Today's Empowering Info and Motivation: Tomorrow is re-assessment day. Everyone should be losing on average 5 – 6 pounds a camp –assuming you have that to lose. Read below to see some facts about body weight and fat weight to prepare you for when you weigh in tomorrow.
Your scale can tell you how much you weigh in total, but it just cannot tell you if you've lost body fat - unless you have a body fat analyzer like I use at camp. Expect to add some muscle to your body when you are doing the conditioning we are doing in boot camp. You will want and need it for your metabolism and for your beautiful shape.
The following components all add up to the reading your scale gives you. Anything that is not considered fat is considered muscle by the body fat scales so you may see some variation some times. For the most part everyone goes down!
Connective tissue - specifically, tendons and ligaments. Connective tissue adapts through resistance training to allow you to function at higher levels, and it will not adversely affect your body's appearance in any way. The more fit you are, the stronger your connective tissues.
Muscle tissue - As you add lean muscle tissue to your body, you'll burn more calories and stored body fat during exercise as well as throughout the day doing normal activity. And the additional muscle tissue allows your body to look and feel firm and toned.
Glycogen - when you consume whole grain carbohydrates you're body will store glycogen (the reserve fuel that gets converted into glucose, the body's primary source of energy). And with each gram of additional glycogen, your body stores several grams of water along with it. This is a very beneficial process, but it will add to what your scale reads.
Blood Volume - as we become increasingly fit, we add blood volume.
In addition to these positive gains in weight, your scale can vary as much as 3-6% on any given day based on digestive contents and your hydration level.
Here's how you can determine real progress:
Answer the following questions: Do I have more energy? Are my clothes fitting more loosely? Have others commented that I'm "looking good"? Am I starting to like what I see in the mirror?
Measure your body composition - discover how much of you is made up of body fat versus lean body mass. All the methods of measuring body composition are subject to some error, but if you stick to the same method and tester, you'll find that change over time is reliable.
Some of you took a picture at the start of this program. It’s never too late to do that (I won’t ask you to re-gain any weight). You don't have to look at the photo (yet). We’ll wait another 2 months to get more conditioning under your belt! I know the results will be extraordinary!
It's ironic that the increases in connective tissue, lean muscle tissue, glycogen and blood volume - the things that are crucial to improving how your body looks, feels and functions - can be the same things that initially make you think you're making no progress.
Why the Scale Lies
By Renee Cloe
We've been told over and over again that daily weighing is unnecessary, yet many of us can't resist peeking at that number every morning. If you just can't bring yourself to toss the scale in the trash, you should definitely familiarize yourself with the factors that influence its readings. From water retention to glycogen storage and changes in lean body mass, daily weight fluctuations are normal. They are not indicators of your success or failure. Once you understand how these mechanisms work, you can free yourself from the daily battle with the bathroom scale. Water makes up about 60% of total body mass. Normal fluctuations in the body's water content can send scale-watchers into a tailspin if they don't understand what's happening. Two factors influencing water retention are water consumption and salt intake. Strange as it sounds, the less water you drink, the more of it your body retains.
If you are even slightly dehydrated your body will hang onto its water supplies with a vengeance, possibly causing the number on the scale to inch upward. The solution is to drink plenty of water. Excess salt (sodium) can also play a big role in water retention. A single teaspoon of salt contains over 2,000 mg of sodium.
Generally, we should only eat between 1,000 and 3,000 mg of sodium a day, so it's easy to go overboard. Sodium is a sneaky substance. You would expect it to be most highly concentrated in salty chips, nuts, and crackers. However, a food doesn't have to taste salty to be loaded with sodium. A half cup of instant pudding actually contains nearly four times as much sodium as an ounce of salted nuts, 460 mg in the pudding versus 123 mg in the nuts. The more highly processed a food is, the more likely it is to have a high sodium content. That's why, when it comes to eating, it's wise to stick mainly to the basics: fruits, vegetables, lean meat, beans, and whole grains.
Be sure to read the labels on canned foods, boxed mixes, and frozen dinners. Women may also retain several pounds of water prior to menstruation. This is very common and the weight will likely disappear as quickly as it arrives. Pre-menstrual water-weight gain can be minimized by drinking plenty of water, maintaining an exercise program, and keeping high-sodium processed foods to a minimum. Another factor that can influence the scale is glycogen. Think of glycogen as a fuel tank full of stored carbohydrate. Some glycogen is stored in the liver and some is stored the muscles themselves. This energy reserve weighs more than a pound and its packaged with 3-4 pounds of water when it's stored. Your glycogen supply will shrink during the day if you fail to take in enough carbohydrates. As the glycogen supply shrinks you will experience a small imperceptible increase in appetite and your body will restore this fuel reserve along with its associated water. It's normal to experience glycogen and water weight shifts of up to 2 pounds per day even with no changes in your calorie intake or activity level. These fluctuations have nothing to do with fat loss, although they can make for some unnecessarily dramatic weigh-ins if you’re prone to obsessing over the number on the scale.
Otherwise rational people also tend to forget about the actual weight of the food they eat. For this reason, it's wise to weigh yourself first thing in the morning before you've had anything to eat or drink. Swallowing a bunch of food before you step on the scale is no different than putting a bunch of rocks in your pocket. The 5 pounds that you gain right after a huge dinner is not fat. It's the actual weight of everything you've had to eat and drink. The added weight of the meal will be gone several hours later when you've finished digesting it.
