How Often Should I Weigh Myself?

Weighing yourself regularly and with precision is an important component of any weight loss program. It serves 3 purposes: 

1) To measure your progress. If you are losing weight, you’ll know your program is working. If not, you’ll know that it is time to make some changes.

2) To refine and perfect your weight loss strategy. No two people lose weight the same way. It is a highly subjective process. When you weigh yourself weekly, you’ll start to see certain patterns. You’ll study what you did when you lost weight, and you’ll study what you did when you didn’t. Over time, you’ll refine your program with laser-like focus, knowing exactly what you have to do to achieve your goals.

3) To support weight maintenance. Once you hit your goal weight, weighing yourself weekly will keep you focused. Old habits will tend to creep back in. If you see small increases in your weight, you can make the necessary adjustments before they become a bigger problem that will take more time to correct.

Weighing yourself correctly is a bit more complicated than you may think. Here’s how I have my clients do it:

1) Make sure you have a research quality scale. I’m a big fan of the Tanita Iron man (www.tanita.com).  These are digital scales that are highly accurate and can even measure your body fat. They run around $120, but last forever.

2) Pick a day of the week that will be your regular weigh in day. Alcohol, salt, and refined carbohydrates make you retain water like crazy for up to 2 days after consumption. Many of my clients will see weight increases of 3 pounds after a cheat meal. This is not body fat, just water retention that goes away after a couple of days. 

For this reason, you want to eat very clean for 2 days before your weigh in day. That means no splurges, alcohol, or restaurant meals. Since most of my clients splurge on the weekends and get back on track Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday is a natural weigh in day. Personally, I like Saturday morning. I’m very tight with my diet on Thursday and Friday, so Saturday is my day.

3) Weigh yourself first thing in the morning, before you eat or drink anything, in your underwear. You wake up in a dehydrated state, which will help control for level of hydration, which is a confounder for accurate weight readings.

4) Record your weight so you can measure your progress and search for patterns.

Weighing yourself regularly and accurately is a vital tool in your arsenal when trying to lose or maintain your weight. Make sure you use it properly!

Lifestyle And Cognitive Decline

The Study

Research has previously shown that a healthy lifestyle can help maintain cognitive function as we age. In this interesting study, 754 deceased individuals from the Rush Memory And Aging Project Cohort were studied. These individuals had provided detailed information about their lifestyle and cognitive function up until they died. A healthy lifestyle score was computed for each subject. Researchers also conducted autopsies on these subjects after their deaths.

Components of the healthy lifestyle score included:

-Not smoking

-150 minutes of cardiovascular exercise per week

-Limiting alcohol consumption

-Following a Mediterranean diet

Subjects most closely following these lifestyle factors had higher global cognitive functioning prior to death and also had significantly lower beta amyloid plaques in their brain upon autopsy. Beta amyloid plaques are an indicator of Alzheimer’s disease.

JAMA Neurology 2024; 81:233-39

Take Home Message

This is the first study I have ever seen that did autopsies on subjects after they passed. These lifestyle factors are tried and true and have been shown to reduce risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, all cause mortality and as this study demonstrates, loss of cognitive functioning with age.

Make each of them a priority in the New Year!

Energy Density And Energy Intake

The Study

The energy density of a food is the number of calories delivered in 1 gram of that particular food. It has been theorized that if we eat high energy density foods, we will compensate by eating less at later meals that day.

In this interesting randomized crossover study, 34 men and women were served the same lunch and then were offered all you can eat desserts on 3 separate occasions.

The desserts were low energy density (vanilla yogurt), medium energy density (vanilla ice cream) and high energy density (vanilla cheesecake).

-Subjects consumed 186 calories when offered the low and medium energy density desserts.

-Subjects consumed 427 calories when offered the high energy density dessert. This was 241 calories more than the low and medium energy density desserts.

-Subjects did not eat less food later in the day to compensate for this increase in calories.

Appetite 2024; 200:107533

Take Home Message

The results of this study show that calories do matter and we are unlikely to compensate when eating high energy density foods.

Shoot for lower calorie versions of appetizers, main dishes, side dishes and desserts if you are trying to manage your weight.

Product Review: Life Fitness Home Elliptical Trainer

No matter what your fitness goals may be, it is critical to set up an environment where exercise is easy for you to accomplish. Nothing is easier than having exercise equipment in your home. Today’s review is for a piece of equipment that is near and dear to my heart.  

