Nutrition Frenzy

Advocates call it flexitarianism, but critics say being a little bit vegetarian is like being a little bit pregnant.

For the last 15 years, Dawn Jackson Blatner has been what’s now called a “flexitarian” or “almost vegetarian.” She eats lots of fruits, vegetables, nuts, barbecued tempeh and veggie burgers with guacamole. But she sometimes indulges in a pork chop or her grandma’s pot roast.

It might seem like being a vegetarian of convenience isn’t particularly inspiring, but a growing number of experts and even some famous foodies are fans. They say that cutting back on meat, rather than abstaining completely, may be a practical compromise that benefits our bodies and our environment.

“It gives you the health benefits of a vegetarian diet without having to follow the strict rules,” says Blatner, a registered dietitian and author of “The Flexitarian Diet: The Mostly Vegetarian Way to Lose Weight, Be Healthier, Prevent Disease, and Add Years to Your Life” (McGraw-Hill, October 2008). “We know that people live longer and live healthier when they eat vegetarian, but it’s just too darn hard to do it 100 percent of the time.”

Bittman notes that Americans eat about 200 pounds of meat, poultry and fish a year—twice as much as the global average. He argues that not only is a heavily vegetable diet healthier for us physically, but that it’s also true that the industrial production and processing of grain-fed livestock consumes a huge amount energy and has a negative impact on the environment.

And while only 2 to 3 percent of Americans are traditional vegetarians, who shun anything that ever had a face, according to the Vegetarian Resource Group, vegetarian foods have become increasingly popular among non-vegetarians. “If you look around at every regular, mainstream grocery store, you have soy milk right next to regular milk, you have veggie burgers in the frozen section, and tubs of tofu sitting there in the produce section,” says Blatner. She suggests that many of those who buy these products may be flextitarians and not even realize it. Even dedicated vegetarians say they are somewhat flexible. A 2003 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that two out of three vegetarians say they can’t stick to a pure veggie diet all the time.

More classes tailored for those being treated for cancer, other illnesses

When Patti Kiernan found out she had osteoporosis, she decided it was time to find a more focused workout.

The 61-year-old signed up for a fitness program at her Dallas gym that’s geared specifically for women with health problems. Kiernan liked the four-week Female Focus program so much she’s still in after two years.

“I just felt that this was the right way to go,” said Kiernan, who also began taking medication and saw her bone density improve after a year. “Plus, there were other women in the program who had the same problem.”

More and more clubs are offering exercise programs fine-tuned for people coping with a variety of ailments, said Joe Moore, head of the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association. He said the number of programs has grown along with the number of studies showing the health benefits of exercise.

Medical and fitness experts say that exercise not only elevates the mood and energy levels, but helps control weight — a contributing factor for many diseases.

For breast cancer patients, “being overweight or gaining weight post diagnosis is a huge risk factor” for recurrence, said Colleen Doyle, director of nutrition and physical activity for the American Cancer Society.

Her group and the American College of Sports Medicine are devising a special certification for people who work with cancer patients on exercise programs.

Julie Main developed such a program after she was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 36 in 1993. She was inspired after her doctor mentioned that she seemed to be going through treatment better than other patients.

She told him one thing she was doing was continuing to exercise.

“He said, ‘Most of my other patients don’t do that.’ I said, ‘Well, maybe they should,’” Main said.

Experts say such programs can also serve as a support group.

“There’s no substitute for the camaraderie that forms among those that know what the other is going through,” said Brown of the Santa Barbara center.

Dr. John Pippen, a cancer specialist at Baylor University Medical Center, said that he tells his breast cancer patients to try to walk three to five hours a week.

“To me, it’s killing several birds with one stone — preventing osteoporosis, reducing cancer risk, perhaps most important of all, reducing cardiovascular risk,” Pippen said.

And while joining a fitness club might help keeping up with an exercise routine, he said it’s not necessary.

