[Grovenet] Hope for us all if we can do it . . . .

Tue Apr 28 13:20:47 PDT 2009

Well, severe injury and chronic pain are very effective at generating weight
loss. I dropped 45 pounds that way without even trying. However, I don't
recommend it as an overall way to improve your health. I'm now struggling to
keep the weight off and it ain't easy. Here are a few techniques that might
help: 

1.                  Wear a pedometer. One study showed that just wearing a
pedometer caused people to add and average of 2,000 steps per day to their
normal routine. 

2.                  Keep a food journal. Never be without it. The simple act
of recording your food intake will reduce your food intake.

3.                  Eat only fresh fruit before noon. This gives you plenty
of ready carbs and fiber. Get your complex carbs & protein later in the day.
Most of us need to eat more fruit. 

4.                  Force yourself to drink 16 oz of water before every
meal. You'll eat less. Besides, most of us need the water.

5.                  Plan for snacks between meals each day. Don't wait till
you're hungry to decide what to eat. 

6.                  Eat anything you want for dinner but only have one
reasonably-sized serving. After dinner eat nothing else, except water, until
morning. 

7.                  Go to bed earlier each night and get up earlier each
morning. 

8.                  As soon as you get hungry, eat something. Don't deny
yourself food. Just make better choices. 

9.                  Keep lots of healthy food in the house. Don't allow any
bad food in the house. 

10.             Try some aversion therapy. Wear a rubber band like a
bracelet, loosely around your wrist. When you crave something bad, snap the
rubber band sharply against your wrist three times. 

11.             Avoid fast food joints and never set foot in a 7-Eleven or a
Plaid Pantry again. There's nothing edible in any of those places. They only
sell poison. 

12.             When you're home, don't wear oversized, comfortable clothes.
Dig through your closet to find clothes that are a little too small for you.
Wear those. They'll serve as a constant reminder. 

13.             Tighten your belt one notch more than is comfortable.
Tighten it another notch more at mealtimes. 

14.             Begin to walk at a gentle pace every day. 

- Jim Katen

  _____  

From: grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com [mailto:grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com] On
Behalf Of Bob Browning
Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2009 9:27 AM
To: Grovenet
Subject: [Grovenet] Hope for us all if we can do it . . . .

Here's a recent report on a study that suggests how important it is for all
of us (me included!!) to try to figure out what we need to do to end this
epidemic. Maybe we could start some kind of online support group or?? I am
certainly open for suggestions as to how to get down to a BMI of 25 (195
pounds) from my current BMI of 35 (and my current weight of 275) - an 80
pound difference!!

Suggestions anyone (other than just stop eating or exercise more)? I need
some guidance as to how to make the change, not what change is needed, since
and probably all of you know that!!

bob "help me, Ronda" browning
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

tho

 <javascript:window.print();> 

New-onset diabetes in older adults largely attributable to lifestyle 

April 27, 2009 | Michael
<http://www.theheart.org/viewAuthorBio.do?primaryKey=114633>  O'Riordan 

  <http://www.theheart.org/displayItem.do?primaryKey=964523&type=ppt> 

Boston, MA - Even among older adults, a healthy lifestyle, one that includes
physical activity, healthy dietary habits, smoking cessation, and light or
moderate alcohol use, is associated with a significantly lower incidence of
new-onset diabetes mellitus. Researchers showed that 80% of new cases of
diabetes are attributable to these risk factors, a number that increases
when obesity is included as a risk factor. 

"Our findings suggest that, even later in life, the great majority of cases
of diabetes are related to lifestyle factors," write Dariush Mozaffarian
(Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA) and colleagues in the April 28,
2009 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. "Our results support the
need for emphasizing healthy and achievable physical activity and dietary
goals among older adults, including moderate leisure-time activity and
walking pace, higher intake of dietary fiber and polyunsaturated fat, and
lower intake of trans fat and easily digestible carbohydrates."

Previous studies, including a secondary analysis of the Diabetes Prevention
Program trial, have shown that structured dietary advice and physical
activity were most effective at reducing the risk of diabetes among the
oldest participants. However, as the investigators point out, that trial
included mostly high-risk patients participating in a highly structured
intervention. Other studies have shown that certain lifestyle behaviors can
lower the risk of diabetes, but these often looked at each lifestyle factor
individually.

