Fit Facts

Fatterday!

By Dr. John H. Sklare

I received an interesting email from a frustrated woman the other day. She said that she was doing very well eating healthy and exercising during the work week, but once Saturday arrives she said, “My evil twin takes over as I spend almost every Saturday bingeing on cookies and brownies.” I’m sure there are quite a few of you nodding your heads in agreement as your read this, but as we all know, there is no evil twin here. There is only her and her “inability” to control herself on Saturdays. Saturday is a particularly tough day for most people because it has relaxation, fun and comfort written all over it. So, I thought to myself, what if we spelled it differently. Could that help this woman control her impulses on Saturday?

This is not the first time I have written about the power found in a mental strategy called Thought ReFraming. ReFraming is a mental strategy that allows you to look at situations in a new light. And research shows us that if you can look at something differently, you can change the way you respond to that situation. For example, one way to do this is a suggestion that I gave a while back about the weekend in general. I suggested that instead of calling it the “WEAKend” (since “week” and “weak” phonetically sound alike) that you call it the STRONGend. It’s amazing how the simple turn of this word has helped so many people become stronger at the end of the week. So, along those lines, I have another suggestion for those of you who struggle with Saturday. If you find yourself frustrated and losing control on this particular day, ask yourself whether you want this to be a Saturday or a Fatterday? Silly perhaps but effective indeed!

Wishing You Great Health,

Dr. John H. Sklare

Weight Loss is 90% Mental

By Jennifer Gruenemay, ACE-Certified, LifeScript Staff Writer

While a personal trainer is definitely one of the best coaches you can have in your weight loss journey, a positive attitude is also an excellent coach to have in your corner and it won’t cost you anything extra. While the science behind weight loss breaks it down to a “calories in vs. calories out” equation, the reality is that weight loss is largely a battle of the mind. The battle is lost when you end up talking yourself out of exercising, talking yourself into ordering that cheeseburger and listening to negative self-talk every time you look in the mirror and pick apart your image. If you want to get serious about weight loss, don’t just pay attention to how much you eat and how often you exercise – also make a mental checklist of how often you put yourself down even as you’re trying to build yourself up. Once you get an idea of how damaging your attitude really is to your goals, start putting positive thoughts and encouraging images into your mind. Stomp out negative thoughts and keep a positive attitude even when things aren’t looking so great. So you missed a workout and had cheesecake for breakfast – so what? Don’t beat yourself up about it, but rather tell yourself you’re human and you’re allowed to make mistakes now and then, but you’ll do better next time. Visualize yourself at your goal's end and you’ll find yourself there sooner than you know.

Hope For Diabetes

Whole Grains Curb Black Women's Diabetes Risk

Despite some signs of progress on the public health front, African-American women remain one of the highest-risk groups for type 2 diabetes. The American Diabetes Association estimates that, among those African-American women who are over the age of 55, one in four has diabetes. However, in a spot of hopeful news, a new study finds that African-American women can significantly lower their diabetes risk with lifestyle and dietary change, including eating more calcium- and magnesium-rich foods and whole grains. Published in the journal Diabetes Care, the study by Harvard researchers was based on data from more than 40,000 African-American women nationwide. Researchers found that those women with the highest daily consumption of whole grains, as well as the nutrients calcium and magnesium, were 31% less likely to be diagnosed with diabetes. Low-fat dairy foods were highlighted in the study as an excellent source of calcium and magnesium.

Frequent Workouts Are More Effective

By Jennifer Gruenemay, ACE-Certified, LifeScript Staff Writer

When it comes to losing weight, it may not be how many calories you burn in a week that makes the most difference to your bottom line, but rather how often you burn these calories. In other words, if you’re relying on a four-hour weekend hike to do all the work for you in terms of burning enough calories to lose weight, you may be better off spending four, one-hour sessions in the gym each week. You’re more likely to have more energy to give to your workouts when you break them up into smaller, more frequent sessions, rather than trying to do it all at once. Try signing up for a group fitness class at your gym to help motivate you to be more active during the week. Or make it a point to get at least 30 minutes of exercise in each morning before you start your day. The more often you exercise, the more success you'll have at finally losing the weight and getting in shape, once and for all.