Manage weight loss by addressing your cravings rather than to always deny them

Strategies that work

Given cravings’ universal nature, experts agree that “if you deny all cravings, something’s going to backfire,” says Wansink. If you rarely enjoy a food you crave, you’re more likely to go overboard when you finally do give in. Indeed, according to the Tufts study, people who occasionally give in to hankerings manage their weight most successfully. These healthful strategies can help, too.

Eat regularly. Waiting too long between meals can turn normal hunger pangs into an out-of-control craving. “It’s hard to make a good choice when you’re starving,” says Taub-Dix. Her suggestion: Keep healthful options — energy bars, skim milk, even an almond butter and jelly sandwich — on hand to keep hunger in check.

Delay gratification. When a craving hits, slip your mind into rational gear by saying, “not now, maybe tomorrow,” suggests Roberts. Saying “later” rather than “never” may help decrease the frequency of cravings, she adds.

Keep it real. Eating an apple isn’t likely to satisfy a yen for chocolate. Instead, enjoy what you really want — in moderation. Wansink’s research shows that “each subsequent taste of a food is rated as less enjoyable than the previous taste. The first bite is always the best; the second bite, second best.” If you eat half of what you’d normally want, Wansink says, “your satisfaction rating [will still be] very, very high.”

Practice portion control. It’s easy to overeat if you munch straight from a box of cereal, for instance, or a bag of pretzels. Taub-Dix suggests portioning one-cup servings into zip-top plastic bags. “This way you won’t eat to excess.”

Keep a food diary. This can help if cravings are frequent and often lead to overeating.

This is all over the internet:

She now weighs 138 pounds and has written several books on “raw foodism”

Angela Stokes had never been overweight as a child.

But she steadily started gaining weight as a teenager because of an under-active thyroid gland. By the time she graduated from college her weight had ballooned and she wore a U.K. dress size 26-28.

“I was 300 pounds, very unwell, very miserable,” recalls Stokes. “I ate junk food all the time. I was very closed down emotionally. I had no interest in dieting; I just wanted to eat all the time … that was like my comfort in life.”

At the time, she says she was so “emotionally shut down” she refused to talk to anyone about what was happening. The weight was also taking a physical toll on her health and she frequently battled infections and illness.

Stokes says living her everyday life became a challenge.

“My mobility was quite restricted … I was unwilling to participate in things from cutting my toenails to going on a walk with my friends,” remembered Stokes. “I tried to give this impression that I felt fine about everything, but inside I was in a lot of pain a lot of the time.”

Two summers after she reached her heaviest weight, Stokes was working at a greenhouse in Iceland, when a friend lent her a copy of a book about the health benefits of eating raw foods. Stokes, who had never been interested in diets, says she was completely “absorbed” by the approach.

She started eating raw the very next day.

“Everything in my life completely shifted. It was like a light bulb moment to be like … ‘this is what I was waiting for to reclaim my health,’ ” said Stokes.

What tips does she have for people considering a raw vegan lifestyle? First, start slowly.

“I recommend people start out being at least 50 percent raw and go from there,” advises Stokes. “Maybe it ends up at some point you are completely raw, maybe not. As long as the majority of the stuff or at least 50 percent is fresh raw food … then you’re tipping the balance in your favor.”

Stokes also advises people to start eating things they like such as peaches, plums or spinach and then slowly incorporate more fresh raw foods. She admits the lifestyle can be socially challenging and she encourages people to connect with other “raw foodists.”

“It’s great to get support. If you look on the Internet and around you, you may find pot lucks,” said Stokes. “Read books to inspire you to keep going on this journey.”

What popular breakfast food may help you peel away pounds? Clue: You have to crack ’em.

Yep. Be they poached, scrambled, or sunny-side up, eggs may be a real friend to dieters. Here’s why.
Eggs Beat Bagels
In a study, people on a low-calorie weight loss plan who ate two scrambled eggs and unbuttered toast (with jelly!) for breakfast lost 65 percent more weight than dieters who had a bagel with cream cheese for their morning meal. How do eggs help? They may simply keep people feeling satisfied longer than carbs do — and eating less later on.

