Health | 100 Tips

7 tips for workout success

WH&F head trainer Nikki Fogden-Moore shares her tips for workout success.

1.   Find exercises you love
2.   Mix up the order of things
3.   Take your gym outdoors
4.   Bring a friend and put an interval timer on your phone
5.   Pump up the sounds
6.   Be grateful that you’re able to plan and create the body and the life you want. Gratitude for where you are at now is integral to getting to where you want to be. If you are constantly telling yourself you’re not fit, healthy and happy enough, it will manifest. Focus on the positive.
7.   REALLY commit to a healthy mind as well as a healthy workout regime.

Psssst...a bonus tip that always works:
Add your focus for each session so you go in with a game plan. The exercises can all be the same but it’s your approach and attitude towards the session that will make the difference!

Image by: Sam Frysteen

Read on for more workout tips to become the best version of yourself.

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People May Eat More of a Food That’s Labeled ‘Healthy’

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Jan. 4, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Words matter when you’re trying to eat right, new research suggests.

People tend to overeat when they’re consuming food that’s been labeled “healthy,” undermining their own efforts to improve their diet, the study found.

People order larger portions, eat more and feel less full when they’re consuming food that’s been portrayed as “healthy” in its packaging, according to a report published recently in the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research.

“It’s quite ironic. The more we put out foods that are labeled healthy, we could be abetting the obesity epidemic rather than combatting it,” said study author Jacob Suher, a doctoral student at the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business.

People appear to overeat “healthy” food because they subconsciously consider it less filling, Suher and his colleagues found.

But they also found that this effect could be counteracted if people are told that a healthy food is “nourishing” — a word that appears to indicate the food is more filling.

“The word ‘nourishing’ brings up another unconscious intuition that seems to override the one attached to the word ‘healthy,’ ” Suher said.

Registered dietitian Joy Dubost said the study shows the power of a person’s subconscious in shaping eating behaviors.

“When people say mind over matter, it really does seem to be a big factor,” said Dubost, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “What your perception is of the food you eat can be very different from how your body is responding to it. Clearly, we need to start addressing both the conscious and the subconscious in our messages about healthy eating.”

The new study took place in three phases. First, researchers asked 50 college students to look at pictures of healthy and unhealthy foods, and words associated with either “filling” or “not filling.” The investigators found that people associated unhealthy foods with the thought of feeling full.

Next, the research team conducted a field study in which it measured the hunger levels of 40 graduate students after eating a cookie that had been labeled as either healthy or unhealthy. Even though all the cookies were the same, students who were told they were eating a “healthy” cookie wound up feeling hungrier 45 minutes later than those who thought they were eating an “unhealthy” cookie.

In the last phase, 70 college students were presented popcorn that had been portrayed as either “healthy,” “unhealthy” or “nourishing.” The students were asked to order as much popcorn as they thought they’d need to not be hungry until their next meal, anywhere from one to 10 cups.

The researchers found that students ordered more and ate more if they’d been told the popcorn was healthy, compared with students who were told it was unhealthy. Those told the popcorn was “nourishing” ate less than those in the “healthy” group, but more than those in the “unhealthy” group.

The effect of the word “healthy” on food consumption held strong even for people who disagreed in a questionnaire that healthy foods are less filling, Suher said. That indicates that people’s response to the word is ingrained into their subconscious, and they react to it automatically, the study authors said.

There are a couple of potential explanations for why the word “healthy” has become associated with less filling, Suher said.

People tend to come up with extreme examples when provided the words “healthy” or “unhealthy,” veering either to salad on the one hand or pizza on the other, he said. These biases could influence a person’s eating habits.

Diners also might be subconsciously programming themselves to relate unhealthy foods to a feeling of fullness. “People are more likely to consume unhealthy foods to fullness, because they’re either served in larger portion sizes or are seen as tastier,” Suher said.

People need to be reminded that eating lots of even healthy foods can load a person up with excess calories and lead to weight gain, Dubost said.

Dubost added that she’d like to see follow-up studies that examine the effect of these words on the eating habits of other groups of people — middle-aged folks, the elderly or the obese.

For now, people who want to improve their diet might try associating the word “nourishing” with the word “healthy” when they’re food shopping or ordering at a restaurant, Suher said.