Exercise physiologists tell us that in order to store one pound of fat, you need to eat 3,500 calories more than your body is able to burn. In other words, to actually store the above dinner as 5 pounds of fat, it would have to contain a whopping 17,500 calories. This is not likely, in fact it's not humanly possible. So when the scale goes up 3 or 4 pounds overnight, rest easy, its likely to be water, glycogen, and the weight of your dinner. Keep in mind that the 3,500 calorie rule works in reverse also. In order to lose one pound of fat you need to burn 3,500 calories more than you take in. Generally, it's only possible to lose 1-2 pounds of fat per week.
When you follow a very low calorie diet that causes your weight to drop 10 pounds in 7 days, it's physically impossible for all of that to be fat. What you're really losing is water, glycogen, and muscle. This brings us to the scale's sneakiest attribute. It doesn't just weigh fat. It weighs muscle, bone, water, internal organs and all. When you lose "weight," that doesn't necessarily mean that you've lost fat. In fact, the scale has no way of telling you what you've lost (or gained). Losing muscle is nothing to celebrate. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue. The more muscle you have the more calories your body burns, even when you're just sitting around. That's one reason why a fit, active person is able to eat considerably more food than the dieter who is unwittingly destroying muscle tissue.
Robin Landis, author of "Body Fueling," compares fat and muscles to feathers and gold. One pound of fat is like a big fluffy, lumpy bunch of feathers, and one pound of muscle is small and valuable like a piece of gold. Obviously, you want to lose the dumpy, bulky feathers and keep the sleek beautiful gold. The problem with the scale is that it doesn't differentiate between the two. It can't tell you how much of your total body weight is lean tissue and how much is fat.
There are several other measuring techniques that can accomplish this, although they vary in convenience, accuracy, and cost. Skin-fold calipers pinch and measure fat folds at various locations on the body, hydrostatic (or underwater) weighing involves exhaling all of the air from your lungs before being lowered into a tank of water, and bioelectrical impedance measures the degree to which your body fat impedes a mild electrical current. If the thought of being pinched, dunked, or gently zapped just doesn't appeal to you, don't worry.
The best measurement tool of all turns out to be your very own eyes. How do you look? How do you feel? How do your clothes fit? Are your rings looser? Do your muscles feel firmer? These are the true measurements of success. If you are exercising and eating right, don't be discouraged by a small gain on the scale. Fluctuations are perfectly normal. Expect them to happen and take them in stride. Its a matter of mind over scale.
Showing posts with label Weight Reduction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weight Reduction. Show all posts
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
FDA Warns Consumers about Weight Loss Products
Today’s Re-Powering Information – I know that some of you are following Weight watchers or Jenny Craig or some other supervised diet program. Those have some merit and can be effective, although I am not thrilled with the quality of food and I would never put a frozen dinner to my lips (read the label and see why), however that’s not what I am going to address today. Today I want to cover something that I hope does not apply to any of you, but you may be able to understand to enlighten those you care about. Diet pills do not work. Not only don’t they work, they are harmful, have side effects and can kill you. Read a recent article from the Chicago Tribune and then the comments by Dr. Mercola regarding his take on Diet Pills.
FDA Warns Consumers about Weight Loss Products
diet pill, weight loss productsThe FDA has issued a new alert about weight loss products tainted by potentially dangerous ingredients. Many of the products claim to be "natural" or "herbal" but include drugs, sometimes in very high doses.
Drugs found in weight loss products include:
• Sibutramine (a controlled substance)
• Phenytoin (an anti-seizure medication)
• Phenolphthalein (a solution used in chemical experiments and a suspected cancer-causing agent)
• Bumetanide (a diuretic)
Altogether, the FDA has found 72 tainted weight loss products since it first brought the issue to public attention last December.
Sources:
Chicago Tribune March 20, 2009
Dr. Mercola''s Comments
Dr. Mercola's Comments:
It’s a tempting proposition for many. Take a diet pill, then sit back and relax as the pounds melt away. For the 15 percent of American adults who say they’ve used weight-loss supplements, many probably thought “why not”? What could they lose other than the money to buy them and possibly some extra pounds?
As it turns out, you could lose quite a bit, including your health, if you take many of these weight-loss supplements.
So far the FDA has identified 72 diet pills -- most of them imported from China -- that are tainted with hidden and potentially dangerous drugs and chemicals.
You can view a full list of the contaminated products on the FDA’s Web site. Many of them claim to be “natural” or “herbal” yet contain chemicals and drugs such as:
• Cetilistat: an experimental obesity drug that can cause serious health risks in certain populations.
• Fenproporex: a stimulant not approved for marketing in the United States, which can cause increased blood pressure, uncontrollable movements or shaking, palpitations, arrhythmia and possibly sudden death.
• Fluoxetine: the active pharmaceutical ingredient in Prozac, a prescription antidepressant, which can increase the risk of suicidal thinking and suicide in children, adolescents, and young adults.
• Furosemide: the active pharmaceutical ingredient in Lasix, a potent diuretic that can cause profound dehydration and electrolyte imbalance, leading to dehydration, seizures, GI problems, kidney damage, lethargy, collapse and coma.
• Rimonabant: the active pharmaceutical ingredient in Zimulti, which has not been approved in the United States because of increased risk of neurological and psychiatric side effects -- seizures, depression, anxiety, insomnia, aggressiveness, and suicidal thoughts among patients.
All of the tainted weight loss supplements on the list are available over-the-counter without a prescription and are not FDA-approved, but please don’t misconstrue this information. While this new finding underscores the importance of knowing where your supplements (whether for weight loss or any other purpose) come from, diet pills that are FDA-approved or available by prescription have also been linked to serious side effects.
The Risks of “Approved” Diet Pills
Two of the most well-known diet drugs in the United States are Xenical, a prescription-only drug, and its non-prescription version Alli. Unpublished studies on Xenical have revealed concerning data, including:
• Xenical increases the precursor markers to colon cancer by 60 percent in rats.
