Recent research reveals another promising weight loss strategy – repeating what you eat, or decreasing the variety in your diet. This is an interesting contrast to a common nutrition recommendation, "Eat a variety of foods." Research has shown that hibituation, a form of learning in which repeated exposure to a stimulus leads to a decrease in responding, pertains to many behaviors, including food intake.1 For example, you are at a family-style restaurant sharing a large bowl of spaghetti. You recognize that you are full and decide not to put another portion of spaghetti on your plate. But, then the waitress comes around with the

A “weekend warrior” is that individual who does almost all of his exercising over the two-day weekend. He or she may be participating in a soccer or softball league, cycling or running club, or many other venues of physical activity over two consecutive days. While this exercise pattern does not meet the recommended physical activity guidelines of frequency throughout the week, and often exceeds the recommended duration for any one bout of exercise, studies still show there are benefits. There are a few studies evaluating this exercise pattern and so far here is what we know. The male weekend warrior pattern was associated with

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill recently set out to determine which of these three factors explain why we are eating more calories today than we ate 30 years ago1: Increases in the frequency of eating/drinking occasions, especially snacking Increases in the typical portion sizes of foods and beverages Changes in the energy density (number of calories in a specific amount of food) of the foods consumed; for instance, 1 ounce of cheese has 115 calories vs. 1 ounce of grapes has 20 calories Evaluation of data from large national studies conducted in 1977-78 (Nationwide Food Consumption

Is vigorous exercise better than moderate intensity exercise as long as you achieve the recommended number of minutes per week based on intensity? Recall that for health benefits, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and American Heart Association (AHA) recommend 150 minutes/week of moderate intensity exercise or 75 minutes/week of vigorous exercise to achieve health benefits. The most current research on this topic was recently summarized in ACSM’s Position Stand1, Quantity and Quality of Exercise for Developing and Maintaining Cardiorespiratory, Musculoskeletal, and Neuromotor Fitness in Apparently Healthy Adults: Guidance for Prescribing Exercise, which was published in Medicine and Science in Sports

Unbeknownst to many, there are several phases of achieving and maintaining a healthy weight: active weight loss, transition to maintenance of new (lesser) weight, and maintaining the weight loss. The active weight loss phase is often where people put in the most effort, take "dieting" and exercise to the extremes, and feel pretty good when they lose significant amounts of weight. But experts agree that maintaining the weight lost is really what's important, and often the most difficult. One's mindset needs to be switched from getting the weight off to permanent healthy lifestyle behaviors. A new study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine1 took an interesting look

Are you exercising your back enough? Chances are, you’re not! Fitting exercise in is a challenge for many of us and when we do, we tend to focus on the muscles that we can see which are on the front of the body—or what I like to call the “mirror muscles”.

A recent study on the use of dietary supplements among active-duty U.S. Army soldiers has prompted the U.S. Army to establish a specialized group to deal with nutritional supplements and specific personnel needs.1 The study, conducted by the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, assessed the use of dietary supplements (DSs) by 990 randomly selected soldiers at 11 army bases globally. The survey included questions on types of DSs used, frequency of use, reason for use, and money spent on DSs. So do active-duty army soldiers use more supplements than civilian adults? Results from the survey showed these interesting findings:

As we celebrate Independence Day today, it is exciting to think of all of the activities people will be involved in. Common thoughts include fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, and picnics – most including friends and family being together.

Strategies for preventing childhood obesity have been established by a handful of organizations (e.g., Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, American Academy of Pediatrics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) but recommendations specific to very young children (birth to age 5) are few and far between – until now! Just this week the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Policies. Acknowledging that almost 10% of infants and toddlers carry excess weight for their length; slightly more than 20% of children between the ages of 2 and 5 are already overweight or obese; and that early obesity can track into adulthood, the