“Seek out foods portrayed as nourishing, and think of healthy foods as nourishing,” he said. “People appear to associate the idea of nourishment with being filling.”

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about eating a healthy diet.

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Childhood Cancer Treatment May Raise Adult Heart Disease Risk

By Alan Mozes
HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Jan. 4, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Children who survive cancer may face a higher risk of heart disease as adults, new research suggests.

The lingering effects of the treatments that saved their lives as children may trigger the development of heart abnormalities that might not cause apparent symptoms, the researchers explained.

The investigators found that heart disease appears to affect between 3 percent and 24 percent of pediatric cancer survivors by the time they reach their 30s. Those figures rose to between 10 and 37 percent among patients 40 and older, the study found.

However, while the study revealed a link between childhood cancer treatment and later heart disease, it didn’t prove cause-and-effect.

“The prevalence of these cardiac findings might be expected in an older adult population, but not necessarily in this young a population,” said study lead author Dr. Daniel Mulrooney.

“Survivors of childhood cancer exposed to cardio-toxic cancer therapies are at risk for premature cardiovascular disease, much of which may present asymptomatically (without symptoms), and require long-term surveillance,” he said.

Mulrooney, who’s with the department of oncology in the division of cancer survivorship at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., and his colleagues released their findings online Jan. 4 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

As cancer therapies have improved, the chances of surviving childhood malignancies have increased markedly. In the United States, four in five young patients now survive at least five years following their initial diagnosis. Adult survivors of childhood cancer number nearly 390,000, according to the researchers. That figure is projected to grow to more than half a million by 2020, the study authors said.

The problem? In the past, a return of cancer was the biggest concern among pediatric patients. But today, experts believe that adult survivors may have to contend with cancer treatment side effects.

To explore the subject, the study authors focused on almost 1,900 men and women initially treated for childhood cancer at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Participants ranged from 18 to 60 years old. All had been treated with various types of chemotherapy and/or radiation. All had survived a minimum of 10 years, according to the study.

The researchers found that although almost none of the patients showed any outward signs of heart disease, more than 7 percent had some form of heart muscle disease (cardiomyopathy), such as an enlarged, thickened, weakened, and/or rigid heart. This problem was more prevalent among those who had undergone chest radiation treatment than those who had not, the research showed.

Nearly 4 percent had coronary artery disease and 28 percent had narrowing of the blood vessel or heart valve leakage. Heart rhythm abnormalities were seen among more than 4 percent of the survivors, the study found.

“In our study, we only included childhood cancer survivors exposed to cardio-toxic cancer treatments, [such as] anthracyclines and/or cardiac radiation,” Mulrooney explained.

There weren’t any patients in the study who weren’t given treatment for their pediatric cancer. So, “it is difficult to say if the cancer itself may also contribute to these cardiac outcomes,” he added.

Dr. Nicholas Zaorsky, a resident physician in radiation oncology at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, suggested that it’s most likely childhood cancer treatment itself that raises the risk for adult heart disease.

“It is known that certain types of chemotherapy increase the risk of heart disease,” Zaorsky said. In addition, radiation therapy directed toward the chest cavity region also increases heart disease odds, he said.

“Most likely, the increased risk of heart disease is from the treatment of the cancer with chemotherapy and radiation therapy, more so than the actual cancer,” Zaorsky said.

That point was seconded by Dr. Stephen Freedland, a professor of surgery, chair of the department of prostate cancer, and director of the Center for Integrated Research on Cancer and Lifestyle at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

“This is basically a modern phenomenon. Because 20 to 40 years ago there were no survivors of childhood cancer. So we threw anything we had in the arsenal at it. And some of it worked,” Freedland explained.

“But now we realize that those drugs can cause harm,” he added. “So the question now is can we make cancer treatment kinder and gentler for the heart, without reducing its efficacy? That’s where a lot of pediatric cancer research is now focused.”

More information

There’s more on cancer treatment and the heart at the MD Anderson Cancer Center.

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Cutting Carbs? Here’s How to Make Cauliflower Rice in Under 10 Minutes

Just how hot is the phenom of “rice” made out of cauliflower? With nearly 28,000 posts on Instagram featuring #cauliflowerrice, it’s safe to say this dish is trending hard.

