Is your pantry full of snack foods that boast “10 percent less sodium!” and “Now with more fiber”? Ditch those products in favor of more whole foods. That means choosing packages that list only one or two ingredients—such as whole wheat couscous or unsalted, sugar-free peanut butter.
If you use social media, you’ve probably seen the hashtag “#swolemate” floating around. If you thought it was just another trending hashtag to show off your gym skills (and the fact you’re in a relationship), you’re partially right—it’s definitely a trend, but not a baseless one. Believe it or not, working out with a partner actually has some benefits that go beyond building your digital reputation.
A #swolemate is just a trendy name for a gym buddy. It’s usually a romantic couple, hence the play on “soulmate” (swole is slang for being super muscular).
Most importantly, it motivates you to work out in the first place because you have someone holding you accountable. You’d rather binge watch the latest season of The Bachelorette? Too bad, you have a swole-mate date.
And it’s not just the fact that nobody likes to be stood up—researchers at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland found that exercisers who went to the gym with a partner exercised more frequently than those who went solo, especially if that partner was emotionally supportive.
“I’m a naturally competitive person so when I work out with my husband, I push myself to go the extra mile. Encouragement and support from your partner increases your chance of reaching a fitness goal and pushing yourself farther than you may have by yourself,” says Denise Locsin, a fitness trainer in California who created the exercise program Yokebar.
A study in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine found that female cyclers who worked out alongside a virtual gym buddy rode a stationary bike roughly nine minutes longer than those who peddled alone, and about 11 minutes longer when they thought they and their virtual friend were working together as a team. Yet another cycling study found that college students who biked alongside someone who loved exercising worked out harder than those who rode beside an exercise hater.
You’re more likely to succeed in adopting healthy habits if your partner adopts them, too. British scientists analyzed the daily habits of nearly 4,000 couples over the age of 50 and found that people were better able to make positive lifestyle changes if their loved one did as well, specifically when it came to getting active or losing weight—67 percent of men and 66 percent of women were able to become physically active when both did it, compared to just 26 percent and 24 percent, respectively, when only one person did.
Another small study in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships discovered that men had healthier eating and exercise habits when their girlfriend or wife also did, compared to couples with mismatched health values. And women who didn’t consider themselves as healthy as their partner were influenced by their man’s positive eating habits and able to eat healthier themselves.
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No, you don’t both need to be able to deadlift 300 pounds for a swole-mateship to work. It’s all about the exercise routine, and a high intensity interval training workout (HIIT) is one of your best bets. “Those exercises are all ones you can do with any partner, regardless of fitness levels,” says William Suggs, a personal trainer and sports nutritionist in New York City. Do an Internet search for HIIT routines and see which work best for you. (But never work out when you’re tired.)
Weightlifting isn’t off the table altogether, you just have to be on the same page and incorporate it at the right time. (Don’t make these weight-lifting mistakes.) Suggs suggests doing HIIT workouts outside so you can get a solid fitness base before adding weights to the mix. “If you’re lifting free weights together, the goals need be synonymous and you need to know if you can handle spotting someone bench pressing a heavier weight,” says Suggs. “You should both be serious about hitting your fitness goals.” Plan out which muscles you’ll be working, which moves you’ll do, and then each use the poundage appropriate for you, he says.
Working out as a couple can improve your physicality and emotional bond, but only if your relationship is strong and you’re in tune with each other’s quirks, behaviors, and reactions. “Most of the romantic fights I’ve seen have been exacerbated by personalities. One person might be too bossy or get offended too easily. Or a guy will get mad if his girl makes a joke or encourages him because they take it as criticism,” says Suggs.
One way to ensure your relationship doesn’t end at the gym, he says, is to make sure you can handle the mental and physical exertion without letting emotions get in the way; another is to know your partners’ physical and emotional limitations or sensitivities. “It’s important to know how you interact in stressful situations and that will dictate how you do workout-wise. You’ve got to have patience across the board, and pride and ego need to be thrown out the door,” says Suggs.
Lastly, never bring outside issues into the gym. “Any other relationship issues can come out in the gym; lots of arguments I see aren’t actually about the exercise,” he says.
Summer is officially here and the last thing anyone wants to think about during swimsuit season is deflating a bloated belly. So what exactly is bloat? And how do you navigate through upcoming wedding dinners, barbecues, and garden parties without bulging in the middle? While it’s true that salty foods can lead to water retention around the mid-section, the key isn’t avoiding fluids but rather skipping the salt-laden snacks like chips and pretzels. “In most healthy adults, bloating is actually caused by excess gas building up in the abdomen—it is typically not caused by fluid retention. If there is fluid retention, we begin to worry about health issues, such as liver failure,” explains Neal Malik, DrPH, MPH, RDN, lead of Master of Science in Nutrition for Wellness program at Bastyr University “Bloating can make us feel downright miserable since abdominal pain and cramping are a common symptom. A distended belly can make it seem as though you have added extra pounds around the waistline, but this usually is not true, and again, it is likely due to the buildup of gas.” Luckily, there are plenty of foods that actually help prevent or relieve symptoms of bloating.
