Slow and steady is always your best weight-loss approach, but you can speed up the process.

A slow-and-steady approach to fitness and weight loss is generally your best course of action. No death-march cardio. No extreme, ultra-rigid diets. Enjoy some fro-yo once in awhile—it won’t kill ya. A four-pack and a little fun beats the hell of out of an eight-pack and a life of deprivation.

But now and then, you might get a little desperate. Maybe you’re getting married. Or maybe you’re sick of how things are and need a big change to jumpstart you into that slow-and-steady process.

Instead of diving down the faddish rabbit holes that crop up daily on the worldwide web, start with basic strategies most of us already know–and then do them more aggressively. You’ll shed pounds while maintaining muscle and performance. Here’s how to pull off warp-speed weight loss without losing your muscle—or your mind.

Move More Throughout The Day Instead of Chasing Tons of Cardio

You think cardio’s the answer with all weight loss, so you could spend hours upon hours running and jogging and biking. But the smarter approach is this: Increase your low-intensity physical activity throughout the day. And on alternate days, perform strength training and low-to-medium intensity aerobic work.

Too many guys still think of exercise as “anti-food,” hitting the treadmill in the morning in hopes of burning off last night’s pasta and cheesecake.

Surprise: exercise isn’t the biggest caloric burner in the average guy’s day. That honor goes to walking, housework, hiking with your dog, and other low-intensity movement. “Scientists call it NEAT– non-exercise activity thermogenesis–but it’s really just a fancy term for moving around more throughout the day,” says exercise physiologist Dr. Mike T. Nelson, founder of The Flex Diet, a modular system for maximizing performance and body composition. So step one when you’re looking to lose is to increase those activities.

Add in Weights for Best Results

While exercise certainly burns calories, its primary benefits play out in the longer-term. Strength work helps you build muscle mass, which helps you look better, perform better, and live longer. When you’re dieting—expending more energy than you’re consuming—strength work helps you maintain muscle. Aerobic work tunes up your, heart, lungs, and metabolism, helping you become a more efficient burner of fat.

Both approaches are essential when you’re trying to lose fat and gain muscle, so strive to hit the weights on nonconsecutive days three times a week, and low-to-moderate intensity cardio on three other days. But if you miss a workout, never fear: for all but the most gung-ho athletes, NEAT burns more calories day to day than your gym sessions. It also spares your joints, and might even earn you a few points from the people you live with, Spot included. Score.

Match Your Macros; Don’t Ditch Starchy Carbs

You’ve seen this one before: You cut out pasta, rice, cracks, potatoes, bread, and corn, and basically never eat anything that you might actually want. Carbs are the enemy to swift weight loss, the theory goes, so you have to get them near zero.

The better approach however, is to match your macros. Every few decades, it seems, a different macronutrient gets blamed for all that ails us. In the 80s it was fat. By the 2010s, carbohydrates were firmly in every dieter’s crosshairs, and remain there to this day–though you can start to see the tables turning on protein of late as well.

Don’t fall for any of it. We need all three of these macronutrients for optimal health, performance, and body composition. While there are no “essential” carbohydrates (as there are essential fats and amino acids, for example), carbs are critical when preserving muscle and strength are among your goals.

If you’re going hard, you need carbs!

“For high intensity activities, carbs are your friend,” says Nelson. Not only are carbs your body’s preferred fuel source during strength training, sprinting, and other high intensity activities—they’re essential for basic health as well. “When they fall too low, you’re actually stressing your body and reducing immunity.”

As noted above, regular strength work should most definitely be on the docket when you’re trying to lose fat. While you’re unlikely to gain muscle if you’re dieting hard, you’ll hold onto the sinew you have, thus keeping your metabolism and athletic performance up to par as you drop the pounds.

A smarter choice than cutting all starches, says Nelson, is to “match your macros”: go easy on the starches on your rest days and your cardio days, but include them before and after your strength training and high-intensity sessions. You’ll perform better, feel better, and ultimately lose more fat.

