Yes you read that right. In certain postal codes in England, severely overweight people are being denied life-saving surgery because it is not cost effective.
The National Health Service (NHS), the name commonly used to refer to the three publicly funded health care systems in England, is telling people that they don’t qualify for surgery even though they are clinically obese.
Some people in more affluent postal codes with lower BMIs qualify for surgery right away, while the lower and middle class are being told to get fatter so that they will develop life-threatening complications, which will then qualify them for surgery. This policy allows some people with BMI of 40 to get the surgery, while others with BMI of 60 are labeled as “too skinny”, simply because of where they live.
Since the late 1990’s Dr. John Berardi has published 8 scientific abstracts; 15 scientific papers and textbook chapters; presented at nearly 50 scientific, exercise, and nutrition related conferences; and published countless articles online.
His first articles at Testosterone Magazine so many years ago, provided me with the basis for everything I know about nutrition today. Now I will turn some of that knowledge over to you in the form of Nutrition Tips written by Dr. Berardi himself.
Need another reason to add either HIIT or HIRT into your workout routine?
A university study has concluded that a combination of cross training and strength training produces the same strength adaptations as strength training alone, while also eliciting the wonderful benefits of cardiovascular conditioning.
I get plenty of questions in various comments throughout the website, but I also get comments and questions via the Project Swole Contact Form.
Generally I address those questions through e-mail, but often I do not have the time to reply to each and every question personally.
The category, Your Health Questions is a more proactive approach to answering your questions so that everyone can benefit from the Q & A.
EKansas wrote:
“I am at 168lbs, down from 232. I’m female and 5’6. I work out with a trainer twice a week and do weights and cardio kickboxing and other cardio on off days. I work out 5-6 days per week.
I’ve been trying to get below 160 for months. My trainer says to bump my protein from 80grams to 160. I’m afraid of the extra calories. I try to stick to 1500. Is this correct?”
Scientists and drug companies are still hard at work searching for a magic weight loss pill. So far they have had about as much success as a one legged man in an ass-kicking contest, but they have made some headway.
A product called Contrave has been introduced by Orexigen Therapeutics Inc. as the best and brightest future star of new prescription weight loss products.
Contrave is the first weight loss drug to combine an anti-depression and smoking cessation drug called bupropion with naltrexone, which is prescribed to fight alcohol and opiate addiction.
Insulin can be a touchy subject when it comes to fat loss, muscle growth, and weight training. It is extremely important that we understand the role of insulin in the body and how the foods we eat affect our health and physiques.
What is Insulin?
First, we must define what insulin is:
Insulin in a peptide hormone composed of 51 amino acid residues, which is produced by the beta cells of the pancreas and released when any of the several stimuli is detected. These stimuli include ingested protein and glucose in the blood, produced from digested food. Insulin has expansive effects on metabolism and other bodily systems.
What Insulin Does in the Body
Let us look at what insulin does when it is present in the body.
When present, insulin causes the uptake of blood sugar (glucose) by the vast majority of bodily cells. These cells include muscle, fatty tissue, and liver cells.
Insulin is primarily responsible for storing glucose as glycogen in the liver and muscles. When insulin is at high concentrations in the body, it prevents the use of fat as an energy source.
Since the late 1990’s Dr. John Berardi has published 8 scientific abstracts; 15 scientific papers and textbook chapters; presented at nearly 50 scientific, exercise, and nutrition related conferences; and published countless articles online.
His first articles at Testosterone Magazine so many years ago, provided me with the basis for everything I know about nutrition today. Now I will turn some of that knowledge over to you in the form of Nutrition Tips written by Dr. Berardi himself.
I get plenty of questions in various comments throughout the website, but I also get comments and questions via the Project Swole Contact Form.
Generally I address those questions through e-mail, but often I do not have the time to reply to each and every question personally.
From now on I want to take a more proactive approach to answering Your Health Questions by posting them separately in the blog. This way we can be sure that everyone benefits from the Q & A.
Rich wrote:
“I have been working out with a trainer for about a year and when I started I was at 180lbs and had a pretty big gut and I am now down to 159lbs. The problem is I still have the gut, even though it is much smaller. I look much better, but I am not satisfied because I want to have a six back. I know it will take a lot of time and patience, but I was wondering if you knew of some stuff that I could do.
No, I’m not talking about the ephedra laced Hydroxycut that actually works, I’m talking about the ephedra-free Hydroxycut products that are supposed to be safe. Yeah, not so safe.