• When eating a high- fat diet and taking Xenical, the cancer risk increased 2.4 fold.
• Fat-soluble vitamin E depletion, due to Xenical's fat-blocking action, raises the risk of colon cancer even further.
• Recorded adverse reactions to Xenical include: 39 cases of increased abnormal blood thinning, several cases of bleeding episodes, 10 hospitalizations (four with life-threatening reactions), and one death.
• Dangerous thinning of the blood can occur in people taking drugs like Warfarin (an anti-coagulant), or who suffer from vitamin K deficiency.
Alli, meanwhile, which blocks the absorption of about 25 percent of consumed fat, can also result in loose stools, hard-to-control bowel movements, and gas with an oily discharge. The manufacturer calls these “treatment effects.”
These are some serious, not to mention embarrassing, risks all for a very small benefit. Though these drugs may help you lose weight, it will likely be only a few pounds more than you would lose with diet and exercise alone.
In fact, the Mayo Clinic reported the average weight loss for prescription-strength Xenical is only about 6 pounds greater than diet and exercise alone after one year. Since Alli is half the strength of Xenical, they reasoned Alli could conceivably result in an average of just 3 extra pounds lost in a year.
The REAL Way to Lose Weight
How to lose weight safely and effectively is an urgent and relevant issue given that two-thirds of the U.S. population is already overweight, and a recent study found it’s possible that nearly every American adult could be overweight by 2048.
Of course, maintaining a healthy body weight is about so much more than looking good in a bikini -- it’s about having more energy, fighting disease, protecting your heart and, above all else, choosing a lifestyle that will support your entire body and your health.
A drug simply will not provide these benefits, and neither will a crash diet.
Dieting is actually a consistent predictor of future weight gain. On any given diet, people initially lose 5 percent to 10 percent of their weight, but then they gain it back, often with some additional pounds as well.
This is because they’re not addressing two key aspects to weight loss: emotions and your nutritional type.
As anyone who’s ever tried to lose weight knows, making up your mind to do it is half the battle (in fact, it’s probably 99 percent of the battle for many).
Nip emotional eating in the bud by dealing with your feelings and creating a new relationship with food. Release self-sabotaging behaviors like avoiding exercise.
That is one step in the weight-loss equation. From there, it’s just a matter of changing your lifestyle in the following ways:
1. Tailor your diet to your nutritional type. These are the foods that are right for your biochemistry, and these are the foods that will push your body toward its ideal weight. (By the way, these foods may be high in fat, high in carbs, heavy on protein or heavy on veggies, it all depends on YOU).
Eating right for your nutritional type is not a “diet.” In fact, if you still feel hungry after eating you are definitely not eating according to your nutritional type. There is no food deprivation, no counting calories and definitely no starving yourself -- just eating plenty of healthy foods that are right for you.
2. View exercise as a drug. When you’re trying to lose weight, a casual walk here and there is not going to cut it. Many studies find that exercising for one hour, five days a week is actually needed, and I tend to agree with that. Sometimes you may even need up to 90 minutes of aerobic activity every day.
There is also strong compelling evidence that strength training and high-intensity anaerobic interval training may be especially effective for weight loss.
So there you have it: eat right, exercise, and address your emotions -- and that is typically all it takes.
FDA Warns Consumers about Weight Loss Products
diet pill, weight loss productsThe FDA has issued a new alert about weight loss products tainted by potentially dangerous ingredients. Many of the products claim to be "natural" or "herbal" but include drugs, sometimes in very high doses.
Drugs found in weight loss products include:
• Sibutramine (a controlled substance)
• Phenytoin (an anti-seizure medication)
• Phenolphthalein (a solution used in chemical experiments and a suspected cancer-causing agent)
• Bumetanide (a diuretic)
Altogether, the FDA has found 72 tainted weight loss products since it first brought the issue to public attention last December.
Sources:
Chicago Tribune March 20, 2009
Dr. Mercola''s Comments
Dr. Mercola's Comments:
It’s a tempting proposition for many. Take a diet pill, then sit back and relax as the pounds melt away. For the 15 percent of American adults who say they’ve used weight-loss supplements, many probably thought “why not”? What could they lose other than the money to buy them and possibly some extra pounds?
As it turns out, you could lose quite a bit, including your health, if you take many of these weight-loss supplements.
So far the FDA has identified 72 diet pills -- most of them imported from China -- that are tainted with hidden and potentially dangerous drugs and chemicals.
You can view a full list of the contaminated products on the FDA’s Web site. Many of them claim to be “natural” or “herbal” yet contain chemicals and drugs such as:
• Cetilistat: an experimental obesity drug that can cause serious health risks in certain populations.
• Fenproporex: a stimulant not approved for marketing in the United States, which can cause increased blood pressure, uncontrollable movements or shaking, palpitations, arrhythmia and possibly sudden death.
• Fluoxetine: the active pharmaceutical ingredient in Prozac, a prescription antidepressant, which can increase the risk of suicidal thinking and suicide in children, adolescents, and young adults.
• Furosemide: the active pharmaceutical ingredient in Lasix, a potent diuretic that can cause profound dehydration and electrolyte imbalance, leading to dehydration, seizures, GI problems, kidney damage, lethargy, collapse and coma.
• Rimonabant: the active pharmaceutical ingredient in Zimulti, which has not been approved in the United States because of increased risk of neurological and psychiatric side effects -- seizures, depression, anxiety, insomnia, aggressiveness, and suicidal thoughts among patients.
