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Vegetables are essential to any healthy dietespecially when it comes to weight loss. Vegetables like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and kale are packed with nutrients that will help your body burn fat. However, not all vegetables are created equal. While the best vegetables for weight loss are low in calories, other vegetables can cause you to gain weight because theyre high in starch and, therefore, calories. In general, there are certain vegetables that just shouldnt be eaten in excess.

To learn more about the vegetables you should avoid if you want to lose weight, we reached out to Nataly Komova, registered dietitian at JustCBD and fitness expert, Sara Chatfield, MPH, RDN, a nutritionist at HealthCanal, and Melissa Mitri, MS, a registered dietitian at Zenmaster Wellness. They say that while beans and legumes and white potatoes are rich in fiber and protein, they can be the worst vegetables for weight loss because of their high starch and can unnecessarily boost your calorie intake. Find out more below!

READ MORE: The Worst Fruits For Weight Loss, According To Nutritionists

Although certain beans can help boost your metabolism to lose weight, the galacto-oligosaccharides found in beans and legumes can cause indigestion and stomach inflammation.

Beans, like lentils and peas, Komova explains, have high raffinose quantities, which is a complex sugar that is hard to digest. "They also can increase gassiness due to their high amounts of fiber," she says, "I recommend you limit intake of these foods if your stomach has regular indigestion problems."

While beans and legumes are a great source of protein and fiber, they can cause symptoms such as gas and bloating if you are not used to eating them, Chatfield says. These negative effects also arise if you "eat a large portion," she adds, or if you are "sensitive to the galacto-oligosaccharides in them."

Galacto-oligosaccharides are made up of plant sugars and provide food for the good bacteria in your gut. However, Chatfield clarifies, since they pass partially undigested into the large intestine, "this can cause symptoms such as gas and bloating, especially if you have irritable bowel syndrome, which can result in more difficulty digesting these compounds."

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Beans and legumes like peas, lima beans, lentils, pinto beans, kidney beans, etc. are incredibly starchy. To put it plainly, starchy vegetables contain empty calories and provide little nutritional benefit. That's why it's probably best to pick your beans carefully and not eat them in excess if you want to lose weight.

Similarly, potatoes are a great source of many vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. However, if you eat too many you could end up gaining weight because of their starch. "The starchy vegetables to avoid if you want a flat stomach are white potatoes," Mitri says.

White potatoes also have a particularly high glycemic index (GI). GI is a measure of how quickly a food will spike your blood sugar, she explains. "A higher GI means it has a tendency to raise your blood sugar very quickly," Mitri continues. "Over time, if your blood sugar keeps spiking, this can put you more at risk for inflammation and weight gain, especially in the belly area."

She also points out that "white potatoes are also the highest calorie starchy vegetable." Instead, Mitri recommends eating lower-calorie vegetables like sweet potatoes (which can help reduce visceral fat!) and butternut squash.

At the end of the day, experts like Komova, Chatfield, and Mitri say that beans/legumes and white potatoes can be the worst vegetables for weight loss if eaten in excess because of their high starch content. You can either limit your intake of these vegetables or switch to lower-calorie options like sweet potatoes. Your body will thank you for it!

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The Worst Vegetables For Weight Loss, According To A Nutritionist - Yahoo Life

Giving up sugar probably won`t improve your health more than eating fewer ultra-processed foods, more vegetables, preparing your own meals, and cutting back on added sugar

Sugar was a happy factor in our grandparents* extended lives and active lifestyles. The lifestyles they lived did, in fact, affect how stress-free their lives were as they aged. The journey to lose weight does not stop with cutting out sugar. It is unpleasant to eat too many sweets. To maintain a healthy BMI, you don*t have to give up consuming your favourite desserts.

Giving up sugar probably won*t improve your health more than eating fewer ultra-processed foods, more vegetables, preparing your own meals, and cutting back on added sugar. The sugar-free diet enforces an arbitrary set of recommendations that aren*t backed up by research and is, at best, unclear. A diet this strict could, at worst, result in anxiety related to food or a bad connection with food. You don*t have to stop consuming sweets, though, in order to alter your eating patterns. The health advantages of consuming the recommended quantity of sugar will probably outweigh those of sugar abstinence.

Keep in mind that health is about more than just the figure on the scale, our waistline, or the foods we avoid. Our mental and emotional well-being, as well as how we connect to food, are equally as important as our physical health.

How to avoid excess sugar?

Hence, if your objective is to reduce weight, it is good to limit your sugar intake. You do not, however, have to abstain entirely from sugar. These are some strategies to reduce excessive consumption:

Keep sweets concealed from fresh fruits and vegetables in plain sight.

Try to take plain water, unsweetened drinks, and diet beverages rather than sugar ones.

Consume low-carb marinades

The most essential thing is to keep some sweets in your diet. Later, when binges are more probable, there are more calories from sugar. Keep in mind that the total amount of calories is what matters. However, consuming fewer calories generally by cutting back on sugar and substituting more fiber or non-caloric sweeteners will help you lose weight.

Cutting off sweet food is harmful

Numerous sugar-free diets advocate eliminating or restricting wholesome foods and food categories like fruit and dairy without any supporting data. This perpetuates the pattern of food anxiety and dietary limitations and could lead to vitamin deficiencies. consumption of lactose that comes naturally from dairy products.

How to stop craving sugary foods?

Many people think that all sugar should be avoided, even the natural sugar found in foods like fruits and cereals. You don*t need to restrict or prevent consuming these sugars. These sugars differ from table sugar in the manner they are presented.

Table sugar is produced by extracting and processing natural sugar. Your body can process this sugar the easiest. On the other side, the sugar found in fruits or starches has a longer chain length. Your body will feel fuller for longer thanks to these complex carbohydrates. So, the next time you want something sweet, reach for a berry.

How do diet changes help in weight loss?

Making these changes gradually is one of the best ways to have a long-lasting change, though. Do not make a sudden diet change. Instead of simple carbs like refined flour, which is used to manufacture the majority of desserts like sandwiches, ice cream among others, include more whole grains in your diet. When you are desiring sugar, have nuts, dark chocolate, berries, banana, coconut, raw honey, dates, apple sauce, and jaggery along with a few pieces of almonds. You can make some healthy recipes with natural sugar like:

Sugar-free granola: Filled with the goodness of high-fiber oats, yogurt, protein-rich flax seeds, and almonds, sugar-free granola is the ideal, healthy dessert for diets. Combine flax, sesame, pumpkin, sunflower, and sunflower seeds with the oats, and bake the mixture with a hint of orange juice tang. After that, top it with yogurt, almonds, and fresh fruit. You can modify the recipe by including any nuts or grains you choose. Add a dash of cinnamon, ginger, or nutmeg powder for a unique touch.

