Weight Problems & Obesity in Children

The number of children who are obese or overweight is growing at an alarming rate. Extra pounds put kids at risk of serious health problems, including diabetes, heart disease, and asthma. Childhood obesity also takes an emotional toll. Overweight children are frequently teased and excluded from team activities, which can lead to low self-esteem, negative body image, and depression. However, with the right support, encouragement, and positive role modeling, you can help your child reach and maintain a healthy weight.

Helping Your Child Reach and Maintain a Healthy Weight

Diagnosing weight problems and obesity in children

Overweight and obese children are at a greater risk of developing serious health problems such as:

type 2 diabetes high blood pressure high cholesterol bone and joint problems

asthma restless or disordered sleep patterns liver and gall bladder disease depression and low self-esteem

Kids who are unhappy with their weight may also be more likely to develop eating disorders and substance abuse problems. Diagnosing and treating weight problems and obesity in children as early as possible may reduce the risk of developing these and other serious medical conditions as they get older. Whatever your children’s weight, though, let them know that you love them and that all you want to do is help them be healthy and happy.

Healthy Weight Loss & Dieting Tips

In our eat-and-run, massive-portion-sized culture, maintaining a healthy weight can be tough—and losing weight, even tougher. If you’ve tried and failed to lose weight before, you may believe that diets don’t work for you. You’re probably right: traditional diets don’t work—at least not in the long term. However, there are plenty of small but powerful ways to avoid common dieting pitfalls, achieve lasting weight loss success, and develop a healthier relationship with food.

How to Lose Weight and Keep It Off

The key to successful, healthy weight loss

Your weight is a balancing act, but the equation is simple: If you eat more calories than you burn, you gain weight. And if you eat fewer calories than you burn, you lose weight.

Since 3,500 calories equals about one pound of fat, if you cut 500 calories from your typical diet each day, you'll lose approximately one pound a week (500 calories x 7 days = 3,500 calories). Simple, right? Then why is weight loss so hard?

Treatment of Obesity through fasting

Loosing weight for some can be a difficult ordeal when it involves eternally depriving oneself of a hearty meal. unlike other calorie restriction programs, periodic fasting allows the individual a feasting period following an initial period during which the individualis required to undergo abstenance from food. It has been shown in humans and animals that there is no significant increase in weight after a period of feasting on even fatty foods when it is preceded by a fasting period 

The mechanism of weight management through periodic fasting is thought to be in part due to the increased sensitivity to insulin. Following the fasting period the cells tend to respond more readily to insulin and take up glucose more effectively. Furthermore fasting is also associated with cleansing of the body allowing old substances to be fully absorbed during the period of fasting such that when followed by feasting, the body absorbs and makes use of food nutrients more efficiently. 

The Grapefruit Diet

The Grapefruit Diet: What It Is

The Grapefruit Diet has been around a long time -- since at least the 1930s. It's a short-term, quick weight loss plan.

The plan lasts for 12 days. Most versions promise a 10-pound weight loss during that time.

Unfortunately, the results aren't likely to last. The weight you lose is mostly fluid, and because you don't change your long-term eating habits on the diet, there's a good chance you'll gain it all back.

The Grapefruit Diet: What You Can Eat

The Ultimate Muscle-Building Vegetarian Menu!

When you hear the words "buff vegetarian," does anyone come to mind? How about former Mr. Universe Bill Pearl and six-time Ms. Olympia Cory Everson? These eye-popping physiques were both supported by a vegetarian diet.

It's more than possible to build lean muscle without eating meat. If it sounds crazy, keep reading.

Do you want to expand your grocery-shopping horizons, pack in new sources of high-quality nutrients, and still consume 150-plus grams of protein in one day? Well, you'll get all that and more from the meatless meal plan below.

So if your tastebuds and food sensibilities are begging for a change—Ah! Not another chicken breast!—why not try vegetarian for a day?

You don't have to eat like a rabbit, and you don't have to commit to lifelong veggie-worship to take vegetarianism for a test drive.

It's all about complementary proteins and taking in all of your amino acids, minus the meat. But let's skip the science and get to the mouthwatering recipes, shall we?

Breakfast

Tofu and Spinach Scramble ///

What You Need

• 8 ounces firm Tofu (chopped or crumbled)
• 2 Egg Whites
• 2 cups Spinach
• 1/2 cup sliced Mushrooms
• 1/2 cup Cherry Tomatoes
• Olive Oil, fresh Garlic, Soy Sauce, Lemon Juice and Salt and Pepper to taste
• A sprinkle of Red Chili Flakes if you like it hot!

