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Doctors share the truth about weight loss

The June issue of Allure magazine takes a pretty brilliant approach to the typical diet tips article. The magazine interviewed diet experts who aren’t out to hawk their latest books. You’ve probably never heard of these people, but their advice is sound.

James O. Hill of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, for example, says it’s important to realize that dieting has two stages: weight loss and maintenance. It’s vital to exercise during the maintenance part so you can eat a little more and make the diet easier to stick with.

Ralph La Forge form Duke University Medical Center busts two myths about exercise: that strength training makes your metabolic rate higher and that low-intensity exercise ramps up fat burning. He says bodybuilders have resting metabolic rates that allow them to burn about 0.2 calories more than the average person per minute, and that the fat-burning zone comes when you’re burning two or three calories a minute, so you’d have to walk for 50 miles to get a decent workout.

And Louis J. Aronne, director of the New York Comprehensive Weight Control Program, says it’s a myth that people can be any size they want. He says most people can lose 5 to 10 percent of their body weight, but it’s hard to go much beyond that. A good rule of thumb is that you can probably get back to the skinniest you have been since you’ve been an adult, he says.

Women share their dieting secrets

June’s Ladies Home Journal shares the stories of five women who’ve lost big. Kathy Stuart lost 140 pounds with the help of NutriSystem prepared meals. Her doctor saw her in the midst of her weight loss and told her she’d probably gain it all back, which served as a motivator to prove her wrong.

Lydia Fish lost 100 pounds through Weight Watchers, and even started a group meeting at her office. Rebecca Paul trimmed 156 pounds with NutriSystem and exercise, first walking and now regular spin classes.

Kristine Petrelito used the religious Weigh Down Workshop to cut 105 pounds from her frame, and Leah Segedie started her weight loss of 104 pounds by walking more, then doing Tae Bo videos and participating in Weight Watchers.

Fat genes and a little help from your friends

The June 9 issue of Woman’s World includes a couple of stories about ways to lose weight. The first is from one of those experts with a book to sell, in this case Palm Springs heart doctor Steven R. Gundry, who has lost 75 pounds and helped more than 2,500 others slim down fast using his diet plan that’s said to “stun the genetic system.”

Humans are built to think of times of bright light and sugar foods (that would be summer, before sweetened everything and electricity) as the times to store fat for the long, dark winter. Now that we can get sweet foods and light all the time, our bodies store fat all the time, too, says the doctor.

His plan proposes that we can outsmart our bodies by cutting out fruit, grains, flour and artificial and real sweeteners, as well as dimming the lights when it gets dark outside and going to bed earlier.

He also recommends supplements including selenium, St. John’s wort and SAMe to deal with sugar cravings. He says participants lose as much as 75 pounds in five months; readers who tried the plan lost up to nine pounds in a week.

Another diet success story involves a woman, Pamela Peterson, who once weighed 400 pounds. She’s lost 172 pounds so far with the help of “The Vegetables Taste Like Dirt Project,” a plan that involved friends and family members pledging rewards to her for each pound she lost.

A friend offered a fruit basket, while her boss promised her a pedicure. Even Rachael Ray got in on the act, offering her $1,000 for new clothes when she has lost 180 pounds. She says she always wanted to lose 200 pounds, but thinks she’ll keep going once she reaches that goal.

(By Sarah E. White for CalorieLab Calorie Counter News)

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This entry was posted on Sunday, June 8th, 2008 and is filed under Diet Tips, Diet and food media, Diet foods, Diet programs, Diets and weight loss programs. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed. Permalink.