Remember the Big Picture
Keep in mind that this study included a low-calorie diet. That means eating eggs for breakfast helps only if you’re watching what and how much you eat the rest of the day, too. Here are some tips for making the pound-blasting path easier:

Outsmart your appetite with these 10 tips:

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From Foxnews:A commonly used diabetes drug that contains the “spit” of a poisonous lizard called the Gila monster may also help with weight loss

The drug is created synthetically and marketed under the name Byetta and is used by diabetics to help control their blood sugar, but one doctor says the drug may also help users shed pounds.

Dr. Antonia Verso from Banner Health in Phoenix said Byetta helped her patient Ralph Bustamante lose nearly 40 pounds, while other diabetes drugs made him gain weight.

Byetta is not without its side effects, however. In August, federal regulators said they were working on a stronger warning label for the drug after it was linked to six cases of pancreatitis, two of which were fatal.

Verso is currently participating in a study to assess the drug’s weight loss effects.

The Food and Drug Administration is warning doctors and patients of diabetic drug, Byetta, which may cause acute pancreatitis, an inflammation of the pancreas that can be fatal.

The drug, approved in 2005, may be associated with 30 reports of acute pancreatitis, following use of type 2 diabetes drug. In the reports, 27 of the patients also had at least one other risk factor for developing the pancreatitis, including gall stones or alcohol use, according to the FDA. However, in six of the other cases, the pancreatitis worsened after a Byetta dosage was increased, the FDA said. The drug has been used by more than 700,000 patients since its introduction.

Byetta, a synthetic hormone taken from a lizard, which is similar to a human hormone, is an injection taken before morning and evening meals. The hormone is recommended for patients with type 2 diabetes, who cannot lower their blood-sugar and blood-glucose levels with other diabetes drugs. The hormone helps to boost the production of insulin to better regulate blood-sugar levels.

The drug company, Amylin, which co-markets the drug with Eli Lilly, has agreed to update the Byetta label to include possible risk of pancreatitis. The most common side effects currently reported include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, indigestion and upper abdominal discomfort. However, acute pancreatitis pain can be more severe.

The FDA is urging doctors and patients to be aware of some of the signs and symptoms of acute pancreatitis, which include persistent, severe abdominal pain that can travel to the back and may be accompanied by nausea and vomiting.

Avoid these 8 diet-sabatoging, waistline-expanding meals

Worst side dish
Burger King Hash Browns (large)

620 calories

40 g fat (11 g saturated; 13 g trans)

1,200 mg sodium

60 g carbs
Calorie equivalent: 12 chicken wings

Yes, you’re ingesting more than a meal’s worth of calories from a side dish, but the real cause for concern here is that these little potato cakes pack seven times more trans fats than you’re supposed to eat all day! Until BK learns to cut out the partially hydrogenated oils, avoid encounters with potatoes of any kind at that fatty food joint.

Eat this instead!
Burger King Egg & Cheese Croissan’wich

300 calories

17 g fat (6 g saturated; 2 g trans)

740 mg sodium

26 g carbs

Worst breakfast sandwich
Hardee’s Monster Biscuit

710 calories

51 g fat (17 g saturated)

2,250 mg sodium

37 g carbohydrates
Sodium equivalent: 6 large orders of french fries

When they say “Monster,” they mean it. This 700-calorie behemoth should be enough to scare anyone: It contains nearly a full day’s worth of sodium and saturated fat. Instead try the Sunrise Croissant with Bacon. It’s not exactly diet-friendly, but if you’re stuck at Hardee’s, it’s a way to escape without too much damage.