All of the tainted weight loss supplements on the list are available over-the-counter without a prescription and are not FDA-approved, but please don’t misconstrue this information. While this new finding underscores the importance of knowing where your supplements (whether for weight loss or any other purpose) come from, diet pills that are FDA-approved or available by prescription have also been linked to serious side effects.
The Risks of “Approved” Diet Pills
Two of the most well-known diet drugs in the United States are Xenical, a prescription-only drug, and its non-prescription version Alli. Unpublished studies on Xenical have revealed concerning data, including:
• Xenical increases the precursor markers to colon cancer by 60 percent in rats.
• When eating a high- fat diet and taking Xenical, the cancer risk increased 2.4 fold.
• Fat-soluble vitamin E depletion, due to Xenical's fat-blocking action, raises the risk of colon cancer even further.
• Recorded adverse reactions to Xenical include: 39 cases of increased abnormal blood thinning, several cases of bleeding episodes, 10 hospitalizations (four with life-threatening reactions), and one death.
• Dangerous thinning of the blood can occur in people taking drugs like Warfarin (an anti-coagulant), or who suffer from vitamin K deficiency.
Alli, meanwhile, which blocks the absorption of about 25 percent of consumed fat, can also result in loose stools, hard-to-control bowel movements, and gas with an oily discharge. The manufacturer calls these “treatment effects.”
These are some serious, not to mention embarrassing, risks all for a very small benefit. Though these drugs may help you lose weight, it will likely be only a few pounds more than you would lose with diet and exercise alone.
In fact, the Mayo Clinic reported the average weight loss for prescription-strength Xenical is only about 6 pounds greater than diet and exercise alone after one year. Since Alli is half the strength of Xenical, they reasoned Alli could conceivably result in an average of just 3 extra pounds lost in a year.
The REAL Way to Lose Weight
How to lose weight safely and effectively is an urgent and relevant issue given that two-thirds of the U.S. population is already overweight, and a recent study found it’s possible that nearly every American adult could be overweight by 2048.
Of course, maintaining a healthy body weight is about so much more than looking good in a bikini -- it’s about having more energy, fighting disease, protecting your heart and, above all else, choosing a lifestyle that will support your entire body and your health.
A drug simply will not provide these benefits, and neither will a crash diet.
Dieting is actually a consistent predictor of future weight gain. On any given diet, people initially lose 5 percent to 10 percent of their weight, but then they gain it back, often with some additional pounds as well.
This is because they’re not addressing two key aspects to weight loss: emotions and your nutritional type.
As anyone who’s ever tried to lose weight knows, making up your mind to do it is half the battle (in fact, it’s probably 99 percent of the battle for many).
Nip emotional eating in the bud by dealing with your feelings and creating a new relationship with food. Release self-sabotaging behaviors like avoiding exercise.
That is one step in the weight-loss equation. From there, it’s just a matter of changing your lifestyle in the following ways:
1. Tailor your diet to your nutritional type. These are the foods that are right for your biochemistry, and these are the foods that will push your body toward its ideal weight. (By the way, these foods may be high in fat, high in carbs, heavy on protein or heavy on veggies, it all depends on YOU).
Eating right for your nutritional type is not a “diet.” In fact, if you still feel hungry after eating you are definitely not eating according to your nutritional type. There is no food deprivation, no counting calories and definitely no starving yourself -- just eating plenty of healthy foods that are right for you.
2. View exercise as a drug. When you’re trying to lose weight, a casual walk here and there is not going to cut it. Many studies find that exercising for one hour, five days a week is actually needed, and I tend to agree with that. Sometimes you may even need up to 90 minutes of aerobic activity every day.
There is also strong compelling evidence that strength training and high-intensity anaerobic interval training may be especially effective for weight loss.
So there you have it: eat right, exercise, and address your emotions -- and that is typically all it takes.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Food Sensitivities... Are you feeling bad?
Today’s Re-Powering Information – There are so many things I want to take about today based on a few passing conversations I had at camp on Friday. Topics range from digestion to food sensitivities and dispelling the myth’s about how weight is regarding the role of diet alone, exercise alone or both. I’ll cover all of them over once we begin camp again.
So, on to food sensitivities. Some people may not realize it, but over time they come to accept not feeling good. They forget what it feels like to feel great. It may start with headaches then progress to stiff joints, a back ache, a rash, joint pain, bloatedness, trouble sleeping and so on. The symptoms can range, but the cause may all be the same. You may not have a full blown allergy, but certain foods don’t’ agree with you. It’s known as a food sensitivity. The typical foods people may be allergic to are: wheat, dairy, gluten, tomatoes, nuts and so on. The only way to know what you are allergic to is an elimination diet where you remove those tings from your diet and then notice how great you feel. Add back one food at a time and notice what if any reactions you have. OR you could get tested for food sensitivities with a blood test. Once you determine what you are sensitive to and eliminate it, it will be like a whole new lease on life. Everything clears up, symptoms go away and energy soars. If you notice you are not feeling your best, consider the role that the food you are consuming may have.
Dr. Ozzie at www.ProActiveWorx.com has offered to do a 45 minute consultation with all of the boot campers at no charge. He will listen to your goals, diet, symptoms, etc and give you professional no obligation feedback. If you do decide to get blood work done or if you have recent test results, bring them with you. The blood work is a window into your cells and reveals a lot from parasites to food sensitivities. Once you find out what your body may be lacking or what needs to be eliminated it can be a complete turn around in your health and a beautiful side effect will be additional fat loss. There is no need to suffer or get sick often.
Below is a recent video on food sensitivities.
Link to segment on food sensitivities http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://www.viddler.com%2Fexplore%2FDocOsborne%2Fvideos%2F5%2F
Have an incredible week off. I am in town and am a phone call or e-mail away if you need anything.