How To Improve Your Gut Health And Speed Fat Loss

You've got quite the gut.

Whoa, slow down, I'm not saying you're fat.

In fact, I've got a gut myself.

Actually, we've all got guts!

If you're familiar with functional medicine or have watched any popular health TV like Oprah, The Doctors, or Doctor Oz, then you already know that the "gut" is no longer that nasty thing hanging over our waistlines.

Your gut, otherwise known as your digestive tract, is now termed your 'second brain.' Before we get into why and how gut health is important to fat loss, let's get some background. Or should I say, gut-ground? (No, I probably shouldn't.)

She's ... too sexy for the ground, too sexy for the ground ...

The Great Gutsby

The 15 Best Lean-Muscle Building Foods

1. Beef (From Grass-Fed Cattle)

Beef is important for building lean muscle due to its protein content, cholesterol, zinc, B vitamins and iron content.

Beef from grass-fed cattle have much higher levels of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) than conventionally raised cattle, which gives you a boost in shedding bodyfat and building lean muscle.

2. Beets

A good source of betaine, also known as trimethylglycine, this nutrient not only enhances liver and joint repair, but also has been shown in clinical research to increase muscle strength and power.

Beets also provide an NO boost which can ehance energy and aid recovery.

Exercise Less for Weight Loss?

Is your workout making you fat?

Ever wondered why you’re not losing weight, despite taking regular exercise and putting in maximum effort each time?

Researchers from the University of Ottawa think they may have the answer. They’ve looked at the effect easy and hard workouts have on the appetites of young women. After each morning exercise session, the 13 women in the study were allowed to eat as much as they wanted from a buffet lunch.
The study found that those women who pushed themselves to the limit with high-intensity workouts ate the most after exercising, consuming more than 90 percent of the calories they’d burnt off. In contrast, those women who’d done low intensity workouts, consumed just 35 percent of the calories they’d burnt.

Weight Loss Plateaus: How to Get Over the Hump

You've put in the hard work. You've overhauled your diet. You've put in countless hours at the gym, sticking to those grueling workouts time and time again. You've been rewarded with continuously-dropping numbers on the scale. And then it happens: you hit a weight-lossplateau. Hitting a plateau can be more than just frustrating, it can be downright dispiriting. But you're not alone--this eventually happens to nearly everybody who has tried to lose weight, and it's perfectly normal for your weight loss to gradually slow down and even come to a complete halt. Don't let this discourage you to the point that you revert back to old habits.

Reasons for Weight-Loss Plateaus

Best Weight-Loss Diets

1. Weight Watchers (3.8 stars) -- The diet plan uses a points system to help people lose weight and keep it off. Weight Watchers beat other diet plans for both short-term and long-term weight loss in experts’ ratings.

2. The Biggest Loser Diet (3.5 stars) -- The diet based on the television show of the same name is built around healthy food and regular exercise. Experts said it required a lot of grunt work and may be hard to maintain for long-term weight loss.

5 Ways to Create a Fat Burning Metabolism

 

A ton of research has been devoted to investigating why some people lose weight while others don't, why some people succeed at keeping weight off once they've lost it while others don't, and what factors tend to influence your ability to successfully maintain a healthy body weight.

And basically, what it boils down to is... your metabolism.

Very simply, leaner people have a higher metabolism than fatter people. The reason...lean people have more fat-free mass OR lean muscle than their fatter counterparts. Since muscle burns roughly 50x times calories than fat it would make sense that having more lean muscle would be a predictor of long-term success in weight management.

 

Why You Should Eat Fat to Lose Weight

You're trying to drop a few pounds, so you naturally skimp on fat and try to focus on lean eating. But taking such measures could actually be counterproductive, causing you to gain weight instead of losing it. The best diet for weight loss--and overall health--includes a balanced assortment of nutrients, and doesn't cut or drastically reduce fats, proteins or carbohydrates.

Fat in the American Diet

According to Harvard School of Public Health, Americans are collectively eating less fat now than in earlier decades. In the '60s, about 45 percent of our calories came from fat sources; these days, we get just 33 percent of our calories from fat. But in the days of higher fat consumption, only 13 percent of adults were obese--today, that number has nearly tripled. Diabetes is also about 10 times more prevalent now.