Eat this instead!
Hardee’s Sunrise Croissant with Bacon

450 calories

29 g fat (12 g saturated)

900 mg sodium

28 g carbs

Worst kid’s meals
Denny’s Big Dipper French Toastix with margarine and syrup

770 calories

71 g fat (13 g saturated)

107 g carbs
Fat equivalent: 23 chicken nuggets

As important as it is for mom and dad to eat a good breakfast each morning, it’s even more critical that their kids do. After all, breakfast affects their energy levels, metabolism, and performance in school. We highlight a lot of breakfast blunders in our new book “Eat This, Not That! For Kids!” –none worse than these dubious little sticks.

Eat this instead!
Kid’s D-Zone Smiley Alien Hotcakes

340 calories

12 g fat (5 g saturated)

49 g carbs

Worst pastry
Cinnabon Classic Cinnamon Roll

813 calories

32 g fat (5 g trans fat)

117 g carbs
Calorie equivalent: 7 bowls of Froot Loops

You wouldn’t start your day with three brownies, would you? As far as your body knows, that’s exactly what you’ll be doing if you wake up with this cinnamon-swirled disaster area. In fact, because Cinnabon offers no healthy alternatives, you’ll have to invite friends (or enemies?) to share the risky roll, or steer clear of Cinnabon altogether.

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Set to original-form music, Zumba classes combine dancing and aerobics

Zumba adherents rave about its physical and psychological benefits

It’s not a dance club. This is a regular morning exercise class at the YMCA in Alpharetta, Georgia. It’s called Zumba.

Part dance, part aerobics, Zumba is an hourlong routine that works almost every muscle in the body.

“It is dance fitness,” explained Stephanie Maxim, one of two class instructors. “We teach them moves that you can see on ‘Dancing with the Stars’: salsa, mambo, cha-cha, and we put it into a group fitness format.”

“It’s not like a workout,” explained Diane Walterstiel, 55, of Alpharetta. “Before I come, I’m tense, but when I leave, I could kiss the world.”

Nearly a year after being introduced at the YMCA in suburban Atlanta, Zumba is the most popular exercise offering at the facility.

Alberto Perlman, co-founder and CEO of Zumba Fitness in Hollywood, Florida, wasn’t surprised when the concept took off not just in the United States but around the world.

“We turned exercise into a party,” Perlman declared. “Zumba broke some of the rules of fitness. We used music in the original form instead of using step counts.”

Perlman, whose background is in marketing, teamed up with Colombian dancer and choreographer Alberto “Beto” Perez in Miami in 2001.

“One day, Beto forgot his aerobics tapes, so he played his salsa and meringue songs during class in their original form,” Perlman said. “People went crazy. They didn’t feel like they were in a class with a drill sergeant.”

Perlman said Perez decided to call the exercise Zumba, after the Colombian slang word meaning to buzz like a bee or move fast.

Zumba is now a brand name. Since 2003, Perlman’s group has trained 20,000 instructors around the world and sold more than 3 million DVDs on the Internet and through infomercials, he said.

Heather Bleakman teamed up with Maxim to teach the Georgia YMCA session. She called the class a form of therapy.

“We see women change,” she said. “We see their faces light up.”

Bleakman stood at the front of the room and offered a high-impact version of Zumba for those who could keep up while Maxim focused on a slower low-impact routine.

Maxim warned participants at the beginning of class to modify the exercise to fit their needs. She added that wearing proper footwear is one of the best ways to guard against injury.

“In Zumba, we do a lot of pivoting, so you’ve got to have a shoe that has more of a flat base so you can move, or you’ll feel the torque in the knee,” Maxim cautioned.

bowl of canned soup is a quick and easy meal option when you’re pressed for time, but sometimes it’s hard to find the veggies in there. So soup up your soup with this: fennel

Fennel — a spice, herb, and veggie all rolled into one — happens to complement lots of different soups, from chicken noodle to tomato. And it’s loaded with disease-stomping antioxidants.