Don’t Go Keto; Chase Animal Proteins

In theory, if you reach a level of ketosis, your body shifts to burning fat as its primary source of fuel, exactly what you want. Thing is, it’s not always easy to get to that level of ketosis. And again, you’re cutting out the carbs, which hurts your muscle fuel.

For people uninterested in strength and power, a keto diet (high fat, moderate protein, super-low carbs) can work fine. But if you’re trying to hang onto muscle and maintain your strength while you burn off the fat, it’s not your best bet: carbs and protein are necessary to perform your best and recover from activities that build and maintain muscle.

Focus on Animal Proteins, and Everything Falls Into Place

A better choice: base each meal around muscle-building animal proteins like fish, chicken, whey protein, and lower-fat cuts of red meat: “Research has shown that it’s almost impossible to overeat protein and get fat,” says Nelson. Compliment that with a wide variety of veggies, some fruit, and whole-food starches around your strength and sprint workouts.

One thing keto devotees get right: healthy fats are a good idea—so eat some nuts, avocados, and fish oil regularly. “Don’t run from fat,” says Nelson. Still interested in going keto? Consult a doctor, he advises: it’s a tough one to get right.

Sleep More, Not Less!

Recommending sleep to someone trying to burn off a gut seems counterintuitive: shouldn’t you move as much as possible? And doesn’t caffeine help in those efforts? That’s why it’s easy and convenient to some people to stay up as long as possible, shot up on caffeine, in their efforts to lose weight.

But that only works up to a point. Sleep and metabolism are joined at the hip. “After just a few nights of poor sleep, your metabolism starts to resemble that of a diabetic,” he says. Blood sugar goes up. Insulin sensitivity—a measure of your ability to metabolize carbohydrates—plummets. Appetite regulation spirals, too, so it’s harder to tell when you’re hungry and when you’re full.

So along with your efforts in the gym and the kitchen, be sure you’re giving your body a break when the sun goes down. Read in bed instead of watching Netflix. Take an early morning stroll (the natural light helps reset your body clock so you’re sleepier at bedtime). You’ll beef up your fat-burning ability—and you’ll be more productive and alert during your waking hours too.

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The first thing you’d want to get your hands on when you embark on your weight loss journey is superfoods. This is simply because superfoods are embedded in the popular imagination as “miracle ingredients” that help with every type of health issue.

Now, while this is not completely true since there is still no scientifically-approved definition of what classifies as a superfood, superfoods are mostly foods packed with multiple nutrients that can aid disease prevention and weight loss.

A study published in the journal Food and Function in 2018 showed that the consumption of certain superfoods can contribute to the prevention of metabolic syndromes, specifically the onset of obesity, high cholesterol, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Improved metabolic function is exactly what you need to lose weight consistently, properly, and while boosting your overall immunity and health.

Here are 10 superfoods that not only aid weight loss by boosting your metabolism but also carry many other benefits: 

1. Berries

Blueberries, cranberries, goji berries and strawberries are rich in antioxidants, dietary fibre and vitamin C – all of which can improve your immunity and regulate your metabolism to reduce weight. If you can’t get them fresh, get dried berries without preservatives and added sugars. 

2. Chillies

Rich in vitamins A, C, B1, B2, B6, niacin, capsaicin, flavonoids and minerals, chillies are packed with nutrition. They help with protein metabolism and protect your cells from free radical damage. 

3. Ginger

This ingredient is one of the most underrated superfoods, and yet has immense benefits to impart. Ginger is rich in vitamins B3, B6 and C, and is chock full of iron, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus and folate. 

4. Garlic

There’s a reason why you should chew on a raw garlic first thing in the morning. Garlic is full of vitamins, minerals and some very powerful antioxidants like allicin, which makes it very effective against diseases like high blood pressure, cholesterol and even the common cold.

5. Chia seeds

Chia seeds are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, fibre, protein, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. They are also very easily available at your local markets these days. You should not miss out on this superfood if you’re trying to lose weight. 

