Real Fitness Information You Can Use to Improve Your Health

Don't Skip Breakfast to Cut Calories

When it comes to cutting calories, breakfast is often the first thing to go.

But new research suggests that people who are successful at losing weight – and, more importantly, keeping it off – eat breakfast every day.

Researchers from the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver analyzed data on nearly 3,000 people who had lost, on average, 70 pounds and kept it off for a year or more.

Study subjects were enrolled in the National Weight Control Registry, which is an ongoing study of adults who have successfully lost 30 pounds or more. Only four percent said they never eat breakfast every day. It is not known what subjects ate for breakfast (although the study was funded by cereal giant General Mills), but most followed a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet.

Researchers speculate that eating breakfast helps people manage both their hunger and food intake throughout the day.

Source: Conference of the American Society for Clinical Nutrition, February 26, 2002, San Diego, Calif.

Lift Weight to Lose Weight

A new study confirms what many discovered long ago - strength training plays an important role in ridding the body of extra weight.

Sure, aerobic exercise burns calories, but the body’s metabolism quickly returns to pre-exercise levels, usually within 30 minutes or so. Resistance training, according to the researchers at Johns Hopkins University, leads to increased calorie burning for up to two hours after the workout is over. Carol A. Binzen and colleagues recruited 10 moderately trained women to perform three sets of 10 exercises at 10-repetition maximum with a one-minute rest period between each set. Researchers found that fat oxidation was significantly higher after the strength-training session.

Unfortunately, because weight training often results in a corresponding increase in weight due to increased muscle mass, many women abandon their strength-training efforts, opting instead for strictly cardiovascular activities. However, researchers suggest combining aerobic exercise with regular strength training for maximum benefit.

Source: Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 2001; 33, 932-938

• Stretch before a workout for 3-5 minutes after a cardio warm-up
• Drink a litre of water for every hour of a strenuous workout
• Save $$$$$ on protein bars and eat turkey instead
• Walking is as good as running for the body but safer