SLEEPING LESS IS LINKED TO WEIGHT GAIN

Women who sleep 5 hours or less per night weigh more on average than those who sleep 7 hours, according to a study to be presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference

The study found that women who slept for 5 hours per night were 32% more likely to experience major weight gain (defined as an increase of 33 pounds or more) and 15% more likely to become obese over the course of the 16-year study compared with women who slept 7 hours.

Women who slept for 6 hours were 12% more likely to have major weight gain and 6% more likely to become obese compared with women who slept 7 hours a night.

The study included 68,183 middle-aged women who were enrolled in the Nurses Health Study. They were asked in 1986 about their typical night's sleep, and were then asked to report their weight every 2 years for 16 years.
On average, women who slept 5 hours or less per night weighed 5.4 pounds more at the beginning of the study than those sleeping 7 hours and gained an additional 1.6 pounds more over the next 10 years.

"That may not sound like much, but it is an average amount--some women gained much more than that, and even a small difference in weight can increase a person's risk of health problems such as diabetes and hypertension," said lead researcher Sanjay Patel, M.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH.

Dr. Patel noted that this is by far the largest study to track the effect of sleep habits on weight gain over time. "There have been a number of studies that have shown that at one point in time, people who sleep less weigh more, but this is one of the first studies to show reduced sleep increases the risk of gaining weight over time."

The researchers looked at the women's diets and exercise habits to see if they could account for part of the findings. "Prior studies have shown that after just a few days of sleep restriction, the hormones that control appetite cause people to become hungrier, so we thought that women who slept less might eat more. But in fact they ate less," Dr. Patel said. "That suggests that appetite and diet are not accounting for the weight gain in women who sleep less."

The researchers also asked women about how much they participated in exercise activities such as running, jogging or playing tennis. But they didn't find any differences in physical activity that could explain why women who slept less weighed more.

"We don't have an answer from this study about why reduced sleep causes weight gain, but there are some possibilities that deserve further study," Dr. Patel said. "Sleeping less may affect changes in a person's basal metabolic rate (the number of calories you burn when you rest).

Exercise And Rest Reduce Cancer Risk

Exercise is good for more than just your waistline. A recent study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's Seventh Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research suggests that regular physical activity can lower a woman's overall risk of cancer – but only if she gets a good night's sleep. Otherwise, lack of sleep can undermine exercise's cancer prevention benefits.

Greater participation in physical activity has consistently been associated with reduced risk of cancer incidence at several sites, including breast and colon cancers," said James McClain, Ph.D., cancer prevention fellow at the National Cancer Institute and lead author of the study. "Short duration sleep appears to have opposing effects of physical activity on several key hormonal and metabolic parameters, which is why we looked at how it affected the exercise/cancer risk relationship."
Researchers assessed the association between physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE), sleep duration and incidence of overall, breast, and colon cancer in 5,968 women at least 18 years old with no previous cancer diagnoses. The women completed an initial survey in 1998 and were then tracked through the Washington County Cancer Registry and Maryland State Cancer Registry for nearly 10 years.

Out of those 5,968 women, 604 experienced a first incidence of cancer, including 186 breast cancer cases. Women in the upper 50 percent of PAEE showed significantly reduced risk of overall cancer and breast cancer. Among women 65 or younger when surveyed and in the upper half of PAEE, sleeping less than seven hours a day increased overall cancer risk, negating much of the protective effects of physical activity on cancer risk for this group.

Research is expanding rapidly on the effect of insufficient and prolonged sleep duration on many health outcomes although few studies have examined the association of sleep duration with cancer risk. This novel study examining the interaction of sleep and physical activity suggests another future focus of research on health behaviors and cancer outcomes

PROFESSIONAL REFORMER FOR SALE

Hi to all, I recieved this email from a lady that I met whilst training for the Pilates Certification .. if anyone is interested please contact Heidi directly .. many thanks
joanne

I live in Las Vegas and I am selling one of my STOTT PilatesProfessional Reformers

if you or any of your clients are interested. Theprice is $3700 and includes the box, strap, jumpboard, mat converter andpadded platform extender. Let me know if you or any of your clients are interested.

Thanks!Peace,
Love & Happiness,
Heidi Limerick

http://www.hpfitness.com

WEIGHT LOSS SEMINAR .. THIS SATURDAY 15TH

Hello to Everyone!

Well this always seems the craziest time of the year for me. The lazy summer days are over, you’ve just dressed up for Halloween, now it’s the run up to Thanksgiving, then we approach the New Year and all the organizing that entails.It seems like once we get past Labor day time just speeds up and its non stop. next thing you know its 2009 and you’re exhausted!Myself, I have quite a few things on the go and I am very grateful to say all of them are GREAT.First of all, let me boast a little if I may.

Trainer of the Month

Yep, that’s me! Bodybuilding.com awarded me Trainer of the Month, they came out to Los Angeles and interviewed me and one of my clients Shawn Wayans. You can see the interview on http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/personaltrainer_joanne_lee.htm click on the photo to be directed straight to the page. There is also an Q&A where you can find out even more about me and what I’m all about. I must apologize in advance as I just watched the video and I had no idea I still sounded so English... There are no subtitles – sorry!

Santa Monica Sports Medicine

My Nutrition Consulting business is now located in Santa Monica Sports Medicine. If you are in the Los Angeles area please come check us out, we’re on 9th and Wilshire Blvd in Santa Monica. Mary Trumpi DC is a long time friend and it’s a match made in Heaven as Mary has such a fantastic reputation with her chiropractic sports designation and very unique office set up. To find out more about SMSM please go to http://www.santamonicasportsmedicine.com/, you’ll see how much there is to offer there, from a great gym with specialized trainers to multiple massage rooms for bodywork.

Nutrition & Weight Loss Seminars
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 15th - 9am & TUESDAY NOVEMBER 18th - 7 pm

November brings with it Thanksgiving and then we have Christmas and some of you have already enjoyed a whole host of holidays that go with this time year. It therefore seemed the perfect time to hold a “Nutrition & Weight Loss Seminar”In November we will be holding two seminars at Santa Monica Sports Medicine in Santa Monica.

One will be held on Saturday morning (Nov 15 9am) and we will repeat it for those who cant make that time and hold it again the following Tuesday evening (Nov 18 7pm)

The seminar is free and I plan to explain and unravel a lot of the issues and confusion relating the weight gain, fat loss and that four letter work DIET.

I have a lot of information I want to pass on so if you are in the Los Angeles area I really hope you can make it.Please RSVP by Nov 10 and let us know which date you plane to attend RSVP to joanne@joannelee.com or call Santa Monica Sports Medicine at 310 458 1259.

I'm going to address:
Why weight loss programs fail
The most common mistakes
Metabolism
Stress
The Yo Yo affect
The solution!!

Implementing the right tools for success
The Venice Nutrition Nutrition Program

For all those who attend we will be booking appointments for FREE body fat testing. There will also be draws for massages and body work at SMSM.

My New Website: J

oanneLee.com!
Out with the old and in with the new.I have a new web site and I love it! Many thanks for Sean of Einstein computers (310 500 0933) who has saved my life a zillion times with computer issues,

.JoanneLee.com will direct you to all aspects of my business… From the Nutrition program options to Corporate Wellness, training, supplements and so much more .. love to have your feedback, you can always post it nice or nasty on my blog – also on the new website.Better Body, Better Life... for life!Joanne Lee

http://joannelee.com/

JoanneLee.com

NEW WEBSITE WWW.JOANNELEE.COM

To let you know that my new website is up and running. Same address at www.joannelee.com there still a few things that need to be done, but I wanted to get it up asap. It is now a lot easier to navigate and to get to my Nutrition software.

many thanks to Sean of Einstein computers (310 500 0933) ... if you want a website contact Sean .. if you have computer problems contact Sean ... if you want outstanding service and just a fabulous person .. contact Sean !