Ever heard of “sushi face?” You need to! Julianne Moore just coined this amazing term in an interview with New York Magazine, and it explains everything we’ve ever wanted to know about post-meal bloating.
“It’s because of the sodium,” Moore told the magazine. “My husband loves to have sushi in L.A. because it’s so good out there. But if I’m there for an awards show or something, I’m like, ‘No, I’m not doing it the night before the Golden Globes. My face will be puffy.’”
Sound familiar? Odds are, we’ve all woken up from a sushi binge with a bit of bloat. But the Japanese dish isn’t the only fishy thing (pun intended) making you puffy.
“Anything that contains lots of salt is going to cause you to retain water,” Dr. Debra Wattenberg, a New York City dermatologist at NY Skin Rx told TODAY. “People who are sensitive to salt are going to swell around their eyes and their lips.”
Sushi, along with any other salty meals, causes cells to retain fluid—hence your bloating. And the sodium overload affects everyone differently. Fluid pools at the ankles for some people, while for others, it settles around the face and eyes. (By the way, these are the clear signs you’re eating too much sodium.)
Although experts say bloating is relatively harmless, all that swelling and shrinking could cause your skin to age more quickly. Plus, for health reasons, the American Heart Association recommends that people consume no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day. Ideally, we should be aiming for 1,500 milligrams per day.
But does that mean you should abandon sushi altogether? Not necessarily, experts say.
“People should not be scared of sushi. I think it is important to be salt-conscious,” Dr. Adam Friedman, an associate professor of dermatology at George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences told TODAY. “Be conscious of what we put in our bodies and the health effects.”
Want to banish the bloat? Besides reducing your sodium intake, make sure to drink lots of water (it flushes the sodium from your body), avoid alcohol, and use a cold compress to reduce the swelling. Some even recommend sleeping at an incline to prevent the fluid from settling in your face. Or, try eating this every day to beat your belly bloat.
Vacation is basically a constant countdown to the next meal. Sure, you want to be free to treat yourself during these few precious days of relaxation, but going overboard at every meal could throw your regular diet way off track.
One easy time to focus on your health? Breakfast. Pick nutritious choices at your hotel’s continental spread, and you can indulge later in the day without the guilt. After all, you’re way more likely to miss that hand churned ice cream on the boardwalk than those Froot Loops at breakfast. Plus, a healthy meal means no sugar crash, so you’ll be able to keep up with your kids’ high energy instead of begging for a nap before lunchtime.
The ideal breakfast should contain fiber, protein, and healthy fats, says dietitian and culinary specialist Sara Haas, RDN, LDN, spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Not only will those three fill you up—and keep you full—but keeping them in mind is an almost effortless way to pack in nutrients. “When you get that trio, you’re likely getting them from a variety of sources, which means you’ll be getting an array of other good-for-you nutrients too,” she says.
Rule of thumb: Aim for a whole grain, a protein source, and some fruit from the continental breakfast. Dietitian Caroline Passerrello, MS, RDN, LDN, spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, recommends oatmeal (sweetened with peanut butter), a hard-boiled egg, and banana, plus grabbing a yogurt to eat later. A cup of oatmeal has four grams of fiber, while the peanut butter, egg, and yogurt all pack in protein. The banana rounds out your meal with nutrients like vitamins B6 and C. “I would not necessarily have this combination at home because it would be a lot of preparation, but I love that the hotel staff has taken the prep work out of it for me,” says Passerrello. Check out more food hacks for a healthy breakfast.
If you aren’t a fan of oatmeal, top a whole grain bagel or toast with peanut butter and fruit, or have it with a hard-boiled egg and fruit on the side, says Haas.
Just be careful while you’re stacking your plate—sweet cereals and pastries aren’t the only big sugar sources from a continental breakfast. A flavored oatmeal packet or fruity yogurt has about 12 to 18 grams of sugar; a doughnut has a mere ten grams. (Learn more “healthy” breakfast mistakes you’re making.) If available, stick with plain yogurt and unsweetened oatmeal instead. “I like to be the one adding the sugar,” says Haas. “That puts me in control of how much (if any) goes in there.” Sweeten it up with fresh fruit instead of brown sugar or honey.
Skip the OJ and eat a whole orange to get in more nutrients, says Haas. No need to give up your coffee fix, though, says Passerrello. Just keep it simple. “Keep the drinks close to what you do at home,” she says. “Don’t be tempted by items you don’t typically keep around.” Flavored creamers are tempting, but add more than one and the calories can add up fast. Use a coffee hack to make your morning pick-me-up healthier instead.
Major weight loss takes more than just putting sneaker to treadmill or fork to plate. Odds are, you’re probably weighing yourself every once in awhile, too—and we don’t blame you if it’s the scariest part of your day.
But when it comes to the dreaded scale, there’s nothing to fear! According to the National Weight Control Registry, 75 percent of people who have successfully lost weight and kept it off weigh themselves on a consistent basis. Plus, a 2012 study in the Journal of Nutrition and Dietetics found that people who lose weight are less likely to gain it back if they regularly weigh themselves.
So, scale on! But do so mindfully, science says. Get this: apparently there is a “right” way to weigh yourself. And as long as you follow this simple rule, you may get results that you can be proud of (and that are a little more accurate!)