Hydroxycut products are marketed as inexpensive, energy-enhancing fat-burners. They do work to some extent. Hydroxycut will definitely increase your energy, but at what cost to your body?
Why Hydroxycut Was Recalled
23 reports of serious liver injuries
liver damage
elevated liver enzymes
reports of jaundice
liver transplants
confirmed as the cause of death in a 19 year old male
cardiovascular problems
seizures
rhabdomyolysis – serious muscle damage directly linked to kidney failure
Josh Henkin is owner of Sandbag Fitness Systems, and the creator of the Ultimate Sandbag. Josh is a graduate of Arizona State University where he received his Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science/Physical Education.
Josh is an NSCA certified strength and conditioning specialist, certified club coach with USA weightlifting, and certified Russian kettlebell instructor and a certified corrective high performance exercise kinesiologist. Coach Henkin is well known nationally as an expert in fitness and sports performance training and has been invited to appear at national conferences and write for numerous fitness magazines.
How to Lose Fat by Training With Sandbags
Fat loss, two words that you can say anywhere and you will get people’s attention. Getting leaner, more sculpted, or however you want to classify it is always a goal. I don’t care if you are speaking about professional athletes, housewives, or weekend warriors. Heck, even little kids know what a six-pack is!
The real question is how do you achieve these goals in a world that is crazier than ever?
Update: I wrote this article with regards to fasting for 24 hours or longer. I did not intend to address intermittent fasting with this post. Since I wrote this, I have learned about intermittent fasting and fully support it as a fat loss strategy. I still don’t support fasting for more than 24 hours though. 1/4/2011
Fasting is when you don’t eat anything at all for a prolonged period of time. I’m betting you have heard of “breakfast”? This is a meal that essentially breaks your overnight fast.
Is it healthy to fast overnight?
Your overnight fast isn’t that bad. Some hardcore individuals do set an alarm clock to wake up 4 hours into their sleep cycle in order to swill down a protein shake. I have actually done this before, except that I planned it out as follows:
Since the late 1990’s Dr. John Berardi has published 8 scientific abstracts; 15 scientific papers and textbook chapters; presented at nearly 50 scientific, exercise, and nutrition related conferences; and published countless articles online.
His first articles at Testosterone Magazine so many years ago, provided me with the basis for everything I know about nutrition today. Now I will turn some of that knowledge over to you in the form of Nutrition Tips written by Dr. Berardi himself.
For the last two weeks I have been experimenting with a new diet plan. Something more strict than just plain “healthy eating”. Something designed to help you shed 12-15 lbs in 3 weeks. It’s a little something I refer to as Project Shred.
Weight Loss
Basically this is a diet plan used by my extreme kickboxing instructor Barbara Woo to get her students in shape. The plan that I have been working with is meant for a female who is between 120-200 lbs, wants to weigh 130 or less, and wants to lose between 10-20 pounds quickly in a month.
The Project Swole Three Step Full Body Detox Plan is the most effective detox and weight loss plan ever. Combine the supplement plan with a full body fat loss exercise routine for record breaking fat loss results!
Acai berry is one of the best foods you can eat for fat loss and good health.
Acai will help speed up your fat loss considerably if you already follow a moderate fitness and nutrition plan, and you can definitely use the high concentration of antioxidants in acai to keep you healthy and young for the rest of your life! Read why antioxidants are so important to us in one of my old posts called, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Antioxidants.
Because I talk about acai all the time, I am constantly asked the question: “How can I get a 14 day free trial of acai shipped to Canada?”
The Project Swole Three Step Full Body Detox Plan is the most effective detox and weight loss plan ever. Combine the supplement plan with a full body fat loss exercise routine for record breaking fat loss results!
Acai is one of the best foods you can eat for faster weight loss and health.
Acai will help speed up your fat loss considerably if you already follow a good nutrition and exercise plan, and you can definitely use the high concentration of antioxidants in acai to keep you healthy and young for the rest of your life! Read why antioxidants are so important to us in one of my old posts called, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Antioxidants.
I talk about acai all the time, so constantly I am asked the question: “How can I get a free trial of acai berry shipped to The UK?”
Finally I can say to all the Project Swole visitors from the UK:
I have been reading exercise and nutrition material written by a gentleman named Dr. John Berardi since the late 1990’s.