Ragi Mulpua: A sweet treat made from ragi and oat flour, milk, coconut, honey, and fruit. An Indian pancake with a healthy twist is called ragi Mulpua. Oats have a lot of nutritional value and are high in antioxidants, while ragi is one of the healthiest flours and are packed with calcium, fiber, iron, and other elements. You can enjoy the meal guilt-free and in good health. To avoid using too much oil during the preparation, use a non-stick pan.

Halwa made from sweet potatoes is the ideal solution for your sweet needs. It is not only delicious but also loaded with health advantages. Sweet potatoes, low-fat milk, natural sweetener, and a dash of ghee make this dessert calorie-free so you can indulge without feeling guilty. While ghee is beneficial for lowering joint inflammation, sweet potatoes are a great source of vitamin A. After boiling the sweet potato, roast it for 4-5 minutes with the natural sweetener and one teaspoon of butter. You may top the halwa with nuts like cashews and almonds and serve it hot to make it more satisfying.

It is preferable to use the deadline style repeatedly rather than just once. Make a timeline to experience a time across the boundary. The sudden flow you*ve had since childhood in one sitting is too much for your body to manage. Your health would suffer if you abruptly stopped eating sweets.

(Dr Siddhant Bhargava is a Fitness and Nutritional Scientist, and Co-Founder- of Food Darzee)

Also Read: Dealing with autism: Know more about the disorder and how you can help

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Giving up sugar isn't the only way to lose weight - mid-day.com

Lisa Childs has seen a 10st weight loss after being left embarrassed by a photo taken by her brother. (Lisa Childs/SWNS)

A woman left feeling embarrassed by a photo in which she looked like she was stuck in a chair has seen an incredible 10st (64kg) weight loss.

Lisa Childs, 61, from Elland, West Yorkshire, was mortified by the snap her brother took of her as she squeezed into an arm chair after seeing her weight creep up to 19st 8lbs (124kg).

But the feelings the image conjured sparked the sales assistant into action, inspiring her to ditch fast food for nutritious, home-cooked meals.

Now a trim 9st 8lb (61kg), and having dropped eight dress sizes from 24 to a healthier size 12, Childs is happy to pose for pictures in the chair at her mum's house which inspired the change.

"I didn't realise how big I was," the mum-of-one recalls.

"I had started to lose weight but when he [my brother] sent me that picture, it was like 'Oh my god, I've got to carry on because I can't go back to looking like that.'"

"It definitely inspired me to keep going," she adds.

Read more: Woman sees 12st weight loss after being shocked by pictures of herself on a weekend break

Lisa Childs before her weight loss journey. (Lisa Childs/SWNS)

Childs used to walk her son Max, now 27, to and from school every day, which used to be her daily form of exercise.

But when Max got older and wanted to walk to school with his friends, Childs says she noticed her weight creep up because she wasn't exercising.

"The weight just piled on then because I wasn't taking him to school," Childs, who is married to Stephen, 62, explains.

"It was a good half-an-hour there and back and I would do that in the morning and in the afternoon.

"So I went from doing that to doing nothing," she adds.

Childs holds up her old size 24 clothes. (Lisa Childs/SWNS)

As the years went on, she noticed she would often become breathless when walking up the stairs and would need to "stop half a dozen times" when walking back from the bus stop.

"My breathing was affected because I was carrying so much weight basically," she adds.

Her knees also started to hurt to the extent that it would sometimes became painful to walk.

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As well as no longer exercising, Childs says her diet included a fair amount of convenience food such as a Chinese takeaway or a frozen pizza, which she'd have two or three times a week.

The turning point came in 2017, when, after joining Slimming World, she made a number of simple swaps to her eating habits, switching a thick white loaf for wholemeal bread and snacking on fruit rather than chocolate bars.

She now cooks almost all her meals from scratch and follows low-calorie recipe versions of her favourite foods, such as Spaghetti Bolognese.

Read more: Woman, 44, says shes fitter now than in her 20s thanks to 7.5st weight loss

Childs says her weight loss has had a huge impact on her life. (Lisa Childs/SWNS)

As well as losing over half her body weight, Childs says it has made a huge difference to her life, particularly as she can now go for daily walks with her Poochon Phoebe without getting breathless or being in pain.

"When I first started, I couldn't really do any exercise and I started losing weight just through Slimming World," Childs explains.

"But we got a dog so I had to walk her for around five minutes and then build it up.

"Now I go out with my friend and walk from Elland to Brighouse, have a coffee and walk back without having to stop."

Childs has also taken on a charity walk of 13 miles to raise money for a local hospice.

"I'm quite proud of it because I never walked before anyway unless I had to," she adds.

"When I think about it, I never would have dreamed of walking that distance, or any distance really."

Read more: Mum's 11st weight loss means she can now keep up with her kids: 'I'm more confident'

As well as losing almost half her body weight, Childs has dropped eight dress sizes. (Lisa Childs/SWNS)

Diet before:

Breakfast: Nothing

Lunch: Beans on toast with white bread and scrambled eggs

Tea: Either a Chinese, fish and chips or a full frozen pizza

Snacks: Chocolate puddings

Diet after:

Breakfast: Fresh fruit with Greek-style, fat-free yoghurt

Lunch: Beans on toast but with wholemeal bread

Tea: A Slimming World ready meal or a fat-free spaghetti bolognese

Snacks: Fruit

Additional reporting SWNS.

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Woman sees incredible 10st weight loss after being embarrassed about her size in a picture - Yahoo Lifestyle UK

Tequila is one of the most loved beverages in the world. Made from the blue agave plant, it offers a unique taste that is sweet and earthy. The reason why people love this liquor so much is that it can be enjoyed in a variety of ways. You can sip it as is or mix it into different cocktails, there's no limit when it comes to experimenting with tequila. While excessive tequila consumption can have negative health effects, having it in moderation has been associated with some surprising health benefits. Tequila offers some amazing health benefits that we may not know. From promoting weight loss to improving the quality of sleep, here are some health benefits of tequila you should know about.

Also read:5 Surprising Health Benefits Of Beer You May Not Know

If you're someone who is trying to lose weight, a bit of tequila could help. Tequila contains a particular type of sugar called agavins, which promotes weight loss. Agavins are ideal as sweeteners as they are non-digestible and do not raise blood sugar levels, unlike other alcohol sugars.

Since tequila has high levels of insulin, it induces our digestive system to grow good bacteria and improve overall digestion. Several studies suggest that drinking tequila before a meal can boost your metabolism, and an after-dinner shot can help with digestion.

Did you know tequila could also be good for your bones? A substance found in tequila called agave tequilana, may improve our body's absorption of calcium and magnesium, minerals that are essential for bone health. It may also prevent the development of brittle bones.

Also read:Can Wine Be Healthy? 6 Amazing Health Benefits You May Not Know

Tequila is a great source of probiotics due to the presence of agavins. Probiotics are the good bacteria in our gut that help our bodies maintain a healthy balance. The fructans in tequila are known to help these good bacteria flourish and boost our immune system.