First off, doctors recommend scheduling one time per day to weigh yourself and sticking to that time no matter what. Since your weight fluctuates throughout the day, it’s hard to get an accurate read when you’re constantly stepping on the scale.
“You need to know that number on a consistent basis to help you manage your weight to make better decisions about your health,” Holly Wyatt, M.D., medical director of the Wellness Clinic at the University of Colorado Anschutz Health and Wellness Center, told Consumer Reports.
But then you’re faced with a choice: When is the best time to weigh yourself? According to the experts, you should step on the scale in the morning, after you’ve emptied your bladder and before you’ve eaten breakfast or hit the gym. Not only will you get a lower number (woohoo!) but you’ll also see a more accurate reflection of what you actually weigh—sans any extra pounds thanks to water, food, etc.
Plus, make sure your scale is on a hard, flat surface (no carpets) and that you are standing still with your weight distributed evenly across both feet. Getting a more exact version of your weight is guaranteed to put your mind to rest and boost your weight loss motivation.
Still not happy with the number on the scale? Don’t fret! Try these 40 fast, easy tips to lose weight from the pros.
No matter how old you get, how long you can run, how much iron you pump, or how many expert tips you follow for your heart, the old ticker is always going to need a little extra TLC, according to registered dietitian Cara Walsh. You want to make sure that your circulation is strong so you can keep moving at whatever pace you set for yourself. Fatty fish—like salmon, tuna, trout, and sardines—are good additions to your meal plan, she says. “The healthy omega-3 fatty acids found in fish are a good source of Vitamin D, which is especially low in men’s diets should be eaten at least twice a week,” she notes.
Say goodbye to those gross dieting fads and pricey gym memberships. Turns out, weight loss starts right in your kitchen—but it isn’t (technically) a diet. According to journalism professor Michael Easter, the secret to losing weight isn’t even to weigh yourself. You should weigh your food, instead!
The reason why is simpler than you might think. Believe it or not, putting your food on a scale can reveal a lot more about your eating habits than putting yourself on a scale. Weighing your food helps you get an accurate idea of exactly how much you’re eating down to the calorie, not what the serving size says on the box. It also teaches you what a common serving size looks like, so you can eyeball it in the future. (You can also try these genius portion control tricks for quick weight loss!)
“When starting a diet, measuring food is an important part of learning about correct serving sizes,” Madeline R. Vann, MPH wrote for Everyday Health. “A food scale will show you that the portion you thought was four ounces may actually weigh eight ounces. That’s the kind of mistake that could derail your diet.”
And it really works! Easter spent his mornings running the canyon trails outside of Las Vegas, where he lives. But when he started to have knee pain, a nutritionist recommended weighing his food to track how many calories he ate per day. The results totally shocked him.
“I had the same lunch every day and it was a protein shake with an apple and peanut butter and it’s like, ‘Oh that’s totally a healthy lunch—this is a great lunch.’ But when I weighed peanut butter for the first time I was taking like three servings and I thought it was only one,” Easter told NBC News Better. “So here I was thinking I’m eating 200 calories, but I’m really eating 600.”
And Easter isn’t alone. A national survey found that, among more than 6,000 adults, those who measured their food were more successful at losing weight and keeping it off than those who did not.
If you’re convinced and ready to try it, experts recommend investing in a scale that shows both grams and ounces. Of course, you should still hold on to your measuring cups, because those help you track your calorie intake, too.
Long story short: When it comes to watching what you eat, you won’t only need to avoid those diet-busting foods. You’ll also want to invest in a scale (but keep it in the kitchen—not the bathroom!).
Coffee lovers, is your daily mug of coffee making you rush for the bathroom? You might have to play detective to figure out if you need to blame the milk or the coffee itself. “While some actually welcome caffeine to help produce a bowel movement in the morning, the effects of caffeine as a stimulant on the bowels can cause cramping and bloating,” says Fiorella DiCarlo RD, CDN. “To lessen pain or cramps, one can try to avoid drinking coffee on an empty stomach and drink it during or after breakfast.” Of course, the problem could be lactose intolerance: Find out by eliminating milk some mornings to see how you do.
First, Some Reassuring News
1. “When we recently examined big food companies over a five-year period, we found that 99 percent of their growth was coming from lower-calorie products. That was, quite frankly, a stunning surprise. So they’re not just sitting around on their hands. They are moving in the right direction.” Former food-industry executive Hank Cardello, director of the Obesity Solutions Initiative at the Hudson Institute (a nonprofit think tank) and author of Stuffed
2. “Consumers clearly want more natural ingredients and transparency about what they’re eating, and smart manufacturers are getting that and responding. Nestlé has moved to get rid of artificial colors and flavors in its chocolate candy. Kraft is removing artificial dyes from some types of macaroni and cheese. And some fast-food chains are removing antibiotics from their chicken.” Hank Cardello
3. “The concept of ‘the dose makes the poison’ is very important in the realm of food, especially when it comes to natural flavors and artificial colors. All food ingredients and nutrients—even those we need to survive—have a threshold for safety. When caramel color was approved, nobody anticipated how much of it would be used in the food and beverage industry. It’s in a lot of foods you don’t expect: certain soups, pilaf, and hamburger, for example. So if everything you eat is from a box, a can, or a bag, then you may get too much and have reason for concern. But if you eat a variety of foods, you don’t have to worry.” Kantha Shelke, PhD, a food scientist who specializes in ingredients at Corvus Blue, a Chicago-based research firm
Some people say that if you’re not familiar with an ingredient—if you can’t pronounce it—then you shouldn’t eat it. I think that reflects an ignorance of chemistry and nutrition.
