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Many Americans aim to eat a healthy diet, and some might be hoping to lose a few pounds. But which diets are Americans sticking to, and which ones are actually helping them lose weight?

A YouGov poll of more than 1,200 US adults finds that a majority of Americans have changed their diet at some point in order to lose weight (56%) or improve their physical health (54%).

Intermittent fasting, a diet where you only eat during certain times of day, is one of the most popular: 24 percent of US adults say theyve tried this diet for weight loss. An equal number say theyve tried the Atkins diet, which emphasizes foods that are low-carb.

About one in five have tried Weight Watchers (21%), the keto diet (19%) and the Mediterranean diet (18%).

But which diets do Americans say have been effective in helping them lose weight?

YouGovs data finds that majorities of people who have used these diets for weight loss find them to be effective.

Almost nine in 10 (87%) people who have tried intermittent fasting to lose weight say that this diet was very effective (50%) or somewhat effective (37%) in helping them lose weight. A similar number of people who have used Weight Watchers (86%) or the keto diet (85%) say these diets were effective for weight loss.

Majorities who have used Atkins (83%), the Mediterranean diet (81%), or vegetarianism (78%) for weight loss also say that these diets were effective in helping them to lose weight.

The diet Americans say is the best weight-loss diet may also be the most affordable one.

Intermittent fasting, which 87 percent of users say was effective for weight loss, is also seen as more inexpensive (80%) than expensive (18%), according to people who have tried it.

That isnt the case for many of the other diets YouGov asked Americans about. Majorities of users are more likely to see Weight Watchers, keto, Atkins and the Mediterranean diet as more expensive rather than inexpensive. Those who have adopted a vegetarian diet for weight loss are close to evenly split: 49 percent say it is expensive, 46 percent say it is inexpensive.

But in spite of the fact that many of these diets seem to be effective according to the people who have tried them, they remain largely unappealing to the American public.

A majority (58%) of US adults say that the vegetarian diet is somewhat or very unappealing. A plurality say the same when asked about the keto diet (47% find it unappealing), Atkins (47%), intermittent fasting (47%), or Weight Watchers (47%).

The only diet of this grouping that was seen as more appealing than unappealing was the Mediterranean diet. Over half (55%) say this diet is somewhat or very appealing; 31 percent say it is unappealing.

See the full survey results and sign up to be a part of the YouGov panel.

Related: One in five Millennials has changed their diet to reduce their impact on the planet

Methodology: Total unweighted sample size was 1,241 US adults, which included 137 who have used the keto diet for weight loss, 165 who have used the Atkins diet for weight loss, 172 who have used intermittent fasting for weight loss, 120 who have used the Mediterranean diet for weight loss, 146 who have used Weight Watchers for weight loss, and 95 who have used vegetarianism for weight loss. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all US adults (ages 18+). Interviews were conducted online between January 3 - 6, 2020.

Image: Getty

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Americans say this popular diet is effective and inexpensive - YouGov US

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The question of how to lose belly fat is one that resounds around the internet because it's one of those universal Google questions. It's actually quite meaningless, because targeting 'belly fat' is very very hard. Losing fat in general, some of which will be around your belly, is fairly easy though. So, if you want to burn belly fat and get fit, this is our 'six-pack' ho ho of tips, cheats and strategies. Although there's no magic bullet, there are ways to burn belly fat (or 'lose weight' as we used to call it) that are tried, trusted and true.

Important note here, everyone: Belly fat these days is often referred to as visceral fat because that sounds scarier. If you really need to shed visceral fat because it's endangering your life, that is an area where you should probably be seeking medical advice. This is about slimming down a bit.

Our lose belly fat tips aren't necessarily quick, and this is not about telling you how to get six pack abs although we have a few articles on that topic. No, this is just a six pack of tips to getting a healthier life and feeling comfortable with the girth of your mid-riff. We're not looking to fat shame anyone here or totally bro out, we're just offering advice.

We've got some great tips, a few cheeky shortcuts and key strategies to lose belly fat quickly, healthily and sustainably. As we just said, there are no quick fixes here; we want you to develop habits that ensure you'll stay trim for good.Weve also got the lowdown on the best exercises to lose belly fat, and all the gear youll need to get started although, of course, the most important 'gear' is the bit between your ears.

There's no hard-and-fast rule for slim-down success: the best way to lose belly fat is the way that works around your lifestyle. If you follow an unsustainable plan, you won't last: it's as simple as that. In this article we lay out six principles that are applicable to everyone, whether you're a total beginner starting your weight-loss journey or a seasoned pro who fell off the wagon over Christmas.