No Cooking involoved .. got to love that !!

Mary has left a new comment on your post "Recipes .. thanks Anne Marie":

Thanks to both you and your friend! the recipes seem to be very good!
I am gonna try them soon.

Here is a protein powder recipe that i find really good. You may try it too...

Protein Peanut Butter Balls:

* 3/4 cup peanut butter
* 1/4 cup honey
* 1 scoop chocolate or vanilla protein powder
* 1/2 cup raw oats

All you got to do is mix all the ingredients in a bowl and form into small balls.
Place in the fridge for a few hours and then enjoy them at your leisure.
This way you can pop in these protein balls whenever u want to..
You get the protein, you get the fibers in the oats, the sugar in honey and of course the butter..
A sumptuous nutritious snack that tastes good too!!!

Thanks Mary .. one of my other clients/friends has a fantastic almond butter cookie recipe .. she brought me some this week .. I'll get recipe, they were sooooo good and no flour, butter etc. I'll post it asap

A favorite of mine (and I'm no cook) is turkey meatballs
Ground turkey with onion, sun dried tomatoes and avocado
You can use the 99% turkey for this but they'll stay really really moist because of the avocado .. great texture

Keep 'em coming
Joanne x

Recipes .. thanks Anne Marie

Thought I would share these amazing recipes .. courtesy of a great friend Anne Marie .. enjoy

No/Low Carb
Cheesecake

2-0.3oz boxes of Sugar Free JELL-O, any flavor. (Strawberry is AWESOME!)
2 cups boiling water
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2-8oz. package cream cheese
-
Directions-Dissolve JELL-O into boiling water. Stir in whipping cream. Add cream cheese, mix until blended. Chill 1 to 2 hrs before serving.
Serving size: 1 cup
Number of servings: 12
Calories: 270
carbs: 2g/ 0%

peanut butter chocolate fudge

easily 10/102 tbsp coconut oil
1-2 tsp. cocoa powder
1 tbsp heavy cream
2 packets splenda (depending on how sweet you like it)
1 tbsp peanut butter

Microwave for about 15 sec to soften peanut butter and mix until uniform and freeze for about an hour or so. drizzle with walden farms chocolate syrup if you like. these were incredible.
tasted just like real fudge and definitely left me satisfied.
maybe grease the bottom of the bowl or w/e u r using.
I would recommend in the future to use an ice tray to make little fudge cubes.

whole batch:400 cals
38g fat4g protein3g net carb


Protein pancake or cupcakes

1/2 cup almond flour/meal
3/4 cup protein powder
3 packets splenda
1/4 cup water
2 whole eggs
1 Tbsp oil

Cook on low-medium as these do cook quickly.
Yields about six 5 inch pancakes.
If you use sparkling water they will be a little bit more fluffy.
Per pancake: (9.3grams fat, 2 grams net carbs, 13.3 grams protein).
I added to these some whip cream and sugar-free chocolate syrup (I used chocolate protein powder), which makes it taste like a dessert.

TRANS FATTY ACIDS

Just what is the skinny on those trans fatty acids that are so bad for you? Donuts, stick margarines, French fries, cookies and other tasty snacks are loaded with them. And this summer the Food and Drug Administration decreed that as of Jan. 1, 2006, manufacturers must break the trans fats category out of the total fat listing on labels.

Chemical &Engineering News, in its Sept. 22 issue, describes the chemistry of these culprits. C&EN is the newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.

In issuing its order, the FDA relied mainly on an Institute of Medicine report that concluded that consuming foods containing trans fatty acids raises LDL (bad) cholesterol and the risk of coronary heart disease, according to C&EN. The IOM recommended people keep their consumption of trans fats as low as possible, and to help consumers do this the FDA issued the labeling requirement.

What are trans fatty acids?

Unsaturated fats, found in such foods as avocados and olive and corn oils are heart healthy, but in the air they can go rancid by absorbing oxygen and then decompose, C&EN explains. Manufacturers can stop this process by bubbling hydrogen (hydrogenation) through the fat at a high temperature in the presence of a catalyst like nickel and in the absence of oxygen.

The process raises a fat's melting point, turning liquid vegetable oil into products ranging from soft margarine to solid shortening, according to the newsmagazine. When the healthful unsaturated fats are partially hydrogenated, the double bonds are rearranged, converting some to the trans configuration and shifting the double bonds along the chain. Unfortunately, this newly created trans fatty acid is an artery-clogger.

Amid the criticism of cookies, chips and other products containing trans fat, a number of companies have either developed foods without partially hydrogenated oils or have pledged to explore ways of replacing the fat. PepsiCo's Frito Lay, for example, has already eliminated trans fats from some of its products.

HOW FATTY FOODS CAN CURB HUNGER

Fatty foods may not be the healthiest diet choice, but those rich in unsaturated fats – such as avocados, nuts and olive oil – have been found to play a pivotal role in sending this important message to your brain: stop eating, you're full.

A new study by UC Irvine pharmacologists shows that these fats trigger production of a compound in the small intestine that curbs hunger pangs. This discovery, the researchers say, points toward new approaches to treating obesity and other eating disorders.

Daniele Piomelli, the Louise Turner Arnold Chair in Neurosciences, and his colleagues have studied how a fat-derived compound called oleoylethanolamide regulates hunger and body weight. In their current work, which appears in the Oct. 8 issue of Cell Metabolism, they found that an unsaturated fatty acid called oleic acid stimulates production of OEA, which in turn decreases appetite.

Oleic acid is transformed into OEA by cells in the upper region of the small intestine. OEA then finds its way to nerve endings that carry the hunger-curbing message to the brain. There, it activates a brain circuit that increases feelings of fullness. In previous studies, Piomelli found that increasing OEA levels can reduce appetite, produce weight loss and lower blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

Piomelli believes OEA could be used in a variety of drugs because it is a key to the way the body naturally handles fatty foods and regulates eating and body weight.
"We are excited to find that OEA activates cell receptors that already have been the focus of successful drug development," he said. "This gives us hope for a new class of anti-obesity drugs based on the savvy use of natural appetite-controlling mechanisms."

Nearly 30 percent of Americans are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has declared obesity an epidemic disease. The occurrence of obesity has risen by almost 60 percent since 1991, and it greatly increases the risk of premature death, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and some cancers.

FREE HEALTH ASSESSMENT

So I challenge you, click on the photograph and it will take you to a 'Free" Health Assessment.. You will get your results immediately ... how fit are you ?? 50% 70 % .... let me know at joanne@joannelee.com

If anyone hits 100% you'll get yourself a prize

INTERACTIVE DIET !

I am very excited as I am now able to offer an array of nutritional services online from my website.
One of my greatest frustrations was that I have been so limited to working only with people who I can meet face to face. It has been difficult to have seemless communication with clients online ..until now !

Go to my website www.joannelee.com and there is a page on NUTRITION. I have partnered with my long time friend Mark McDonald of Venice Nutrition and I can help you wherever you may be. The software is amazing .. every meal choice you can imagine and you have the power to make substitutions with a click of the mouse .. no recalculating a meal, it is all done for you.