4. “Organic foods are the new kids on the block, so producers are fighting aggressively for market share. One way they can increase sales is by convincing you that all chemicals are bad, GMOs are bad, pesticides are bad—and some of that has no basis in science or fact. That makes it very confusing for consumers.” Bruce Chassy, PHD, a food safety and nutrition scientist and a professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
5. “Some people say that if you’re not familiar with an ingredient—if you can’t pronounce it—then you shouldn’t eat it. I think that reflects an ignorance of chemistry and nutrition. Take riboflavin, cobalamin, and pyridoxamine. They’re big words and sound like things you don’t want in your food, but they are actually all forms of vitamin B, and skipping them can be detrimental to your health. Instead of being scared of ingredients you don’t know, educate yourself.” Kantha Shelke, PHD
6. “It drives me crazy when people think all food marketers are just trying to pull one over on them. For every brand I’ve worked on, consumer research has been the cornerstone of everything. New products always start with solving a problem for consumers. It doesn’t start with solving our business need and then shoving it down consumers’ throats.” Suzanne Ginestro, chief marketing officer at Bolthouse Farms who previously worked at Pinkberry, Red Bull, Nestlé, and Kraft
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Ingredients, Decoded
7. “People are nervous about synthetic flavors. But as more nations develop Western tastes for prepared foods, we may not have enough natural sources. Take vanilla, which naturally comes from a bean in an orchid. If everyone in India wanted a vanilla milk shake at the same time, there wouldn’t be enough. But we have discovered a way of making a vanillin from algae. It tastes, smells, and acts like regular vanilla, and your body cannot tell the difference.” Kantha Shelke, PhD
8. “People think crackers are healthy, but in many ways, they’re as bad for you as chips. Your typical cracker is made with refined grains and flavoring built around fat, salt, and sugar. Then preservatives are often added so the crackers can sit on the shelf for a year. Also, whole-grain crackers are rare. Ninety-nine percent of crackers out there are a treat.” Bruce Bradley, former marketing executive for General Mills and author of Fat Profits
9. “Manufacturers can hide things under natural flavoring. When I started in this business and was interviewing possible partners, I was shocked at the amount of deception. Manufacturers and copackers would ask what ingredients I was using for preservation, and then they would tell me, ‘You know you can use X or Y—just call it natural flavoring on the package. No one will know.’” Jason Burke, founder of the New Primal, a grass-fed beef jerky company
10. “The red color in many foods comes from crushed insects. If you see carmine or cochineal extract in an ingredients list, the product contains a little powdered bug. But aside from being an allergen for a small number of people, it’s considered safe. Alternatives are petroleum-derived chemicals Red No. 40 and No. 3, which some studies have linked to such health problems as hyperactivity in children and cancer in animals. I’d rather have the insects, to be honest.” Daniel Tapper, author of Food Unwrapped: Lifting the Lid on How Our Food Is Really Produced
Many ‘high in fiber’ products are stuffed with what is essentially fake fiber. It’s not as healthy as the naturally occurring fiber in whole grains and vegetables.
11. “Some producers hide sugar by giving it different names—high-fructose corn syrup, cane crystals, dextrose, evaporated cane juice, agave nectar, and fruit juice concentrate. If a product has a lot of sugar, some companies will intentionally use two or more different types so sugar doesn’t end up being number one on the ingredients list. The FDA has proposed a change that would require manufacturers to add up all these types of sugar and list them as added sugars.” Walter Willett, MD, chairman of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston
12. “In any food, there may be a number of unlabeled ingredients. Studies have shown that trace amounts of pesticides are routinely present in foods. Other ingredients come from the packaging. When food is in a box, for instance, tiny bits of cardboard and the chemicals used to produce the cardboard get into the food. The same with plastic. BPA [an industrial chemical that has been linked to health problems] is the biggest example.” Michael Jacobson, PHD, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest
13. “Many ‘high in fiber’ products are stuffed with what is essentially fake fiber. It’s not as healthy as the naturally occurring fiber in whole grains and vegetables. It may even cause gas, bloating, and other stomach problems. Watch out for chicory root, maltodextrin, and polydextrose on the ingredients list.” Robert J. Davis, PhD, author of Coffee Is Good for You: From Vitamin C and Organic Foods to Low-Carb and Detox Diets, the Truth About Diet and Nutrition Claims
14. “FDA regulation does allow some insect parts [from harvesting, the manufacturing process, etc.] in your food. Peanut butter can have up to 30 insect parts per 100 grams. It has no effect on the healthiness, but people might want to know.” Michael Jacobson, PhD
Recently, after decades away, I decided it was time to go back the gym. The last time I had embraced a workout was when I started doing Step aerobics in college, more than 20 years ago. After a move and a divorce I found myself reevaluating everything in my life and it was time to face the fact that all those years of eating whatever I had wanted to had caught up with me long ago. So I posted on Facebook that I was looking for a workout that would be fun and rewarding.
