Weight Loss » Exercise Therapy Articles & Stories

If obese people lose even a moderate amount of weight, their risk of developing serious health problems, especially heart disease, is dramatically lowered, according to a recent study.
   
The research, done by doctors at the Methodist DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center in Houston, Texas, is good news for the roughly 50 million Americans who suffer from so-called metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors that lead to heart disease. A person is said to have this syndrome when he exhibits any three of the following five abnormalities: abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high blood triglyceride levels, low HDL (“good”) cholesterol and blood sugar problems (such as insulin resistance or high fasting blood glucose).

Related Stories

- Asian Seaweed Diet
- Low Carb Diets
- Healthy Feet Incompatible With Fat

Obese children and teenagers can lose significant weight through lifestyle changes that are occasionally paired with medication, a Dutch team has found in reviewing 64 randomized, controlled studies from five continents.

The overview found that what is known as behavioral lifestyle therapy produces good weight-loss results. Such therapy focused on changing children's thinking patterns and behaviors by teaching them, for example, to have breakfast and to eat regular, portion-controlled meals. Teaching kids to reduce inactive conduct such as watching TV, and to increase physical activity, is also beneficial. To change thinking patterns that promoted unhealthy eating and lack of physical activity, children were educated in using techniques such as self-awareness, self-monitoring, stress management and goal setting. ( Read more about Lifestyle Changes Effective Against Child Obesity)

Related Stories

- Seven Breakthrough Strategies for Weight Loss
- Asian Seaweed Diet
- For Obese, Losing a Little Helps a Lot

Obesity can lead to foot amputations, warns a podiatry organization in Australia. This is "particularly [true of] those patients who have diabetes, because they can lose feeling in their feet and sustain injuries, which can get infected and sometimes require amputation," said Brenden Brown, vice president of the Australasian Podiatry Council. And, he said, most people are completely unaware of the feet-fat connection.

Related Stories

- Lifestyle Changes Effective Against Child Obesity
- Weight Watchers
- For Obese, Losing a Little Helps a Lot

Sixty-six percent of Americans are overweight, and 32 percent are obese, so many citizens have now gotten serious about losing weight. But many times a dieter or exerciser can hit a weight-loss plateau that's seemingly impossible to get beyond. Therefore, here follows seven areas to focus on to flank excess weight and, hopefully, lead to big improvements in health.

Related Stories

- Weight Watchers
- For Obese, Losing a Little Helps a Lot
- Asian Seaweed Diet

Exercise may not halt the aging process, but mounting evidence suggests people who stay active can slow its effects. The latest issue of Mayo Clinic Women's Healthsource offers 8 benefits to regular exercise. It Provides Energy: Feeling tired and lethargic is largely a result of being inactive. Endurance exercises like walking, swimming, jogging, biking, and rowing improves stamina and energy. Even after a few weeks in a walking program, people have more energy for activities. It Improves Mental Health: There's considerable evidence that regular physical activity can help reduce stress, manage mild-to-moderate depression and anxiety, improve sleep quality, boost mood, and enhance the overall feeling of well-being.

Related Stories

- Healthy Feet Incompatible With Fat
- For Obese, Losing a Little Helps a Lot
- Women, Obesity Rates, and the Fountain of Youth

In America, it is estimated that 45 percent of women and 30 percent of men diet to lose weight. A recent study, published in the scientific journal Hypertension and led by David Gutterman has found low-carbohydrate diets to be significantly higher in total grams of fat, protein, dietary cholesterol and saturated fats than low-fat diets. Dr. Gutterman states, "While a low-carb diet may result in weight loss and an improvement in blood pressure, the higher fat content is ultimately more detrimental to heart health than the low-fat diet suggested by the American Heart Association."

Related Stories

- Asian Seaweed Diet
- For Obese, Losing a Little Helps a Lot
- Low Carb Diets

Emily Loewenstein is one energetic weight watchers instructor. She has reason to be: she lost 70 pounds on the program. Tom Pimpinelli has also had tremendous success losing weight. “I did very well. Two pounds a week. I dropped from 268, my lowest was 214 or 212,” says Tom. Tom and Emily are great stories. But according to studies in respected medical journals like the Journal of the American Medical Association, Weight Watchers, on average, provides a loss of between six and thirteen pounds after one year. That’s roughly a half pound to a pound a month, or less. In this study, after the second year, the average person ended up only six pounds down; They had, in fact, gained some of the weight they lost back. One expert told us, after five years, most people will have gained back most or all of the weight they lost. “The people who seek help are the people who feel that they can’t do it on your own. Many of them have tried it before by one program or another and they have failed, and they try another program and they fail,” says Dr. Xavier Pi-Sunier, an obesity expert at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital Center.

Related Stories

- Low Carb Diet Studies
- 8 Ways Exercise Keeps You Young and Healthy
- Seven Breakthrough Strategies for Weight Loss

The fattening of America is so out there, so obvious, the question has become how do we get the message that we need to reverse the trend? Perhaps, the message is sinking in, at least among women. New research released by the CDC shows, among women, no significant increase in obesity was observed between 1999 and 2004…roughly a third of females remain obese

Related Stories

- Low Carb Diet Studies
- Low Carb Diets
- Lifestyle Changes Effective Against Child Obesity

So just in case you thought the skinny on low fat diets was a big fat pile of confusion, there’s a new study out today: and it comes to the conclusion that the alternative low carb diets may be putting folks at risk for cardiovascular disease. We’re talking about the types of diets like the Atkins diet: a low carb, high protein, and often higher fat diet. They’re a popular way to lose weight.

Related Stories

- Milk and Weight Gain
- Women, Obesity Rates, and the Fountain of Youth
- Lifestyle Changes Effective Against Child Obesity

We’re going to let you in on a new kind of diet very few here in the states know about, but it’s all the rage in Asia. And it’s cheap and easy to try. We’re only in the second week of the New Year, and already, folks are getting a little disgruntled with their resolution to lose weight. “Very hard… I have been doing it my whole life, and the older you get the harder it gets, losing it is impossible,” says frustrated Harriet Ellmer.

Related Stories

- Milk and Weight Gain
- Seven Breakthrough Strategies for Weight Loss
- Lifestyle Changes Effective Against Child Obesity