I have worked at a lot of gyms over the years. I have also belonged to a lot of gyms. The Life Fitness Elliptical Trainer is my absolute favorite cardio machine of all time. I picked up a home version as soon as we moved into our new house and let me tell you, it is awesome.

Pros

1) Extremely well made and durable: I have had mine for 8 years and it looks like I just took it out of the box.

2) Variable intensity: There are 20 levels of resistance as well as computer guided workouts included.

3) Quiet: This machine is very quiet. I can work out while my wife is sleeping and she won’t know it. 

4) Feels exactly like the more expensive commercial gym model. This is a great workout.

5) Extremely low impact: Elliptical training is my preferred mode of cardio for just about everyone. You burn a lot of calories with virtually no impact on your joints. It feels like you are running on air when on this machine.

6) Having any piece of cardio in your home allows you to avoid bad weather, which can make it very hard to get your cardio in consistently if you exercise outdoors. 

Cons 

1) On the expensive side. At the time of this writing, it goes for $2320 on the Life Fitness website. This price includes both shipping and assembly. This is a pretty big initial investment, but if you divide it by the number of years you will have it, this elliptical comes out to far less than you would pay in yearly dues to a nice gym. 

2) It takes up a lot of space. Having said this, I would recommend putting it someplace that you will use it, such as your bedroom or your living room. Exercise machines put in a damp basement have a tendency to disappear from your life. It is also helpful to put it in front of a TV so you can combine your cardio with your TV time.

Do I Recommend The Life Fitness Elliptical Trainer?

Absolutely. If you have the space and are able to make the financial commitment, there is no better option for cardio than this, in my opinion. You can check out this machine at Life Fitness website here

Disclosure: I am not affiliated with the company that makes the Life Fitness Elliptical Trainer and make no money if you buy it. 

Do You Have Any Tips To Stay On Track With My Diet During The Holidays?

The holidays are a real challenge for those trying to lose weight and eat right. There are tons of opportunities for poor eating. Here are just a few quick tips to help you stay on track:

1) I love the concept of having 2 cheat meals each week when you are allowed to go off your diet a bit. Use these strategically around the holidays so you can have a few days where you can pretty much eat what you want.

2) Keep up your exercise habits. Even though we are all busy during the holidays, keep exercise a priority. Daily cardio and twice per week weight training will do a lot to keep your weight where you want it to be on the other end of the holiday season.

3) Strictly limit sugar. I have seen it completely derail weight loss progress. It not only increases hunger due to its negative impact on blood sugar, it also has a powerful addictive component. 

Go with sugar free desserts, like fresh berries and whipped cream. Another strategy is to make sure you have a dessert on hand made with non-nutritive sweeteners. For example, at Thanksgiving, we simply substitute Splenda for sugar in our pumpkin pie recipe. 

The Mediterranean Diet And Hearing Loss

The Study

Hearing loss in the elderly is closely associated with a decrease in function. In this interesting study, 882 older participants of the Baltimore Longitudinal Study had their diet monitored for 8 years and had their hearing examined by pure-tone audiometry. 

Subjects most closely following a Mediterranean diet had a significantly lower risk of hearing loss by the end of follow-up.

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2024; 119:1338-45

Take Home Message

This is the first article I have ever seen that looked at diet and hearing and is yet another reason to consider the Mediterranean diet. The research literature consistently shows that it has a powerful impact on our physical and mental health.

There are several potential mechanisms at play here:

-This diet includes an abundance of vitamins, carotenoids and specific fatty acids that have a positive impact on inner ear health.

-The Mediterranean diet reduces inflammation and oxidative damage.

-This way of eating may improve cochlear blood flow.

Ultra Processed Foods And Risk Of Cardiovascular Disease

The Study

Ultra-processed foods are food products that contain extra ingredients that add palatability and extend shelf life. The research literature has recently shown that they are quite detrimental to our health. 

In this interesting study, ultra-processed foods were combined into categories to examine their long-term impact on risk of cardiovascular disease.

This study included over 200,000 subjects from 3 different Harvard cohort studies. Subjects had their ultra-processed food consumption monitored for over 30 years and were watched for incidence of heart disease and stroke. 

Among the findings:

-Total ultra-processed foods were significantly associated with cardiovascular disease risk.

-Among food groups, both processed meats and sugar sweetened beverages were associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lana.2024.100859

Take Home Message

Processed meats include bacon, sausage, hot dogs and preserved deli meats like salami and pepperoni. Strictly limit these in your diet along with sodas and other sugary beverages.