One friend suggested a gym in midtown that’s modeled after recess in school. A former colleague recommended a kickball league. But I was looking for a workout that happened to be fun, not fun that might include a workout.
And then a business acquaintance suggested Mark Fisher Fitness (MFF), a little cult gym known mostly for being where a lot of Broadway types (including Lin-Manuel Miranda, who talked about it in the New York Times) train when they’re prepping for a role.
Walking up to the door the first day, I was terrified. I’ve never believed in the idea that if something frightens you or makes you uncomfortable you should do it. Um, no … if you’re so scared your heart is pounding that’s nature’s way of telling you to run, thank you very much. I felt weak, uncoordinated, and out of shape, and I was sure the trainers would be able to tell that I didn’t belong there. But I quickly realized this place was special.
It wasn’t easy. The first week I pretty much crawled out of bed in the morning, wincing as I reached for the Advil in my medicine cabinet. But, slowly, I started to pick it up.
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We started each class with the same warm up, which included everything from rocking in place to skipping and “bear crawling” across the floor, growling at each other as we passed. I learned to love the Spiderman lunges, and the feeling of sore muscles getting stretched out before we worked them out again.
One of our coaches was Mark Fisher himself, the handsome and inspiring 37-year-old fitness guru who started the gym. (He would balk at the term—adding “I’m not your guru, I’m your Sherpa!”—but there’s no denying that those of us who finally found success here would follow him anywhere.) In his sparkly red pants and chicken hat (just one of his many costumes), Mark often quietly encouraged us, and gently pushed us toward heavier weights. (“You do you, but I think you’re ready for more!”) Amanda “Wheels” Wheeler, our other coach, always noticed when someone made progress, and—even in a room full of people—the moment I moved from push-ups on my knees to real ones I could hear her cheer me on.
And, every single morning, Mark sent an email to those taking Snatched, addressed to his “babies” and “girlfriends,” walking us through, for example, the latest research on dieting or evaluating other popular fitness programs. (I read them quickly and saved them all; I know what I’ll be rereading on the beach this summer.)
Our nutrition program involved a high protein, low-carb diet that allowed us to choose what we wanted to eat within the constraints of the macros they set for us based on our individual weight, age, and measurements. I got used to prepping a bunch of meals and portioning them out on Sunday nights, eating eggs in the morning instead of oatmeal, making protein shakes, and having the maki at my favorite sushi bar wrapped in cucumber or daikon instead of rice. We logged everything into an app and our nutrition coach, Reilly Jennings, would send us regular comments. Mine often included some version of “You’re crushing those protein goals girrrrrl! Now try to see if you can get in some more vegetables…”
And, somehow, almost immediately my class became a team, with inside jokes and shared recipes and assigned mats. We gave ourselves silly (not fit to print) team names, created a team cheer, and planned dress up nights. One Wednesday, we wore pink (an homage to the movie Mean Girls), another we wore super hero costumes.
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I had been so afraid to do this, but soon it was my favorite place to be.
And it was amazing to watch our whole team shrink as the weeks went by—to see Travis’ cheeks thin out and Sean grow impossibly small in a short period of time. I spotted Susan across the locker room one evening and wondered if it was her at first because her arms and legs seemed so trim.
For our last night, we planned a party with cocktails, dinner, and a movie. It was right after the final workout of the six weeks, and by the time we were done with our class everyone looked wrecked. Still, every single one of us stayed to hang out, hitting the showers before grabbing a seat in front of the screen. It was the quietest movie night I had ever been to—we had all left a lot on the mat!—but we wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else.
Now, my team is planning group dinners (high protein, naturally) and workouts, editing each others’ dating profiles, and quickly finding that these are friendships we’ll have outside the gym, too. It seems silly to think I was afraid before I started. Back then, the idea of finding a workout I loved after decades out of the gym had seemed unlikely at best.
But the most amazing part is how it extends to the rest of my life: last week, right before a job interview, I felt anxiety welling up … and then I remembered the last day of Snatched. At the beginning of each class we introduced ourselves by answering a question. The last night, the question “What is something you learned here?” made me pause. And then it came to me; it wasn’t that I learned how to do proper push-ups or that I can lift my body weight on a hex bar. “I learned that just because I am afraid of something doesn’t mean I can’t do it.”
Suddenly, the interview didn’t seem so scary anymore. And, of course, I crushed it.
This is the biggest mistake people get hung up on, when in fact those in the know says it’s crucial to understand how good fat can be. “All fats provide nine calories per gram, but different types of fats have different chemical structures and different nutritional implications,” explains Tanya Zuckerbrot, RD, a New York City-based dietitian and author of The F-Factor Diet: Discover the Secret to Permanent Weight Loss and The Miracle Carb Diet: Make Calories & Fat Disappear the F-Factor Way–With Fiber! There are three different types of fat. Trans fats (which may be the worst type) hidden in processed foods, baked goods and margarine, have zero health benefits. Saturated fats (think red meat, full-fat dairy and butter) raise cholesterol levels, which increase risk of heart disease, while healthy unsaturated fats found in olive, peanut and canola oils, avocado, nuts and seeds help prevent heart disease and stroke.