6. Flax seeds

Flax seeds have a similar nutrient profile as chia seeds – which means they are just as beneficial. What’s more, these nutty, brown seeds are extremely affordable, easily available in Indian markets and have many traditional uses in Indian cuisine too.

7. Quinoa

Now, quinoa might be a grain that’s imported to India — and it’s definitely not as cheap as Indian whole grains like millets and barley — but this superfood deserves a place in your kitchen because it’s packed with protein, fibre, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

8. Cacao

Yes, cacao is what chocolate comes from, but this doesn’t mean you can eat a few bars of chocolate and claim you’ve had a superfood. Raw cacao is probably the most powerful superfood out there, but it’s bitter to taste. You can easily get some raw cacao powder (not to be confused with cocoa powder, which is processed and has preservatives) and use it to make chocolate milk or bake some healthy cakes and cookies. 

9. Wheatgrass

This one is a very potent superfood, thanks to all the vitamins, minerals, proteins, phytonutrients, enzymes and chlorophyll it delivers to your body. Apart from eliminating toxins and aiding digestion, wheatgrass works wonders on your metabolism. 

10. Spirulina

This superfood is often used as a supplement by those on a diet, and it’s very effective because it has very high vitamin, protein and antioxidant content. If you’re a vegetarian or vegan, spirulina is something you can rely on.  

For more information, read our article on What to Eat and What Not to Eat for Weight Loss.

Health articles in Firstpost are written by myUpchar.com, India’s first and biggest resource for verified medical information. At myUpchar, researchers and journalists work with doctors to bring you information on all things health.

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Washington: A ketogenic diet — which provides 99 per cent of calories from fat and protein, and only one per cent from carbohydrates — may produce health benefits in the short term, but negative effects after about a week, according to a study conducted in mice.

The study, published in the journal Nature Metabolism, suggests that the keto diet could, over limited time periods, improve human health by lowering diabetes risk and inflammation.

The keto diet has become increasingly popular as celebrities, including Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kim Kardashian, have touted it as a weight-loss regimen, the researchers noted.

The diet tricks the body into burning fat, said lead author Vishwa Deep Dixit from the Yale University in the US.

When the body’s glucose level is reduced due to the diet’s low carbohydrate content, the body acts as if it is in a starvation state — although it is not — and begins burning fats instead of carbohydrates.

This process in turn yields chemicals called ketone bodies as an alternative source of fuel.

When the body burns ketone bodies, tissue-protective gamma delta T-cells expand throughout the body.

This reduces diabetes risk and inflammation, and improves the body’s metabolism, said Dixit.

After a week on the keto diet, mice show a reduction in blood sugar levels and inflammation, he said.

However, when the body is in this “starving-not-starving” mode, fat storage is also happening simultaneously with fat breakdown, the researchers said.

When mice continue to eat the high-fat, low-carb diet beyond one week, they consume more fat than they can burn, and develop diabetes and obesity, the researchers said.

“They lose the protective gamma delta T-cells in the fat,” Dixit said. Long-term clinical studies in humans are still necessary to validate the anecdotal claims of keto’s health benefits, the researchers noted.

“Before such a diet can be prescribed, a large clinical trial in controlled conditions is necessary to understand the mechanism behind metabolic and immunological benefits or any potential harm to individuals who are overweight and pre-diabetic,” Dixit said.

“Obesity and type 2 diabetes are lifestyle diseases. Diet allows people a way to be in control,” he said.

With the latest findings, researchers now better understand the mechanisms at work in bodies sustained on the keto diet, and why the diet may bring health benefits over limited time periods.

“Our findings highlight the interplay between metabolism and the immune system, and how it coordinates maintenance of healthy tissue function,” said Emily Goldberg, a postdoctoral fellow at Yale.

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Obese people who have bariatric surgery may have an easier time breathing afterward, a small study suggests.

To assess changes in lung function associated with the surgery, researchers examined results from lung CT scans for 51 obese individuals before their operations and again six months later.