Those who know me, know that I have never supported any of the diet programs out there (zero carb etc etc) because they do not work long term .. and I am in the business of lasting results.

This program is designed to show you what I have done for years, it is in all truth the only 'program' I can fully support online.

The biggest mistake I think people make is that they use food as a Body Weight Regulator .. eat too much and you gain, eat to little and you loose. But there is no longevity in that.
I have always believed and practiced that you need to turn your BODY (not food) into the Body Weight Regulator .. if you teach your body how to burn the right food then you are no longer going to be tormented by the yo yo dietting we see all the time.

The options are to work with me ONE ON ONE .. where I can really teach you the process and explain in detail the food and internal mechanisms that allow for body fat reduction and weight stabilization. Here I can pass on my 20+ years of study into 6 or 12 weeks. By the end of those weeks, you will be set for life with the knowledge and direction you need. This is the option I would advise.

However the other option is to have a monthly account and to simply use the software and have access to all the informative articles on the site. This is a minimal investment and you will receive access to the most user friendly Nutritional software on the market. You will get dozens of meal options and reciples, and you will be able to substitute and swap to your hearts content .. with all the calculatons being done for you.

I already had access to 3 other software programs and I scapped them all and invested in Venice Nutrition .... This eating and exercise behavior is something I have done for the last 14 years. Prior to that I did all the crazy diets that had me in shape half the year and rebounding the other half. I have been consistent for the last 14 years .. Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, Aitkins, South Beach, Fasting, cleansing etc etc etc .. None of them can give you the long term results that I have experienced.

so click on my banner ad and you'll go to the ONE ON ONE COACHING

click on Venice Nutrition to go to the main website

WORKOUT OF THE DAY ...

Saturday morning .. just did a great cardio workout that I wanted to share.
If you are someone that just gets BORED doing cardio (that's me) - so I always change it up and rarely, if ever, do an hour or so at the same thing. So today it went something like this

Elliptical for 10 minutes (I dont let it go below 80 rpm, try to keep it at 85)
Jump rope for 100
Shoulder dumbbell press x 20 reps (I use 15 lb, but whatever you wish)
Jump rope for 100
Shoulder press x 20 reps
Jump rope for 100
Shoulder press x 20 reps

Repeat 5 times (about 70 - 75 minutes)

Benefit .. no impact and impact, recruits muscle fibers from all over the body
Blood is shunted all over the body .. from legs to above head etc.
Time flew by in NO time !

Q & A ... C SECTION

Mierra

June 18 at 4:20am
Hi Joanne,

I hope you do not mind me contacting you. I read your post on the Project Weight Loss site, and of course I had a peep at your website. You look absolutely amazing!

I hope you don't mind me asking for advice?

I put up a post about regaining a flat tummy after 2 c-sections, just wondering if that was possible? I had asked my Doc, he said no. But I am sure there must be something I could do to at least gain a flatter lower region than I have now. Right now my stomach is hanging and I hate it. I am doing lower leg lifts and crunches, the normal ab workouts, but my bulge is not shifting. I am wondering if it is because my muscles have been cut and is weak?

Thanks very much,
Gratefully yours,
Mierra

Joanne Lee

June 18 at 5:32am
I certianly dont mind, thats why I post on the sites, there's a lot of lame information out there and often I know I can help.
In your cahse I dont have children, but I have trained many many women through their pregnancies and beyond.

My first question
How long ago was the last c section ?
Did they go well (any compliations) ?
Do have any loss of sensation ?
Do you get sore after training abs?

C sections can take quite a while to heal and certain exercises work better than others.

let me know your answers, I dont want to say you can get back to 'perfect' but I'm telling you, you can make a tremendous difference by using the right routine reguarly.

let me know your answers and what I may be able to do this week is video an ab routine with some of the girls that I train to send to you.JO

Well in response to your questions, my last c-section was 6 months ago. Thankfully no complications, but I did have with my first one (7 years ago). There is a little tenderness / numbness, but I would think that that is considered normal for the time being. The only time I felt a little uncomfortable was when I was doing turns on the monkey bar last Sunday - just playing with my daughter. I feel no soreness after training the abs.

I know that I will never have the washboard stomach I had pre-kids, but I would love for it to go down.

Thank you so much again,
I look forward to hearing from you soon,
All the best,
Mierra

29 at 10:46am
Hi
just thought of you this morning check out my blog to see some interesting info I found out about C section (go to my website www.joannelee.com and then go to the blog page .. I posted it this morning)

Also I spoke with a doctor and he said it is often the case that the muscle adheres to the skin (which pulls the muscle outwards) making it look like your tummy is flopping over. She said there was a simple op that would take care of that (if that is the problem) and it just means that the muscle and skin have glued themselves together and snip snip would release it.

They didnt say it would make everything perfect because the reality is the muscle has been cut - but this can give the look that the muscle is literally hanging over.

does that make sense ? sort of like detaching the skin from a chicken breast (sounds gross I know) .... let me know what you think
jo xJOANNE LEESource: www.joannelee.com
Los Angeles Personal Trainer. Health and Fitness articles from which cardio is best to the truth about sugar. Trainer of figure competitors, Hollywood celebrities and everyday hard working individuals.

MOTIVATION

July 5 at 9:55pm
My wife is a natural, puts on muscle easily, and I love it when she does put on the muscle. However, she is hard to motivate, I do not want to force her to exercise so maybe you can give me a hint since you are an expert and train mostly women.

P.S. I function as my wife's "trainer"

Joanne Lee

July 6 at 10:07pm
Does she enjoy training when she does it ? If 'Yes' then ask her for help ... say that you are less motivated to train, feeling a little tired etc and it would really be a help if she trained with you.

Or set a personal goal and ask her for her help in your achieving that goal.
If she really doesnt enjoy training, then maybe its not for her .. another sport may be better - biking, running, kayaking, tennis etc etc.

if her confidence is down, then another sport might be best until she feels more comfortable in the gym

Motivation comes from results

Q & A..TO EAT OR NOT TO EAT ?

Andrew

July 1 at 9:53pm

I just started this 6:30 AM boot camp thing (believe it or not, it's pretty intense) and was wondering if I should eat or not beforehand. I think I'll stick to the empty stomach thing, unless of course I find myself not being able to hit the softballs over the fence anymore. Now THAT would be tragic!Joanne Lee
July 1 at 9:05pm
Ah .. if I had a penny ...It isdifficult for fat to be broken down in the presence of insulin - so they say to do cardio on an empty stomach.However if your goal is to gain or maintain mass then I would say you can eat a protein meal (has no insulin response ) before cardiohope that helpsjoanne
Joanne@joannelee.com

REVENGE IS LOOKING GOOD !