Taking a draconian approach to all fat in the diet could mean losing weight loss and health benefits as healthy fat allows us to feel full longer, controlling our appetite. What’s more, the American Heart Association recently stated that replacing saturated fat with healthier fat in the diet lowers cardiovascular disease risk as much as taking powerful cholesterol-lowering drugs.
Go ahead and take that hour-long soak in the bathtub. Turns out, it’s doing your health a favor.
According to a research team at Loughborough University, it’s true! Their study suggests that taking a bath might be just as good for you as taking a walk.
The researchers placed 14 men into two activity groups and tracked the calories they burned. One group did a one-hour bicycle ride, while the other took a one-hour bath. (By the way, can you guess which group we would want to be in?)
In the end, the cyclers burned more calories than the lucky bathers. But here’s the good news: relaxing in the bath still burned around 130 calories, which roughly equals the amount you’d burn on a 30-minute walk.
Surprised? Us too! The study explained that sitting in a hot bath (in this study’s case, 140 degree Fahrenheit water) still raises your body’s core temperature about one degree, causing you to burn more calories. So although you probably shouldn’t ditch your daily workout quite yet, there are some sweet health perks to taking a soak in the tub, too.
Wait, there’s more! “As well as the cardiovascular effects of passive heating, there is evidence to suggest that there may be beneficial metabolic effects as well—such as better control of blood sugar,” said Steve Faulkner, a research associate from Loughborough University.
When researchers examined the participants’ blood sugar levels for 24 hours after the test, they discovered that participants’ peak blood sugar was around 10 percent lower if they had taken a bath instead of a bike ride. It also reduced inflammation for the same participants.
But before you hop in the tub, science still has some work to do. All of this study’s participants were men, and with such a small sample size, it’s hard to definitively conclude the results (much less the results for women, specifically). Still, when push comes to shove, a grown-up bath is not only the stress melter you need right now. It could also be a great activity if you want trim down—without a lick of exercise!
Believe it or not, coconut oil has six times more saturated fat than olive oil per tablespoon, with a hefty 12 g of saturated fat per tablespoon. “For many, that’s more than half the daily recommended amount,” says Edwina Clark, MS, RD, head of nutrition and wellness at Yummly, a mobile app and website that provides recipe recommendations. And science confirms it; in a recent report published in the journal Circulation, the American Heart Association found little to no difference between coconut oil and other highly saturated oils like butter and lard. It’s true that not all types of saturated fats are created equal. Coconut oil is particularly high in lauric acid, a type of saturated fat shown to raise good cholesterol (HDL), similar to unsaturated fats. The problem with lauric acid, unfortunately, is that it also raises bad cholesterol (LDL) and total cholesterol levels as well. By contrast, Clark notes, the polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat that are abundant in olive oil and other vegetable oils have been shown to lower LDL and total cholesterol levels. Check out the subtle signs that you’re eating too much bad fat.
In their review of data on over 1 million pregnancies, the researchers found that 47 percent of women gained more weight during pregnancy than the IOM recommends, and 23 percent gained less. Being underweight led to a 5 percent higher chance of having a smaller-than-normal infant and a preterm birth. Being overweight meant a 4 percent higher chance of having a larger infant and higher chance of a C-section.
Improper weight gain can affect the size of the baby, which may contribute to problems with breathing or regulating blood sugar, according to time.com. A study published in JAMA in 2000 found that 1,000 babies who were on the smaller side experienced lower academic achievement than normal sized babies at birth, although they still went on to get married, have jobs, and be overall satisfied with life.
Emily Oster, a professor of economics at Brown University told Time, “If anything, you should probably be more concerned about gaining too little weight than too much.” Women are better off weighing slightly more because if they are underweight, they run the risk of their child being malnourished, according to americanpregnancy.org.
At the same time, it’s important not to let pressure to gain a certain amount of weight make you crazy, as stress has negative effects on a pregnancy too. When it comes to pregnancy weight gain, Oster says people need to “chill out.”
Weight is far from the only factor that influences the health of the baby, which is why keeping up with prenatal visits is critical if you want to help your baby have the best possible health. In particular, here’s what you need to know to help prevent birth defects.
Lolë held a media event to try the sports bra at a bar class. Not exactly a cardio class – my heart rate was 97 bpm at the end of the workout. I’m sure it was meant more for influencers to share photos, but I needed a true HIIT class to really test it out.
I wore the heart rate sports bra to a 30 minute HIIT circuit class. After a 10 minute-warm up, I did side lunges and curtsy squats, glider pushups, TRX pushups and extensions and plyometric jumps landing on one foot, with 30-second sprints on the treadmill between exercises.
The Lolë Smart Bra X and MI Pulse Universal Heart Rate Monitor are sold separately.
The bra is a high impact bra with moulded cups, a double back eye-hook closure. (yes! Just what we need after a sweaty workout.) It comes in sizes S, M and L.
The straps are adjustable, so they can sit straight over your shoulder blades or you can have them criss-crossed.