It’s tough to say what the best thing is about it. Among its advantages: It’s made from one of the healthiest cruciferous vegetables you can get, so it’s loaded with nutrients including fiber, vitamins C, K and B6, and potassium. Cauliflower has 25 calories per cup vs. 218 for a cup of cooked brown rice. (And, if you’re watching carbs, cauliflower has 5g per cup vs. 46g for a cup of brown rice.) Cauliflower rice is easy and fast to make. Plus, it’s crazy-delicious. Seriously.

No wonder Pinterest is abuzz with this side dish. No matter what your reasons for trying it, it’s definitely time to try it. Here’s how:

RELATED: 25 No-Cook Recipes

010416_Cauliflower_Rice

It’s that simple. One pound of cauliflower will yield about 4 cups of “rice.” Use it to make fried rice, or alongside any dish you would normally have with regular rice. Don’t forget to pin this recipe for later!

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3 Totally Free and Easy Ways to Lose Weight

Photo: Getty Images

Well, it’s early January, so that means many of us have made resolutions to finally lose that 5, 10, 20 lbs. If that’s you, then no doubt you’re seeing all the juice cleanses, extreme diet and exercise plans and other things for sale all over the place right now.

But wait! Before you reach for your wallet, here are three completely simple, zero-cost, scientifically proven things you can start doing today that can lead to weight loss. No gimmicks, we promise.

Drink more water

You already know how essential water is to good health. For anyone trying to lose weight, it’s even more important. Not only does staying hydrated help keep your metabolism humming, it might also help keep you from overeating. Research published last summer in the journal Obesity found that obese adults who drank 16 ounces of water before meals for 12 weeks lost more weight than another group that didn’t sip before eating. And the more water they drank, the more weight they lost.

A few tips for staying hydrated: Along with drinking water before meals, have a glass after each meal and snack. Drink a glass upon waking up (I like to squeeze in some fresh lemon), and be sure to listen to your thirst when you work out. Infuse your water with tasty whole fruit if that will help you sip more.

Get more sleep

If you’re one of those people who think they get by just fine on 5 hours of sleep (or less), think again. The vast majority of adults need 7 to 9 hours per night, according to the National Sleep Foundation. The organization estimates that sleep debt costs the U.S. $66 billion because of additional health care costs, lost productivity, and other problems. And it doesn’t take much sleep loss to be affected; a study presented at the 2015 annual meeting of the Endocrine Society suggested that even 30 minutes of lost sleep could lead to greater likelihood of insulin resistance and obesity.

Trouble sleeping? Try limiting screen time at least an hour before bed so you have sufficient time to wind down, and when you get in bed make sure your room is dark and cool. If all else fails, see your doctor. Good rest is essential for your overall health.

Watch less TV

Multiple studies indicate that time spent in front of the tube to a higher risk for overweight and obesity—and it makes sense. All that time lounging on your couch is time you’re not spending at the gym.

That said, you don’t have to cancel Netflix or give up your favorite shows. But one thing you can do is choose the shows you really love and cut out the rest. If you find yourself just zoning out in front of the TV, or if turning it on at night is simply a habit, try to create a new habit. Many people use mindless TV to de-stress. If that’s you, try calling a friend (and pacing around the house while you chat) or doing some at-home yoga.

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Doctor-Patient Emails Can Help the Chronically Ill

MONDAY, Jan. 4, 2016 (HealthDay News) — For people with chronic conditions, the ability to communicate with their doctor via email may improve their health, new research suggests.

The study included just over 1,000 patients in northern California diagnosed with conditions such as asthma, coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, diabetes or high blood pressure.

The patients had access to an online portal, which let them review their health records, make appointments, refill prescriptions and send confidential emails to their doctor.

A survey found that 56 percent of the patients had sent their doctor an email within the past year, and 46 percent had used email as the primary way to contact their doctor about medical issues.

Thirty-two percent of those who exchanged emails with their doctor reported improvements in their health, according to the study published in the December issue of the American Journal of Managed Care.

Meanwhile, 67 percent said emailing their doctor had no effect on their overall health, the findings showed.

“We found that a large proportion of patients used email as their first method of contacting health care providers across a variety of health-related concerns,” lead study author, Mary Reed, said in a news release from Kaiser Permanente. Reed is a staff scientist with Kaiser Permanente’s research division in Oakland, Calif.

