Exercising but Gaining Weight– I think this research study is very helpful as I know a lot of people out there think just exercise alone can lead to weight loss. I was one of those people for many years. The research here talks to how for some people if exercise is the only new variable you could in fact end up gaining weight. “Those women who were losing weight after four weeks of exercise tended to continue to lose weight, while the others did not. “What that means in practical terms is that someone who wants to lose weight with exercise” should step on the bathroom scale after a month, Dr. Gaesser said. If at that point your weight remains stubbornly unchanged or has increased, “look closely at your diet and other activities,” he said.”

What 200 Calories of Everyday Food Looks Like– I for one find visuals to be very impactful when trying to learn or understand something new. When I came across this article talking about a new app Calorific where it shows you what 200 calories looks like across various foods I had to go check it out. Learning what proper portions should be took me a lot of time when I started my weight loss journey. This app quickly shows you exactly what 200 calories looks like across all of the different foods groups like fruit, vegetables, breads, meat, dairy, and sweets. In order to get more features with the App you have to pay,  but I think the basic info it has is pretty handy to take a look at.

Lost Art of Self Monitoring– I like this blog post because the author is very matter of fact. We as a society do not do a great job at monitoring what we eat and usually underestimate exactly how much we are in fact consuming. I for one track what I eat daily, but I am probably realistically off by a couple hundred calories a day by thinking the small handful of nuts or the grapes I snacked on where lesser in size then they actually were. “To get anywhere close to the physique most of us desire takes a fairly high degree of self-monitoring and tracking.”

The Quickstart Guide to Quitting a Bad Habit– I think this article has some great pointers on how to quite bad habits. I for one have quite a few in my life, socially smoking cigarettes, diet soda and artificial sweetener, and learning to adopt healthy eating and exercise into my daily life. I can say it is not easy at first, but once you get into the routine it becomes second nature and is a lot easier to manage.

Health Tip: Find Purpose in Life– “This point is one for cultural change in medicine, I think, and the embrace of a holistic approach that includes not just the scientifically-grounded diagnostic tests and treatments that doctors recommend, but the abstract concepts that might explain why those science-based recommendations go ignored and unused.”

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The Caffeine-Alcohol Effect– In college it was a staple to mix red bull with almost any booze when going out. You had been up late the night before, at class all day, and needed a pick up in order to rally throughout the night. This article brings some good insight into the risks of doing this. “People who add caffeine to their cocktail are at greater risk of being in an accident or making a decision they will later regret (like getting in the car with a drunk driver) than those who stick to straight booze.”

Year 1 of Legal Marijuana Lessons Learned in CO– Oh my home state. I personally think it is good to see what the effects of legalizing marijuana are prior to more states legalizing. It is always good to take findings and see how you can improve off of them. It will be interesting to see where this goes. “Wolk, the state’s public health director, expects to have a clearer picture of legalization by spring 2015, when the Retail Marijuana Public Health Advisory Committee will release its findings on the first year of legalization. The report will look at hospital visits, impaired driving incidents, teen use, rehab visits, and many other metrics. In the meantime, he believes the state is doing all it can, given the mandate to allow and regulate legal sales issued by voters in 2012.”

Great Vacation? Don’t Brag To Your Friends– “But the pleasure of a social encounter is built on commonality. People are more likely to enjoy talking about an ordinary experience they have all had rather than hearing about the fabulous one they didn’t. So sharing the details of your singular experience in a social setting can indeed backfire, leading to feelings of being excluded.”

Thinking about the long-term impact of your food choices may help control food cravings– This article is interesting, it is all about how you think about things and the impact it can make. “A new study adds evidence to the current thinking that individuals with obesity can successfully reduce cravings using distract tasks.”

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Revised Food Labels Still Won’t Tell Whole Story– I for one am really excited about our new food labels. Although I agree with the article, there is still quite a bit of room for improvement, it is at least a step in the right direction. I personally think the bigger challenge is not just giving people more information, but educating them on what it means. Like how many calories is needed for an individual’s body to be healthy.

How Can Exercise Boost Your Brains – “Tellingly, the children who had attended the most exercise sessions showed the greatest improvements in their cognitive scores.  Meanwhile, the children in the control group also raised their test scores, but to a much smaller extent. In effect, both groups’ brains were developing, but the process was more rapid and expansive in the children who ran and played.”

Against The Grain-First warning, this article is really long! However it is very interesting. The article discuss’s the growing phenomenon with people becoming gluten free. It asks the question is it gluten or is it due to carbohydrates or how bread is now being processed. “For reasons that remain largely unexplained, the incidence of celiac disease has increased more than fourfold in the past sixty years. Researchers initially attributed the growing number of cases to greater public awareness and better diagnoses. But neither can fully account for the leap since 1950”

Do You Really Understand Elite Performance?– This article discuss’s what it takes for elite performance and narrows it down to 6 key skills. “Put simply, the quality of your technical, tactical, mental, physical and lifestyle skills combined with the quality of your performance culture will dictate success or failure.”