Nutrition and More
Not only is aromatic, versatile fennel an antioxidant powerhouse, but also it may help hinder foodborne bacteria like E. coli, Salmonella, and certain strains of Staphylococcus. Look for this wholly edible root vegetable in the produce section. It looks like a bulb with feathered leaves and celery-like stalks — just toss some chopped bits in your bowl before you nuke your soup. Or hit the spice aisle: Fennel produces spicy little seeds that taste similar to anise.

Here are a few other top-notch veggies that can power up your soups and stews. Top 10 Veggies List:

Make sure the vegetables you eat the most are the most nutritious veggies you can eat.

If you’re a broccoli lover, you’ve picked a winner. From a list of 10 of the most commonly consumed vegetables in the country, broccoli holds the top spot for having the most phytochemicals — compounds everyone’s urged to consume because they protect against chronic diseases. At the bottom of the list? Cucumbers, described by some people as “water you can eat.”

The 9 runners-up to broccoli were spinach, yellow onions, red peppers, carrots, cabbage, potatoes, lettuce, celery, and cucumbers. Red peppers actually beat out broccoli in terms of having the highest levels of antioxidants. The same researchers also have rated 10 of the most popular fruits. Cranberries — with the most phytochemicals and the most antioxidants — topped that list, followed by apples, red grapes, strawberries, peaches, lemons, pears, bananas, oranges, grapefruit, and pineapple.

Food scientists aren’t ranking veggies just to satisfy their curiosity, by the way. They’re contemplating a bioactivity index (BI) for dietary cancer prevention to help grocery shoppers quickly spot the fruits and veggies that have the biggest health benefits.

There are signs that anorexia is increasing at a faster rate among men than women as the beauty and fashion industry puts a greater focus on males, an eating disorder expert has warned.

In recent years designers have promoted sizezero chic for both sexes, with waif-like men in slim-fit clothes parading the catwalks of London Fashion Week.

Professor Hubert Lacey, a psychiatric consultant at St George’s Hospital in Tooting and the Capio Nightingale clinic in Marylebone, saw more male than female anorexia referrals for the first time this summer.

He said: ‘”It was shocking, a huge surprise and evidence of how rapidly male anorexia is increasing.

‘Although it’s not at the level found in women, people working in the field have seen it really take off over the past couple of years.

‘I came back from holiday last week and for the first time ever I had more male referrals for anorexia than female ones.’

He said that men are subject to a relentless message that body perfection is a measure of self worth - with men from the higher social classes most commonly affected by eating disorders.

Harvard University found last year that a quarter of anorexia and bulimia sufferers are now male.

The British Fashion Council says its health guidelines apply equally to both sexes.

What Is Anorexia?

Anorexia is an eating disorder where people starve themselves. Anorexia usually begins in young people around the onset of puberty. Individuals suffering from anorexia have extreme weight loss. Weight loss is usually 15% below the person’s normal body weight. People suffering from anorexia are very skinny but are convinced that they are overweight. Weight loss is obtained by many ways. Some of the common techniques used are excessive exercise, intake of laxatives and not eating.

Anorexics have an intense fear of becoming fat. Their dieting habits develop from this fear. Anorexia mainly affects adolescent girls.

People with anorexia continue to think they are overweight even after they become extremely thin, are very ill or near death. Often they will develop strange eating habits such as refusing to eat in front of other people. Sometimes the individuals will prepare big meals for others while refusing to eat any of it.

The disorder is thought to be most common among people of higher socioeconomic classes and people involved in activities where thinness is especially looked upon, such as dancing, theater, and distance running.

Restaurants with high-calorie kids’ meals included Taco Bell and Jack in the Box

Parents looking for healthy meal choices for their children are likely to find slim pickings on the menus of the nation’s top restaurant chains, according to a report released Monday by a nonprofit public health group.

Nearly every possible combination of the children’s meals at Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell, Sonic, Jack in the Box, and Chick-fil-A are too high in calories, the report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest said.