So, on to food sensitivities. Some people may not realize it, but over time they come to accept not feeling good. They forget what it feels like to feel great. It may start with headaches then progress to stiff joints, a back ache, a rash, joint pain, bloatedness, trouble sleeping and so on. The symptoms can range, but the cause may all be the same. You may not have a full blown allergy, but certain foods don’t’ agree with you. It’s known as a food sensitivity. The typical foods people may be allergic to are: wheat, dairy, gluten, tomatoes, nuts and so on. The only way to know what you are allergic to is an elimination diet where you remove those tings from your diet and then notice how great you feel. Add back one food at a time and notice what if any reactions you have. OR you could get tested for food sensitivities with a blood test. Once you determine what you are sensitive to and eliminate it, it will be like a whole new lease on life. Everything clears up, symptoms go away and energy soars. If you notice you are not feeling your best, consider the role that the food you are consuming may have.
Dr. Ozzie at www.ProActiveWorx.com has offered to do a 45 minute consultation with all of the boot campers at no charge. He will listen to your goals, diet, symptoms, etc and give you professional no obligation feedback. If you do decide to get blood work done or if you have recent test results, bring them with you. The blood work is a window into your cells and reveals a lot from parasites to food sensitivities. Once you find out what your body may be lacking or what needs to be eliminated it can be a complete turn around in your health and a beautiful side effect will be additional fat loss. There is no need to suffer or get sick often.
Below is a recent video on food sensitivities.
Link to segment on food sensitivities http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://www.viddler.com%2Fexplore%2FDocOsborne%2Fvideos%2F5%2F
Have an incredible week off. I am in town and am a phone call or e-mail away if you need anything.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
A landmark week for transforming our health care system
Dr Hyman, Dr Oz, Dr Weil and others are going to the senate to propose functional medicine to them as a health care solution. This can be a step in the right direction.
I especially like the line that says:
We must change not only the WAY we do medicine, but also the medicine we DO. Read Dr Hyman’s article below.
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
This is a landmark week for transforming our health care system.
The Senate is having hearings on transforming health care and integrative and Functional medicine and the National Academy of Sciences is hosting an Institute of Medicine Summit on Integrative Medicine and the Health of the Public http://www.iom.edu/integrativemedicine.
I am also honored to let you know that on Thursday, February 26th between 10 am and 12 pm, I will be testifying on how Functional medicine can help solve our health care crisis before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions at the invitation of Senators Kennedy, Harkin and Mikulski.
You can view this testimony, along with that of Drs. Oz, Ornish and Weil online at:
http://help.senate.gov/Hearings/2009_02_26/2009_02_26.html
I am not clear on whether the hearing will be streamed live or available for viewing afterward, so please check back for the recorded version if it's not streamed live.
Here is some of what I will be sharing with them.
The current medical and scientific paradigm of acute care medicine has been unable to effectively address the epidemic of chronic disease and its associated costs.
There is a new paradigm which addresses the fundamental underlying causes of chronic disease, and can form the basis for a more effective model of medical education, practice, and research that over time will generate dramatic cost savings and improved health outcomes.
There are specific initiatives and strategies based on this new paradigm that can help quickly transform our sick care system into a health care system.
Even if we get everything else right in health care reform, it won't matter unless we address the underlying causes of illness that drive both costs and the development of chronic disease. This innovative approach to chronic disease cannot only prevent but also more effectively TREAT chronic disease.
We must change not only the WAY we do medicine, but also the medicine we DO.
We must improve not only financing and delivery of health care, but also our fundamental scientific approach to chronic disease-an epidemic that now affects 133 million Americans and accounts for 78% of health care costs.
This way of doing medicine, or Functional medicine, is a system of personalized, patient centered care based on how our environment and lifestyle choices act on our genes to create imbalances in our core biologic systems. Those imbalances show up as the signs and symptoms we call disease.
It is best solution for our health care crisis. The solution is not our current acute care model, which though extremely effective for acute disease, leads to worse outcomes and higher costs when applied to chronic disease because it doesn't address WHY people are sick.
This new paradigm is personalized, preventive, participatory, predictive, prospective, and patient centered.
It is proactive rather than reactive.
It is based on addressing the causes of disease and optimizing biologic function in the body's core physiologic systems, not only treating the symptoms.
It based on systems biology or medicine.
That model exists today, and is called Functional Medicine.
****Key Avenues for Change: Recommendations ****
Re-tooling medical education and research to match the science of systems medicine. I recommend the establishment of a sustainably funded Institute for Lifestyle and Systems Medicine/Functional Medicine.
Creation of Functional medicine demonstration projects in federally funded community health centers, with integrated health care teams focusing on treating chronic disease and providing education about lifestyle and wellness
The establishment of a White House and/or Congressional Office for Health and Wellness to coordinate all efforts in this area.
Thanks for all your support and encouragement in this critical time.
If you want to help, please contact your congressman, Senators and the White House to advocate for this type of change and share your stories of how this has impacted you.
We all can change our health care system together!
To your good health,
Mark Hyman, MD
I especially like the line that says:
We must change not only the WAY we do medicine, but also the medicine we DO. Read Dr Hyman’s article below.
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
This is a landmark week for transforming our health care system.
The Senate is having hearings on transforming health care and integrative and Functional medicine and the National Academy of Sciences is hosting an Institute of Medicine Summit on Integrative Medicine and the Health of the Public http://www.iom.edu/integrativemedicine.
I am also honored to let you know that on Thursday, February 26th between 10 am and 12 pm, I will be testifying on how Functional medicine can help solve our health care crisis before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions at the invitation of Senators Kennedy, Harkin and Mikulski.