The Science of the Midnight Snack– This article stems from jawbone who is one company in the growing pedometer category who just released information on their customers eating habits. Through the data it was found that people’s want for sugar, salt, and fat increased at night. In another study it found the same to be true from a group of volunteers. “And while their desire for vegetables stayed more or less the same throughout the day, their hunger for sweet, salty, and starchy foods increased dramatically around 8 p.m.—suggesting that our appetite for junk is governed more by our internal body clocks than by genuine hunger.”

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Let the Body Rest, for the Sake of the Brain–  This article does not present anything ground breaking per say, but I think is a good reminder on why sleep is so important. “Getting less than five hours of sleep a night makes people dumber and less able to concentrate, and it can make people more susceptible to false memories, according to a new study published in the September issue of Psychological Science.”

Milk Choice May Affect Vitamin D– This is a quick read, short and sweet.  “Researchers found that children who drank only milk from sources other than cows were almost three times as likely as those who drank only cow’s milk to have vitamin D levels below 20 nanograms per milliliter, a level generally accepted as normal for children.”

The Dangers of Eating Late At Night– I for one do it, I eat right before bed. I try to avoid it however life gets busy and you just end up eating late or needing a little something before bed. This article lists some good reasons on why people should move up their eating times and why it is important to not eat at least 3 hours before bed time. “Many of my patients find that eating earlier alleviates their allergies,sinusitis, asthma, sleep apnea and diabetes symptoms.”

 Is Exercise Bad for Your Teeth?– “Over all, the more hours that an athlete spent working out, the more likely he or she was to have cavities. The researchers found no correlation, however, between consuming sports drinks or any other elements of the athletes’ diets and their oral health.”

Over 35? You’re Screwed – I really liked this guy’s point of view towards fitness and how he talks about the way younger vs older athletes approach it. My favorite quote in the article was  “The body is a collection of systems – skeletal, muscular, circulatory, digestive, etc. — none of which operate in isolation from the other. In short, you can’t redline it in some areas and expect the others not to be affected. In our case that means doing stuff that supports recovery from heavy training. Get to bed earlier. Practice good sleep hygiene. Meditate. Practice gratitude. Enjoy yourself. Enjoy good food. Enjoy some bad food. Stop stressing about bullshit. Maintain good cardio function.”

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This May Prevent Some Damage With Weight Gain– This study focused on a group of people who were asked to eat 4 additional muffins a day so researchers could gauge the effect of polyunsaturated fat vs saturated fats. It is interesting to see the findings and also to see what an additional 4 muffins a day can do. “This small study highlights what we already know about saturated fats, and how quickly a relatively small amount of saturated fat can cause health disturbances.”

Should Your Workout Kick Your Ass– I really liked this article. The author emphasizes the importance of nutrition along with exercise to really see results. I for one can back this up from personal experience. I worked out everyday for 5 months with no results, mainly because I was not focusing on what I was eating as well. It is important to look at both variables. “The take-home is that exercise isn’t nearly as important as diet for pure fat loss, so no matter how hard you work, you won’t see results until you’re eating smarter. (However, exercise is still an important part of the equation.)”

The Dangers of Thinning Bone as Men Ag– “In fact, 1 in 5 men over the age of 50 years will sustain a fracture due to osteoporosis in their lifetime.” This is in contrast to 1 in 3 women over 50 who will have  an osteoporosis-related fracture.”

Whats Your Fitness Age– This article just makes sense. Also the test is fun. I am proud to say I have the fitness age of a teenager. What is yours? “A new study of fitness and lifespan suggests that a person’s so-called fitness age – determined primarily by a measure of cardiovascular endurance – is a better predictor of longevity than chronological age.”

The Exercise Cost of Soda vs Juice– I really like this idea. When I was learning about calories having something tangable to measure against helped me. So for every mile I ran was one more additional glass of wine. “In the study, researchers posted signs next to the soda and juice in Baltimore corner stores that read: “Did you know that working off a bottle of soda or fruit juice takes about 50 minutes of running?” or “Did you know that working off a bottle of soda or fruit juice takes about five miles of walking?” (And, long as those distances and times may seem, they may even underestimate the magnitude of the metabolic insult of liquid sugar.) The signs were a proxy for an actual food label, but they made the point. They effectively led to fewer juice and soda purchases, and to purchases of smaller sizes (12-ounce cans instead of 20-ounce bottles).”

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