we have made our New Year's resolutions.On the average 70% of women's resolutions will be going on a diet and exercise to get a hot body. Why do we need a reason to have a healthy lifestyle? Why can't we make it a habit? My reason is my annual spring business conference, but as soon as it's over WHAM the weight goes back on and just in time for summer.:( ....I would be happy just to be at a consistent weight and not have to worry about counting calories, going to the gym or dreading the scale. Do you know your hot body weight? First thing we have to do is Stop Dieting!
I know you have heard of this before in countless diet books and magazines, stop dieting for good and live healthy. If you drastically cut back on calories your metabolic rate lowers so your body ends up burning fewer calories. Then when you start eating normal again you gain the weight back easily due to your lower metabolic rate. Also this quick fix you might lose a few pounds but its mostly water weight and not fat. Burning fat requires a high metabolism and getting physical.
I know when I work out, even if it's 20 minutes on the treadmill, I feel better about myself. Be sure to figure out your maximum heart rate/heart rate zone to burn fat. If you decide to add weight training to your workout remember that muscle weighs more than fat so your weight will fluctuate. It might be a good idea to skip the scale for at least a month. Sounds good to me!
So what do we have to know about ourselves before we start living a healthy lifestyle? How do we determine our hot body weight?
We need to know our body type. Here are some tips:
- Apple Shape: Apples are generally bigger on the top half of their bodies than on the bottom half. They commonly have slim hips and a large chest and stomach. Apples tend to gain weight above the waist or along the backside.
- Pear Shape: Pear-shaped women tend to have larger lower bodies and smaller upper bodies. If you are a pear, you will find that your hips are slightly wider than your shoulders and that you tend to gain weight below your waist. Pears usually have small chests and flat stomachs.
- Ruler Shape: Women with a ruler shape tend to be waif-like and slim. Rulers have no large differences between the size of their hips, waists and shoulders. Rulers tend to put on weight in their stomach and backside, while maintaining slender arms and legs.
- Hourglass Shape: Women with an hourglass shape are often envied by all of their friends. This is because hourglasses have well-proportioned upper and lower bodies, with a distinctively narrow waist. However, if you are an hourglass, you may find that you tend to gain weight all over your body, particularly in your hips and chest area.
Second we need to look at the foods we are eating and see if there is a healthier alternative.You’ll want most of your diet to consist of foods that are wholesome and nutritious (usually all those foods you might consider ‘good’), and lower cholesterol. These include:
- Fruits
- Vegetables
- Lean protein
- Whole grains
- White or bleached flour
- White bread products
- White rice
- Cornbread
- Macaroni or pasta products
Make slow, gradual changes over a long period of time. Drastic dietary changes not only don't work, they set us up for failure because they are unrealistic and can't be followed over a long period of time. The best approach is to commit to small, gradual dietary changes over a long period of time. The following is a short list of strategies that can be part of any long-term effort:
- Water or unsweetened tea instead of regular soda pop.
- Substitute 1% milk for whole milk.
- Eat pretzels instead of potato chips.
- Eat a smaller hamburger instead of a larger hamburger whenever possible.
- Add skim milk to your coffee instead of cream.
- Eat a bagel instead of doughnuts.
- Eat frozen yogurt instead of ice cream.
- Eat part-skim mozzarella cheese instead of cheddar (or other high-fat cheeses).
- When eating out, eat only until you are full and take the rest home for a later lunch or to mix with leftovers.
Lastly is an exercise routine or physical activity for your body type. When you reach your goal you will know what healthy alternatives are needed to maintain your hot body weight.