You can view this testimony, along with that of Drs. Oz, Ornish and Weil online at:
http://help.senate.gov/Hearings/2009_02_26/2009_02_26.html
I am not clear on whether the hearing will be streamed live or available for viewing afterward, so please check back for the recorded version if it's not streamed live.
Here is some of what I will be sharing with them.
The current medical and scientific paradigm of acute care medicine has been unable to effectively address the epidemic of chronic disease and its associated costs.
There is a new paradigm which addresses the fundamental underlying causes of chronic disease, and can form the basis for a more effective model of medical education, practice, and research that over time will generate dramatic cost savings and improved health outcomes.
There are specific initiatives and strategies based on this new paradigm that can help quickly transform our sick care system into a health care system.
Even if we get everything else right in health care reform, it won't matter unless we address the underlying causes of illness that drive both costs and the development of chronic disease. This innovative approach to chronic disease cannot only prevent but also more effectively TREAT chronic disease.
We must change not only the WAY we do medicine, but also the medicine we DO.
We must improve not only financing and delivery of health care, but also our fundamental scientific approach to chronic disease-an epidemic that now affects 133 million Americans and accounts for 78% of health care costs.
This way of doing medicine, or Functional medicine, is a system of personalized, patient centered care based on how our environment and lifestyle choices act on our genes to create imbalances in our core biologic systems. Those imbalances show up as the signs and symptoms we call disease.
It is best solution for our health care crisis. The solution is not our current acute care model, which though extremely effective for acute disease, leads to worse outcomes and higher costs when applied to chronic disease because it doesn't address WHY people are sick.
This new paradigm is personalized, preventive, participatory, predictive, prospective, and patient centered.
It is proactive rather than reactive.
It is based on addressing the causes of disease and optimizing biologic function in the body's core physiologic systems, not only treating the symptoms.
It based on systems biology or medicine.
That model exists today, and is called Functional Medicine.
****Key Avenues for Change: Recommendations ****
Re-tooling medical education and research to match the science of systems medicine. I recommend the establishment of a sustainably funded Institute for Lifestyle and Systems Medicine/Functional Medicine.
Creation of Functional medicine demonstration projects in federally funded community health centers, with integrated health care teams focusing on treating chronic disease and providing education about lifestyle and wellness
The establishment of a White House and/or Congressional Office for Health and Wellness to coordinate all efforts in this area.
Thanks for all your support and encouragement in this critical time.
If you want to help, please contact your congressman, Senators and the White House to advocate for this type of change and share your stories of how this has impacted you.
We all can change our health care system together!
To your good health,
Mark Hyman, MD
Monday, September 22, 2008
Optimal Health and Fat Loss are Possible
Today’s Re-Powering Information. Nutrition planning is the key to exceptional health and fat loss. If you don't have good nutrition, optimal health and excess fat loss will allude you. No workout will ever be good enough to give you the best results you deserve. If you are making an effort to workout at 5:30 in the morning, you may as well compliment it with good eatin!
Prepare Your Weekly Nutrition Plan
Build better eating habits. This can be as simple as committing to one small nutritional improvement per day (such as replacing your lunchtime soda with water) and one large nutritional change per week (such as setting aside time on a Sunday to prepare a weekly menu and all of your meals).
But you need to have a plan to make this work, just like how you have a plan for your workouts. Your nutrition plan should include the contents of every meal, as well as your grocery list for the week. This will enable you to have meal alternatives for nights when you might need to be running from one event to the other with no time or healthy snack alternatives when you are on the road between meetings.
It's important that you make your plan something you can follow. If you are currently eating 7 meals per week at the golden arches, it wouldn't be realistic to plan to replace those meals with carrot sticks and tofu this week. A better plan would be to substitute a couple of those meals with healthier sandwich options and then work on improving things even more in the following weeks such as choosing salads if you must frequent a fast food establishment.
So here's a three-step guideline on building a better nutrition plan:
1) Prepare a weekly menu. Outline each meal and snack for every day of the upcoming week. Take into account the possibilities that you might work late or get invited out to lunch. The more options you have and preparations you make, the better you will be able to stick to your fat loss plan.
You can prepare serving sizes of just about anything. Carry a small cooler with you. Put in snack begs of carrots, strawberries, an apple, and of course protein options such as a shake, hard boiled egg, turkey wrap, a few raw nuts, or 1/2 tuna sandwich. You can even plan one day at a time the night before if you feel overwhelmed by doing the whole week in advance. Your food mood can change so it is great to have a variety of options ready to go.
2) From your menu plan, you'll now know what foods and ingredients you need to make it through the week. Make your grocery list and stick to it . Grocery shopping is your first opportunity to break some bad nutritional habits. You can't eat chips, cookies, or cakes if you don't have them in the house - so don't buy them and you'll avoid any future temptation.
3) Prepare the meals or prepare the ingredients so that making the actual meal doesn't take a lot of time. Like shopping, it's best to do all of these preparations at one time (such as on a Sunday or another day off).
Sample shopping list includes:
Fruits
• Apples
• Oranges
• Blueberries
• Melon
• Peaches
• Grapefruit
• Raspberries
Vegetables
• Peppers (red, yellow, green, & orange),
• Spinach
• Asparagus
• Broccoli
• Snow Peas
• Mushrooms
• Frozen mixed vegetables
• Tomato sauce
Protein Sources
• Chicken breasts
• Turkey breasts
• Salmon fillets
• Lean beef
• Skim milk & low-fat, low-sugar yogurt
Other
• Green tea
• Unsalted, not roasted, Almonds
You'll notice that most of these foods come without a food label. Most of the foods that you should avoid come in a bag or a box. Building a shopping list that contains very few bagged or boxed items is something to aim for. But when you do purchase something with a label, make sure to avoid two of the unhealthiest ingredients created by man:
1) High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
2) Hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated vegetable oil (the sources of trans-fatty acids)
You might have heard of these two ingredients. They are strongly associated with obesity and other lifestyle-diseases (such as diabetes).