The report looked into the nutritional quality of kids’ meals at 13 major restaurant chains. The center found 93 percent of 1,474 possible choices at the 13 chains exceed 430 calories — an amount that is one-third of what the National Institute of Medicine recommends that children ages 4 through 8 should consume in a day.

For example, Chili’s Bar and Grill has 700 possible kids’ meal combinations, but 658, or 94 percent, of those are too high in calories. One Chili’s meal composed of country-fried chicken crispers, cinnamon apples and chocolate milk contained 1,020 calories, while another composed of cheese pizza, homestyle fries, and lemonade contained 1,000 calories.

The report recommends restaurants:

• Reformulate their menu items to reduce calories, saturated and trans fat, and salt, and add more healthy items like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

• Make fruit or vegetables and low-fat milk or water the default sides instead of French fries and soda for children’s meals.

• Provide nutrition on menus and menu boards. New York and San Francisco are among the cities and localities that have adopted menu labeling policies.

Other restaurant chains included in the report are Wendy’s, Dairy Queen, Arby’s and Denny’s.

Six leading restaurant chains — Applebee’s, TGIFriday’s, Outback Steakhouse, Olive Garden, Red Lobster and IHOP (International House of Pancakes) — weren’t included in the report because they do not disclose nutrition information about their meals even when asked, the center said.

From Elizabeth Somer, RD, author of 10 Habits That Mess Up a Woman’s Diet: You haven’t had a bite of pizza or a lick of ice cream in, like, forever, but you still can’t lose a pound. What’s up with that? Here’s the real what, plus some expert fixes.

1. Consciously or Not, You’re Clueless
“Very few Americans tell the truth about what they eat,” says Somers. In one USDA study, more than 80 percent of women underestimated their daily food intake by a whopping 700 calories! Part of the problem is visual: Most people don’t have a clue about what a true portion looks like, Somer says.

The Fix

• Find your measuring cups and spoons. And if you don’t have one, buy an inexpensive kitchen scale.
• Measure out the recommended portions of everything you eat for a week. You’ll quickly learn to accurately identify a 1/2-cup serving of pasta, a 2-ounce muffin, a teaspoon of butter, a cup of cereal, or a 4-ounce portion of chicken.

2. You Skip Breakfast
Successful dieters share a common habit: They eat breakfast, say University of Colorado researchers who monitor people who have lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for a year or more. The benefits are big. As well as preventing 10 a.m. attacks on the vending machine, eating breakfast boosts your mood, memory, and work performance.

The Fix

• Adopt the gold standard: Top 1 cup of whole-grain cereal with berries and fat-free or low-fat milk. Add OJ and coffee and you’ll be good to go for hours.
• Try the make-ahead version: The night before, put these into a preheated wide-mouth thermos: 1/2 cup old-fashioned oatmeal, a few chopped dried apricots, a pinch of brown sugar, a dash of cinnamon, a drop of almond extract, and 1 cup of hot fat-free or low-fat milk. Close tightly. In the morning, just open the thermos, sprinkle with slivered almonds, and spoon out a warm, delicious, ready-to-eat breakfast!

3. You Eat Without Thinking
Do you nibble off the plates of others? Constantly taste while cooking? Feed small fry in “one for you, one for me” bites? Each mindless nibble averages 25 calories, and with only four mindless bites a day, you gain a pound a month!

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City could follow NY in passing ordinance requiring calories on menus. Great idea!

Los Angeles residents are notorious for worrying about their waistlines and if two Los Angeles County Supervisors have it their way, calorie counting while dining out in the city may get easier.

Supervisors Zev Yaroslavsky and Michael Antonovich will present a proposed ordinance to the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors next week that would force fast-food chains and restaurants to display the number of calories alongside the price of items on their menus.

The proposed law is intended to decrease obesity among adults and children in America’s second-largest city.

While Los Angeles has a reputation as a mecca of diet and exercise crazes, the county’s Department of Public Health says residents are less fit than many realize.

The percentage of obese adults in Los Angeles County increased 46 percent over eight years, to 20.9 percent in 2005 from 14.3 percent in 1997, according to the department.