These guiding lights will keep you on the straight and narrow, whether you've got time to hit the gym every day or a shift worker looking to manage your schedule. Dont try to take on more than you can reasonably fit into one day. And, despite the name of this feature, don't fixate on 'belly fat'. It's important to reduce visceral fat, which does tend to lurk around the belly area, but that is best achieved by trying to slim down and tune up overall.

Here are six strategies to help you start losing weight.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The short answer to the question of how to lose belly fat is to burn more calories than you consume on a regular basis. In the fitness world, this is known as achieving a "calorie deficit".

If this sounds like a waking nightmare, there's a trick to it: what you need to do is ensure youre eating the correct kind of food to make sure you feel full and sated, even when consuming fewer calories than you're burning off. Certain foods are "empty calories" while others release energy slowly, keeping you fuller for longer.

But before that, you'll need to find a good way to track your calories burned and calories taken in. The free MyFitnessPal app is one of the best ways to record your calorie intake, but to track your calories burned, you'll need a dedicated fitness tracker. If you already own a smartwatch, most will offer calorie tracking as standard, but for those yet to make the plunge, the Fitbit Versa Lite is the best activity tracker you can buy right now. Check out the deal below.

Oh, and staying hydrated is crucial, as well

Fitbit Versa 2 | was 199.99 | now 159 at AmazonThe Fitbit Versa 2 is getting regular price cuts for the new year and is currently 40 off at Amazon and various other fine online retailers. The Versa 2 features advanced cardio tracking as well as the usual steps and sleep stuff, and has Alexa built in. It's also unusually stylish for a Fitbit.View Deal

Fitbit Versa Lite | was 149.99 | now 124.95 at AmazonThe Fitbit Versa Lite is the best affordable fitness tracker or smartwatch you can buy.It tracks deep and light sleep, steps, distance and calories, but that is barely scraping the surface of its capabilities. Via Fitbit's excellently presented app and sprawling ecosystem, you can use it as the basis of a complete fitness and diet programme. You can also enter your meals to log calories consumed, so you can have all your dietary data in one place.View Deal

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S'Well Marble Drinking Water Bottle | now 25.00 at John LewisIn this case beauty is more than skin deep. This bottle is vacuum sealed, which means it should be able to keep liquids warm for 12 hours and cold for 24 hours. Its stainless steel, has a capacity of 500ml and requires handwashing, and its definitely one for one-upping your co-workers boring flasks and supermarket specials.View Deal

BEEFit Biltong, 10 x 30g bags | now 16.99 on AmazonLooking for a calorie-dense but highly nutritional snack? Swap your bag of crisps or chocolate bar for biltong, a cured meat snack now in handy 30g bags, to keep yourself fuller for longer. It's packed full of protein to help build muscle after a workout, and comes in either BBQ or chilli flavour.View Deal

Intermittent fasting is becoming more and more popular. It involves significantly cutting calories or abstaining from food altogether for a portion of the day or week, and then cramming all your calories into a much shorter time window.

The best-known intermittent fasting plan is the 5:2 diet, where you eat as you normally would (although hopefully a bit healthier) for five days a week, then scoff no more than 600 calories two days a week.There are also variants of this diet where you consume almost no calories, two days per week. This is much more doable than it sounds, so long as you are in good general health, but it's not exactly fun.

However, for trainees who are serious but not that serious, there's the 16:8 diet. With this diet you have only 8 hours a day to fit all your meals in, but can only drink water (and maybe some black coffee, if you're feeling naughty) within a 16 hour fasting period outside of those 8 hours. Most choose to eat from 10am to 6pm, but as long as you stay within an eight hour window, you can start and finish at any time of the day. This isHugh Jackman's strategy, so if you have ever wanted to be in Wolverine shape

Why try fasting, though? Well, during the fasting period the body will run out of sugar to run on, and so will start eating up the bodys fat stores. The big negative is the adjustment period: if you're used to a big breakfast or an early dinner, a 16-hour fast feels tough at first, especially if you're exercising. You're going to get seriously cranky.

Soylent Nutrition Shake, Cacao (Chocolate), 12 Pack | now 35.00 on AmazonMarketed as a 'complete meal in a bottle' soylent is a perfect on-the-go quick feed for breakfast or lunch. With 20g of plant protein - to keep you going and slow-burning carbs to help you stay full, Soylent is vegan, gluten free, nut free, dairy free and low GI. At under 3 a shake, it's an ideal replacement to your usual hurried, bland supermarket meal deal.View Deal

Weight training is a great way to tip your muscle-fat ratio the right way

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Dead set on having chips? An air fryer can deliver a lot of the delicious taste with less of the not-quite-so-delicious oil

(Image credit: Future)

If you eat fried food all the time, switching to an air fryer will definitely cause you to lose weight unless buying one causes you to start eating loads of chocolate because you've reduced your fat intake. No, it doesn't taste as delicious as proper fried food of course not but it turns out meals with a good fried/roasted taste, but with up to 80% lower fat content.