Moderate consumption of tequila has also been linked with promoting better quality sleep. Having tequila in small amounts may help calm the nerves and relax the body. It is helpful for insomniacs or others who struggle to fall asleep. However, make sure not to be dependent on it.

So, the next time you plan to drink, opt for tequila without thinking twice! However, it's important to have it in moderation and within recommended guidelines to enjoy its health benefits. Excessive tequila consumption can severely impact your blood sugar and cause damage to your arteries. You may also end up with dry and ageing skin.

Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.

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Drink Tequila, Lose Weight? 5 Surprising Health Benefits Of Tequila - NDTV Food

1. Legumes

"If you're looking to reduce stomach fat," Pallian says, "incorporating plant-based proteins into your diet can be a great way to do it." Specifically, she recommends eating legumes to get your daily plant-based protein and still lose weight! A legume is a plant or a seed from a plant in the Fabaceae family. And, when it's used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Some common legumes include beans, soybeans, chickpeas, peanuts, and more.

"Pulses are a great source of protein and fiber, both of which can help reduce belly fat," Pallian notes. One healthy and tasty recipe you can make with legumes is a spicy chickpea buffalo wrap which she says is a "filling, protein-and-fiber packed lunch idea that includes lots of vibrant vegetables." Yum! Or, try a traditional South Indian red lentil dal (a dish that contains dried pulses that do not require soaking before cooking) that Pallian says is "packed with flavor and takes only 5 minutes of effort!"

Pallian also recommends the plant-based proteins tofu and tempeh to lose visceral fat. Tofu is condensed soy milk that people press into varying levels of softness. The resulting solid white blocks come in silken, soft, firm, extra firm, or super firm levels. Similarly, tempeh or tempe is a traditional Indonesian food that is made from soybeans that are fermented into cake form. It actually contains more fiber and protein than tofu because it contains the whole bean. The soy protein in tempeh is more digestible because of the fermentation process.

"Soy products like tofu and tempeh are excellent plant-based protein sources that may help prevent belly-fat gain after menopause. A study of [15] postmenopausal women found that those who drank a soy-based shake every day for three months tended to gain less abdominal fat than those who did not," Pallian notes. A tofu-based recipe that she highly recommends is chili-garlic tofu.

If you're like us, you may be asking yourself what is "plant-based yogurt?" Pallian explains that plant-based yogurt is, as the name suggests, yogurt made from plants. It's typically made from nuts (like almonds, cashews, and coconuts) and even other foods like soybeans, plantains, oats, and peas. Plant-based yogurts are a great way for those who are lactose intolerant, allergic to milk, or just don't like milk to still get the incredible benefits of dairy-based yogurts!

"A systematic review of research showed a significantly greater weight loss among people taking probiotics, and there is some evidence that probiotics can help specifically reduce belly fat. When choosing a plant yogurt, read labels and compare protein content per serving," Pallian explains. Yogurt can also help reduce stomach inflammation which she says "has been linked to an increase in belly fat."

We probably don't have to tell you how healthy nuts are. Dietitians and nutritionists rave about this food group all the time! They are rich in protein, fiber, and healthy fats which can help you feel fuller for longer. And, nuts are also low in carbs.

"Nuts are a great snack to help with weight loss. They are packed with healthy fats, protein, and fiber that can help keep you full for longer and reduce cravings. Studies have found that eating small amounts of nuts helps dieters lose weight," Pallian notes, "A serving of nuts is 1 ounceabout a handfuland has about 160 to 200 calories."

"Protein in general helps keep blood sugar stable to keep energy levels steady and help thwart cravings. And swapping portions of animal proteins for plant proteins not only boosts fiber, antioxidant, and vitamin and mineral intake, it has been linked to decreased inflammation," Pallian says.

To help reduce visceral fat, you can try adopting a diet rich in plant-based protein. Proteins like legumes, tofu and tempeh, plant-based yogurts, and nuts help build and maintain lean muscle, maintain effective metabolic function, and keep you fuller longer. They're brimming with fiber, inflammation-fighting antioxidants, lots of nutrients, and fewer calories!

See the article here:
4 Surprising Plant-Based Proteins Everyone Should Try Because They Can Take Inches Off Your Waistline - SheFinds

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast:US urges Moscow to free 2 Americans

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is urgingRussiato release two Americans. Plus, USA TODAY Health Reporter Karen Weintraub urges caution around new weight lossmedications, the death toll rises astornadoescontinue to slam the nation, USA TODAY Education Reporter Alia Wong explains howwomenmake up most of the country's student loan debt, and theLSU Tigersare national champions.

Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here.

Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilsonand this is 5 Things you need to know Monday, the 3rd of April 2023. Today, the latest push to free a US journalist in Russia. Plus, what's the downside to recent weight loss drugs, and more tornadoes sweep across the country.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday urged his Russian counterpart to immediately release two Americans, including a Wall Street Journal reporter detained last week on espionage charges. Blinken expressed grave concern to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov over Russia's detention of journalist Evan Gershkovich, according to a statement from the state department. And he also made a request for Paul Whelan, the corporate security executive imprisoned in Russia since 2018. Lavrov, though, dismissed Blinken's requests and said Gershkovich had received state secrets. A Russian court has ordered him held until May 29th pending an investigation. If convicted, he could face 20 years in a Russian prison.

Effective weight loss drugs are here, bringing a potential solution that many have been waiting on for years. Drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy can help someone lose up to 20% of their body weight, but some doctors and other experts worry that these drugs could become a problem long term. I spoke with USA TODAY Health Reporter Karen Weintraub to learn more. Hi Karen.

Karen Weintraub:

Hi.

Taylor Wilson:

So before we get to the downside of these weight loss drugs, what's the upside? Why do people take them in the first place?

Karen Weintraub:

For really the first time ever, these drugs are effective at helping people lose weight. So studies have shown people can lose 15 to 20% of their weight depending on the drug and depending on their own biology. Not everybody's going to lose that much, but they're quite effective.

Taylor Wilson:

So then what are the medical challenges of these drugs?

Karen Weintraub:

As far as I can tell, the main challenge isthat it's hard to stay on them, both for financial and physical reasons. Some people feel nauseous. It's sort of a feature, not a bug, that in order to stop eating, it makes you feel kind of gross and so you don't eat as much. Not everybody is as bothered by that, but some people really can't tolerate it. Not every drug works for everybody, so they won't work for everyone. And then the cost is quite expensive right now. Wegovy runs about $1,300 a month and most insurance will not cover that. And so I've talked to several people who are private paying. I've seen articles about people going to Mexico or Canada, but realistically, are you going to keep doing that every month for the rest of your life? $900, $600 a month? And it's what happens afterwards that is the question.

There's no question that people will regain the weight once they go off the drugs. There is a question whether long-term, if they stay on the drugs, they'll keep losing weight or they'll maintain the weight. There's almost no long-term data beyond about a year and a half. And so it's not clear what will happen to people in terms of their weight over the long term.