“The menu should be as informative of what its effect is on one’s waistline as it is on their pocketbooks,” Yaroslavsky said. “Not ingesting 800 calories in a meal makes a huge difference to one’s health and quality of life.”

New York already has a similar ordinance in place. Fast-food and casual-dining chains in the Big Apple can be fined $2,000 for not displaying calorie counts.

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Reseachers followed more than 5,000 girls between 14 and 21 years old

Girls and young women who devote much time to the Internet, get too little sleep or regularly drink alcohol are more likely than their peers to put on excess weight, a new study suggests.

The researchers, who followed more than 5,000 girls between 14 and 21 years old for 1 year, found that the more spare time girls spent on the Internet, the more their body mass index (BMI) increased.

Similar patterns were seen when the researchers looked at alcohol consumption and sleep. In the latter case, lack of sleep was linked to greater gains in BMI — a measure of weight in relation to height.

The findings, reported in The Journal of Pediatrics, add to evidence implicating each of these three habits in promoting weight gain.

The effect of each may be small, but over time the pounds can add up, according to the researchers, led by Dr. Catherine S. Berkey of Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.

The study involved 5,036 girls and young women who were surveyed regarding the number of recreational hours per week they spent on the Internet, which ranged from 1 to 5 hours, to 16-plus hours, as well as how long they typically slept each night (anywhere from 5 hours or less, to 9 hours or more) and how much alcohol they usually drank (ranging from none to two or more drinks per week).

In general, the researchers found, as Internet use climbed, so did BMI, particularly among girls younger than 18 years old.

When it came to sleep, those who clocked 5 hours or less tended to gain more weight than those who got a standard 8 hours. And girls and women who had 2 or more alcoholic drinks per week put on more pounds than those who drank the least.

The effects over 1 year were modest, Berkey’s team points out. For example, a 19-year-old of average weight and height would gain 4 pounds if she were in the high-risk groups for Internet use, sleep and alcohol consumption.

However, the researchers add, over time that could translate into significant weight change.

Spending hours on the Internet likely contributes to weight gain by taking time away from physical activity, according to Berkey’s team.

Lack of sleep may make people too tired to be active during the day; sleep deprivation also affects hormones and metabolism in a way that might promote weight gain.

Meanwhile, alcohol contains a significant amount of calories, and research suggests that people usually don’t make an adjustment for liquid calories by eating or drinking less throughout the rest of the day.

What do you think?

Crazy commute? No problem. Mile-long to-do list? Bring it on. Mini work crisis? Easy.

Just make dumbbell your middle name and you’ll be practically immune to these kinds of things. Why? Because people with decent muscle mass have an easier time recovering from mental stress.

Pump Up the Jam
Whether you use dumbbells, resistance bands, or your own body weight to build muscle (think push-ups), you’re one step ahead of the stress game. Having a lean body mass (more muscle, less fat) helps your body normalize blood pressure more quickly after a mentally stressful event, because a fit body does a better job of ridding itself of sodium. And that takes a big load off of your heart and arteries when you’re under the gun.

The No-Workout Workout

Ah, the end of another busy day. Your workday is over, your errands are done, and dinner is slowly digesting in your belly. You sit back on the couch to take in the news of the day or the latest scores before heading to bed.

But what about your workout? At this stage in the game, it’s easily the last thing on your mind. Wouldn’t it be great to get home from a busy day and already have completed your workout? You bet it would. And RealAge can show you how to do it. The key is to realize that exercise doesn’t have to have its own separate time slot. You can get your workout in just by adding a few quick and easy movements to your existing daily routine.

Simple actions, such as taking the stairs or lugging your groceries to your car, can help you tone muscles and burn calories on the go.
Learn how you can increase your activity levels at work, at home, or out around town with the RealAge No-Workout Workout. With these 7 simple exercises, you may discover that you’re already exercising without even knowing it!

Check it out here.