Superior health and fat loss are possible for everyone. It does take some prep time and planning though. You can do it!
Take a risk today!!
Your friend in fitness,
Prepare Your Weekly Nutrition Plan
Build better eating habits. This can be as simple as committing to one small nutritional improvement per day (such as replacing your lunchtime soda with water) and one large nutritional change per week (such as setting aside time on a Sunday to prepare a weekly menu and all of your meals).
But you need to have a plan to make this work, just like how you have a plan for your workouts. Your nutrition plan should include the contents of every meal, as well as your grocery list for the week. This will enable you to have meal alternatives for nights when you might need to be running from one event to the other with no time or healthy snack alternatives when you are on the road between meetings.
It's important that you make your plan something you can follow. If you are currently eating 7 meals per week at the golden arches, it wouldn't be realistic to plan to replace those meals with carrot sticks and tofu this week. A better plan would be to substitute a couple of those meals with healthier sandwich options and then work on improving things even more in the following weeks such as choosing salads if you must frequent a fast food establishment.
So here's a three-step guideline on building a better nutrition plan:
1) Prepare a weekly menu. Outline each meal and snack for every day of the upcoming week. Take into account the possibilities that you might work late or get invited out to lunch. The more options you have and preparations you make, the better you will be able to stick to your fat loss plan.
You can prepare serving sizes of just about anything. Carry a small cooler with you. Put in snack begs of carrots, strawberries, an apple, and of course protein options such as a shake, hard boiled egg, turkey wrap, a few raw nuts, or 1/2 tuna sandwich. You can even plan one day at a time the night before if you feel overwhelmed by doing the whole week in advance. Your food mood can change so it is great to have a variety of options ready to go.
2) From your menu plan, you'll now know what foods and ingredients you need to make it through the week. Make your grocery list and stick to it . Grocery shopping is your first opportunity to break some bad nutritional habits. You can't eat chips, cookies, or cakes if you don't have them in the house - so don't buy them and you'll avoid any future temptation.
3) Prepare the meals or prepare the ingredients so that making the actual meal doesn't take a lot of time. Like shopping, it's best to do all of these preparations at one time (such as on a Sunday or another day off).
Sample shopping list includes:
Fruits
• Apples
• Oranges
• Blueberries
• Melon
• Peaches
• Grapefruit
• Raspberries
Vegetables
• Peppers (red, yellow, green, & orange),
• Spinach
• Asparagus
• Broccoli
• Snow Peas
• Mushrooms
• Frozen mixed vegetables
• Tomato sauce
Protein Sources
• Chicken breasts
• Turkey breasts
• Salmon fillets
• Lean beef
• Skim milk & low-fat, low-sugar yogurt
Other
• Green tea
• Unsalted, not roasted, Almonds
You'll notice that most of these foods come without a food label. Most of the foods that you should avoid come in a bag or a box. Building a shopping list that contains very few bagged or boxed items is something to aim for. But when you do purchase something with a label, make sure to avoid two of the unhealthiest ingredients created by man:
1) High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
2) Hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated vegetable oil (the sources of trans-fatty acids)
You might have heard of these two ingredients. They are strongly associated with obesity and other lifestyle-diseases (such as diabetes).
Superior health and fat loss are possible for everyone. It does take some prep time and planning though. You can do it!
Take a risk today!!
Your friend in fitness,
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
The Latest Cellulite Treatments
Today’s Re-Powering Information – I’ve told you before, but I’ll say it again. If there were a quick, easy magic way to melt off the fat for only 3 easy payments of 19.95 I would honestly tell you. Here’s one more cellulite product debunked! Don’t waste your time or money on these crazy “solutions”. Just keep coming to camp! Exercise and proper nutrition is the ONLY way to get rid of cellulite!
The Latest Cellulite Treatments
Sound Too Smooth to Be True
By RHONDA L. RUNDLE
August 19, 2008; Page D1
Beauty magazines and spas are touting a new generation of high-tech treatments for cellulite, a common affliction that gives parts of women's bodies a dimpled, uneven appearance. But there's little evidence that the new devices are effective, say some dermatologists who have scoured the medical literature and evaluated the products.
Devices that claim to reduce or eliminate the appearance of cellulite have long been available. Most use a mechanical massager that causes tissue to swell, eliminating the uneven skin surface. But dimpling can recur within hours or days. The latest products also use massagers, but add treatment from a laser or other "energy source." This is supposed to create a more lasting solution by inducing fat cells under the skin to release some of their contents, leading to a smoother surface appearance.
Mary Stoll/Elemé Medical Inc.
SmoothShapes targets the uneven appearance of cellulite.
Some dermatologists say they see little difference between the new products and older ones. "There's nothing that has been shown in any objective way to create improvement for cellulite," says Robert A. Weiss, president-elect of the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery.
On RealSelf.com, a Web site where consumers exchange beauty information, cellulite treatments garner some of the most vociferous complaints. VelaShape, sold by Syneron Medical Ltd., "was a huge waste of time and money," gripes Kimberly Lamse, a 40-year-old jewelry designer in Burbank, Calif. In an interview, Ms. Lamse says she paid $1,500 to an orthopedic doctor for treatments she sought after reading about VelaShape in a fashion magazine. Syneron's chairman, Shimon Eckhouse, says most women get good results, and "no medical treatment is 100% effective." American Laser Centers, with more than 200 locations across the country, uses Syneron technology in its AmeriSmooth treatments.
