weightlossbuddy's Blog

How Does Unemployment Affect Weight Loss?

2010-07-31T21:57:46-04:00:00

Unfortunately, the days are not yet over where stories about unemployment are all over the Internet about the affects and aftermath of the thousands of Americans without jobs.

But the untold story is that of whether those who are unemployed were able to continue their weight loss regimens now that they have job hunting as a main priority.

According to the article below, while we tend to think that if we were unemployed we would have more time to exercise, unemployment actually makes weight loss harder because oftentimes our frame of mind during unemployment is not the proper one to be working toward achieving our weight loss goals.

Being unemployed often makes people depressed and down, and while weight loss might be a priority, it sometimes takes the backseat to finding a new job-which is very understandable.

Juggling weight loss and job hunting can be a tricky task. But the good news is, if you can get your frame of mind in the right state, you should be able to eat healthier food as your home is your cafeteria until you find a new job.

Are any of you recently unemployed and having a hard time losing the weight?

http://www.helium.com/items/1908548-why-unemployment-can-make-weight-loss-harder

Can Surfing the Net Help You Lose Weight

2010-07-29T21:53:00-04:00:00

I probably spend at least 7 or 8 hours a day on the Internet. I use it a ton at work, and obviously to come on here and chat with my buddies and write blog posts.

When I'm at work, I don't think about it that much because I have to be on the Internet for my job, but when I'm at home, surfing the Internet, and I burn more than two hours sitting on the couch playing with my computer, I usually go to bed thinking I probably could have made more of my night and worked out at the gym or outside longer than I had that night.

Well according to new research in this Time article, surfing the Internet might help some people keep weight off that they have lost.

The study followed its subjects for 2 1/2 years, and found that most of the people who had lost weight in the first 6 months of their goal had kept the weight off and had also logged on to a Web site at least once a month for 28 months.

Not so fast though-the subjects were not looking at any old site on the Internet. They were logging in to a site that closely resembled a real-life weight loss program, where they could gain weight loss insights and support (hmmmmm, sound familiar ;) ).

Check out the article and let me know what you think. Even better, for some of you buddies who have been on here a while, have you found you've had an easier time keeping the weight off?

Daily News Suggests Calorie Counting Ineffective in Weight Loss

2010-07-27T21:53:57-04:00:00

I've never been a Math person. They say you're a Math and Science person or an English and History person. I'm not so much a History person, but I know I'm no good at numbers.

Which is probably why I have a hard time counting my calories. I can count them for each individual meal, but when it comes down to adding up everything I ate throughout the day, I get a little lazy with adding them all up.

But according to the Daily News, people like me might not have to worry, as the paper claims that counting calories might not actually aid in weight loss.

The article says that the reason calorie counting is not an exact science is because some higher calorie foods are healthy (like eggs, nuts, avocados), but the high number weighs down on the count, so some people avoid them and miss out on what they have to offer. Instead, a dieter could eat something with fewer calories, but less nutritional value, thereby working against their weight loss efforts, according to the article.

What do YOU think? Has calorie counting helped you lose weight?

Does Time of Day Affect Your Workouts

2010-07-25T09:29:12-04:00:00

I've heard before that the best time to workout is 11 a.m. because by then you (should be) at your peak awake-ness, it's before the burdens of your day set in, and you're overall just more able to get a good workout. For all the people that are able to workout at 11 a.m., power to them, but the average working person can probably not accommodate that time for a workout.

But maybe 11 a.m. isn't the only option. Does time-of-day really affect your workout?

According to this expert from the Diet Channel, late afternoon is when your muscles performed best as they have had the opportunity to loosen up and warm up. Late afternoon is also the perfect time to relieve stress.

Some people prefer to workout early in the morning before work and school, because they feel as though it gives them extra energy and boosts their metabolism for the whole day. I know that I am not one of those people. I've tried working out in the morning, and even after I get into the groove of it where I am going for a few weeks, I find that generally, by the end of the day I am more exhausted, and the waking up earlier part isn't fun either.

By working out at the end of the day, you can shake off all the stress of the day, and get a more relaxing sleep after a good workout (well, some people say it keeps them from sleeping too).

There really is no "best" time of the day to workout for everyone-it all depends on you and your individual body. Like I said, I know working out in the morning doesn't really work for me, but for others it might be just the trick. The key is working out and working out consistently, no matter what time.

What do YOU think? What is the best time of day for your own workouts?

Research suggests lowering meat intake could help with weight loss

2010-07-23T21:07:45-04:00:00

New research suggests lowering your intake of meat may help you lose weight.

The study, which was conducted in 10 European countries and published by the BBC, found that by consuming less meat-even if the calories are the same, by lowering your intake of protein just a little bit, you could lose weight.

But other trains of thought say the opposite-that you should be consuming fewer carbs, but more protein. The weight loss this particular diet low-protein diet preaches isn't instant though. The subjects were tested over a five-year period. But overall, the group of subjects that consumed 250mg of meat every day ended up gaining more weight than when they started, the reason being that consuming more meat makes it harder to control portions.

Check out this article about what the researchers say about eating less meat and how it can affect weight loss.

I've definitely heard that becoming vegetarian can make a person drop some pounds, but it can also be unhealthy for some people that need certain proteins and vitamins that only meat can provide.

What do YOU think? Could consuming less meat help you lose weight?