Neil
July 8 at 12:04pm
hi you may be able to help me, since my fiancée left i have put on 3 stone ( too much beer and drowning my sorrows )but now i want to take it all off an start respecting my body, she left me with huge debts so joining a gym is a no go at moment can you give me any advice on what i should be eating i have just started running again but finding it hard to stay motivated ,,


July 8 at 12:26pm
Hi Neil ... yep, I think everyone has been through something like you're going through. OK, so to lose 3 stone you dont need a gym. Running is THE BEST way to lose the weight ... for motivation, go online and see if there is a running group you can join - if there isnt one .. start one!
Start keeping a journal of your food - cut the junk and as for the booze, stick to clear spirits with diet mixers.Go to Nutritiondata.com (free) and you can enter every food that you eat and figure out how many calories you are eating. Eat breakfast ! no one losing weight if they dont eat breakfast, dont eat too much processed food (even diet food) ...cut the butter, the cream, the sugar - but dont get hungry .. if you get hungry you'll cheatThe journal is the best idea and if you cheat you're only lying to yourself - when you have to log everything down you think twice before you eat it.and finally - you have evey excuse to feel bad for yourself - but it aint going to help you and you will just feel worse ( i know you know that) .. the debt will go down in time .. its the price you are paying for not marrying her ! Imagine how expensive that would have been.your motivation will come from your results, but it is hard to go it alone - so really put an ad online .. find a running companion.Keep me up to date with how things go

ps ... she'll probably come back, they always do .. not straight away, but they always come back :) .. do you really want to be overweight and depressed when she sees you ?
if you want to invest in anything .. buy a stabilization ball and some dumbbells .. 10, 15, 20 lb - you can do just about anything with that.

Also .. final note (must get off ot work) buy a jump rope (skipping rope) .. you'll be clumpsy at first, but after one or two gos you'll be skipping like crazy ... burns soooooo many calories .. do 2 minute rounds with a minute rest ... let me know what you think jo x
Neil
July 8 at 2:19pm
thank you so much i will do it !!!

Q & A .... I'M NOT LOSING WEIGHT

A Question
Between You and Hester F. Roodt


Hester F. Roodt
July 16 at 10:20pm
Hi Joanne,I have a question I need to ask somebody who is informed about these things. I've been training really hard for the last month and watched my diet with a hawk's eye and yet I have not lost a single pound. I have, however, lost a few inches around my mid section and butt. I'm very happy about that, but I can't help to wonder how long these things take.I mean, how long do I have to excercise in order to get to my goal weight (and look) of 120 pounds (I'm currently 137)? I need a time frame to help keep me motivated, 'cause at the moment it just feels like i'm swimming in the dark.I understand you are probably busy and I don't mean to bug you. But if you could spare some time to answer me I would be very greatful.Thanks in advance and I hope you have a wonderful day!!H
Joanne Lee
July 19 at 7:22am
Hmmm there are so many ways I can answer this, but if you need numbers ... one pound of fat = 3500 calories so you have to do a combination of reducing calories and burning calories to get to your target weight.If you just diet youll mess up your metabolism and you'll rebound. If you just exercise and dont watch your diet you wont see the pounds come off.So as a real gestimate eat between 1500 and 1800 calories a day, dont eat processed (or that BS diet food) food and exericse to burn off 3000 calories a week. So say weight training is about 400 calories per hour (kicking ass) and cardio is say 600 calories per hour .. take an average of 500 cals per hour .. so thats 7 hours of exercise per week .. you have to judge your own intensity .. but if its easy you're cheating yourself.check the sodium in your food, try and keep it under 1500 mg a day - youll see weight come off just by doing that (sodium holds soooo much water)I have E books on my site about cardio and metabolism and carbs that might help you understand the processjo x


Hester F. Roodt
July 19 at 11:50pm
Thank you so much. I can now see where my problem lies. My workouts have been way too easy and I have a high sodium diet. Unfortunately there's not much I can do about that. I live in Korea and their food has alot of soduim. But I can do the rest and by the time I get back to SA my diet will change completely again. Thank you for taking the time to answer me. Have a nice Sunday.H :-)

SLIPPERY ELM

Hope everyone had a fantastic July 4th.

Lucky me I caught a little bit of a cold - but always trying to find the positive I thought I would share this piece of information with you.

It started Thursday evening and my throat was sore and swallowing was tough. Friday I wake up and swallowing is like swallowing razor blades, I'm exhausted with a bit of a headache, but it is the throat that is the issue - very painful and to make matters worse my tounge has swollen up so now its about an inch too wide so I have this ridiculous lisp.

It was July 4th so maybe people thought I was drunk :) but it was hard to talk (and I sounded so stupid)
I take myself off to the health store and buy "Slippery Elm" which I have heard is good for sore throats but I have never tried it.

Long story short - but Saturday morning .. NO SORE THROAT !! NOTHING , NADA.
My tongue was still a little swollen but you would have had to have a sharp ear to hear the difference.

So theres a little useful information .... SLIPPERY ELM ... you can buy it at any health store
Joanne x

WEIGHT WATCHER VS GYM RESULTS !

I am constantly amazed by the weight loss programs who have a failure rate of over 90% (based over 3 years) .. yet people still go back for more ! What other business can have a product that doesnt work and yet the customer blames themselves and buys it over and over again.

Lets not even get started with what that does to a persons self esteem ... here is an article recently published in Science Daily which goes part way to explaining why diet alone DOES NOT WORK !!

In the first study of its kind, using sophisticated methods to measure body composition, the nationally known commercial weight loss program, Weight Watchers, was compared to gym Participants who attended Weight Watchers for 12 weeks lost an average of 5 percent of their body weight, or about nine pounds. However, Steve Ball, assistant professor of exercise physiology in the MU College of Human Environmental Sciences, found that a large percentage of the lost weight was lean tissue and not fat.

“Participants’ body fat percentage did not improve at all because they lost a much higher percentage than expected of lean tissue,” said Ball, MU Extension state fitness specialist. “It is advantageous to keep lean tissue because it is correlated with higher metabolism. Losing lean tissue often slows metabolism. What your body is made of is more important than what you weigh.”membership programs to find out which method wins in the game of good health.

Computer Tomography (CT scans) were used to investigate changes in abdominal fat, which is more predictive of cardiovascular disease. Although the fitness center group lost very little weight, they probably improved their health because they lost a significant amount of intraabdominal fat (fat around vital organs). These results imply that exercise may have positive influence on the metabolic syndrome despite the number on the scale

Caesarean Sections Associated With 50% Increased Risk Of Asthma In Child

Babies born by Caesarean section have a 50 % increased risk of developing asthma compared to babies born naturally. Emergency Caesarean sections increase the risk even further. This is shown in a new study based on data from 1.7 million births

The goal of the study was to investigate the possible link between being born by Caesarean section and later development of asthma.
Summarised results from the study:
Compared to children born in the natural way (i.e. spontaneously and vaginally), children born by Caesarean section had an approximately 50 % increased risk of developing asthma.
Children born vaginally, but with assistance from vacuum or forceps, had a 20 % increased risk of asthma.
For children born between 1988 and 1998, planned Caesarean section was associated with an approximately 40 % increased risk of asthma while emergency Caesarean section was associated with a 60 % increased risk.

Why do Caesarean sections give an increased risk of asthma?

"The first is that babies who are born by Caesarean section are not exposed to their mothers’ bacteria during birth, which is detrimental for development of the immune system. The other is that babies born by Caesarean section have more breathing problems after birth because they are less exposed to stress hormones and compression of the chest, since these mechanisms contribute to emptying the lungs of amniotic fluid. Maybe this can negatively affect lung function in the long term

United States Sees Steep Rise In 'No Indicated Risk' Caesareans

The United States has seen a steep rise in caesareans to women with no reported medical risk, according to research published today on bmj.com

Results showed that caesarean rates increased by 67% among these mothers. First-time mothers aged 34 and over were the most likely to have a 'no indicated risk' caesarean, with almost 1 in 5 giving birth by caesarean in 2001.
Caesarean births also rose steeply for 'no indicated risk' mothers under 30, increasing by 58% between 1991 and 2001. For first-time mothers over 40, the odds of having a 'no indicated risk' caesarean were over 5 times that for mothers aged 20-24.
Undergoing caesareans where there is no reported medical indication raises serious questions, say the authors, not least for younger mothers who plan to have further children. More research is needed on whether the risks associated with surgery outweigh the benefits in these circumstances, they conclude.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT 'LIGHTBULBS'

"Energy saving lightbulbs"

sounds like a pretty good idea .. right ?

