Is your Diet Making You Fat?

Seems ironic, doesn’t it?

But it may be true…your attempts to lose weight could actually be making you fat!

There are many factors that may be contributing to this result, one being Diet Soda.

DIET SODA:

Diet Soda has been getting a lot of press lately, so let’s refer to the experts to get the full story. 

Dr. Helen Hazuda, professor of medicine at University of Texas Health Science Center atSan Antonio, reported about diet soda: “They may be free of calories, but not of consequences.”

Consequences like weight gain.

CBS News Health-Pop reported:

‘“For one study, researchers at the center followed 474 diet soda drinkers, 65 to 74 years of age, for almost 10 years. They found that diet soda drinkers’ waists grew 70 percent more than non-drinkers. Specifically, drinking two or more diet sodas a day busted belt sizes five times more than people who avoided the stuff entirely.

And as waist size grows, so do health risks – including diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and other chronic conditions.

Just how does diet soda make you fat? The other study may hold the answer. In it, researchers divided mice into two groups, one of which ate food laced with the popular sweetener aspartame. After three months, the mice eating aspartame-chow had higher blood sugar levels than the mice eating normal food. The authors said in a written statement their findings could “contribute to the associations observed between diet soda consumption and the risk of diabetes in humans.”

But how?

“Artificial sweeteners could have the effect of triggering appetite but unlike regular sugars they don’t deliver something that will squelch the appetite,” Sharon Fowler, obesity researcher at UT Health Science Center atSan Diegoand a co-author on both of these studies, told the Daily Mail She also said sweeteners could inhibit brain cells that make you feel full.

So if sugar soda is no good, and diet soda isn’t either – what should we be drinking?

Dr. Hazuda told the Daily Mail, “I think prudence would dictate drinking water.”

Diet Soda may be a short term alternative to helping you break your soda habit, but should be weaned out of long term, daily use. 

If you are currently drinking either regular or diet soda, consider cutting them back from daily use, and making healthier choices such as water and tea.  Many Homeopathic Physicians and Dieticians also recommend Stevia, which is an all natural, plant based, low calorie sweetener.  And Stevia does not appear to have the health consequences of other low-calorie sweeteners, which have been linked to cancer in several studies.  Luckily, Stevia has been becoming more available in your local grocery stores under the brand names such as Truvia and Stevia In The Raw.  Try it for yourself and see if making healthier choices can also taste better too.

Have A Healthy Day,

Jo-Ellen Marks

Share Optimal Nation:

Dirty Little Word

I want to pose you a question: How long have you been trying to lose weight?

Has it been weeks, months or even years?

Are you always on a “diet”?

Yes, in my world Diet is a four letter word, and the first three letters are: D-I-E.  That does not sound like something fun or worthy of your time and effort.  

You may not know me personally, but you should know that I am committed to your success in your weight loss effort, and my first declaration for you is get off the DIEt cycle, because it is killing you.

I am of course not speaking of physical death here, you could not be reading this if you were dead. 

I am speaking of DIEts as killing your spirit and self-esteem. 

If you, like myself and so many others, have had the experience of losing weight, feeling great, receiving compliments left and right ONLY to have gained ALL the weight back, then you know what I am talking about.

 It is a vicious cycle and it leaves your self esteem and motivation in its wake. 

So yes, I am very familiar with dying this small death for every pound gained after feeling the glory of accomplishment.  There are many feelings you could have, but I think the worst one is the shame we associate with failing in this area of our lives, and the perceived judgment of others. 

Weight is not something you can hide if you have gained it. Sure, you could buy all black clothing and Snookie your hair so you “appear” taller and leaner, but do you really want to feel like you are hiding anything about yourself???

Let me ask that again:  do you want to live your life hiding behind a funeral director’s wardrobe or do you want to live in the beautiful clothes you bought when you felt good about your appearance?

Then you MUST stop dieting.  If diets worked, you would be at your target weight.  If diets worked then the 40 Billion Dollars spent a year on weight loss products would not be resulting in Americans being at record breaking obesity levels. 

What you need is a lifestyle change: eating whole, natural foods that are complimentary to our activity levels.  The more you move, the more you can eat.

So here are 5 SIMPLE tips you can do today to break your diet habit:

1. Drink more water.  I did not say diet soda, really it is water. 
2. Eat more Fiber.  Simply adding 6 grams of fiber a day will have a positive impact on your ability to lose weight.
3. Plan your meals.  Do not leave your food choices up to the last moment when you are hungry, then you will be more likely to make poor choices.
4. Learn about Glycemic index.  Knowledge is power.  If you do not know what that means, you should stop reading this blog immediately and Google Glycemic index, it makes a difference.
5. Keep a food journal.  This is the only way to truly evaluate your progress and areas you can improve.  If you are not honest on those pages then you are only cheating yourself.

