I’m thinking of adding a calorie counter to the site – I think at a minimum it’s going to include calories consumed, calories burnt per day etc, and I guess an optional weigh in section – I’m up for any suggestions if there’s anything else anyone would like to have included….
3 Health and Fitness Resources to Help You Get in Shape
February 18th, 2010 by Emma No comments »I’ve been procrastinating about getting into shape, losing weight, and getting fitter, for quite a while now! I left my 9 to 5 desk based job last summer to start my own business working at home, and thought I would benefit from that, however, I seem to have put weight on – roughly a stone, in fact! The reality is, I am still desk based, and probably snack a bit more at home now. I was also attending Personal Training sessions twice a week, which has now stopped on my freelance income.
I do have a dog, so he gets walked daily, and I do occasionally walk into town from home, but the middle and both ends of the matter is – I am eating more calories than I burn. So the basic remedy is to reverse that!
Being a very good procrastinator, I have spent some very useful time browsing the web, looking for some inspiration to help kick start my new health and fitness regime. Here is a summary of some of the gems I found:
1. Zen Habits – Health and Fitness
Zen Habits is a fantastic resource for many things including Health and Fitness. Simple, honest, fad-free advice can be found here. This post is a particularly good place to start
Mark offers a daily article on losing weight, gaining muscle, increasing energy levels, reducing stress or just generally looking and feeling healthier. A particularly good post is The Prison Workout – I love this because it demonstrates there really is no excuse for not being able to exercise – you know the excuses: lack of space, lack of equipment etc.!
Running tips for Couch Potatoes 
You cant really beat a good running program to burn fat!
Do you have any other tips or resources to share? Let me know in the comments!
Top 10 Fast Food Ingredients
February 12th, 2010 by Emma No comments »As an individual trying to live a healthier lifestyle, I have become more and more aware of the scary truth about fast food, and was fascinated to read this recent article on the top 10 fast food ingredients – have a look at this summary:
10. Citric Acid – the most common preservative, but not a major issue as it is an organic acid found in many fruits, and does not harm organisms that ingest it.
9. High fructose corn syrup – massively high in calories, and extremely low in nutritional value, found in a myriad of fast foods and beverages.
8. Caramel Colour – the most common colour additive, and hardly a single fast food item does not have at least one artificial colour found somewhere in the list.
7. Salt – The most common flavour or spice, not always first on the ingredient list, but mostly always there – even in sweet foods! I don’t need to tell you how bad too much salt is for your blood pressure…
6. Monosodium Glutamate: The Most Common Flavor Enhancer, has no distinct taste itself, but serves to amplify other flavours, particularly chicken or beef flavouring.
5. Niacin: The Most Common Nutrient, and the most unnecessary? A side effect of all the over processing means that nutrients are lost, which often leads fast food chains to add this nutrient to their food items. Bizarre.
4. Soybean Oil: The Most Common Oil or Fat – a fast food staple ingredient used frequently for deep fat frying, and a key ingredient in margarine, pastries etc. A pretty unhealthy mix of unsaturated fatty acids leading to a link with heart disease.
3. Mono – and Diglycerides: The Most Common Emulsifiers – generally recognised as a safe ingredient.
2. Xanthan Gum: The Most Common Stabilizer or Thickener, creates a smooth pleasant texture in foods, but is not recognised as causing any undesired side effects.
1. Chicken: The Most Common Meat Product – what concerns me here is the welfare of the chickens that serve the fast food industry. You can bet they are not generally free range, and certainly not organic!
Granted, it takes more effort, and time, to buy, create, and cook, a healthy meal. I would argue that it is cheaper though, and certainly in the long run – much better for you. Buying fresh ingredients means you know exactly what is going into your food, and ultimately you can be assured you are getting maximum nutrition, and not the weird and wonderful concoctions listed above!
celebrity weight loss
February 10th, 2010 by admin No comments »well I’m not really one for following celeb news – however here’s a couple of celebrity weight loss stories in the press at the moment…
- Kerry Katona – apparently lost a stone plus recently, thrilled with the change – achieved by attending a boot camp – so fair play weight loss article
- Hannah Waterman – showing off her new figure in a pose for the British Heart Foundation, which of course is a great cause! celeb article
So is there anyone else in the press at the moment we should have mentioned?
USA Today weight loss challenge
February 8th, 2010 by admin No comments »Success for one of the USAToday weight loss challenge dieters – reduced calorie intake to about 1500 a day and regular exercise has helped one dieter drop 16 pounds.
Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers
February 6th, 2010 by admin No comments »From Forbes –
Jenny Craig will end an ad campaign featuring actress Valerie Bertinelli as part of a legal settlement with Weight Watchers International.
The settlement ends a federal lawsuit filed by Weight Watchers against rival weight loss company Jenny Craig over an ad campaign that Weight Watchers said was supported by neither fact nor science.
http://www.forbes.com/2010/02/05/jenny-craig-weight-markets-equities-nutrisystem.html?boxes=marketschannelnews
Welcome
January 14th, 2010 by admin No comments »Welcome to weight loss week – we’ve recently moved an decided to change from a community elgg site to this brand spanking new WordPress set up.
Obesity, Inactivity Keeping Heart Health Stats Down (HealthDay)
December 17th, 2009 by admin No comments »http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weightloss/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20091218/hl_hsn/obesityinactivitykeepinghearthealthstatsdown
HealthDay – THURSDAY, Dec. 17 (HealthDay News) — While physicians and surgeons are getting better at treating heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems, too many Americans are ignoring . . .
Puberty May Trigger Sleep Apnea in Overweight Kids (HealthDay)
December 15th, 2009 by admin No comments »http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weightloss/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20091216/hl_hsn/pubertymaytriggersleepapneainoverweightkids
HealthDay – TUESDAY, Dec. 15 (HealthDay News) — Among teenagers, being overweight or obese increases the risk of obstructive sleep apnea, but the same does not appear to . . .