The World's Weirdest Diets

2010-07-21T22:12:10-04:00:00

I never quite understand how Anthony Bourdain or Andrew Zimmerman can eat half of the strange and exotic foods they eat on their shows. Half the stuff they put in their mouths looks as though they picked it up off the ground after it had been stepped on and rolled in dirt for 50 years.

They do not claim to enjoy what they are eating 100 percent of the time, but more often than not they slap on a smile and blurt out a nearly-convincing, "Mmmmmmmm."

Those two certainly maintain what I would call a "weird diet," although they are eating foods and following diets of people in other cultures all around the world. Us Americans have our fair share of strange diets too, though.

According to this Forbes article hosted on MSN.com, American celebrities have turned to a Baby Food Diet recently, where they eat only several servings of pureed green vegetables every day. While this diet hasn't been promoted through advertisements or in the news much, other diets, like the Taco Bell diet, where a woman claimed to have lost nearly 55 lbs. by only eating Taco Bell, or the Cookie diet, where you eat pre-packaged nutritious cookies, have been in the spotlight for several months now.

Of course the Cookie Diet creator doesn't think his diet is all that weird-in the article, he points to other strange diets in history, which include one diet where a person would consume a tapeworm, which was expected to attack a person's stomach lining, causing them to have consumed fewer calories.

Or how about the Last Chance Diet, where people would drink a concoction made from a blend of juiced animal hides (yuck!)

Oh yea, we've seen some pretty weird diets throughout time. What's the weirdest diet you've ever heard of?

Bill Slims Down for Chelsea's Wedding

2010-07-20T22:36:18-04:00:00

Chelsea Clinton's name has been splashed over the headlines this week as the media has seemed to find out about her top secret wedding in two weeks to Marc Mevinsky in upstate New York, expected on July 31.

With all the loose ends to tie before a wedding though, while her mother Hillary and her are working on finalizing party plans, her father, Bill, is finalizing his weight loss goal, which was to lose 15 lbs. before the wedding.

Bill Clinton told reporters on April 28, according to this blog, that Chelsea had asked him to lose about 15 lbs. because he wasn't in shape and she wanted him to look good as he walked her down the aisle on her wedding day.

Rumor then began to circulate that Clinton went on the Cabbage Soup Diet-a strict, almost cleanse-like diet involving heavy consumption of cabbage soup. But he still has yet to confirm that.

How Some Are Losing Weight With Their Cell Phones

2010-07-18T21:00:03-04:00:00

Over the past month, I've been heavily interested in people who have found success losing weight using nothing but their cell phones. Well, maybe not nothing but their cell phones, but using their cell phones to help guide them with their weight loss goals.

They do this through "apps" or applications which are downloadable to certain smartphones.

One of the most popular I've heard of for the iPhone, and one that I personally know someone who has so far lost about 36 lbs. in less than two months using it, is LoseIt. With this app, you enter the items you are eating for each meal and it keeps track of the calories in every single item, subtracting from your "daily budget" which it calculates for you based on your height, weight, age, etc.

The only way it works still is if you enter every single last thing you eat.

Other apps do exist for BlackBerrys and other smartphones, but what I was really wondering was if these apps are actually working for people-and they do seem to be working.

Here is a NY Times article about how some people are using their cell phones to lose weight.

What about YOU? Have you had any success losing weight with help from your cell phone?

Science suggests slow weight loss might be less effective

2010-07-15T21:33:31-04:00:00

Yesterday, I blogged about fad diets and whether or not they truly help people lose weight.

Today, scientists say people who lose weight quicker are actually more likely to keep the weight off over the long run than those who take their time and lose weight over time.

According to this Reuters article, scientists say it doesn't matter how much weight is initially lost as much as when and how quickly it is lost. The scientists examined data from over 1,000 obese participants.

All of the participants went on diets and the scientists grouped them based on how quickly they lost their weight, evaluating all participants one year later. What they found was that there was no significant difference in the amount of weight that was kept off by the people who took their time.

Still, doctors are not encouraging everyone to go out and radically lose as much weight as they can. One to two lbs. per week is the most they recommend.

What do YOU think? Does losing weight slower help or hurt your efforts to keep it off longer?

Is Fad Bad?

2010-07-14T22:08:44-04:00:00

Fad diets are like a nice summer day. They're great at the time, but you know at some point the sunshine ends.

Some of us find success in fad diets though. For some of us, fad diets jumpstart our weight loss goals. But do they do more harm than good?

According to this article, fad diets are a "waste of time and energy" and that while they do help many people lose weight rapidly, once we settle back in to our "real lives" we cannot continue to maintain the quick weight loss.

Sometimes, the article says, fad diets mask the real issues behind our overweight-ness in the first place, and give us a quick solution to something that otherwise should be more closely examined. Why we overeat, for example, remains a question left unanswered, and if the reason is emotional and something we could learn to control with other means, we can kill the problem without having to go on a radical diet.

I've definitely been tempted into almost trying a few fad diets. One, for example, is the cottage cheese diet. This one I definitely would have tried...if I could, at all, tolerate eating cottage cheese let alone only eating cottage cheese for the duration of the diet.

I've also been tempted by The Cookie Diet, The Ice Cube Diet, and The Burrito Diet. But I usually seem to talk myself out by convincing myself it would be impossible to live the rest of my life eating only cookies, ice cubes (ha) or burritos, so why try for even a period of time to make it the only thing I eat?

What do YOU think? Do fad diets work?