For some people, morning just wouldn’t be morning without an extra large coffee and glazed donut. It’s a habit many can’t break judging from the drive-thru line at Tim Horton’s that blocks traffic and adds to my commute. 

Caffeine is the most widely consumed drug in North America and is enjoyed for its flavor as well as its mood and “energy” enhancing properties. However, from a weight loss standpoint, it’s a double-edged sword. 

In favor of weight loss, caffeine, when taken in moderation, is ergogenic meaning it boosts the body’s ability to do work. Hence, a pre-workout java could help you exercise longer or harder thereby increasing energy expenditure which can help you to lose weight. Caffeine is also a mild diuretic for those who have not developed a tolerance for it. This means it can help you drop “water weight”, but only if you are not a regular coffee drinker who has already become immune to this effect. Many weight loss supplements contain caffeine for these reasons.  

On the down side, chronic caffeine consumption promotes insulin resistance, a condition which precludes type 2 diabetes. In this situation, the body is producing lots of insulin but the insulin receptors on cells are not sensitive to its effects. People with insulin resistance often consume a high carbohydrate diet (i.e. donuts) which dumps glucose into the bloodstream to further stimulate insulin production. More insulin causes insulin receptors to tune out even more causing glucose to build-up in the bloodstream and trigger more insulin production…you see the vicious cycle. As their bodies are not using glucose efficiently, people with insulin resistance often struggle with weight loss.  

There are pros and cons when it comes to caffeine and weight loss. You really need to listen to the feedback your body gives you. Pay attention to how you feel when you drink coffee, tea or caffeinated soft drinks. Do you feel good for a little while, then shaky and irritable? Do you notice more pain or other kinds of inflammation after prolong caffeine use? For more information on how caffeine affects your body, check out Precision Nutrition.

According to a new article on CNN.com, being an overweight woman might cause you to receive sub-standard medical care.

 Recent studies have found, if you are an overweight woman you: 

• May have a tougher time getting health insurance or have to pay higher premiums
• Are at higher risk of being misdiagnosed
• Are more likely to receive inaccurate drug prescriptions
• Are less likely to find a fertility doctor who will help you get pregnant
• Are less likely to have cancer detected early and get effective treatment for it

In their defense, doctors say extra body fat can literally obscure some illnesses, including heart disease and different types of cancer. For instance, it’s more difficult to hear heart and lung sounds in an overweight patient.

Ultrasounds are also more difficult to interpret when a person has more than eight centimeters of subcutaneous fat because the beams can’t penetrate the tissue. For women, this is particularly relevant because ultrasound is used to diagnose uterine tumors and ovarian cysts and to evaluate health during pregnancy.

There’s no doubt that medical professionals need to take a hard look their individual prejudices that may be effecting how they care for overweight women. Neglecting heavy women means ignoring the obesity epidemic.

A recent study of Australian adults shows that each daily one-hour increase in “couch potato” sitting time while watching television upped the rate of metabolic syndrome in women by 26 percent — regardless of the amount of exercise they did.  

Metabolic syndrome is the presence of three or more heart disease risk factors including high blood pressure, abdominal obesity, high cholesterol or insulin resistance.  

Thirty minutes of daily exercise decreased metabolic syndrome risk by about the same percentage, meaning that being a couch potato cancelled out the benefits of working out.  

“Sedentary” should be defined as muscular inactivity rather than the absence of exercise concluded the researchers. People should not only exercise frequently, but avoid sitting in one place for too long. 

If you have a desk job, take short breaks to stretch and move about, take the stairs, and walk instead of driving when running short errands.

Here’s one way to watch your weight drop:

Last week, a floor collapsed beneath a group of about 20 members of Weight Watchers as they gathered to compare how many pounds they had shed over Christmas.

Members of the weight-loss club were lining up to compare readings on the scales when they heard a bang as the floor came away from the walls of their meeting room in Växjö in southern Sweden.

“We almost thought it was an earthquake,” said one of those present.

No one was injured in the incident, the cause of which is being investigated.

Thankfully, the scales were not damaged and the weigh-in continued in a nearby corridor.

The latest Canadian Health Measures Survey shows that nearly two out of three of adults are overweight or obese and one in four children are in the same sinking boat.

Up from 26 percent in 1981, these obesity statistics are bad news not just because of the dramatic increase but because of the type of fat Canadians are accumulating.

Two-thirds of adult Canadians have abdominal obesity, the fat around the middle that’s linked to increased risk for heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. In the last two decades, the average waist circumference has grown 10 centimeters ballooning the proportion of Canadians with dangerously large waists to 21 percent in men (up from five percent) and 31 percent among women (up from six percent).

This sharp increase in belly fat coupled with population-wide decreases in muscle strength and flexibility show that we are not a ‘fit fat’ nation.

Prominent Canadian obesity researchers say the country is in an obesity crisis with physical activity at an all time low while caloric intake continues to skyrocket. As the obesity epidemic grows into an epidemic of obesity-related diseases, medical experts are becoming increasingly aware of the need for effective long-term solutions like weight loss surgery where diet and exercise protocols fail.

Currently, 40 percent of women and 23 percent of men are trying to lose weight according to the most recent National Population Health Survey by Health Canada. The stark reality is that 95 percent of those trying to lose weight by traditional diet and exercise plans will regain the weight within five years. Some even end up worse off than when they started because of cycles of binge eating and deprivation.

Looking for a permanent and effective solution to your waistline woes? Book a free personal consultation with Slimband today.

According to a new study by the American Dietetic Association, the nutrition-conscious should take calorie labeling on restaurant meals and packaged foods with a grain of salt.

The Association looked at 29 popular restaurants and 10 top-selling frozen meals from the grocery store.