Taylor Wilson:

Karen, you wrote that there can also be psychological challenges associated with these drugs. What are we talking about here?

Karen Weintraub:

Yeah, so eating disorder folks are very concerned what's going to happen to people if they do lose weight, if they don't lose weight, if they obsess over their weight. The concern is if people lose weight on these drugs, go off the drugs and gain it back, that that could really carry a psychological toll for people. Also, several eating disorder specialists said to me, if somebody came to them and said, "I feel nauseous all the time, I can't eat and I'm really happy that I can't eat," they would say, "Oh, you have an eating disorder." So these drugs in a sense mimic, at least to some degree, an eating disorder. So there's concern that it could cause some psychological distress and also all the attention. Suddenly this problem that you thought was intractable, now people are telling you, you can fix it, you can lose weight. And with all that attention, how are people going to respond to that?

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah, absolutely. So there have been reports of shortages associated with these drugs for people who might really need them. What are you hearing about this?

Karen Weintraub:

Novo Nordisk, which makes Ozempic and Wegovy, has told me that they have almost all doses of their drugs available and should have all of them by the end of the month. They have been saying that for several months, so I can't promise, but they say that the days of shortages are largely over. Again, so Wegovy is for weight loss specifically, while Ozempic, which is generally in lower doses is for people with diabetes. There's no question that these drugs can be effective for diabetes. The real issue here is whether people who are overweight, obese, but don't have health issues should be taking these drugs, what it can do for them.

Taylor Wilson:

Karen Weintraub always with some great info for us. Thanks so much.

Karen Weintraub:

Thank you.

Taylor Wilson:

The death toll has risen to 32 after devastating tornadoes continue to swirl in central parts of the US. 15 deaths have been recorded in Tennessee, with most in and around Memphis, and five deaths each were reported in Arkansas and Indiana. Nearly 200,000 homes were also still without power yesterday.

Elsewhere, five people remain in critical condition after a roof collapsed at a theater in Belvedere, Illinois, killing at least one person. And deadly weather isn't just hitting the south and Midwest. At least one death was reported in Delaware and suspected tornadoes touched down as far north as New Jersey.

Student loan debt is burying Americans across the country, and that's particularly true for women. USA TODAY Education Reporter Alia Wong explains. Hi Alia.

Alia Wong:

Hello. Thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

Thanks for coming back on the podcast. You report that women owe most of the country's student loan debt. What do the numbers say here?

Alia Wong:

Women actually account for nearly two thirds of the country's $1.7 trillion in student loan debt. That is a staggering amount. They also take an average of two years longer to pay off their loans. By the time they graduate, they already have thousands more in debt than men on average.

Taylor Wilson:

And why do women have more student loan debt than men?

Alia Wong:

Well, one simple reason is that there are more women going to college. The core reasons and the most insidious reasons have been once they graduate, they face a workforce that tends to pay men more for similar jobs. The gender wage gap really contributes to women's inability to both pay off their debt, but also prompts them to return to school to go back and level up and advance their higher education.

Taylor Wilson:

And what kind of disparities do we see with women of color?

Alia Wong:

The average cost of attending a college has nearly tripled since 1980. And the Pell Grant and other forms of financial aid have not kept pace with that. Neither has state funding. So basically state funding for colleges has really declined. All that means, some students who just don't naturally or don't readily have the ability to pay for college, will have to take out loans. And that tends to be a burden suffered mostly by people of color, and in particular, women of color who are far more likely to attend college than their male counterparts. One particularly staggering disparity from some of the research is that for a woman of color to make as much as a white man without a college degree, she needs to have a bachelor's degree or higher.

Taylor Wilson:

You touched on this a little bit, but folks obviously take on this debt for a reason. It's to get better jobs, to get higher salaries. Did you find in your reporting and in these numbers that more debt typically means a higher salary?

Alia Wong:

More debt does not necessarily mean a higher salary, and that tension is particularly evident among women of color. Women of color go back to school to increase their credentials, yet they're not necessarily getting higher salaries. However, when I talk with students, particularly female students of color, they are quick to say that they never for once have questioned or doubted theirhigher education pursuits. At the end of the day, they still feel like the economic mobility that these degrees have provided them wouldn't have occurred had they not attended college. So really this isn't a story about the worth of college degree for women and women of color. It's a story about how do we bring down the cost of college for these populations to ensure it is indeed the path to the middle class that it has, or at least at one point was purported to be.

Taylor Wilson:

Alia Wong covers education for USA TODAY. Thanks so much.

Alia Wong:

Thank you.

Taylor Wilson:

LSU are national champions. The three seed Tigers won the Women's College Basketball Championship yesterday, defeating the two seed University of IowaHawkeyes 102 to 85. They were led by transfer bench player Jasmine Carson, who scored 22 points in just 22 minutes as players on both teams found themselves in foul trouble. That included Iowa Star Caitlin Clark, who despite that, still led the game with 30 points. LSU's 102 points were the most ever in a women's national title game. The championship was the school's first ever in basketball and its head coach Kim Mulkey's fourth after winning her previous championships at Baylor. Tonight, it's the men's turn to crown a champion as San Diego State takes on Connecticut. It's San Diego State's first appearance ever in the national championship game while UConn has won it all four times, but not since 2014. You can tune in just after 9:00 PM Eastern time on CBS.

And you can find 5 Things every morning right here wherever you get your podcasts. I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from USA TODAY.

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Downside of weight loss drugs, women and student debt: 5 Things ... - USA TODAY

Courtesy of Lily of the Valley

It was when the chocolate mousse with extra chocolate arrived that I realized this was a diet plan I could stick to.

Upon inquiry, I discovered the decadent dessert was actually a cacao-and-avocado-based foam, but it looked and tasted just like the real thing. The confectionary doppelgnger is typical of the signature High-Speed Weight Loss program at the Lily of the Valley wellness resort on Frances Cte dAzur in that it plays with guests assumptionsin this case, a low-cal, nutrition-infused morsel masquerading as a lavish gastronomic experience.

The resort, near Saint-Tropez, is open year-round, unusual in the strictly seasonal Riviera. I traveled there from the UK in the late fall, hoping to catch a few final Mediterranean rays before the long gray winter set in. After Id spent two Covid-restricted holiday seasons dealing with lockdowns, masks, and cancellations, the getaway felt like both an indulgence and a necessitya much overdue chance to revitalize. Lily of the Valley caters to this exact post-pandemic mood.

When I arrived, I was informed by Stephane Personeni, the general manager, that every participant in le programme is restricted to 1,000 calories a day. Not that youd notice. Pre-foam, the dinner rations on day one consisted of a delicious sea bass ceviche and a crispy chickpea galette with roasted vegetables, accompanied by a large glass of Bordeaux, to reward you for your efforts during the day, in the soothing words of the program brochure. As the meaning of the term diet began to disintegrate in my mind, a rosemary-scented leg of lamb wafted past my nose, destined for one of the well-heeled French couples (white jeans, neutral cashmere, small dogs), who murmured to each other amid the palm fronds in the Philippe Starckdesigned Vista restaurant. This fragrant offering was, it turned out, off-program: available only to those who reject the path of High-Speed Weight Loss and instead follow the way of La Carte.

Around 30 to 40 percent of Lily of the Valleys guests come to slim down, while the rest are simply enjoying a guilt-free vacation at an indulgent hotel with a luxuriantly modern aesthetic and postcard-perfect views of the Mediterranean.

The wellness experience at Lily of the Valley, which includes an extensive fitness program, is multilayered and occasionally paradoxical: Its a restrictive regime that disdains deprivation; a luxury resort that asks you to resist temptation; a weight-loss program that encourages treats. Its the very opposite of austere German fasting clinics that achieve results by removing guests autonomy and agency along with every last crumb of carbohydrate. Here, perched amid Roman pines on a craggy crest of the Riviera, nothing is verboten, but you are gently nudged to make all the right decisions.

The resort, above Gigaro Beach in La Croix Valmer, is a passion project of Alain Weill, a French media-and-telecom tycoon best known as the owner of rolling-news channel BFM TV, and his daughter, Lucie. Weill, who had holidayed in the area since childhood, bought an old hotel on the site in 2016 and asked famed architect Philippe Starck to redesign it. Starck insisted on a rebuild. So we demolished it and built new, keeping the trees and gardens, says Personeni.

The momentum of the initial opening, in June 2019, was arrested by the pandemic. But when the property relaunched in May 2022, the Covid-induced mass pivot toward preventative health helped boost business, and the hotel saw an influx of French and American clients.

The resort consists of a series of honey-colored, rustic-chic buildings draped in tendrils of greenery, tumbling down a tree-lined slope to the sea. At the top, with panoramic views, is the main restaurant, Vista, while the Shape Club, 38 guest rooms, 13 suites (seven with private pools) and two villas fan off a central outdoor staircase, upon which fitness coaches drill their students in a punishing cardio workout called Crazy Stairs.

My room had an expansive Mediterranean view through its floor-to-ceiling windows, leading out to a large balcony with a daybed and seating area, cleverly separated from the neighboring balcony by a mirror, which, by reflecting the light and trees, gave an illusion of limitless space. From here each morning, after unveiling the vista by way of bedside curtain control, I watched autumnal sunrises heralded by birdsong. Guests can choose from two pools: a secluded option, by the Shape Club, and a spectacularly stylish sun trap straight out of a 1920s Riviera travel poster, just outside Vista.

Rooms start at about $598 per night. Separately, the program, which includes all meals, classes, and treatments, starts at about $2,700 per person for four days. The jewel of the resort, in the words ofAnne-Sophie Vasselin, the hotels wellness manager, is Villa W, a three-bedroom retreat tucked into the hillside below the main resort, which rents for around $15,000 a night during high season. Dating from 1955, it has been restored to its midcentury glory, furnished with original pieces, including Eames chairs, and adorned with handmade green-glass ornaments from the famous Verrerie de Biot, near Nice. Its exquisite private pool is tiled in black, red, and yellow, resembling a Mondrian painting.

The prevailing style, in both the guest rooms and the restaurant, is natural luxury, with wood and leather furniture and a fawn-and-cream color scheme punctuated by plants, sculptural lamps, and artfully arranged driftwood. The aesthetic is pleasing, though the profusion of angled mirrors in the large en suite bathrooms means you are joined by multiple reflections of yourself every time you enter. During each days numerous outfit changesyoga kit, swimsuit, bathrobe, wetsuit, smart-casual eveningwearI felt like I was trapped in a scene from French avant-garde cinema, silently interrogating my many selves: Are you really me? Am I really here? Is this really a diet? What even is consciousness? The effect was disconcerting, but perhaps all French spas are designed to provoke existential analysis.

Lily of the Valley steers clear of some of the prevailing Covid-influenced wellness trends. For example, theres not a wearable health-tech gadget to be seen, no IV drips, hyperbaric chambers or personalized genetic tests, and the pseudo-science is dialed down. The spa provides the usual range of swim, sauna, and steam, plus thetraditional French emphasis on cellulite reduction, via massage (i.e., lymphatic drainage), cryotherapy and Indiba radiofrequency treatments. That last one left me unimpressed, but the excellent massage therapist did ease the incroyable tension in my back and shoulders.

Guests can choose merely to lounge and dabble in spa treatments, or they can dive into the menu of fitness classes, including paddleboarding, yoga, e-biking, and hikes along the craggy coastline, breathing in the aroma of sun-warmed pine needles and the briny blue sea. Those participating in the program also have an hour of individual coaching each day. My favorite activity was longe-cte (aka sea wading), a joyous aqua-aerobic session in the Mediterranean led by the muscular Loc, who maintained an expression of perfect gravity as his wetsuit-clad charges splashed about like blubbery seals to his encouraging cries of Yop!

In other ways, Lily of the Valley very much represents the pandemic zeitgeist, with its focus on preventative medicine and a much younger clientele than would have been typical at a health resort pre-Covid. There is new interest in longevity, says Personeni, which used to be about clinics and medicine, peels, surgery, drugs. Today, longevity is taking care of your body so that you dont need surgery and pills. It used to be a zigzag of excess and repair; now its continuous progress. Young people, he adds, want to prevent the health problems of their parents generations.

The hotels extremely French philosophy is that regular tiny indulgences are good for the soul and, crucially, help with long-term diet maintenance. Strict deprivation, on the other hand, leads only to despair and binges. Modish fasting regimens are rejected as unsustainable outside the puritanical confines of a sanatorium.

Our gentle balance is more like real life, says Vasselin. You are not shut in a bubble, like a clinic, where you can only eat your fingernails. We are human herethats the biggest difference with other health resorts. If we do everything for you, you wont keep it up. You have to make choices yourself.

Hence the mixing of program and non-program guests at dinner: By including temptation as part of the curated wellness experience, the theory is that guests will be better prepared to resist it in real-world conditions back home (or at the resorts beach club, which serves pizza and magnums of ros).

When guests arrive for the weight-loss program (many are recuperating after Saint-Tropezs party season), they are weighed and measured, and attainable goals are agreed upon. A calorie-restriction and exercise program is devised, with detailed guidance for maintaining the regimen at home, including follow-up calls. The ambience at the resort is relaxed but with an undercurrent of seriousness. Housekeeping staff report to Personeni if they find food or wrappers in the bedroomsnot to confront people, he says, but in case they complain they havent lost weight.

Foreign guests will find the food guidance charmingly Gallic. The diet menu recommends certain types of cheese (goat, Comt), dessert, and a daily glass of wine. Breakfast includes toast, cheese, and eggs, or yogurt, cereal, and fruit. At lunches and dinners, I enjoyed grilled chicken with lemon dressing; sea bass with mushrooms; veal with sage; a stew of octopus, and chickpeas; a salad of fennel, bottarga, and tiny preserved oranges; John Dory with saffron; and a marrons glacs dessert. A certain leap of faith is required to believe that 1,000 calories are not being exceeded. The key, says Personeni, is increased protein, reduced carbs and surprisingly little fat used in cooking and sauces.

During the back-at-home maintenance phase, the programs instructions permit three daily baguette slices as well as rich meals twice a week: fried, coated in breadcrumbs, cooked in sauce and a pastry every other day, giving priority to those with less fat, such as an clair.

The aim, says Personeni, is to provide people with a recipe to change their way of life and feel no guilt when they do something wrong. Life is hardwhy not have a G&T and a burger on a Friday night? We love life. But we will help you to take care of your body [with] an individualized recipe for food, sport, treatments.

I cant say the weight fell off, but then, my stay was only two days. The greater effect is how the resorts philosophy of moderate restriction peppered with small treats and a soupon of joie de vivre has stayed with me and seems more sustainable than intermittent fasting, which, when I attempted it last year, left me hungry and obsessed with the next meal.

Back home in the quotidian, non-French world, the guidance regarding clairs and baguettes seemed somewhat irrelevant, and it wasnt immediately obvious how to keep up my longe-cte habit. But the guilt-free approach to healthy eatingthe encouragement to focus on the joy of exercise and nutritious meals, rather than viewing food as a regrettable indulgence to be repented for by clock-watching and self-denialis a Riviera souvenir I will treasure.

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This Luxe French Health Retreat Lets You Have Chocolate Mousse and Red Wine at Dinner - Robb Report

This transcript has been edited for clarity. For more episodes, download the Medscape app or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast provider.

Robert F. Kushner, MD: Hi. I am Dr Robert Kushner. Welcome to Medscape's InDiscussion series on obesity. This is episode two. Today we'll be discussing the changing paradigm about obesity as a disease. First, let me introduce my guest, Dr Donna Ryan. Dr Ryan is a professor emerita at Pennington Biomedical in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA, where she oversaw clinical research for 25 years. Her research interests include lifestyle intervention and diet for weight loss. And she was the investigator for multiple National Institutes of Health studies, including POUNDS Lost, Look AHEAD, the DPP [Diabetes Prevention Program], and DASH [Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension]. She has also served as president of the Obesity Society and the World Obesity Federation. Donna and I go back multiple decades. Donna, welcome to InDiscussion.

Donna Ryan, MD: Delighted to be here, Bob. Thanks for having me.

Kushner: Donna, today we're going to be focusing on obesity as a disease. Let me set you up for this first question. It seems to me that how we think about obesity is in the eye of the beholder, meaning that everyone has a different way of looking at the problem. Is obesity a result of sloth and gluttony, which happen to be two of the seven deadly sins? Or is it really a disease that individuals are predisposed to develop due to genetics, biology, and the environment that we live in?

Ryan: Bob, Bob, Bob. It is not a sin. It is a disease. You know, it's really amazing to me how ingrained in our culture this idea is that people could easily change their body weight if only they wanted to. Individuals develop obesity because they have genetic susceptibility and are exposed to a modern environment that really promotes food intake. Not a lot of energy is required in our work and in our play. There are also other factors that drive weight gain in susceptible people, such as pregnancy. The average weight gain with each baby is 2 lb and is cumulative. Medications that we are taking for depression, diabetes, and other chronic diseases can drive weight gain. There are many, many drivers. I don't want to make it sound like it's simple. It's complicated. Obesity is a complicated disease, but it's a disease. It is not a lack of character or being morally upstanding. Individuals with obesity would love not to have obesity; they would love to be lean. But it's a disease. The real problem is that once we develop excess body fat, our bodies defend that excess abnormal body fat. Weight gain usually occurs gradually. But to try to lose weight, our bodies resist that weight loss.

Kushner: I agree completely. It is a disease. I think there are still confusing messages out there. And of course, with podcasts like this, you and I and others are trying to get the message across. Hopefully we will convey that obesity truly is a disease. Given the mixed messages, what do you think the roles are of insurance companies, regulators, healthcare professionals, and, most important, people living with obesity? What's the common message we're trying to get across in the role of all the stakeholders?

Ryan: I think the most important thing we have to do is to make sure everybody understands what obesity actually is. Our healthcare providers are not all up to speed on obesity. Obviously, there's a lot of bias within the healthcare professions. Individuals with obesity have had bad experiences in their healthcare. They've been blamed for their body weight. I think that bias and stigma that individuals with obesity face on a daily basis is something we must counter. And the way to counter it, I think, is understanding what obesity really is. I can't imagine another disease where individuals are required to try a diet before they can be eligible for medications. We don't require that with people who have cholesterol problems. Why are we doing this with people who have weight problems? Before they have a surgery, they're required to try a diet and physical activity. People with obesity have tried multiple times to lose weight. It's the body's biology that they need help with. And in terms of payments for obesity treatments, I can't imagine another disease where adequate provision of care, which can be lifesaving, is not allowed or sanctioned by our insurers, employers, and regulators.

Kushner: I can't agree with you more. We're seeing this particularly among the newer generation of medications that are not really covered adequately, not at all by Medicare, but really as part of treatment. I want to go back to the biology of disease. You brought that up in the first question. I mentioned to you that it's not just willful misconduct and so on, but it really is biology. I wonder if you could unpack that a little more, particularly about appetite dysregulation and what we call lipotoxicity.

Ryan: When we accrue excess body fat and we try to lose weight, our bodies react almost immediately with these physiologic mechanisms that defend our settling point of body fat. Our body doesn't want our fat mass to decrease; it loves it where it is. That's our settling point. And so when we start to lose weight, we get changes in the appetite signals, and we can actually measure the effect of these signals. In regard to the appetite hormones, ghrelin, the hunger hormone, the satiety hormones, CCK, GLP-1, PYY, amylin, when we start to lose weight, we get an increase in the hunger hormone and a decrease in the satiety and fullness hormones. And so we can measure the hormones and we can also measure hunger and fullness. As long as we are trying to reduce, as long as we're in this reduced state, we have greater hunger and less satisfaction and fullness. But there's something else that occurs that makes it even more difficult. When we're trying to lose weight, something kicks in, called metabolic adaptation or adaptive thermogenesis. When we start to lose weight, our metabolic rate decreases more than you would expect just by being a smaller size, and that metabolic adaptation, that lower metabolic rate, works together with increased hunger to drive weight regain. That is why it is so difficult to lose weight.

Lipotoxicity, Bob, is something else. When we exceed our ability to store excess calories in healthy fat, that's usually fat around the hips and thighs. We start storing those extra calories in abnormal body fat stores fat stores within the abdomen, we call that visceral adipose tissue; fat around the heart, that's pericardial adipose tissue; around blood vessels, that's perivascular; around kidneys, in the liver, in the muscle, and in the pancreas. And this adipose tissue is bad. It looks different under the microscope. The fat cells are big. There's evidence that they're not healthy. We see evidence of their cell death and dying helmet cells. There are a lot more white blood cells in there, indicating inflammation, and that fat tissue is producing lots of bad actors. It is producing hormones adipokines and cytokines that promote thrombosis, inflammation, and insulin resistance. We get into trouble not just where that fat is. The coronary arteries are running straight through the epicardial adipose tissue, and those products of that abnormal adipose tissue drive atherosclerosis. They also affect the heart muscle itself. So, it's a direct effect of where the adipose tissue is located. There also are systemic effects all around the body. There is a prothrombotic and proinflammatory milieu that people with obesity are living in. Lipotoxicity means that fat is an active endocrine organ. And when we store fat in these ectopic spots, it's something that really produces all of the complications of obesity.

Kushner: That's a good description of the biology and pathophysiology of obesity. It sounds like we know a lot more than we did two decades ago, for example. We have a lot of folks who are living with obesity in this country. Can we identify those individuals who have this underlying biology that you just described and who are predisposed to developing obesity and its complications?

Ryan: I know you'd like me to tell you, "Oh, yeah, we've got a blood test. We've got a genetic risk score that can identify." Bob, 70% of the US population has a BMI over 30. We've got lots of individuals who have a lot of excess abnormal body fat. And the way we start off identifying people at risk is with BMI. It's a good screener. It's the body mass index. You calculate it from your height and your weight, and it tells you a lot about what your body size is. It doesn't tell you anything about where body fat is or how unhealthy body fat is. And so that's why BMI is just a screener. The next thing we do is look at waist circumference, a very important measurement, especially in people with a BMI of 25 up to about 35. That waist circumference really gives us an idea of ectopic fat storage. We also want to know what the metabolic risk factors look like. What is the C-reactive protein, what is the blood pressure, what is the blood glucose, the A1c? What's happening to the lipids? We get signals from those risk factors that help identify a metabolic syndrome that is, individuals who are at increased risk for diabetes and heart disease by virtue of having lipotoxicity.

Kushner: You mentioned about how many Americans, adults particularly, have obesity. It's over 42% by BMI; if you had overweight, probably 3 out of 4. So let me ask you kind of a provocative question: Are we saying that 42% of Americans have a disease of obesity? Let's say you have an actor who puts on 30 lb for a role. Does that person have obesity, and when they lose weight, they no longer have obesity as a disease? Do we understand enough about that?

Ryan: First of all, many of those individuals do have obesity, the disease. And there are some people who do have a BMI of 30 or higher who don't have evidence of abnormal risk factors. These are metabolically healthy individuals with that high BMI. What we usually find with these individuals is that over time, over the lifespan, they tend to develop metabolic complications. We worry about those individuals and we follow them closely. The way we really diagnose obesity as a disease is a clinical diagnosis. It's the demonstration that an individual has excess abnormal body fat by virtue of dysmetabolic syndrome.

Kushner: By the WHO definition, as you're alluding to, it's excess body fat that impairs health and quality of life. But, Donna, as an individual goes to see their primary care professional, it's pretty uncommon that they have a body fat measure, yet it's a disease of excess body fat. Do we just assume that the excess weight is body fat, or should we be measuring body fat, since you delineated so well that the target pathology is a sick fat?

Ryan: I wish we had an easy, safe, inexpensive, and quick measure of body fat; we would use that for the diagnosis of obesity. Right now, our best and most accurate measure of body fat is DEXA, dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. But Bob, that exposes people to a tiny bit of x-ray, and we don't want to use that as a screening tool. I think we're going to get a little closer in the next few years with digital anthropometry that is, measuring circumferences around the waist, hips, arms, and neck with just a digital photograph. And then, if we know the weight and we have those measurements, we can calculate a pretty good body fat. It's been compared to DEXA measurements and it's good, very good. I think we're likely to move in that direction in the future. We're not quite there yet in the clinic.

Kushner: Okay. Stay tuned on that one. Donna, I want to have you quickly return to the challenges that individuals living with obesity have in maintaining weight loss. Earlier you described metabolic adaptation and change in the gut hormones. Should that be treated biologically being that why the weight is being regained seems to be a biological problem? Should we be focusing individuals to turn to biologic treatments, which I guess is pharmacotherapy?

Ryan: Yes, it is pharmacotherapy. But you know, Bob, a lot of the things that we do in our lives, all our interventions, are intended to work through biology. For example, when we're teaching people how to develop skills to help them lose and maintain weight, we do things like having them self-monitor. Being aware of your body weight, your food intake, being mindful about food, recognizing the body's signals of fullness and not just eating automatically those are all things that we're doing that work through biology. Think about it: Some of the things we teach in our lifestyle intervention, like eating slowly to give those appetite signals time to come into play, help reinforce so that we can stop eating sooner. We don't have to eat everything on the plate, gulping it down. If we eat more slowly, we're more likely to eat less. We're already doing those things. What we think goes on with those medications that work through appetite is that they help reset that settling point so that when we take our medications, we will lose weight and will reach a new level that, as long as we keep on the medications, will be maintained. With our older medications, that's usually on average about 5%-10% weight loss. Our newer medications are coming out with more weight loss 10%, 15%, even up to 20% weight loss. And so what's happening there is that the impact on those appetite signals is making it easier for patients to follow their dietary intentions.

Kushner: Good advice and good insight on how to deal with weight regain. Donna, I mentioned when I introduced you that you're the past president of the World Obesity Federation. You had a global approach, unique among many of us. What have you learned about the global problem of obesity either similarities or differences between the US and other countries?

Ryan: Obesity is really a global pandemic. It is increasing everywhere. The G20 countries are those that have higher socioeconomic status. And those countries are the ones that are having the highest rates of obesity. We seem to have done a really good job of exporting this Western lifestyle around the world and, along with it, our obesity rates. It was really interesting to identify that the highest rates of obesity in the world are in the Pacific Islands. But we also have enormous problems with obesity in the Middle East and in Mexico. Everywhere in the world, especially as countries begin to emerge economically, we're really identifying increased rates of obesity. One of the most interesting things is that although the cultures of these countries are different across the world, we do observe that same obesity stigma across all of those countries. We seem to have exported our value of slimness around the world too.

Kushner: What should we as a society, we as providers, and all the other stakeholders be thinking about regarding obesity as a disease?

Ryan: I think it's so important that we help our patients understand what they're dealing with. All patients seem to own their disease. They feel responsible for their body weight. They think it's their problem. It's important that healthcare providers get into the swing of things; it's our job to help patients understand the biology that makes it hard for patients to lose weight and keep it off. Some patients think taking medications is cheating. They think, Oh, I just need to try harder. No. Medications work through biology to help you follow your intentions. Our goal really is to move patients toward healthier lifestyles, right? Well, medications can help patients do that. And, Bob, for some people with severe obesity, we need to be more proactive about helping get those patients to surgical evaluation, because that is currently our best and most long-acting weight loss approach.

Kushner: Today we've had Dr Donna Ryan discussing the changing paradigm about obesity as a disease. Donna, thank you. This has been wonderful. Thanks for sharing all your insights about obesity.

Ryan: I love being here. Thank you.

Kushner: I want to thank all of you for joining us for episode two. I look forward to another great discussion in episode three. This is Dr Robert Kushner for InDiscussion.

Comparison of Weight-Loss Diets With Different Compositions of Fat, Protein, and Carbohydrates

Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes): Design and Methods for a Clinical Trial of Weight Loss for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Type 2 Diabetes

First versus Repeat Treatment With a Lifestyle Intervention Program: Attendance and Weight Loss Outcomes

Effects of Dietary Patterns on Blood Pressure: Subgroup Analysis of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Randomized Clinical Trial

The Role of Gut Hormones in Diet-Induced Weight Change: A Systematic Review

Adult Obesity Facts

Obesity Emergence in the Pacific Islands: Why Understanding Colonial History and Social Change Is Important

The Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity in an Adult Kuwaiti Population in 2014

Obesity in Mexico, Prevalence and Trends in Adults. Ensanut 2018-19.

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Episode 2: Obesity as a Disease: Changing the Paradigm - Medscape

Building muscle and losing weight takes effort, consistency, and discipline. However, you do not need to spend hours at the gym in order to achieve results. In fact, performing just three 10-minute strength workouts per week can drive weight loss and muscle gain when combined with a high-protein diet and other healthy lifestyle habits for fat loss. The following is my top 10-minute workout to lose weight and build muscle. Perform each exercise for 10 repetitions, then move to the next exercise. Complete three rounds with minimal rest between sets.

Squats are the ultimate lower-body muscle-building exercise. You can't go wrong with a functional movement that blasts your glutes, quads, and hamstrings in all the right places. You can add a jump to the top of the squat if you need more difficulty, or you can hold an external weight.

To perform squats, begin standing with feet wider than shoulder-width distance apart. Sit back into your squat position, and lower your body until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Drive through both feet to return to the starting position. Repeat for 10 repetitions.

RELATED: Drop 10 Pounds Fast With This 10-Minute Daily Workout

Pushups are a simple and effective way to work your chest, shoulders, triceps, and core in a single movement that requires no additional equipment. Keep your core engaged throughout the entire set, and do not allow your hips to sag downward.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

To perform pushups, begin in a plank position with your hands under your shoulders. Lower your body as one full unit by bending your elbows and lowering your chest to the floor. When your chest is roughly one inch above the ground, push through both hands to return to the starting position. Repeat for 10 repetitions.

Lunges are one of my favorite exercises for the lower body for several reasons. They hit the glutes and quads very effectively from a muscular standpoint. Lunges also build coordination, balance, and stability for walking, running, sprinting, and hiking. Additionally, the unilateral nature of the exercise means that the muscles on your working leg get hit very hard without having to add a ton of overload to your whole body, which can reduce some wear and tear on your joints while still getting a major stimulus to your muscles.

To perform lunges, begin standing with your feet hip-width distance apart. Take a big step forward with your left leg. Descend into a lunge by bending your front and back knees, lowering your back knee directly towards the ground. Push through your front foot to return to the starting position. Repeat for 10 repetitions.

RELATED: 7 Best Exercises for Men to Gain Muscle Without Equipment

Pull-ups are tied with pushups in terms of upper-body strength exercises. They work the upper back, lats, and biceps, effectively the opposite muscles as the pushup, which means these exercises are great to combine with one another to fully blast your upper body muscles. You can use an overhand, neutral, or underhand grip.

To perform pull-ups, grip your pullup bar with the selected grip style, and extend your body weight from the bar. Pull your chest to the bar, keeping your shoulders from shrugging and attempting to pinch your shoulder blades together and downward as you pull. When your chest nears the bar, slowly lower to the starting position. Repeat for 10 repetitions.

Last but not least in this workout to lose weight and build muscle, we have V-ups. If I had to select just one core exercise to include in a workout, V-ups are my choice. They hit multiple layers of abdominal muscle and hip flexors, and you can make them easier or more difficult by bending or extending your legs, respectively.

To perform V-ups, begin lying on your back on a mat or soft floor. Extend your arms overhead. Engage your core, and raise your legs and torso off the floor. Lift both until the angle at your hip is roughly 90 degrees and your body forms a "V" when viewed from the side. Slowly return to the starting position. Repeat for 10 repetitions.

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The Easiest 10-Minute Workout To Lose Weight & Build Muscle - Eat This, Not That

Anyone who has achieved it knows that maintaining weight loss long-term is an uphill battle. The hormonal, metabolic and neural factors that regulate body weight means it can be more a matter of biology than willpower. At the same time, the global weight loss industry is valued at US$224 billion and is set to grow to $405 billion by 2030.

One of the most frustrating aspects for many is the yo-yo effect of calorie restriction, that sees dieters regain half of their lost pounds within two years, and around 80% after five. This is often seen as a personal failure and can have long-lasting physical, emotional and psychological impacts.

But it may not be all doom and gloom. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research (MPIMR) and Harvard Medical School have identified a significant change in neural pathways in the brain that occurs when dieting, with much stronger signals traveling to the nerves that mediate feelings of hunger. Inhibiting these signals may help scientists develop treatments that better assist people in maintaining their weight.

People have looked mainly at the short-term effects after dieting, said Henning Fenselau, a researcher at MPIMR, who led the study. We wanted to see what changes in the brain in the long term.

To do so, the researchers put mice on a diet and monitored brain circuitry, focusing in on the Agouti-Related Peptide (AgRP) neurons in the hypothalamus, known to control feelings of hunger. Previous studies have shown how stimulating these neurons leads to acutely elevated food consumption. They found that the neuronal pathways to the AgRP neurons amplified when the animals were on the diet and remained at those amplified levels, resulting in extreme hunger signals that led to greater food intake and quicker weight gain.

This work increases understanding of how neural wiring diagrams control hunger, said co-author Bradford Lowell from Harvard Medical School. We had previously uncovered a key set of upstream neurons that physically synapse onto and excite AgRP hunger neurons. In our present study, we find that the physical neurotransmitter connection between these two neurons, in a process called synaptic plasticity, greatly increases with dieting and weight loss, and this leads to long-lasting excessive hunger.

When the researchers inhibited the connection between those neurons, AgRP activity decreased and the animals had a more regulated response to food intake. Not surprisingly, this led to significantly less weight gain.

This could give us the opportunity to diminish the yo-yo effect, said Fenselau. In the long term, our goal is to find therapies for humans that could help maintaining body weight loss after dieting. To achieve this, we continue to explore how we could block the mechanisms that mediate the strengthening of the neural pathways in humans as well.

The study was published in Cell Metabolism.

Source: Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research

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