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Woman Loses 154 Pounds to Save Her Knees Mar 03, 2010, 3:30 pm.

Filed under: Motivation

Because of crippling knee pain, Janet Paton needed surgery in order to be able to walk normally, but doctors told her she couldn’t undergo surgery because she was too heavy. That left the 38-year-old mother from Yorkshire, England with only one alternative — slim down or live the rest of her life in pain. Guess which option she chose?

If you guessed the first one, you’re absolutely right. Paton realized that life in agony was no life at all and made the decision to lose weight. At her heaviest, she weighed 290 pounds, but now clocks in at 154 pounds — almost half her size. She did it by taking control of her eating habits.

“I’ve never been able to resist chocolate, and I’d polish off a big family bar every day … that’s the way I lived for years and years, putting away lots of burgers, pizzas, chocolate and chips,” she told the UK’s Daily Mail. Her diet of potato chips, chocolate and fries was quickly replaced with a calorie-controlled healthy eating plan. In addition to her poor diet, she also traded in her sedentary lifestyle for an active one — she now walks three miles a day with the family dog.

And while the truth hurt at the time, hearing that she was too obese for surgery was a monumental turning point for Janet. “I felt really insulted and offended at the time,” she told the Daily Mail, “but I’m grateful when I look in the mirror now because what she said changed my life, and gave me a chance to look at things afresh.”

But the best part of Janet’s amazing transformation? Now that she lightened the load on her joints, she no longer needs knee surgery.

“As for my knees, they’re perfect — and I can’t imagine I’ll ever need to think about getting some new ones,” she said. “[Prior to the weight loss,] My knees were really sore, and you could hear them grinding when I went down the road. It was agony wherever I went, and I really thought surgery was the only answer.”

In the UK, where knee operations are paid for by the government, she’s saved the taxpayers over $30,000 in estimated medical expenses. But more importantly, she may have saved years of her own life.

Janet lost the weight by walking — you can, too, in as little as four weeks!

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Can Exercise Protect Against Yo-Yo Dieting? Mar 03, 2010, 1:00 pm.

Filed under: Diet & Weight Loss

Losing weight is an amazing feat, but the reality is that the majority of people who’ve lost it will re-gain it at some point — and with the weight comes increased risk for a problematic condition called Metabolic Syndrome. But new research shows that regular exercise can help improve and maintain an individual’s metabolic health, even as they pack on extra pounds.

Professor Tom R. Thomas and his team of researchers from the Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at the University of Missouri monitored 102 people during a weight-loss program. All participants saw their metabolic health improve after losing weight. The study then tracked 77 participants through a programmed weight-regain over four to six months.

Participants were random assigned to two groups — non-exercisers or exercisers in a five-days-a-week fitness program. As they re-gained the weight, their metabolic health — indicated by variables like VO2 max, blood pressure, blood sugar control, cholesterol and inflammation — were monitored.

During the trials, they found that non-exercisers experienced “rapid deterioration” in all of these factors, while the exercisers managed to more-or-less maintain their metabolic health as they gained weight. “The findings of this study indicate that regaining weight is very detrimental; however, exercise can counter those negative effects,” Thomas said in a statement.

So, what’s the message here — that it’s okay to eat whatever you want and gain a bunch of weight long as you make an effort to work out while you do it? Not quite. Overall, “it is much better to maintain the weight loss,” Thomas told That’s Fit. “Exercise did counter almost all the ill effects of weight regain except it did not protect against adding abdominal fat.” Abdominal fat, in case you’re wondering, is the most dangerous kind fat, and it can lead to all sorts of cardiovascular problems.

It seems the prevailing message should be this: Exercise is crucial for your health, regardless of whether you’re losing weight, gaining it or doing your best to stick to the status quo. Thomas recommends cardiovascular activities for maintaining metabolic health. “We have studied [both aerobic exercise] and weight training,” he said, “and found 45-50 minutes of aerobic exercise to be most effective.”

Need inspiration to slim down? Read about real people who’ve lost weight and kept it off in our Success Stories.

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Moderate weight loss depletes intramyocellular triglycerides but has no effect on diglycerides in type II diabetes Mar 03, 2010, 4:00 am.

Moderate weight loss depletes intramyocellular triglycerides but has no effect on diglycerides in type II diabetes

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 64,
328 (March 2010). doi:10.1038/ejcn.2009.157

Authors: C A Anastasiou, S A Kavouras, Y Lentzas, A Gova, L S Sidossis
& A Melidonis

Start Out Slow… To End Up Fast Mar 02, 2010, 1:31 am.

One of the most common mistakes people make when trying to lose wight, is they start out too vigorously, they wind up getting burnt out within the first couple of days and then they give up.

Everyone thinks you have to start out like rocky balboa in order to lose some weight, this is imply just not true. In fact, the truth is just the opposite.

Starting out fast will generally cause the new exerciser to give up because they just simply don’t have the endurance to engage in difficult activities yet.  If you don’t build your stamina gradually, you can expect to experience difficulties in your exercises, including cramps, nausea, dizziness and just general fatigue. Also, your recovery time will be way longer than if you had built up your stamina gradually. You will find yourself laying in bed at every chance you get for 2-3 days after your exercises. Needless to say you can’t benefit from that type of workout.

The best way to start exercising gradually is to find something that is fun, yet easy, like swimming or walking. You can even try light aerobics to start out with. Everyone is different, so some of you may be able to start out with vigorous routines, this article is more aimed towards people who are in bad shape and are trying to escape obesity. However the same concept does apply to people with moderate stamina, you still don’t want to outdo yourself, because you could still injure yourself.

While it is good to set your goals high, if you have a goal of losing 50 pounds and you try to lose 10 in the first week through excessive exercise, you run the risk of setting yourself back another week in recovery. The main thing that you should take from this article is that you should never over exert yourself, regardless of how tough you think you are. It is easy to turn on eye of the tiger and be fooled into thinking you’re rocky…when you’re not. If you’re out of shape and you want to start exercising, taking walks around the block and a couple of jumping jacks is a good way to start. Don’t get ahead of yourself, because eventually you will catch up with yourself…and it won’t be pretty.

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