Maybe not .. watch this clip on Youtube

http://youtube.com/watch?v=e-LOtKIIKcg

Happy Anniversary Mum and Dad xx CLICK ON THE PHOTO X

CLICK ON THE PHOTO !!

THEN CLICK ON THE NEXT PHOTO LINK ... HAPPY ANNIVERSARY X (48TH)

How to Use Soft Drinks To Kill Mice and Rats

If you have a problem with mice or rats, one way to get rid of them is with soda pop.

Mice and rats lack the ability to burp. You can use this to your advantage. Simply pour Pepsi or Coke into a shallow dish, and place the dish near where the mice or rats are entering your home.

The rodents will drink the sweet soft drink and later, when they can't burp, they will die.

Right next to walls usually works best for any type of bait or traps, as does under sinks, where they may like to hide out, or underneath your stove.

As the carbonation only lasts just so long, you will need to keep that in mind and refill your dish accordingly. Try putting a new dish down each night before bed

What Does The Label On Your Chicken Really Mean?

Buying chicken these days is not like it used to be. With labels like “100 percent natural,” “organic,” “grain-fed,” and “free range,” many consumers don’t really know what they’re buying.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)—“100 percent natural” means the poultry doesn’t contain artificial ingredients like preservatives. But experts warn—there are no guarantees. “100 percent natural—remember—no inspections are done. So we don’t know if those claims are really true,” says Shannon Wallace, R.D., registered dietitian with Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas.

Chicken labeled as “organic” must meet much stricter standards. Inspections are conducted and organic chicken cannot contain artificial ingredients, hormones or antibiotics. But are those really harmful to consumers?

“The USDA does not make any claims that organically produced food is any safer or more nutritious than conventionally produced food,” adds Wallace.

Another popular chicken label—“grain fed.” This is supposed to mean the chicken was not fed animal by-products, but just like “100 percent natural” and “free range,” there is no outside monitoring for this claim.

And probably the most confusing label of them all—“free range.” Chicken labeled as “free range” is supposed to be leaner, but again, experts warn the claim can be deceiving. “Free range does not always mean that the animal has been in an open area its whole life. It may only mean they were in a restricted area and let out into that open area one time during their life,” says Wallace.

So what should you shop for in chicken?

“If you would like to have a healthy diet—trimming the fat or buying leaner cuts of meat is always important. And the research is still out regarding these other issues of hormones and antibiotics,” says Wallace.

COUPLE OF MY FAVORITE PHOTOGRAPHS

STROKE IN YOUR 30'S !!

Recently I met with a wonderful woman, who shared with me her experience. Super fit and healthy this lady had a stroke in her 30's !! The cause of it was traced back to her time diving (specifically the clearing of the mask)

Not meaning to frighten anyone, but I have heard of this before and this lady told me of a 24 year old power lifter who suffered the same thing.

Breathing is our life force and when we hold our breath or cause inter cranial pressure (straining during exercise) this is a risk that is not often talked about.

Things to watch out for .. severe headaches that you havent had before ... one pupil becomes much larger than the other ..

many thanks M for passing this information on ...

Arterial dissection is a pathologic process characterized by splitting of the media or subadventitial layer of the arterial wall. The inside wall detaches causing a flap within the artery. Dissection of either the internal carotid artery or the vertebral artery was once considered uncommon.

However, in the past few decades, it has been increasingly recognized as a cause of a stroke in young adults. Dissection causes only 0.4% to 4% of all strokes in the general population[1,2] but causes 5% to 20% of strokes among young patients.[2-5

The pathophysiology of carotid artery dissection can be either traumatic or spontaneous. The true incidence of spontaneous dissection is unknown. Once considered rare, increased awareness, combined with noninvasive evaluation by ultrasonography and MRA, has shown a more frequent occurrence.[15]

Physical exertion or "trivial trauma" has been implicated as a triggering mechanism in cervicocephalic arterial dissection. [7] Carotid dissection had been reported after vomiting,[15] after scuba diving,[14,18] ceiling painting, nose blowing, during sporting activity without trauma,[22,23] after chiropractor manipulation,[19] after a visit to a hairdresser,[24] and after bronchoscopy.[25] Furthermore, few studies of animal models of carotid dissection are available. Kahler et al[26] described an internal carotid artery dissection model in a rabbit, though, unlike clinical situations, no local arterial or cerebral ischemic complications developed.

Based on our review, spontaneous internal carotid artery dissection is more common than most clinicians appreciate. However, even in the presence of existing signs and symptoms, the diagnosis can be missed by experienced physicians of all specialties.[27] The clinical picture varies from mild cerebral and/or cranial nerve dysfunction to a completed stroke

In 41% of patients, the interval between the first symptoms (local signs and/or transient ischemic attacks) and the onset of a stroke ranged from a few minutes to 31 days. VAD has been associated with a 30% mortality rate in the acute phase. Death is the result of extensive intracranial dissection, brainstem infarction, or subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Obesity Can Increase Dementia Risk By Up To 80 Percent

Obesity may increase adults’ risk for having dementia, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Their analysis of published obesity and dementia prospective follow-up studies over the past two decades shows a consistent relationship between the two diseases.

Obesity increases the risk of dementia in general by 42 percent, Alzheimer's by 80 percent and vascular dementia by 73 percent, the new review suggests. Being underweight increases the general dementia risk by 36 percent. But researchers who carried out an international review of research since 1995 found no elevated risk in people who were normal or overweight

Previously published research defines dementia as not a single disorder, but a number of syndromes characterized by diverse behavioral, cognitive, and emotional impairments. The most common form is Alzheimer’s disease, with an estimated 5 million adults living with the disease in the United States alone.
“Currently, Alzheimer’s disease is the eighth leading cause of death among the elderly population in the United States. While more studies are needed to determine optimal weight and biological mechanisms associated with obesity and dementia, these findings could potentially decrease the number of people diagnosed with dementia and lead to an overall better quality of life,” said May A. Beydoun, a former postdoctoral research fellow at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

FLEXONLINE VIDEO TRAINING SERIES

Be sure to check out my video training series on flexonline.com

I will be showing different training techniques - from the heavy basic moves to plyometrics and circuit training ..

Next video will concentrate on quad/glute training - you'll see me take some of the more old school exercises and add my own twist :)

Following that will be some crazy ab routines and some plyometric workout for the upper body.

This is on going so if there is anything you want me to cover please let me know at joanne@joannelee.com

Shift Work Linked To Organ Disease

Disruption of an individual's natural sleep-wake cycle has been determined to be a contributing factor in the development of organ disease.

The findings of U of T researchers were recently published in the Journal of American Physiology.

The human body works according to a natural 24 hour sleep-wake cycle, also referred to as a circadian rhythm, which controls body temperature, sleep/wake timing, and the way our organs and body systems work together.

Past research has shown that irregular sleep patterns and shift work take a toll on even the healthiest person over an extended period."As researchers, we accept that biological clocks and their rhythms are important for health, but there are virtually no experimental data demonstrating a casual link between circadian dysregulation and organ pathology," says researcher Martin Ralph, a Professor out of the Department of Psychology at U of T, and one of the lead researchers on the project.