“As more patients gain access to online portal tools associated with electronic health records, emails between patients and providers may shift the way that health care is delivered and also impact efficiency, quality and health outcomes,” she added.

For 42 percent of the patients, using email to communicate with their doctor reduced the number of phone calls they made to the office, and 36 percent said they made fewer office visits, according to the report.

Among those who used email to communicate with their doctor, 85 percent had co-pays of $60 or more for each office visit, or high deductibles, compared to 63 percent with lower cost sharing, the study found.

More information

The U.S. National Institute on Aging has more about doctor-patient communication.

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In Defense of the Annual Checkup

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Jan. 4, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Arguments urging doctors to abandon routine physical exams are based on insufficient evidence, a new research paper maintains.

The case against the regular checkup has been largely based on a review of 14 trials that concluded that annual visits do not reduce either illness or risk of death, according to the paper released online Jan. 4 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

But the trials included in that review did not focus specifically on the value of the annual physical exam, and their results are being distorted, said paper lead author Dr. David Himmelstein, a professor at the City University of New York School of Public Health at Hunter College in New York City.

“There’s been a lot of folks saying in public that there’s no need for people to see their doctor regularly,” Himmelstein said. “What we’re saying is no, the studies don’t say that. This is a misrepresentation.”

The debate over the value of routine physicals has reached the point that the New England Journal of Medicine in October featured head-to-head editorials arguing for and against the time-honored practice.

Researchers questioning the worth of the regular checkup said that studies have failed to show any benefit from these periodic visits, which cost more than $10 billion a year in U.S. health care expenses.

Doctors would do better to use electronic health records to send alerts to people who need preventive measures such as an annual flu shot, detractors say. Patients could receive regular blood tests and other screening measures from nurses or physician assistants, saving doctors time to care for people with actual medical problems, the thinking goes.

“What does one mean by an annual physical?” said Dr. Allan Prochazka, co-writer of the NEJM piece questioning the checkup’s usefulness. “From a patient perspective, it often means getting a variety of diagnostic tests. It is a common occurrence for a physician to do a detailed history, a relevant physical exam and preventive counseling, only to be asked, ‘When do I get my physical?’ — meaning, when do I get the tests.”

However, the 14-trial evidence review cited as showing no benefit for patients mainly relies on clinical trials that took place in Europe, and involved people who saw their doctor regularly, Himmelstein said. One possible reason: Socialized medicine means no co-pay, making regular checkups more affordable, he added.

And, he explained, the clinical trials mainly were concerned with the value of adding more tests to a regular checkup, rather than whether the checkup itself was a good thing.

“They weren’t actually studies looking at routine visits to the doctor,” Himmelstein said. “They added on some additional tests for people who were already seeing their doctors on a regular basis. The trials are pretty much irrelevant to what’s being said about the value of routine visits.”

Himmelstein’s new paper points to another systematic evidence review that focused solely on 33 more recent studies of periodic health evaluations that consisted “only of the history, risk assessment, and a tailored physical examination.”

This competing review showed that the periodic health exam improved delivery of some recommended preventive services, and may lessen patient worry. Some patients, especially those in vulnerable or high-risk groups, could benefit from routine visits, the review found.

Personal experience also has shown that regular checkups can help patients, Himmelstein added. He has caught skin cancers that people didn’t know they had, and by building a relationship with patients has been able to detect problems such as alcoholism or depression, for which someone probably wouldn’t see a doctor.

“It’s penny wise and pound foolish to say we should stop people from building a relationship with their doctor before they’re sick,” Himmelstein said.

Prochazka said doctors may want to drag patients in regularly to get to know them, but it’s unclear what patients want.

“I think most physicians believe that the routine visit does build rapport with patients, but there are few data on what patients’ views are on this,” said Prochazka, a professor of internal medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. “Do most patients want to make an annual visit to their physician just to build rapport without getting testing?”

Prochazka and Himmelstein do agree on one point — there’s not enough evidence to make a conclusive case either for or against annual physical exams, at this time.

“I agree that this issue needs more study because the physical health examination is a very common reason for medical visits,” Prochazka said. “However, I don’t feel that there are sufficient data to recommend the annual physical health examination for all patients.”

More information

The U.S. National Institute on Aging has tips on choosing a doctor.