The market for cellulite-fighting equipment is expected to grow to $200 million a year by 2012 from $80 million last year, forecasts Millennium Research Group Inc. Other technologies, including SmoothShapes from Elemé Medical Inc., have been promoted on television shows including NBC's "Today" and the syndicated "Rachael Ray Show."
The hurdle for Food and Drug Administration approval for such devices is low. The agency determines whether a device temporarily reduces the appearance of cellulite through the use of a mechanical massager, but doesn't evaluate the efficacy of any additional technology. "We do not have any data or information about how long the effect lasts," says Karen Riley, a spokeswoman for the FDA, which has cleared more than a dozen devices for cellulite treatment.
Vic A. Narurkar, director of the Bay Area Laser Institute, a San Francisco cosmetic clinic, says company-sponsored cellulite studies are too small and poorly designed to persuade him to invest in a costly technology, or to charge patients for it. Dr. Weiss of the dermatologic society says such studies often rely on photographic comparisons that accentuate the contrast between "before" and "after" pictures.
Many studies also are performed by investigators with financial ties to a manufacturer. Elemé Medical, for instance, says its "pivotal" study of 74 people was conducted by Elliot Lach, a plastic surgeon. But Dr. Lach is also the device's inventor and holds an equity stake in Elemé.
Dr. Lach defends SmoothShapes, which has a list price of $79,900, but says he understands the skepticism. He says he has submitted his study to a medical journal, but it hasn't yet been accepted for publication. The study contains evidence of cellulite reduction that is documented with magnetic resonance imaging, a more authoritative measure of results than photographs, he says.
Elemé hopes to convince skeptics with a broader study of 200 or more subjects at multiple clinical sites. It says the photography is being carefully handled to maximize its credibility with independent reviewers.
Melinda Beck is on vacation.
• Email healthjournal@wsj.com.
End
Your friend in fitness,
Kelli Calabrese
www.KelliCalabrese.com
www.ArgyleBootCamp.com
The Latest Cellulite Treatments
Sound Too Smooth to Be True
By RHONDA L. RUNDLE
August 19, 2008; Page D1
Beauty magazines and spas are touting a new generation of high-tech treatments for cellulite, a common affliction that gives parts of women's bodies a dimpled, uneven appearance. But there's little evidence that the new devices are effective, say some dermatologists who have scoured the medical literature and evaluated the products.
Devices that claim to reduce or eliminate the appearance of cellulite have long been available. Most use a mechanical massager that causes tissue to swell, eliminating the uneven skin surface. But dimpling can recur within hours or days. The latest products also use massagers, but add treatment from a laser or other "energy source." This is supposed to create a more lasting solution by inducing fat cells under the skin to release some of their contents, leading to a smoother surface appearance.
Mary Stoll/Elemé Medical Inc.
SmoothShapes targets the uneven appearance of cellulite.
Some dermatologists say they see little difference between the new products and older ones. "There's nothing that has been shown in any objective way to create improvement for cellulite," says Robert A. Weiss, president-elect of the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery.
On RealSelf.com, a Web site where consumers exchange beauty information, cellulite treatments garner some of the most vociferous complaints. VelaShape, sold by Syneron Medical Ltd., "was a huge waste of time and money," gripes Kimberly Lamse, a 40-year-old jewelry designer in Burbank, Calif. In an interview, Ms. Lamse says she paid $1,500 to an orthopedic doctor for treatments she sought after reading about VelaShape in a fashion magazine. Syneron's chairman, Shimon Eckhouse, says most women get good results, and "no medical treatment is 100% effective." American Laser Centers, with more than 200 locations across the country, uses Syneron technology in its AmeriSmooth treatments.
The market for cellulite-fighting equipment is expected to grow to $200 million a year by 2012 from $80 million last year, forecasts Millennium Research Group Inc. Other technologies, including SmoothShapes from Elemé Medical Inc., have been promoted on television shows including NBC's "Today" and the syndicated "Rachael Ray Show."
The hurdle for Food and Drug Administration approval for such devices is low. The agency determines whether a device temporarily reduces the appearance of cellulite through the use of a mechanical massager, but doesn't evaluate the efficacy of any additional technology. "We do not have any data or information about how long the effect lasts," says Karen Riley, a spokeswoman for the FDA, which has cleared more than a dozen devices for cellulite treatment.
Vic A. Narurkar, director of the Bay Area Laser Institute, a San Francisco cosmetic clinic, says company-sponsored cellulite studies are too small and poorly designed to persuade him to invest in a costly technology, or to charge patients for it. Dr. Weiss of the dermatologic society says such studies often rely on photographic comparisons that accentuate the contrast between "before" and "after" pictures.
Many studies also are performed by investigators with financial ties to a manufacturer. Elemé Medical, for instance, says its "pivotal" study of 74 people was conducted by Elliot Lach, a plastic surgeon. But Dr. Lach is also the device's inventor and holds an equity stake in Elemé.
Dr. Lach defends SmoothShapes, which has a list price of $79,900, but says he understands the skepticism. He says he has submitted his study to a medical journal, but it hasn't yet been accepted for publication. The study contains evidence of cellulite reduction that is documented with magnetic resonance imaging, a more authoritative measure of results than photographs, he says.
Elemé hopes to convince skeptics with a broader study of 200 or more subjects at multiple clinical sites. It says the photography is being carefully handled to maximize its credibility with independent reviewers.
Melinda Beck is on vacation.
• Email healthjournal@wsj.com.
End
Your friend in fitness,
Kelli Calabrese
www.KelliCalabrese.com
www.ArgyleBootCamp.com
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