“Weight loss as a result of bariatric surgery improves the appearances of the lungs and airways on CT scans and this corresponds with an improvement in breathlessness and lung function,” said lead study author Susan Copley of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in London.

Obesity can make it harder for people to breathe, weakening respiratory muscles and requiring people to work harder to get air in and out of their lungs, the researchers note in Radiology. Few previous studies have examined the impact of obesity on breathing by looking at CT scans of the lungs and trachea, or windpipe, they note.

All but one patient in the current study underwent a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass procedure, which reduces the stomach to a pouch the size of an egg. Before surgery, patients’ average body mass index (BMI) was 44.5, making them extremely obese; afterwards they typically remained obese with an average BMI of 34.

Before surgery, and again six months later, researchers used CT scans to measure the size and shape of the trachea and assess air trapping – in which excess air remains in the lungs after exhaling, reducing lung function. Air trapping is an indirect sign of obstruction in the small airways of the lung.

Surgery and weight loss were associated with structural changes to the lung and trachea, the study found.

Post-surgery CT scans showed reductions in air trapping and a lower incidence of tracheal collapse, or blockage in the windpipe that makes it harder to breathe.

People who had the biggest reductions in air trapping on CT scans also had more improvement in shortness of breath.

The results suggest that some breathing problems related to obesity may improve after bariatric surgery, the authors conclude.

Beyond its small size, another limitation of the study is that researchers only took CT scans of small portions of the lung to minimize radiation doses, Copley said by email. This means the study may have underestimated the extent of abnormalities in the airways.

Even so, the results suggest improved respiratory function might be an added benefit of weight loss surgery, said Dr. Ninh Nguyen of the University of California Irvine Medical Center.

Breathing is harder for obese people because the fat tissue around the rib cage and abdomen leads to obstructions in the large and small airways, Nguyen, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email.

The current study demonstrated objective evidence of increase in trachea diameter and less air trapping with weight loss after bariatric surgery, Nguyen said. “Additionally, (shortness of breath) symptoms improved after bariatric surgery, which was likely related to the improvement of respiratory mechanics and less air trapping” when patients exhaled.

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Motherhood is the most welcomed phase of a woman’s life. However, it also brings some undesired changes to the body posture that may become a challenge to a woman’s self-esteem. Sagging breasts, stretched skin, excess weight on the tummy, separation in the abdominal muscles, etc. are some of the post-baby body concerns for a mother.

Thankfully, there is a great plastic surgery option called ‘Mommy Makeover’ to help the women achieve their pre-pregnancy youthful look. It addresses all the changes caused to the body due to pregnancy and enables you to rediscover yourself.

If you are also wondering about undergoing this procedure, here are some things you need to know beforehand.

 What a Mommy Makeover Does?

If you tend to work with a nutritionist and a personal trainer during the pregnancy, they employ strategies to help you prevent pounds from piling on the tummy. They guide you on how to ease back into exercise without damaging your body. 

However, there are some things that exercise and diet alone can’t do. Pregnancy hormones cause the body to accumulate stubborn fat deposits that don’t respond to the conventional weight loss methods. 

Moreover, pregnancy damages the abdominal muscles and leads to loose skin. As the tummy expands to accommodate a baby, the tissues joining the two lateral sections of muscles can tear. It causes the stomach to stick out. Additionally, it puts a strain on the back and results in a painful swayback.

Besides, the loss of breast volume after breastfeeding is a common issue. Also, the skin of labia become stretched or distorted during the childbirth. 

A Mommy Makeover is designed to address the problems that occur in the abdomen, breasts, and vagina after pregnancy or childbirth.

What Does A Mommy Makeover Involve?

Pregnancy affects each woman’s body differently. Therefore, not every woman needs all the procedures that make up a mommy makeover. To know how many procedures you require, talk to a board-certified surgeon. Once you know that, the following list gives you an idea about what is available.

Breast Augmentation

As the skin stretches during breastfeeding, many of the women are left with saggy breasts that require lifting. Similarly, some women notice a reduction in the size of the breasts after they are done with breastfeeding. 

