Ok, I admit, the title of this post is a strong one and reeks of the typical over-hyped media nonsense that we here at the WLCR are so strongly fighting against. We all have heard the promises of breakthroughs and weight loss secrets uncovered only to be left disappointed. This was my first thought when I read a recent article about a 7 minute workout that can be done at home without equipment. Really, 7 minutes!?! It seemed a bit infomercial’ish. My initial gut reaction gave way to cautious optimism when I realized that the information was coming from a health and fitness journal published by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) – a reputable and reliable source. So I read on and was glad I did (If you want to read the article yourself, click here). Continue reading “Maximal Results in Minimal Time!”
But I Don’t Eat That Much!
I was sitting in the nurses station at the hospital yesterday when I overheard the telemetry tech talking with one of the nurses about her weight loss plans. My ears perked up and I eavesdropped on their conversation. Perhaps this wasn’t the polite thing to do but considering this weight loss education hobby of mine I let my curiosity win the day. Continue reading “But I Don’t Eat That Much!”
How to Target “Trouble Areas” for Fat Loss
Body types are different. We all know that. People tend to deposit body fat in different areas. It is therefore a common and seemingly reasonable thing for people to target specific areas of the body for weight loss. It is common to see people at the gym on strangely designed exercise machines design to “target” specific trouble spots. Continue reading “How to Target “Trouble Areas” for Fat Loss”
Can You Exercise Less and Be Healthy?
You may have noticed the headlines from a new study recently released in JAMA Internal Medicine in the popular media recently. It has appeared with titles such as:- “Maybe that workout can wait till the weekend?” (CNN)
- “Weekend Warrior Workouts tied to longer life.” (Reuters)
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“‘Weekend warrior’ workouts are as beneficial as just 20 minutes of exercise a day” (Newsweek)
When I see headlines like these I get a bit nervous. Whenever the media tend to get a hold of research they do their best to distill the results into as few words as possible. At best this misses a lot of the nuance of the research and at worse is downright misleading. Continue reading “Can You Exercise Less and Be Healthy?”
Trim the Fat, Tip the Scales
I feel it may be somewhat pretentious to do so, but I apologize for not posting so frequently over the past several months. The apology would be under the somewhat pretentious assumption that if I don’t post frequently it creates a void in your life. Regardless, I like the feel of an inflated sense of self-importance so please accept my apology. Hopefully the ensuing information will be of benefit and will make up for your loss.
I have often been disappointed with the scale as a measure of success in weight loss. Body weight can fluctuate to surprising levels from week to week, day to day, and even hour to hour. Continue reading “Trim the Fat, Tip the Scales”
Musings on Weight Gain and the Clock Change
The leaves are turning, the air is a bit cooler, and the sun is starting to set earlier and earlier. This, of course, means that we are well along on our descent into the darkness of winter. It also means that it’s time to undertake our biannual international moment of temporary insanity when we collectively change our clocks and pretend that astronomical circadian rhythms will accommodate our insanity. In other words, the clocks are about to change.
Continue reading “Musings on Weight Gain and the Clock Change”
Slow Cooker Spaghetti Squash and Meat Sauce
Make meat sauce AND Spaghetti Squash at the same time with this delicious one-pot meal ready in under thirty minutes (when made in the pressure cooker)!
Continue reading “Slow Cooker Spaghetti Squash and Meat Sauce”
Forget About Your Weight!!
I have heard that Einstein said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. I’m not sure if he actually said this but I don’t care because he’s famous and the statement is the most certainly true. It is so true that whenever I repeat it to someone they will invariably nod and chuckle in affirmation. Generally people only nod and chuckle in affirmation to things that are really, really true. In spite of the fact that it’s really, really true and that everyone knows that it’s true, when it comes to many people’s attempts at weight loss they seemed to forget that it’s true. Continue reading “Forget About Your Weight!!”
(biological) Knowledge is (weight loss ) Power!
Knowledge is power. Or at least that’s what people say. This adage falls into the category of pithy statements that make people nod knowingly as they soak in the profundity of the wisdom until, after a few more moments of thought, they realize they have no idea what it means. What knowledge? What power? It is like so many things in our superficial age; it sounds good until you think about it for more than a few seconds. While I am unable to delve into the philosophical merits or demerits of the statement I think I can provide insight into how this statement is a profound truth with respect to successful weight loss.
Continue reading “(biological) Knowledge is (weight loss ) Power!”
In Defense of Calorie Counting
Here I sit in the Baltimore City court house deep in the halls of justice awaiting my turn to (hopefully be rejected from the opportunity to) fulfill my civic duty of sitting on a jury. It’s not that I don’t want to be a cog in the wheels of justice that propel our grand American expirement down the highway of history, it’s just that I have a whole lot of patients scheduled to be seen in my office this week and rescheduling them will be a nightmare. Unfortunately, justice is blind to my outpatient schedule so I’m proud potential juror #1068. Since I’ve been here an hour and a half and they’ve only got up to calling up to #200, I have some time to write down a continuation of my previous arugments in favor of calorie counting. Continue reading “In Defense of Calorie Counting”
The Weight Loss Counter Revolution 