ThinkSlim

Meat Loaf becomes Meat Slice

I had BBC breakfast news on this morning while I was doing my usual putting lunch together for everyone to take to work and school and happened to catch a piece about Meat Loaf's new tour in Europe.

Apparently Meat Loaf has managed to lose 27lbs since the start of the year - no mean feat especially as he has been big since he was a young kid.

And one of the presenters quipped that he might now need to be called Meat Slice...

Great reminder for portion control too - don't eat the loaf or the cake - have just one slice....

Free Choose to Move Exercise Motivation Tool

The American Heart Association has created a free tool - the Choose To Move Countdown timer - to help inspire us to set and achieve our New Year's resolutions to get more exercise this year.

This is a downloadable desktop tool that includes new daily exercise tips, words of encouragement and nutrition advice every day for 12 weeks. They aim to help you develop healthy habits that can produce positive lifestyle changes.

You can download it at this page

Britney Spears Diet Stories : Complete Tosh?

There are a few reports going round at the moment like this one that Britney Spears' erratic lifestyle and recent incidents splashed all over the newspapers are due in no small part to her diet - including her high sugar and coffee consumption.

Come on though, let's face it, given typical Western consumption these days, Britney Spears' diet is (I'm afraid to say) more like the norm than anything unusual.

The diet link (though I'm sure large amounts of junk food do affect our moods and our sense of sense esteem) is not a cause and effect thing - at least not to the extent that we behave in such odd ways - maybe we are grumpier than usual or we lack energy or we feel stressed out but we can't just blame any old bad behaviour on diet.

If a poor diet turned our heads about 90% of the population would be "doing a Britney" and  before we know it there would be a lot of shaved heads and cars being hit by umbrellas.

Or maybe you know different? Do you think food has caused to you to behave irrationally and have you changed your diet because of it?

Do You Have Fat Genes?

Research into the existence of a gene which controls fat formation continues apace with new information coming to light regularly in the scientific press.

Whether a fat gene exists or not (and I do think it is harder for some people to lose weight) will not make a jot of difference to you and your body.

The only thing which makes a difference is how much and what you eat and how much you move.

You can decide you have fat genes and give up or you can take action and succeed at losing weight.

Yes, it might be harder for you than your best friend or your partner but there's no point in comparing yourself with them. Do what you need to do to lose that weight.

Sometimes my clients fondly imagine they have a fat gene - when they are really just eating too much and not moving enough.

On the other hand, if you have a treatable medical condition such as a thyroid problem which makes it extremely difficult to lose weight no matter what you do make sure that you see your doctor for help.

'Skinny Gene' Does Exist, UT Southwestern Researchers Find

technorati tags:fat+genes, difficulty+losing+weight

Shrink Your Waist Without Losing Weight

A study of 24 middle-aged men in Canada has shown that rigorous exercise can shrink your waistline even if you eat calories to compensate for all the activity you do.

The men did aerobics for an hour, five times a week for three months and were told to eat additional calories to cover the amount they were burning.

The waist size of the men shrank by an inch whether they started out as slim or obese.

Another benefit of exercise to stack up with all the others.

Yet, just think what would have happened if they hadn't eaten the additional calories - they'd have lost about 15 pounds of fat too. What a waste of three months exercise!

Charlotte Observer | 09/09/2007 | Study: Exercise helps, even without weight loss

technorati tags:shrink+your+waist, exercise, weight+loss

Weight Loss Robot Coach - Coming to a Household Near You?

I don't think this quite the same as having a weight loss coach forever looking over your shoulder but it's a serious attempt from The MIT Media Lab to see how a house weight loss robot could help people lose weight. It looks you in the eye and tells you straight where you're going wrong for a start!

You won't get much empathy though - the weight loss robot was never overweight in its life. It can't eat too much as it has no mouth!

See the weight loss robot video at the link below.

The Media Lab » Blog Archive » Weight maintenance sociable robot

technorati tags:weight+loss+robot+coach, MIT+Media+Lab

Problems with Alli

The more people who take Alli the over the counter diet drug the more it falls from grace. The main problems initially reported were with loose stools - and the manufacturers are quite up front about this being a side effect.

But many others have reported feeling tired, nauseated and achy after taking Alli for a short time.

And, according to the comments on this article in the Chicago Tribune, Alli has even been reported as having a link to cancer. Who knows whether that is true - but that's the whole point of new drugs - who knows what the effects will be in 20 years time?

On the other hand we have a pretty good idea of the podsitive benefits of a good diet and moderate exercise...

Problems with Alli | Chicago Tribune

technorati tags:problems+with+alli, weight+loss+drug+alli, diet+pills

Atkins breath?

It's always been known that low carb diets affect your breath in the early days - going into the ketosis state causes a powerful acetone smell on your breath. But who knew it could cause you to fail a breath test and be hauled in to a police station for a blood test? One unfortunate pilot found that out when he was routinely tested before flying his plane this month. Hope he lost some weight for his trouble...

Airline blames diet for pilot breath test failure | Breaking City News | Reuters.co.uk

technorati tags:Atkins+diet, low+carb+diet, bad+breath, ketosis

How to Healthily Lose 117lbs

Another example of successful weight loss. Hilda who is 57 lost weight through changing her food choices and exercising at a Curves gym. No rocket science. Just common sense and commitment.

"The main thing I had to change was my eating habits. No fast food, no fried chicken, no sweets. I just stopped."

Read the interview with her at

Diet, exercise keys to her weight loss | www.tucsoncitizen.com ®

You can do this - you really can!

technorati tags:Lose+weight+healthily, eating+habits, food+choices

The Size Zero Diet

Read how one reporter lived on 800 calories a day for two weeks, lost a lot of weight and what she and a group of experts thought of the results - eye opening.

Scotsman.com Living - Zero hope of sticking to extreme diet

technorati tags:size+zero+diet, low+calorie+diet