"We knew that circadian rhythm disruption had been linked with reduced longevity so we decided to try and find out where, why and how longevity is compromised."The team, headed by Dr. Michael Sole, and which included researchers from the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at the University Health Network and the departments of Psychology and Physiology at the University of Toronto, found that coordination of the many circadian clocks throughout the body is critical for normal healthy organs and that long-term disruption of normal circadian rhythms can ultimately result in heart and kidney disease.

THE COST OF OBESITY $$$

The rate of obesity in the United States has doubled in the last 30 years, and those extra pounds weigh on companies' bottom lines, according to a new report from The Conference Board. Today, 34 percent of American adults fit the definition of "obese."

Obese employees cost U.S. private employers an estimated $45 billion annually in medical expenditures and work loss. In a new report, Weights and Measures: What Employers Should Know about Obesity, The Conference Board examines the financial and ethical questions surrounding whether, and how, U.S. companies should address the obesity epidemic.

The report was featured today on Marketplace, public radio's popular business program. "Employers need to realize that obesity is not solely a health and wellness issue," says Labor Economist Linda Barrington, Research Director of The Conference Board Management Excellence Program and co-author of the report. "Employees' obesity-related health problems in the United States are costing companies billions of dollars each year in medical coverage and absenteeism. Employers need to pay attention to their workers' weights, for the good of the bottom line, as well as the good of the employees and of society."

Among the report's findings: - Obesity is associated with a 36-percent increase in spending on healthcare services, more than smoking or problem drinking. More than 40 percent of U.S. companies have implemented obesity-reduction programs, and 24 percent more said they plan to do so in 2008. - Estimates of ROI for wellness programs range from zero to $5 per $1 invested. ROI aside, these programs may give companies an edge in recruiting and retaining desirable employees. Meanwhile, some say it may be more effective just to award employees cash and prizes for weight loss rather than devote resources to long-term wellness programs. - Employers need to weigh the risks of being too intrusive in managing obese employees against the risks of not managing them.

There is evidence that as weight goes up, wages go down. Employers should be fully aware of any potential discrimination risk before addressing employees' weight, whether for the employee's own good or that of the company. - The jury is still out on the costs and benefits of paying for employees' weight-loss surgeries.

While obese employees medically eligible for bariatric surgery (about 9 percent of the workforce) have sharply higher obesity-related medical costs and absenteeism, some say companies are unlikely to recoup surgery costs before these employees have left for other jobs.

SLEEP DEPRIVATION DOUBLES RISK OF OBESITY IN CHILDREN AND ADULTS

ScienceDaily (Jul. 13, 2006) — Research by Warwick Medical School at the University of Warwick has found that sleep deprivation is associated with an almost a two-fold increased risk of being obese for both children and adults.

The research reviewed current evidence in over 28,000 children and 15,000 adults. For both groups Professor Cappuccio found that shorter sleep duration is associated with almost a two-fold increased risk of being obese.

The research also suggests that those who sleep less have a greater increase in body mass index and waist circumference over time and a greater chance of becoming obese over time.

Professor Cappuccio says:
"The 'epidemic' of obesity is paralleled by a 'silent epidemic' of reduced sleep duration with short sleep duration linked to increased risk of obesity both in adults and in children.These trends are detectable in adults as well as in children as young as 5 years."

Professor Cappuccio points out that short sleep duration may lead to obesity through an increase of appetite via hormonal changes caused by the sleep deprivation. Lack of sleep produces Ghrelin which, among other effects, stimulates appetite and creates less leptin which, among other effects, suppresses appetite. However he says more research is needed to understand the mechanisms by which short sleep is linked to chronic conditions of affluent societies, such as obesity, diabetes and hypertension.

PORTION SIZE ... can you guess your calories ?

Portion Size, Calories, and Weight Loss

Perceptions of normal portion size have ballooned over the past 20 years -- increasing by 20 - 40% and adding substantial calories to our daily totals. And according to a recent study, the larger the size of a fast-food meal, the more likely that you will underestimate its calorie content.

Permanent alterations in your lifelong attitudes toward diet and exercise are the keys to successful weight management. You must be motivated enough to change habits not for a few weeks or months, but for a lifetime.

The first step is to determine how many calories you should eat each day. To do this, calculate the number of calories needed to maintain your current weight.

This is roughly 15 calories per pound of body weight for a moderately active person (someone who gets at least 30 minutes of moderate to intense physical activity every day). A completely sedentary person requires just 12 calories per pound to maintain weight.

So how many calories do you consume in a meal? In a recent study reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine (Volume 145, page 326 ), researchers found that the larger the size of a fast-food meal, the more likely that you will underestimate its calorie content -- by as much as 500 calories.

The researchers conducted two experiments. One involved 105 people at fast-food restaurants, who were asked to estimate the calorie content of the meals they ordered and ate. The other, a laboratory study, enrolled 40 college students who were shown 15 different sizes of the same fast-food meal and asked to estimate the calorie content.

The results showed that the size of the meal was critical for getting the calorie count right: At the fast-food restaurant, those eating smaller meals estimated they were eating 419 calories when they consumed 514 calories. Those eating larger meals estimated 675 calories but actually ate 1,188 calories. In the laboratory study, students guessed large meals contained an average of 1,000 calories when they really had 1,382 calories and that small meals contained 631 calories when they had 655 calories. In the two experiments, both overweight and normal-weight participants underestimated the calories in larger meals.

The bottom line: The next time you eat a super-size meal, be aware that its calorie count is probably twice what you think it is

SKIN AND SUGAR !

I received this wonderful email from Sandy at Motion Medica - oh boy ! another reason to read your labels and to try and keep your sugar intake low .. Read on and if you need anymore info please visit Sandy at www.motionmedica.com - she will answer all your questions personally x

We at Fitness Botanical Skin care Co. makers of Motion Medica are constantly striving to keep our clients' skin at it's healthiest and radiant appearance. The following information will help you to continue to achieve these results!


New studies from the British Journel of Dermatology has put some aging blame on a process called "glycation".

Glycation occurs when sugars- not just refined sugars, turn to glucose when it hits your blood stream. As they search out and latch on to proteins and form a new molecule called advanced glycation. The more of these sugars you consume, such as corn syrup and white refined, the more glycation the body produces.

The result? These sugars wreak havoc with good proteins. The most vulnerable proteins are the ones we need to stay strong, are collagen and elastin. These componds are responsible for keeping our skin firm, elastic and able to withhold water. Without these good proteins the result is sagging, wrinkled and dull skin.

Two super foods for the skin are strawberries and cold water fish as salmon, tuna and cod.

Strawberries are high in antioxidants, B vitamins, potassium and fiber. This key fruit is known to support healthy collagen.

Cold water fish contain high amounts of omega 3 fatty acids which helps to boost skin's appearance by supporting blood flow to maintain elasticity and increase skin's radiance.

For a topical treat for your skin, consider these essential organic botanicals:

Willow Bark is known to destroy bacteria and clarify the skin (increases your skin's purity.)

Borage Leaf works as a natural emollient and moisterizer to counteract any natural essential oils which may be stripped from cleansing.

Chamomilla Flower extract, obtained by a cold process as opposed to synthetic, helps to calm the skin resulting in even skin tone with little or no redness.

Cucumber extract is used as a natural ingredient to refine pores by removing impurities that may be left behind on skin from make-up use.
Vitamin E anti-oxidant helps to protect skin from free radical damage caused by the environment such as UV radiation and pollutants in the air.

