Tag Archives: Eileen

Fittest Loser: Year Five Begins!

Posted on January 25, 2013 | Comments Off

From Eileen:  It’s hard to believe, but the Fittest Loser is starting up its 5th year. We have had more than 100 applications to sort through and have finally selected the final six.

It’s always such a difficult decision because anyone who fills out the application wants to be healthy and fit, but we can only manage six per year. This year’s batch is going to be interesting … we have a great mix of personalities and life stages.

Over the last five years, our 21 contestants have lose more than 1,220 pounds during the 12-week competition. Most have managed to keep the weight off over time.

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Chocolate for breakfast? Oh, yeah!

Posted on February 10, 2012 | Comments Off

A new study shows chocolate for breakast may help you keep the weight off.

From Eileen:  Be still my heart! A new study by Tel Aviv University researchers shows that eating sweets after breakfast may help you lose weight in the long run.

The study included 200 non-diabetic patients who were considered obese by clinical definition. Each was randomly assigned to a group who either consumed a 300-calorie breakfast or a 600-calorie breakfast, which always included some sort of sweet treat.

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One more thing to exercise … your willpower

Posted on September 7, 2011 | Comments Off

  From Eileen: The hardest part of any diet and/or exercise program is … staying on the diet and/or exercise program.

 We get tired. We get tempted. We give in. We give up. It happens to us all.

 And then we berate ourselves for our lack of willpower.  A new book called, appropriately enough, “Willpower” by Roy F. Baumeister and John Tierney, examines the mysteries and vagaries of self control. The authors compare willpower to a muscle that needs to be built up.

 In a review in the New York Times, noted author Steven Pinker writes:

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Zumba and yoga on the road

Posted on August 17, 2011 | Comments Off

Walking is a great way to burn off calories while in San Francisco, but it's not the only way.

From Eileen:  We all know how easy it is to fall off the exercise wagon when you are on the road. A trip to San Francisco last week reminded me how hard it is to keep motivated when you are off your regular routine.

 San Francisco is a great walking city and there are plenty of hills to get your cardio in, but  there also are any number of places to pack in the calories!

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Cupcake fantasies = diet disaster

Posted on August 3, 2011 | Comments Off

Dreaming of a cupcake to reward yourself for all that dieting work? Well, you may have to reframe your fantasies.

From Eileen:  A friend of mine started a big-time diet and exercise program last week. She jumped in with her typical gregarious enthusiasm, setting up sessions with a personal trainer, reading food labels, packing her lunch, counting her calories … and telling everyone “This is it, guys! This is it!”

 After the first week, she stayed on course, losing a pound. Not a smashing success, but a great start nonetheless. She was pretty pleased with her progress. Slow is OK because this was it, the real deal.

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Learn to like what you see and, eventually, you will like what you see

Posted on July 29, 2011 | Comments Off

A new study shows improving your self image can help you reach your fitness goals.

From Eileen:  We at the Fittest Loser often talk about how your thinking strongly influences your doing. In other words, how you focus your attention has a lot to do with how you behave.
 
  A new study by the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity shows that if you can improve your body image, you can actually improve your body.  Basically it goes like this:  If you like your body, you are more likely to do right by it.

As reported in Science Daily:

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Is it possible to get fit in six minutes a week?

Posted on July 22, 2011 | Comments Off

What if you could get fit and possibly lose weight in just six minutes a week?

From Eileen:  The biggest excuse everyone has for not exercising, of course, is the “I don’t have enough time” lament.

 I’ve talked about that before in terms of importance … meaning if something is important enough to you, there’s always enough time. (There’s always enough time to eat and sleep and watch TV, right?)

 But here’s another way to attack the time problem:  What if you could get fit in just six minutes a week? Yep, six minutes a week!

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Move the yoga mat for a new perspective

Posted on June 17, 2011 | Comments Off
 

Go ahead. Move your yoga mat or change your spin bike! Getting out of a rut is good for you.

 From Eileen: We’re having squabbles in my spin class lately. The Fitness Center changed the room, as well as the configuration of the bikes, and that has put everyone in a real tizzy.  The room is too hot. It’s too cold. The sound system is too loud. The bikes are too close. The complaining is near record proportions.

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Best. Diet. Planner. Ever. (No, really)

Posted on June 7, 2011 | Comments Off

 

Picking a diet plan just got easier.

From Eileen: So what’s the best diet out there? The one you can stick with over the long haul, of course.

 To  help you along the way,  US News and World Report compiled a group of 22 experts and took an unbiased look at  20 popular diets. (For those of you who are curious, here is the methodology they used).  The two big winners were Weight Watchers and the government developed DASH diet. (DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension.)

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Exercise for six years straight? No big deal

Posted on June 1, 2011 | Comments Off

From Eileen: Well, today is my anniversary. Six years of continuous exercise. No flowers. No special dinner out. No real celebration. Actually, it’s almost anti-climactic. That’s because fitness has become part of my everyday life, almost as mundane as making my bed. I certainly don’t celebrate … “Yippee! I’ve taken a shower every day for a decade!” Or “Woo hoo! I ate a meal every single day for the last 12 years.”

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