Tummy Tuck

It is a procedure to remove loose skin and repair damaged muscles. This method involves incisions along the bikini line or near the belly button to remove loose or sagging skin from the area.

Liposuction

 It is a surgical method administered before the tummy tuck to remove the stubborn fat deposits on the abdomen. Liposuction isn’t only for the tummy, but it can also be used to remove fat deposits on thighs or hips.

Labiaplasty

Labiaplasty is a procedure to remove excess skin from the labia minora. Once the stitches get healed, the labia become functional again, and there is no chafing afterward. 

What To Know Before Fixing An Appointment With A Surgeon? 

The first thing to keep in mind is that you must wait for at least six months after the delivery to have a mommy makeover. The reason is childbirth and pregnancy puts immense stress on the body. So, having any surgery soon afterward can be dangerous. 

Besides this, here are some things you must know:

• A Mommy Makeover isn’t a weight-loss strategy. So, before having this surgery, you need to gain healthy body weight. It shouldn’t be more than 25 pounds than the weight you desire to have post-surgery. So, you need to have realistic expectations with this treatment method.
• It’s ideal to go for this procedure once you have completed your family. The reason is the subsequent pregnancy can undo the results of the surgery. Though you can go for the revision surgeries afterward, there might be a risk of scarring or other complications.
• The abdomen or breasts might be swollen during the first few weeks of your recovery period. It isn’t anything to be worried about.

These are some of the things you need to know before going for a mommy makeover. Whether you are deciding to undergo the complete makeover or only one procedure, take some time to find a skilled surgeon. He will be able to answer all your queries and guide you properly.

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Bariatric surgery can be life-saving, but many patients are hesitant to do it because they are concerned about how they will look afterward. They shouldn’t be! There are so many options to remove the extra skin and give the body a better post-weight-loss shape.

My massive-weight-loss patients are usually the happiest of all because they’ve gone through a total life and body transformation that they know will give them a longer, healthier and happier life. Cosmetic surgery added to this mix just gives that extra bit of confidence about this huge weight loss success.

Here are some of your cosmetic surgery options after bariatric surgery or large weight loss:

The tummy tuck procedure is a cosmetic surgery to remove extra skin and fat from the abdomen. I often combine it with liposuction to get that last bit of stubborn fat out and I will also often extend the tummy tuck incision around to the back (or flank areas) to raise and fill the buttocks as well. This is called a belt lipectomy or body lift.

A brachioplasty (or arm lift) removes skin and fat from the arms, eliminating the dreaded “bat wings.” The incision can also be brought down along the lateral chest to get rid of the extra skin that hangs over the bra strap area.

A breast lift (with or without an implant) is the most common option in weight loss patients for breast surgery. With the large loss of fat, the breast can be left with no volume in the “upper pole” of the breast. Many of our female patients will generally opt to put in an implant to give their breasts better shape overall, unless they have a fair amount of breast tissue that allows for just a standard breast lift.

A thigh lift uses an incision down the inside of the leg and along the groin to remove extra skin and fat and give back a prettier thigh shape — possibly even with that thigh gap you’ve always wanted.

For more information about how to get your new body firm after weight loss (whether with or without the bariatric surgery), call us for a complimentary consultation.

Board Certified plastic Surgeon, Michael Frederick, MD, recently joined Hass Plastic Surgery completing the prestigious Harvard Plastic Surgery Residency program at Massachusetts General Hospital. He hails from California where he completed his undergraduate degrees in Marine Biology and Spanish at UCLA followed by his Medical Degree at the University of California at San Francisco. He has published many peer reviewed articles and presented at multiple national meetings including the AAPS and ASPS. He is also fluent in Spanish.

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MONDAY, Aug. 5, 2019 — The keto diet has plenty of weight-loss devotees who swear by the high fat, low-carb plan. Now, new research from India suggests it may benefit people with type 2 diabetes.

The study team found that people following a ketogenic diet for three months saw significant improvement in their blood sugar control.

“A five to 10% carbohydrate diet over three months led to a remarkable reduction in hemoglobin A1c levels,” said study author Dr. Angati Kanchana Lakshmi Prasana. Kanchana is a consultant biochemist at CARE Hospitals in Visakhpatnam, India.

Hemoglobin A1c is a blood test that estimates average blood sugar control over the past two to three months. In general, people with diabetes are advised to have an A1c level of 7% or lower.

It’s still up for debate whether it’s this specific diet that causes improvement, eating fewer carbohydrates or simply the fact that people lose weight on the diet.

Dr. Genevieve Lama is an endocrinologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Medical Group Hudson Valley in New York. She said that when people lose weight, their blood sugar levels go down. And it doesn’t take a huge weight loss to make a difference. She said losing just 5% of your weight has an impact on blood sugar levels.

Plus, a low-carbohydrate diet is known to reduce blood sugar levels, she said.

During digestion, carbohydrates are broken down into simple sugars. The hormone insulin allows the body’s cells to use this sugar for fuel.

In type 2 diabetes, however, the cells aren’t as sensitive to insulin. That means more insulin is needed to do the same job. But sometimes the body can’t keep up. If that happens, blood sugar levels rise.

Certain foods — such as processed simple carbohydrates like white bread, sweets and sugar-sweetened beverages — quickly raise blood sugar, according to the American Diabetes Association. That’s why a diet that limits these foods can help manage blood sugar levels.

The ketogenic (keto) diet was originally designed as a treatment for people with the seizure disorder epilepsy. It typically allows 50 grams of carbohydrate or less a day, according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

On a keto diet, people often don’t have grains, breads or cereals. Often, even fruits and vegetables are restricted. The diet requires a big change in lifestyle.

The latest study recruited 130 people with type 2 diabetes to follow a ketogenic diet for 12 weeks. There was no control group for comparison.

Study volunteers were between 35 and 60 years old. About one-third were female.

Average weight loss was between 15 and 22 pounds. Before the diet, the study volunteers were slightly overweight. Afterwards, they fell in the normal weight category, on average.

The diet was very limited, with a maximum of 20 grams of carbohydrates a day, Kanchana said. (For reference, one slice of bread is 15 grams and a cup of broccoli has 6 grams of carbs, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says.)

Typically, the Indian diet is carb-laden, with around 300 to 400 grams of carbohydrate daily, Kanchana said. In some areas of India, people consume a lot of wheat products. In others, the diet contains more rice products.

The study diet contained fats like coconut oil and butter, animal products like chicken, eggs, lamb and pork, dairy products, green leafy vegetables and other green vegetables. The diet avoided root vegetables like potatoes and carrots, Kanchana said.

Daily calorie counts were about 1,500 to 2,000 calories a day.

The average hemoglobin A1C dropped from 7.8% to 6.4% after three months on the diet. Mild constipation was the only adverse effect.

However, more than 10% of the study participants (15 people) dropped out of the study. Kanchana said culturally it was difficult for some people to maintain the carbohydrate restrictions. Economic reasons may have prompted others to stop. It’s more expensive to purchase healthy fats and animal products than processed carbohydrates, she noted.

There is also concern that a diet high in fat and animal products might increase the risk of heart disease. Kanchana said the long-term effects of the diet need to be studied.

Diabetes doctor Lama said she thinks this diet would be difficult to maintain for a long time because it’s so restrictive. And she has concerns about the high fat in the diet, as well as the loss of certain healthy carbohydrates.

“I generally tell my patients to eat low carb, but not no carb. And to get a feel for what they think they can maintain as their lifestyle. If you can’t maintain it, it really just makes you feel defeated. It’s more realistic to lose weight gradually and keep it off,” she said.

She recommends keeping a food log before you see a dietitian, so you can work with the dietitian and come up with a healthy eating plan that has lots of foods you enjoy.

The study was to be presented Monday at the American Association for Clinical Chemistry annual meeting in Anaheim, Calif. Findings presented at meetings are typically viewed as preliminary until they’re published in a peer-reviewed journal.

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