The monitor just snaps on the band in the centre front of the bra. You remove it to wash the bra.
It’s a universal heart rate monitor so it works with blue-tooth fitness apps for your phone or smart watch that monitors heart rate.
The sports bra has two sensor pads under each breast. It works like those band heart rate monitors.
What I lovedThe bra is comfortable and easy to get on and off.
It’s black, so I don’t have to think about what will go with it – especially with tanks and tees that expose the back.
It was easy to sync with my iPhone and Apple Watch. I just turned on my Bluetooth in my settings, and then in the app connected the device. (To test the sports bra I used Wahoo Fitness—, but you can use whatever fitness app you prefer, as long as it includes a heart rate monitor feature.)
I didn’t notice the heart rate monitor during the workout. I find wrist monitors slip, and the chest belt ones are so awkward with a sports bra. So, putting it in the sports bra is genius.
This was an average workout for me, and my max heart rate was 215 bpm, with an average of 154 bpm. According to online fat-burning zone calculators, I should be working out at 147 bpm. I burned 265 calories in the workout.
What else you need to knowNot everyone is a fan of moulded cups. So, if you’re more of a shelf bra girl, you would have to get used to the Smart Bra, or just stick with the traditional heart rate monitors.
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Most smart watches nowadays monitor heart rate, so you might not need the Smart Bra if yours already does.
The Smart Bra doesn’t know when you start working out. And I’m the worst for remembering to hit “start workout” on fitness apps. So, I missed the first five minutes of the workout in my stats.
If you’re training involves monitoring your heart rate (like at Orangetheory Fitness, your trainer tracks it, or you’re trying to improve your cardio), this might be worth the investment for you. You’re already buying sports bras, and this is way more comfortable to move in than a chest strap. If you already have a heart rate monitor (one that clips in to the chest strap), bring it with you to the store to see if you can use it with this bra. You could save yourself some money by not buying something you don’t need.
While this is great information to have, I don’t think it’s necessary for every workout I do. There are days when I can go all out, and there are days when I need to take it back. And my energy levels can tell me that. But if I’m training for a fitness event, I’ll use these numbers to help me get better at my cardio.
Lolë Smart Bra, $90 at lolewomen.com, and the MI PULSE Universal Heart Rate Monitor, $95 at lolewomen.com.
Through the years, I’ve more or less been able to get my sugar cravings under control. When I look at a piece of cake, I think how sick I’ll feel a few minutes after eating that sugary frosting, I remind myself that I like the way my jeans feel when they aren’t straining at the waist, and I try hard to eat only when I’m hungry. But most of all, it helps that, after moving to the suburbs from the city, I no longer live within walking distance from candy stores or bakeries and have the wherewithal not to bring treats into my home on a regular basis.
“Regular” is the key word, however, because with two young kids there are a few times a year where it’s virtually impossible not to have candy and treats in the house—most recently it was Easter. Even though the Easter Bunny (aka me) filled their baskets with books and stuffed animals and just a few chocolate bunnies and ducks, well-meaning friends and family gave them baskets that were overflowing with the good stuff.
Then one night, about a week after Easter, I snuck into the kids’ candy stash and ate a green apple Blow-Pop. It was stale, the gum in the middle was overly sugary, and I didn’t even enjoy it. I stopped and consciously considered why I was eating it. Was I hungry? Thirsty? Bored? Upset about something? I couldn’t come up with a good answer. Still, I wound up eating a second one. It was not a proud moment.
It was around this time that hypnotherapy came into my life. I had been interested in it since reading The Hypnotist’s Love Story by Liane Moriarity last fall. The protagonist, as the title suggests, is a hypnotherapist. She uses hypnotherapy on herself and her clients to help them gain self-control, give up bad habits, fall asleep easily, and gain perspective on their lives. Early in the book, the narrator uses hypnotherapy to quickly gain her composure by envisioning a golden light pulsing through her body, and she helps a client fall asleep by visualizing dripping honey into a hot cup of tea. It was all so calming, appealing and powerful. I had wanted to try it ever since.
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So when I was approached by Richard Barker, an Orlando, Florida-based hypnotist who offered to come to my office to speak to me about the field and give me a session, I readily said yes.
At our meeting, after giving me a backgrounder on hypnotherapy, we got down to business. I told Richard I wanted to get my sugar craving under control, but did ask him to include a caveat that I could include desserts on special occasions (Hey, Mother’s Day and my birthday were coming up.)
I started seated with my eyes open, staring at one singular point (I chose a red thumbtack on a bulletin board). Richard took me through some breathing exercises, then had me close my eyes and relax my body. The thing that struck me the most is that Richard kept talking the entire time for the full 20 minutes. He repeated himself often, kept up a soothing stream of words and chatter, using a tone that was comforting, yet firm.
Once I was hypnotized, he told me I would not eat sugar, candy, or treats on a regular basis. That when I had those cravings, I would opt for something healthier like an apple or a glass of water, and that I would do this because I valued my health and wanted to live a long healthy life. He also said this suggestion would work, because I wanted it to work. (A key part of hypnosis is that you have to be open to the suggestion.)
When the session ended, I felt super-refreshed and was in a happy energetic mood the rest of the day.