The average restaurant meal had 18 percent more calories than stated while the frozen meals averaged eight percent more calories than the label claimed. At restaurants, some complimentary side dishes racked up more calories than the entrees they accompanied! (A good example is the stuffing in Swiss Chalet’s Festive Special. It has more calories than the chicken and roll.)

This calorie discrepancy could have serious implications for someone who is mindful of their waistline and frequently eating out or buying TV dinners. A mere five percent increase in caloric intake can translate into a 10-pound weight gain within a single year for the unsuspecting dieter.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration allows for a 20 percent excess in caloric content provided that the weight of the food item is 99 percent accurate.

How do you get around not knowing for sure what’s in your food? Cook for yourself. Like all good habits, it’s hard to get started but it’s really worth it once you do.

You don’t have to be morbidly obese with over 100 pounds to lose to benefit from weight loss surgery like adjustable gastric banding. More and more, people with only 50 or so pounds to shed who’ve struggled with weight loss for many years are choosing to have surgery as a long-term solution to yo-yo dieting and unhealthy weight fluctuations.

Advancements in surgical techniques have turned gastric banding into one-hour (or less) procedure with very few incisions. The speedy procedure coupled with a short recovery time has made lap banding more approachable to slightly overweight adults, overweight or obese teenagers and people with difficult-to-control diabetes.

Doctors are starting to view weight loss surgery as a form of early intervention that can help prevent future medical problems associated with carrying significant amounts of extra weight. Problems such as type 2 diabetes, and the heart disease that often goes with it, are becoming increasingly common in aging baby boomers as well as young adults.

A conference of influential medical groups recently came to the conclusion that bariatric surgery is a “legitimate” treatment options for some people with Type 2 diabetes who are not yet morbidly obese — those with a BMI of 30 to 35.

BMI is an index used to evaluate body weight based on your weight and height. Over 25 is overweight while a BMI over 30 is obese.

To give you a sense of what a moderately obese person looks like, a woman who is 5’ 5” with a BMI of 30 would weigh in at 180 pounds and would need to lose 30 pounds or more to get to a healthier BMI of 25.

Awhile back, a number of studies came out showing that people who were a few pounds overweight but still physically active had less risk of developing heart disease than people who were of normal weight but inactive.

These findings lead some doctors to think that if a heavy person has normal blood pressure, normal cholesterol and normal blood glucose levels - they are healthy and there is no reason they should have to lose weight. Before you relax your weight loss efforts, take head to new research from the American Heart Association journal, Circulation.

In studying overweight and normal men with or without other heart disease risk factors, Swedish researchers found that being overweight with no other risk factors leaves you at significantly higher risk for heart disease than if, with the same risks, you were not overweight.

On average, the obese men without so-called metabolic syndrome weighed 220 pounds and accrued a 95 percent increase in heart disease risk just because of their weight. Overweight men who averaged 180 pounds still had a 52 percent higher risk of heart disease than their slimmer peers even though their blood pressure, cholesterol and blood glucose levels were normal.

Clearly, body weight is emerging as an independent risk factor for heart disease – and you don’t have to be really heavy to be bumping up your risk. Obesity, like heart disease, is a medical condition which requires medical attention. If you are concerned about your weight and how it’s affecting your health, talk to your doctor about an effective, long-term solution like gastric banding.

Losing weight initially is like winning one battle in a long war. The joy of the victory is great, but you want to win the war and maintain your weight loss too. Adding a bit of exercise to your routine is an effective way to keep the weight off, and, as new research shows, it can also help you control how much you eat.

After dieting, your once subtle hunger signals suddenly become a force to be reckoned with making you persistently hungry and apt to regain the weight you worked so hard to lose. This is one of the biggest problems with losing weight with restricted diets.

Exercise helps prevent weight regain after dieting by burning fat before carbohydrates, according to a new study from the University of Colorado.

Burning fat first and storing carbohydrates for use later in the day slows weight regain and may minimize overeating by signaling a feeling of fullness to the brain.

Looking at the effect of exercise on post-diet rats, researchers also found that working out prevents an increase in the number of at cells that typical occurs during weight regain.

That exercise can alter the number of fat cells a person accumulates is great news for the body-conscious and challenges the popular notion that the number of fat cells is carved in stone and cannot be altered by dietary or lifestyle changes.

Click here for more information about this new study.

At this time of year, the most important thing to do is get your lifestyle back to normal as soon as possible. Any weight gained over the holidays should come off once your lifestyle gets back into the swing of eating at regular times, portion control, and regular physical activity.

To help keep weight in control and your body in shape the holidays, follow these tips:

Avoid skipping meals. Depriving yourself of food throughout the day can lead to overeating late in the day and possible weight gain.

Fuel your body with nutrient-dense snacks. If you can’t sit down to a proper meal, it’s better to snack than to skip a meal altogether. Simple snacks to grab-in-go include: low-fat cottage cheese, vegetable sticks, nuts and fruit.

Take time to get your body moving. Aim for at least 30 minutes a day, on most if not all days. This can be as simple as three 10-minute brisk walks throughout the day.

Keep track of your nibbles. If you tend to graze all day of eating regular meals it’s easy to get carried away and eat more than you really need. Remember to count your snacks as part of your total daily food intake.

Drink plenty of fluids between meals. Women over the age of 19 need about nine cups of fluid per day to keep hydrated. Water, milk, juice, soup, decaffeinated coffee or tea, or herbal tea all count towards your daily fluid needs.

Make sure you get enough sleep. Holidays, jet lag and getting back to work can all disrupt your sleep patterns leaving you tired. Fatigue can trigger snacking and overeating, so make sure you get plenty of rest, ideally the full eight hours.