Since that time he has published 8 scientific abstracts; 15 scientific papers and textbook chapters; presented at nearly 50 scientific, exercise, and nutrition related conferences; and published countless articles online.
His first articles at Testosterone Magazine so many years ago, provided me with the basis for everything I know about nutrition today. Now I will turn some of that knowledge over to you in the form of Nutrition Tips written by Dr. Berardi himself.
The Project Swole Three Step Full Body Detox Plan is the most effective detox and weight loss plan ever. Combine the supplement plan with a full body fat loss exercise routine for record breaking fat loss results!
For fat loss and good health, acai berries are one of the best foods you can eat.
Acai will help speed up your fat loss considerably if you already follow a moderate fitness and nutrition plan, and you can definitely use the high concentration of antioxidants in acai to keep you healthy and young for the rest of your life! Read why antioxidants are so important to us in one of my old posts called, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Antioxidants.
I talk about acai all the time, so constantly I am asked the question: “How can I get a 14 day free trial of acai shipped to Australia?”
Finally I can say to all my Australian friends: “Get your free trial of Acai Berry shipped to Australia using the link below.”
The Project Swole Three Step Full Body Detox Plan is the most effective detox and weight loss plan ever. Combine the supplement plan with a full body fat loss exercise routine for record breaking fat loss results!
Acai is one of the best foods you can eat for faster weight loss and health.
Acai will help speed up your fat loss considerably if you already follow a good nutrition and exercise plan, and you can definitely use the high concentration of antioxidants in acai to keep you healthy and young for the rest of your life! Read why antioxidants are so important to us in one of my old posts called, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Antioxidants.
I talk about acai all the time, so constantly I am asked the question: “How can I get a free trial of acai berries sent to New Zealand?”
Finally I can say to all the Project Swole visitors from New Zealand: “Get your free trial of Acai Berry shipped to New Zealand using the link below.”
When you think about losing or gaining weight, you think about strict calorie deficient diets with bland food to lose weight, and sugary flatulence-inducing weight gainer shakes to gain weight. These ideas are not reality.
The average American gains 2 pounds a year, which is 7000 total calories. Divided by 365 days, that’s about 19 or 20 calories a day. It makes sense then, if you want to gain weight over the course of your lifetime, possibly to put on a couple pounds of muscle each year in order to stay fit and healthy, just eat 20 calories a day over your maintenance level.
It also makes sense that if you want to stay lean and trim for the rest of your life, with no major weight fluctuations, just eat 20 calories under your maintenance level each day.
There are so many fad diets out there these days. When you want to lose a quick pound, it’s hard to know where to turn. This is just a short review of popular fad diets, and a solution to the fad diet problem.
Fad Diet Principles
Many diets promote certain principles that will make you fatter. Super restricted calorie diets will only slow down your metabolism so that when you start eating again you will balloon right back up. Liquid or juice diets tend to follow this idea. High carbohydrate diets will just bulk you up with carbs and will negatively impact your insulin resistance over a long period of time, possibly leading to adult onset type II diabetes. Zero carbohydrate diets will leave you with no energy and nasty protein bi-products floating around in your system. Plus when you go back to eating normal, the increased carbs will be stored as fat right away and you will balloon back up again.
Proper Diet Principles
From now on your diet refers to the way you eat on a daily basis. Instead of going on a diet, you will change your daily eating habits. You will increase your protein consumption, decrease your fat and carbohydrate consumption, eat 5 small meals, and drink a gallon of water a day. These four actions will inherently function to both reduce your daily caloric intake, increase the calories burned by the metabolic processes in your body, and control your cholesterol. It is your responsibility to exercise 3-5 times per week for 45 minutes, and eat fewer calories than your body uses in a day.
Low Carb Diet – The basic concept of a low fat diet is to replace the simple carbohydrates in sugary and starchy foods, with high protein, high fat, complex carbohydrate foods. Low carb dieting forms the basis for most successful personalized weight loss diet strategies. A-
Atkins Diet – An extreme version of the low carb diet that sets a limit on the amount of carbs in a day to 20 grams coming only from fibrous sources. This is generally considered to be a moderately dangerous diet, which should only be followed for a month at a time. C+
Low Fat Diet – Since fat has significantly more calories than carbohydrates and protein, this diet aims to keep calories low and eliminate harmful trans fats and saturated fats from the diet, opting to eat mostly carbohydrates instead. The low fat diet craze is single handedly responsible for the rise in Type II diabetes in Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers. F