In this analysis of the Cardiovascular Health Study, Mozaffarian and
colleagues investigated the relationship between lifestyle risk factors,
evaluated in combination, and the incidence of diabetes over a 10-year
period in 4883 men and women 65 years of age and older. The group defined
optimal lifestyle characteristics and compared these low-risk behaviors with
the risk of incident diabetes mellitus. 

Low-risk lifestyle behaviors were defined by physical-activity levels above
the median and never smoking or smoking <5 pack-years or having quit >20
years ago. Alcohol use in this cohort was rare, with 94% consuming less than
two drinks daily. Individuals were also assigned a dietary score based on
their intake of dietary fiber, low glycemic index foods, lower trans fats,
and a higher polyunsaturated-to-saturated-fat ratio. Assessments of
adiposity were also performed, with a low-risk body-mass index (BMI) defined
as not being overweight, or a BMI <25, while a low-risk waist circumference
for men was <92 cm and <88 cm for women.

Basic lifestyle risk factors, according to the researchers, strongly
predicted diabetes incidence, with individuals cutting their risk in half
when they were physically active and had good dietary habits. Overall, the
risk of diabetes was 80% lower among individuals with physical-activity
levels above the median, healthy dietary and smoking habits, and moderate
alcohol use. When healthy BMIs and waist circumference were added to the
model, the risk of new diabetes was reduced by 89%.

Risk of diabetes mellitus according to low-risk lifestyle factors 

Low-risk lifestyle factors, n 

Participants (%) 

Hazard ratio (95% CI) 

2 low-risk lifestyle factors (physical activity level >median and dietary
score upper two quintiles) 

22.3

0.54 (0.38-0.76)

3 low-risk lifestyle factors (same as above plus never smoker or former
smoker <5 pack-years or having quit >20 years ago) 

12.0

0.42 (0.25-0.71)

3 low-risk lifestyle factors (physical activity level >median, dietary score
upper two quintiles, and light or moderate alcohol use) 

12.8

0.32 (0.18-0.55)

4 low-risk lifestyle factors (physical activity level >median, dietary score
upper two quintiles, never smoker or former smoker <5 pack-years or having
quit >20 years ago, and light or moderate alcohol use) 

6.0

0.18 (0.06-0.56)

5 low-risk lifestyle factors (same as above plus BMI <25 or waist
circumference <88 cm women or <92 cm men) 

3.4

0.11 (0.01-0.76)

To download table as a slide, click on slide logo above 

If these associations are causal, "eight in 10 new cases of diabetes might
have been prevented if all older adults were in the low-risk group for these
lifestyle factors," write Mozaffarian and colleagues. When not being
overweight or not having a large waist circumference was considered as a
risk factor in addition to these other lifestyle behaviors, the number of
possible prevented cases attributable to lifestyle factors would rise to
nine in 10.

"The findings provide an estimate of the public-health burden of combined
nonoptimal lifestyle risk factors for incidence of diabetes in older adults,
the fastest growing segment of the population," write the researchers.

Source 

1.     Mozaffarian D, Kamineni A, Carnethon M, et al. Lifestyle risk factors
and new-onset diabetes mellitus in older adults. Arch Intern Med 2009;
169:798-807.

Related links 

*	Control <http://www.theheart.org/article/961653.do>  of CVD risk
factors has improved, but disparities between ethnic groups persist 
[Clinical cardiology > Clinical cardiology; Apr 20, 2009]
*	EUROASPIRE: <http://www.theheart.org/article/947933.do>  Better
lifestyle management needed for patients with CHD 
[Prevention > Prevention; Mar 12, 2009]
*	FIT <http://www.theheart.org/article/920549.do>  HEART: Novel
family-based intervention a good idea, but better methods needed 
[Prevention > Prevention; Nov 12, 2008]
*	Lifestyle, <http://www.theheart.org/article/903409.do>  not drugs,
for preventing type 2 diabetes: "Gladiatorial" debate concludes 
[Prevention > Prevention; Sep 11, 2008]
*	Statistics <http://www.theheart.org/article/770163.do>  show a drop
in heart-disease rates for women, but ethnic gaps still exist, and obesity a
growing problem 
[HeartWire > News; Feb 09, 2007]

tho

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