As for the sugar cravings… the first day I still had them, but the difference was that I didn’t indulge them. After lunch, I passed on the bowl of Hershey’s Kisses a co-worker kept on her desk and instead made a cup of tea. It was as if a switch had been flipped and I simply wasn’t going to eat candy anymore.
It has now been a month since our session. And I have to say that by and large the hypnotherapy has worked. I made it through Mother’s Day brunch and only sampled one well-chosen dessert at the all-you-can-eat buffet. (In the past I would have had tried at least three.) For my birthday, I insisted on celebrating with pineapple gelato instead of the red velvet cake my husband has traditionally bought. And I stuffed all the favor bags for my son’s birthday party with Starburst and Tootsie Rolls and didn’t eat a single one.
It’s too early to say if I’m cured for good, and, after all, I did only have one session. But for now, I feel like it has put me back on the right track for better health and overall happiness. What more can I ask?
Apparently, people who make a habit of eating meals later in the day increase their chance of obesity, even if they’re not eating any more than they would have earlier.
For the meal-timing study, researchers created two conditions—daytime eating that consisted of three meals and two snacks consumed between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m., and delayed eating that consisted of three meals and two snacks eaten between noon and 11 p.m. All participants had a healthy body mass index (BMI), and for the study they ate the same diets and slept for nearly seven hours every night. A fitness regimen was included for both groups.
After an 18-week period, the delayed eaters showed weight gain, slower metabolism, and increases in insulin and cholesterol levels, and the earlier eaters did not. Late-day eating was also associated with “metabolizing fewer lipids and more carbs,” study author Namni Goel, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine told MedPage Today. “The study provides some of the first experimental evidence that prolonged delayed eating promotes weight gain and a negative profile for fuel oxidation, energy metabolism, and hormonal markers, in normal weight adults.”
And Dr. Goel would expect to see even larger effects in people who already obese or have metabolic syndrome.
It’s been previously established that a lack of sleep can cause weight gain, but this study also showed that meal timing can affect sleep, so eating late is a one-two punch that leads to packing on pounds. Researchers don’t yet understand why metabolism rates are affected by eating later, but they do know that people suffering from insomnia or who sleep erratic hours because of their jobs are often most affected by the consequences of late-day eating.
Dr. Goel hopes more research can be conducted on a much larger scale, with a larger variety of participants, but for now she encourages us to stick to an earlier dining schedule—starting with breakfast around 8 a.m.—to prevent unnecessary weight gain.
“This is a behavioral intervention that, I think, could be beneficial and would be easy to implement in one’s own life,” Dr. Goel says. “Even if people can’t do it all of the time, most of us could do it 80 percent of the time.”
Here are more ways to lose weight without a lick of exercise.
How much water do you need boost energy? Depending on who you ask, the exact amount varies. Dr. Navarro points to the most agreed-upon recommendation of six to eight 8-ounce glasses of water daily. This could change though, depending on the climate you live in and the type of lifestyle you lead. “Some adults may need more or less, depending on their overall health, including if they have certain illnesses, take specific medications and more. It also depends on how much they exercise and the level of intensity, and how hot and dry the weather is,” he explains. If you’re interested to know how much water your body is hankering for, talk to your primary care doctor.
After you brew the perfect cup of coffee, add a sprinkle of cinnamon right into your cup, recommends Joy Bauer, nutrition and health expert of the TODAY Show, and founder of Nourish Snacks. “A little calorie-free spice is nice.” Cinnamon is also said to reduce LDL cholesterol (the bad kind) too.
According to a recent study conducted by the Endocrine Society, weight loss in obese women can significantly improve brain function essential to memory tasks. Previous research has shown that obese people suffer impaired episodic memory (the type that allows us to place names to faces); thanks to the latest findings, we now know that the memory damage linked to severe weight gain can be regained.
“Our findings suggest that obesity-associated impairments in memory function are reversible, adding incentive for weight loss,” says study author Andreas Pettersson, MD, a PhD student at Umea University, Umea, Sweden, in Science Daily.
Dr. Pettersson and colleagues assigned 20 overweight and post-menopausal women to six months of healthy dieting. The average age of the participants was 61 years old, and the two diets used were the Paleolithic Diet and the Nordic Nutrition Diet. Before dieting, Dr. Pettersson recorded all the women’s body fat, BMI (their body mass index), and memory abilities.
Episodic memory, in particular, was the focus of the study. This involved testing the subjects’ ability to memorize unknown pairs of faces and names presented on a screen—a process formally titled ‘encoding.’ Later, the participants were shown the facial images along with three letters during functional MRI, and they were instructed to correctly choose the first letter of the name linked to each head shot.
Prior to the study, the women’s average BMI was 32.1—obesity is defined as having a BMI of 30 or greater. After the six-months of dieting, the average BMI dropped to 29.2, putting them below the obesity cutoff. At this point, participants were also performing notably better on memory tests; MRIs revealed that their brain activity increased in the brain regions that are important for identification and matching of faces. (Find out how to effectively boost your memory with these brain exercises.)
“The altered brain activity after weight loss suggests that the brain becomes more active while storing new memories and therefore needs fewer brain resources to recollect stored information,” Dr. Pettersson said.