This unique combination of ingredients are found in Motion Medica's Borage Leaf Cleanser and are essential and best used after a sweaty workout or every day cleanser. The Borage Leaf Cleanser sells for $14.95 8 oz size.

During cleansing your skin, it is suggested to use luke warm water, never shock your skin with very cold or hot water. After cleansing, you should gently pat it dry with a cotton towel and follow with a moisterizer suited for your skin type.

Additional tips can be found at http://www.motionmedica.com We welcome your e-mails with any questions or suggestions for your specific skin care concern or goal.

How Sweetners can ruin your diet

I was talking to Colleen this week about Aspartame, Splenda and the like and given the array of products out there that contain artificial sweetners I thought I would include part of one of my E books in my blog this week

Before I get going on that, a few words about this week...
I was just introduced to www.meetup.com .. what a great site (thanks Laura for the intro) I placed my BootCamp on the site and just this week Bill and Noreen joined the class on Saturday .. welcome both .. you were both sweating and smiling which I take as a good sign :)

Personally I managed 3 bikram yoga classes this week and 'boy' do I feel better for them. Sadly due to time constraints it meant I didnt do my usual cardio - but considering how fast my heart was racing doing evening yoga I'm not too worried about it.

Big congrats to Laura (another laura) and her hubby Juan on the birth of their first child ... an absolute beauty ! a 7lb 6 oz baby girl, who didnt even wake up to say 'hi' to me. Always incredible to see a baby just a few hours old - a miracle indeed.

So onward to an article I wrote on artifical sweetners. It is part of my e-book on carbohydrates which can be found on my website www.joannelee.com
Feedback is always welcome joanne@joannelee.com

ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS

In a nutshell and so that I don’t leave my advise until last. Artificial sweeteners are not good for you and they may be bad for you. They can certainly help a person get away from their addiction to sugar and lose weight as they are calorie free and may not have the insulin response that sugar does but artificial sweeteners confuse the brain.

You consume the sweeteners and the sweetness you taste causes enzymes in your mouth to begin to flow. This tells your receptor cells to expect an insulin rush and the subsequent jolt of energy that is associated with sweetness - but this does not happen, there is no Insulin rush and there is no jolt of energy. Your brain feels cheated and wants the boost you promised it and before you know it you find yourself craving something else sweet to eat to appease the brain.

One study showed that those who ate artificial sweeteners ate 3 times more calories than the control group.

In my personal experience I have seen this over and over in the yogurt stores. I see people buying pint after pint of ‘sugar free’ yogurt. You would never see those same people ordering the same quantity of regular ice cream. For one it is a mental excuse to eat huge quantities ‘guilt free’ but in fact by doing this you become the victim of cravings just as you would if you were a sugar addict.

When your body doesn’t get that energy jolt it expects from eating something sweet it asks for more .. and more .. and more.
That is also why many of the diet sodas have caffeine in them. The caffeine gives you the jolt that your brain is expecting.

Again I think artificial sweeteners have their place and can
help a lot of people get off the sugar roller coaster to help them lose weight, but equally I have seen the people where everything they eat is ‘sugar free’ this and ‘sugar free’ that, literally from the coffee they drink with the creamer (and sweetener) in it, to their condiments and jams, their sodas and syrup. For some, artificial sweeteners are a main staple of their diet and it proves to be a habit equally difficult to kick.

It is said that by the end of 2006 11% of the food on the grocery shelves will be labeled ‘reduced sugar’.

Unwittingly many people in their attempt to stay clear of sugar are getting off one roller coaster and on to another one.


SO WHAT ARE THEY?

First there was Saccharin, some believe that in moderation Saccharin is the best choice of all the artificial sweeteners as it has been around the longest and seems to cause few problems. That being said those same people might agree that enough Saccharin is a carcinogen and in tests it did cause bladder cancer in rats.

SACCHARIN: a white crystalline compound synthetically produced.

ASPARTAME : combines two amino acids together(L-aspartic acid and methyl ester) and is 200 times sweeter than sugar

Saccharin was pretty much overtaken by Aspartame (Equal and NutraSweet). Aspartame tastes better than Saccharin but Aspartame is responsible for the more serious side affects linked to artificial sweeteners, this is because your body actually digests it. Other sweeteners can go unrecognized by the body as they have no calories and no nutritional value, but Aspartame can build up in the body because it is actually digested.

Studies have linked Aspartame to damage of the central nervous system and the immune system. Aspartame has more complaints made against it than any other food additive, it runs like this:

Linked to MS
Linked to Lupus
Linked to Fibromyalgia


Symptoms include:

Headaches
Skin rash
Nervousness
Depression
Panic attacks
Nausea
And possibly male infertility.

Aspartame is toxic to individuals who have the inherited disease phenylketonuria and critics claim that asthma sufferers have experienced serious respiratory side effects,
The FDA agrees that there are risks but tends to think that the dosages used are so small that the risk is limited, but no one can really tell us how much is too much.

And that is the thing. There are many studies on artificial sweeteners that suggest that they may be dangerous but all the studies have been done on animals. Many of the artificial sweeteners of today have not been out long enough for long term conclusions to be made. We are living the experiment and even then many people could be suffering the symptoms of their use but they do not put two and two together, that is, they do not associate their headaches or panic attacks or depression with the additive in their food.

And then came Splenda …

The claims are amazing, as sweet as sugar, but no insulin response and no side effects. They also tell you it is made from sugar and then that word ‘Natural’ gets thrown into the mix.

Let us first get one thing straight. If you a bicycle and take the pedals off and add a motor, what is it ? A bike or a motorbike ?

If we take sugar (sucrose, a disaccharide of glucose and fructose) but then we take some of the hydroxyl groups in the molecules out and replace them with chlorine atoms … is it still sugar?

The critics argue here that it more resembles a chlorocarbon than sugar and most pesticides are chlorocarbons.

Indeed Sucralose (Splenda) was discovered by accident by British scientists trying to formulate a new pesticide back in 1976..

I am not saying that by consuming Splenda you are consuming a pesticide, but the ‘Natural’ claims of Splenda being made from sugar are a little misleading. In the defense of the manufacturer using a relationship with a pesticide might not be the best marketing ploy.
Is Splenda safe ? We do not know yet. The manufacturer themselves did studies which showed that it caused problems in rats (enlarged liver and kidneys) but again, the studies were not on humans and it would all depend on the amount consumed and an individuals sensitivity to the additive.

Sucralose (Splenda) is pretty much not recognized by your body, not much of it is even absorbed (some studies say 15%) but if you are one of those people who is sensitive to sucralose in your system then even that might be too much. Much like someone with a peanut allergy doesn’t need to consume any amount of peanuts to have a reaction, the same holds true to any sensitivity, so again although not much is even absorbed – how much is too much? Only time will tell.

We have already seen some side effects of Splenda. Diarrhea, muscle aches, bladder problems, rashes and agitation. So some people certainly have a sensitivity to Splenda, for the rest of us there may be some side effects, we simply do not yet know yet.

My concern with the artificial sweeteners is that there is such a grey area regarding how safe they are and yet their use in our foods is increasing at a dramatic rate. Running the risk here of repeating myself, even if the artificial sweeteners turn out to be harmless or maybe they will invent one that is harmless, it still does not address the relationship we have with sweetness.