ANYONE can take on the above 5 steps toward a healthy eating plan, even you.  If you said you can’t then you are predicting the future for yourself.  Whatever you say or believe about changes to your nutrition will come true.  If you want success, start to think successful thoughts.  If you want failure, then think about failure.

Next week we will have more quick tips for continuing cleaning up your nutrition and ending diets forever.  Until them make these small changes, and see what happens.

 I believe in your success.

Have a Healthy and Happy Day,

Jo-Ellen Marks

Share Optimal Nation:

Optimal Sport had the rare opportunity to be on TV with the one and only Dr. Oz.

It was a remarkable morning.  I can hardly contain how excited I was to make an appearance with Dr. Oz.

So how was this event possible?  Optimal Sport’s good friend John Bolaris was gracious enough to invite me to do a short piece on the Eagles Pre-Game show.   We were going to talk about the stress levels of Eagles Fans and help them relieve some of their stress with a quick warm up and workout…

…And, of course, lots of smiles and laughter can also help alleviate the stress of a tough football season. 

All of this was accomplished when we took to the airwaves.  John Bolaris, Dr Oz, Shaun Young, and I all did our best to make this November afternoon shine a little brighter for the fans.

 We started with a light warm up to get the blood flowing and the mood lifted, because as you know, exercise is one of the best ways to reduce stress and depression, two increasing side effects of our current Eagle’s Football Season.

Once the crowd was moving and having a great time we brought it all home with an enthusiastic E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles!  The crowd really seemed to have enjoyed the action….

This was a perfect day, well, almost perfect until the Eagles lost. 

I guess Dr Oz will just have to come back to Philadelphia again so we can have a bigger pre-game workout!  The fans need it now more than ever!

Have a Happy and Healthy Day,

Jo-Ellen Marks

Share Optimal Nation:

I have a question for you: 

Have you ever surprised yourself and achieved a goal that, at the outset, seemed almost impossible?

Have you ever wanted something so bad that you were willing to get up early, work late, or rise above circumstances that otherwise would have knocked you off track?

I am certain, that at some moment in your life you were able to rise above any situation and achieve one goal….one solitary moment of success that was so incredible you were moved by your own ability to have accomplished it.

Focus on that moment.

How did it feel?

Let that emotion into you body, into your heart, into your soul….how does it feel? 

I am sure it feels incredible.

That passion, that determination, that focus is available to you at ANY time IF you know how to harness that power.  The power to achieve any goal you want is within you already….learning how to capture and control it is the key to succeeding at at Mastering you physical body.

There are no potions or pills to buy, no single product on TV at 3 am, and no guru to make you do it.  It is all inside of you right now.

So why have you not been able to attain your fitness goals?  If it is all inside of you, why have you fallen off track over and over?  Because your roadmap was unclear, and full of boulders and detours that got you off track….and that is why we are here.

We are here to help you map out your path to FINALLY achieve your health and wellness goals.  We have seen the obstacles on your path and are going to show you ways that you can choose to continue on the highway to absolutely achieving your goals.

Start today…start right now!  Begin by taking the first step toward your health and fitness goals.  What is that first step?  Decide THIS is the moment for you to succeed.  THIS is the perfect time and the Optimal Opportunity for YOU to finally achieve your goals.

Step 1:

            DECLARE YOUR GOAL!

You may be asking: Don’t I need to put on my sneakers?  How can step one be to stand still?  This is the most important step for you to achieve your goal, because if you don’t know where you want to go, how can you plan out a roadmap to success?

What is your GOAL?

Focus on it.  Feel it as if you have already achieved it.  Know that this time you will make it happen, and keep those results for a lifetime.

Got it? Good. You are on the fast track to great results!

Focus on this goal everyday.  Focus on it when you want to sleep in and skip your workout.  Focus on it when you want to buy junk food and swerve off course.  Focus on your goal, and BELIEVE it is possible when you hit a stumbling block, then get up, brush yourself off and continue on your path to success.

Now, I am not going to leave you there, on your own.  We will continue to map out your path together.  But by taking this first step, you have just given yourself the POWER to make it happen, leave the details to the experts like us.  Together we will make it a reality.

Have a Healthy Day!

Jo-Ellen

Share Optimal Nation: