Internet dependency
The internet is part of our life these days.
Or at least, it’s part of my life.
I had no idea how much I relied on it until an outage took place.
At the moment I have no connection at all and it is very strange.
Want to see what’s on in the cinema? Drive into town.
Want to know what time the train or bus leaves? Walk up to the train/bus station.
Want to check your bank account? Go to your bank.
Want to check your email? Too bad.
Want to post to your blog? Too bad.
Unfortunately my provider has no idea what is wrong. They say everything should work but as I had to drive about 37km (+/- 23 miles) to post this apparently something is wrong.
Hopefully this will get sorted soon. . .
Mediterranean and Low Carb beat Low Fat
A two year study was done in Israel to compare 3 types of diet, low fat, mediterranean and low carb.
The results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine, in the 17 July 2008 issue.
It is an interesting read if you are into big words, lots of data and obvious disclaimers. As I am a bit of a geek I do like those first two so I enjoyed reading the article. To save you the trouble though I will highlight what I consider to be the main conclusions.
Aside from showing us that woman are better ‘losers’ than men (sorry guys), it also showed that woman lose more weight on a different weight loss plan than men.
Looking at the results after two years the ’skinny’ (bad pun intended) is on average:
“The mean weight loss was 2.9 kg for the low-fat group, 4.4 kg for the Mediterranean-diet group, and 4.7 kg for the low-carbohydrate group”
As was to be expected not everybody saw the diet through for the entire period (2 years). But even with those numbers included people lost over 50% more weight on the Mediterranean diet and dieters lost over 60% more on the Low Carb diet.
“among the 272 participants who completed the intervention, the mean weight losses were 3.3 kg, 4.6 kg, and 5.5 kg, respectively.”
The people who did stick to the diet for 2 years lost more weight on average. Again the people on the Mediterranean diet and Low Carb diet lost more weight. However, the differences become even more impressive now. People on the Mediterranean diet now lost over 60% more and people on the Low Carb diet lost over 65% more weight than people on the Low Fat diet.
“The relative reduction in the ratio of total cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was 20% in the low-carbohydrate group and 12% in the low-fat group”
This is probably the shocker for most ‘traditional’ dieters and another confirmation for the Low Carbers. One of the main arguments that we often hear against Low Carb dieting is that it can not be good for you cholesterol. However, this study shows once again that Low Carb is better for your cholesterol levels as indicated by the drop of total cholesterol against HDL (good cholesterol).
This all comes from the summary of the report.
When we dig deeper we find the numbers for both men and women separately.
“Among the 277 male participants, the mean 24-month weight changes were –3.4 kg (95% confidence interval [CI], –4.3 to –2.5) for the low-fat group, –4.0 kg (95% CI, –5.1 to –3.0) for the Mediterranean-diet group, and –4.9 kg (95% CI, –6.2 to –3.6) for the low-carbohydrate group.”
Men lost on average 3.4kg on the Low Fat diet, 4kg on the Mediterranean diet and 4.9kg on the low carb diet. So the Mediterranean diet beat Low Fat by 17% while for men the diet beat Low Fat by 44%.
“Among the 45 women, the mean 24-month weight changes were –0.1 kg (95% CI, –2.2 to 1.9) for the low-fat group, –6.2 kg (95% CI, –10.2 to –1.9) for the Mediterranean-diet group, and –2.4 kg (95% CI, –6.9 to 2.2) for the low-carbohydrate group”
Women on average lost 0.1kg on the Low Fat diet (is that even worth it?). 2.4kg on the Low Carb diet (yes, I’ve switched the order here) and 6.2kg on the Mediterranean diet! Women lost almost 3 times as much on the Mediterranean diet compared to the Low Carb diet and even more compared to the Low Fat diet.
Briefly highlighted:
Men
- Low Fat diet: -2.9kg
- Mediterranean diet: -4.4kg
- Low Carb diet: -4.7kg
Women
- Low Fat diet: -0.1kg
- Mediterranean diet: -6.2kg
- Low Carb diet: -2.4kg
So it looks like the women profit a lot more from a Mediterranean diet. The Mediterranean diet also seems to work well for men however, the Low Carb diet seems to work even better for them.
If you have any questions then, as always, I am more than happy to help you if I can.
If are looking for a weight loss plan tailored to your own needs visit eDiets.com. They have been around for ages and are generally considered the best online service for weight loss.
11 Easy to follow tips to get more exercise every week.
Would you like to exercise more but is your schedule to busy or is the gym to expensive?
Here are 11 tips to help you get started today.
- When going somewhere. Instead of parking as close to your destination as possible, park a couple of hundred meters away.
- While watching TV. Take the batteries out of the remote and walk up to TV, stereo, DVD player etc. instead
- While getting to your floor. Develop a phobia of elevators. Take the stairs instead. If you work or live on the 40th floor, get out of the lift a couple of floors early.
- During the weekend. Invite friends and family members with kids over during the weekend. Go outside and play with the kids.
- While at work. Take a break from work every couple of hours. Go for a short walk and stretch a bit. Not only will this help you exercise more but your brain will work better which also increases your productivity.
- On public transportation. Get of the bus/tram/metro a (couple of) stop(s) early. Walk the rest of the way.
- While taking care of you car. Wash your car yourself instead of driving it through the car wash. Don’t use the pressure cleaner.
- When you go to get groceries. Leave the trolley after you have paid for your groceries. Use bags to carry the groceries to your car which you have parked at the end of the car park.
- With pets. If you have a dog take him or her for an extra walk every day. If you don’t have a dog, borrow your neighbor’s dog.
- When you have some spare time. Dance! Dancing is a fun way to burn some extra calories. If you can’t dance yet learn how to. Go to a beginner’s class. There will be no need to be self conscious as everybody is there to learn. Or just dance at home when there is nobody around.
- On the phone. Walk while you are on the phone. Just walking up and down the living room will get you a lot of extra exercise every week.
Just implement all or some of these and you will get a lot more exercise every week. Before you know it you will be losing more weight and improving your health.
Let me know what other creative ways you have found to get more exercise.
8 Common Questions About The Warrior Diet
Over the last couple of day I received some questions regarding the warrior diet.
As you may be wondering about the same things I have published them here.
1.) Are you telling me that I can’t eat at all 18 hours of each day?
No, not at all. You under eat during the day which means you eat less. This is not the same as not eating at all. The Warrior Diet is not meant to be a water fast. You are supposed to eat during they day. Just be aware of what you eat and eat small portions.
2.) Isn’t this how Sumo wrestlers eat to gain weight?
Unfortunately somebody gave you some wrong information. Sumo wrestlers will eat a huge breakfast at 11:00am and around 6:00pm they will have a huge dinner. Both of these are based on pork.
3.) So in what way exactly is The Warrior Diet different?
The biggest difference is that on The Warrior Diet you will only eat small amounts of selected foods during the day. Definitely not unlimited amounts. Another difference is that, unlike Sumo wrestlers, you do not stuff yourself at night. You will feast until you have had enough. The indicator for this is that you’ll be more thirsty than hungry.
4.) I love coffee. Will I have to give up my coffee?
I know exactly how you feel. I love coffee. Go ahead and enjoy your coffee or tea. There are actually studies that show caffeine may help weight loss.
5.) Sounds too good. I remember, you’re going to make me exercise, right?
Not if you don’t want to. However, it is definitely recommended.
Not only will it help you to speed up weight loss but you’ll improve your health. But, if you really don’t want to, even without exercise the diet will work and you will still lose weight.
6.) Will I only lose water weight if I don’t exercise?
No. You will still lose fat while doing The Warrior Diet. Just at a slower rate than if you do exercise.
7.) Will I be tired during the day?
Actually, you’re more likely to be more energized during the day. Although unlikely you may experience some tiredness during the first couple of days as your body adjusts to the new eating habits.
8.) Am I allowed to drink alcohol on The Warrior Diet?
Yes, you are. Keep in mind though that drinking alcohol will slow down weight loss. Also, and maybe even more importantly, don’t combine alcohol and carbs.
If you have any other questions please leave a comment and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
Moved!
I have moved my blog to a subdomain of my own site.
WordPress.com just had too many limitations which made it not possible for me to optimize my pages. By hosting them here I should be able to reduce the time it takes to load a page which will be a big improvement.
If you have any suggestions please do not hesitate to contact me.
All the best,
Walter