Artificial sweeteners are used in everything, we buy the packets and then we buy the products that scream ‘no sugar’ or ‘low sugar’. Well is we are all eating less sugar and if all these artificial sweeteners are calorie free then shouldn’t everyone be getting thinner ?

We do know that those that eat a lot of artificially sweetened food actually eat more food and end up heavier. On the flip side if the likes of Splenda can help someone lose weight by getting them off sugar then it can serve a purpose, but at some point it is wise to take control of your sweet tooth, cut back on the sweeteners and get rid of the cravings and off that roller coaster ride.

ALTERNATIVES

Sugar alcohols have been used for many years by diabetics who are then able to sweeten their food without triggering an insulin response.

SORBITOL: a polyalcohol present in plants, fruits and seaweeds. Absorbed from the intestine more slowly than fructose (fruit sugar) and is then rapidly oxidized to fructose.

ZYLITOL: sugar alcohol similar to fructose

MANITOL: derived from fructose

We see here the relationship with Fructose in all three. Fructose is found in fruits and honey it is a monosaccharide, a simple sugar and although it is one component of sugar (sugar = glucose + fructose) it is sweeter than sugar.

Fructose is absorbed slowly in the upper bowel and is largely unchanged. Fructose then permeates the liver without the aid on insulin. Although insulin is needed later in the metabolic process it is this reduced insulin response that makes fructose and its related sugar alcohols popular.

STEVIA

Stevia is an herb and has been used for over 400 years without ill effect (now that is a long term study!)
It is 200-300 times sweeter than sugar, indeed it is known in South America as the “sweet herb”.

The sweetness of Stevia is a different sort of sweetness than one finds with our artificial sweeteners but its popularity is growing enormously. The irony here (given that it has been around for 400 years and that it is an herb, not a chemical), is that the FDA has not yet granted Stevia “additive” status. It is approved for use as a supplement but not as a food additive.

We see this a lot with natural substances. There is not as much money to be made on a product that cannot be patented or controlled. The business of sugar and the business that is artificial sweeteners surely must not like the growing popularity of Stevia and some might suspect that they have some pull with the FDA. I’ll leave it to you to read between the lines. Meanwhile Stevia is available at all health food stores and is well worth a try.


The verdict is then still out on our artificial sweeteners and really I don’t want you to beat yourself up over your use of sweeteners. The message here is for you to be informed and to be aware. Read your labels and know what you are consuming. By just being aware you will likely show more control and if you find yourself eating more and more and experiencing cravings at the very least you can know what is going on and take steps, even baby steps at first, to heal your body from the miserable cycle too many of us live everyday.

annelee.com

UNDERSTANDING STUBBORN FAT .. ITS NOT JUST CALORIES

I'm including in my blog today an email I received from a doctor friend of mine. It is a problem that I address ALL the time. You diet you exercise but there is just that 'problem' area which wont budge.

I can totally explain why this happens and how to address it and it is so much more than just counting calories and increasing your training. Imagine you wanted to fill a bucket with water but the more water you poured in the level just didnt change .... would you just keep pouring in water ? or would you check to see if there were holes in the bucket ?

My point being .. stubborn fat is only addressed with calories and exericse and people get frustrated .. but there are holes in the bucket ... meaning there is so much more going on on a hormonal and chemical level. Once you understand what is happening then you have more power to address the problem

so heres the letter:

Joanne, Can you look at this diet diary of this 40ish female triathlete? She would like to lose a little body fat and have consistent energy throughout the day. I think she needs more protein especially in the evening and maybe some more healthy fats with less carbs (again, particularly in the evening).What are your thoughts?
Darren F. X. Clair, MDVibrance Medical Group Beverly Hills Triangle Medical Plaza 462 North Linden Dr., Suite 440 Beverly Hills, CA 90212 USAwww.VibranceMedicalGroup.com

and here is my reply .. its brief, but if you want to know more, please contact me joanne@joannelee.com and we can discuss your spercific concerns

www.vibrancemedicalgroup.com
I just briefly looked the ladies diet but I few thoughts before I retire
1. Although she is burning up a lot of calories i am guessing that she has 'problem' areas (either hips and thighs or abdominal and back)

2. The amount of carbohydrates that she is consuming (even after exercise) will cause an increased rate of insulin production

3. Insulin has been shown to stimulate more LPL formation (lipoprotein lipase) which transports (stores) triglycerides (fat) into the cell ..

4. Insulin also makes the Alpha receptors more sensitive. cells have alpha and beta receptors. Alpha receptors block the breakdown of fat, beta receptors increase the breakdown of fat (women usually have more alpha than beta in the lower body) By sensitizing the alpha receptors you are stopping the breakdown of fat. A natural alpha antagonist is Yohimbine .. but some people are sensitive and I'm not sure how good really works .. but in theory ? maybe

5. Insulin inhibits HSL (hormone stimulating lipase) needed for lipolysis (note insulin also blunts yohimbine .. i know I read that somewhere)

6. She could get the carbs she needs for all the activity from better sources or by adding more fiber .. she could test her blood sugar. Natural (unprocessed foods) will have a higher thermic affect and will regulate her blood sugar (and therefore her insulin)

7. Women actually burn up a greater % of fat (than men who use more stored glcogen) with exercise but most of it comes from Intra Muscular fat and not those floppy rolls :)

8. epinephrine is the primary hormone that stimulate lipolysis - with all the activity this lady is certainly producing epinephrine - however (again) epinephrine works on both the beta and alpha receptors and we need to stimulate the beta for fat breakdown (alpha inhibit fat loss) .. so again it could come down to minimizing the alpha sensitivity (through insulin)

In a nutshell .. I doubt it is down to calories as she does so much activity and only eats 3 times a day.
I think it is more down to the responses her body is making on a more hormonal level. Im going to look at it properly tomorrow, but I think maybe her food sources and as you say, the evening carbohydrates.
Also, does she take any estrogen products/meds ? We know that women with higher levels of estrogen have smaller waists and more stubborn fat on their thighs and butt. When they hit menopause and estrogen drops they get that middle aged spread which can often be minimized with hormone therapy.

I would have to discuss with her ...

Joanne www.joannelee.com
joanne@joannelee.com

Day in the life of a personl trainer

What a great day (with one big exception). I ran my bootcamp in Marina del Rey .. I had thought out the routine last night and it made me smile even as I typed in into my keyboard - but everyone did GREAT .. they always amaze me .. I did it all .. the ladder and the disc (do you know the 'disc' ??) I had jump ropes and pop presses, I had them running backwards with some yoga thrown in. The Boot Camp is turning out to be so much fun - a lot of work for me, but so rewarding.

Apart from the fight one of my girls got into with the dog training class close by ... the instructor is obviously better with animals than people ! Sadly for her, her behavior is such a bad reflection to her clients who were standing around.

Then all day I have worked on my website www.joannelee.com (after speaking with my family in England for an hour or so .. ma and pa are off to Egypt in search of the Sun)

The exception to my day is that I didnt get to train myself .. I am sure all PT's can appreciate this problem - you are meant to be the role model but you run out of time for yourself :)
No worries, I know me and I'll find the time tomorrow - I rarely miss 2 days in a row.
I had hoped to go to Bikram yoga and thats the part I wish I had gotten to. My hip still feels not so great and the Bikram class last week really helped

Ho Hum .. off to a birthday party tonight then home to miss an hours sleep as the clocks change and then off to work tomorrow. Its funny but my Dad still cannot get used to me working on a Sunday ! but in Los Angeles it is a bonus as the drive between appointments is a breeze on a Sunday !!