If you don't eat fried food all the time but like to treat yourself now and then, switching to an air fryer could still help with you to lose weight. Even with a solid balanced diet and a good workout ethic, there will come a time when your willpower will falter and you'll want to fall back on your old favourites, like fried chicken, fish, chips and all the other foods you love normally dripping with grease. If you schedule in cheat days and do this in a controlled way, it's good to know you're cooking these foods in a way that still helps you hit your goals.

Enter the air fryer. The best air fryers are revolutionary pieces of kit that use hot air combined with a teaspoon of oil (as opposed to the gallons of oil found in the deep-fat variety) to cook your crispy favourites. If kitchen space and budget is no object, you can cook a whole chicken in the Philips Airfryer XXL, but if you're after something a little more economical, Ninjas AF100UK Air Fryer is lightweight, compact and versatile, perfect for portion control. Check it out below.

Ninja AF100UK Air Fryer | was 119.00 | now 89.00 at AmazonFry food guilt-free using comparatively very little oil and a blast of hot air. If you're a junk food addict, it's one of the best ways to arrange your cheat days so that you're still having guilt-free food while fitting your macros, calorie count or diet of choice. The Ninja model is lightweight, compact and versatile, also capable of roasting, dehydrating and reheating food in addition to the air fry function.View Deal

This is just one way to have your (fried) cake and eat it too. Swapping high-calorie pints of ice cream to the low-calorie versions like Halo Top or Oppo, or switching out cholesterol-laden butter for a healthier olive spread, are other easy ways you can make relatively simple lifestyle choices and still keep weight off.

There are two main types of exercise: cardio training and weights, otherwise known as resistance training.Although cardio burns a lot of calories while you do it, weight training builds muscle which burns more than fat as you go about your day. The more muscle mass you have, the more calories you'll burn even when not working out.

Resistance training may seem scary if you're doing it for the first time, especially in the gym when the area's dominated by serious lifters, but you dont have to start adding big plates to the bar right now. There's plenty of ways to get started at home with smaller weights such as dumbbells, kettlebells and even medicine balls.

Were not going to list every single lifting exercise, so why not pick the body part you want to start toning up and check out some of our muscle-building how-tos. One you've done that, grab one of the best dumbbell sets on the market. They're not just for arms: you can use a dumbbell to work your core, shoulders, and even your legs with combination movements. Once you're comfortable in your own home, you can move on to more advanced equipment at the gym.

BodyPower 20 kg Cast Iron Spinlock Dumbbell set | was 59.99 | now 39.99 from Fitness SuperstoreYou just can't beat a good old pair of cast iron weights, and a testament to this is the fact they can be found under the beds of dads and granddads up and down the country. Get your own and they will last a lifetime and for all of their noisy, palm-chafing downsides, there is a kind of nostalgic loveliness to the spin collar set-up.View Deal

All of this aside, dont neglect cardio, as regular cardio workouts are important for fitness and stamina.

Electric Muscle Stimulation can help your muscles recover faster

(Image credit: PowerDot)

It may seem gimmicky when you unwrap your new six-pack vibrating belt, complete with a picture of Ronaldo on the box, but don't roll your eyes just yet. While you can't just sit there eating crisps and expect to get ripped, Electric Muscle Stimulators can help as part of a controlled dietary and exercise plan.

EMS can cause the muscles to contract, essentially tensing and untensing rapidly. During downtime post-workout, you can continue to encourage muscle growth with EMS, while the right bit of kit can also encourage faster recovery, allowing you to get back in the gym all the quicker. According to the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, EMS stimulates the muscle in the same way as a massage, prepping it for the next go-round.

It's not a bona fide shortcut to a six-pack, but it can speed up the muscle-building process with regular use.

(Image credit: Sixpad)

Our top choice is always SIXPAD as used by Cristiano Ronaldo, a man who takes great pride in his body. Perhaps a little too much pride, the unkind or jealous might say. Amazon also sells all manner of abs belts by brands we have never heard of, for about 20. Needless to say we dont recommend these.

PowerDot 2.0 - Smart Electric Muscle Stimulator | now 185 at AmazonAlternatively, the PowerDot 2.0 is a smartphone-controlled muscle stimulating monster.This neat muscle stimulator works from your phone, allowing you to control intensity, stimulation and goal. Reduce your recovery time and increase muscular performance, as the PowerDot working to support your gym schedule. This model has two stimulators, but you can scale up to four for 325View Deal

Planks are a tough abs workout and a great end-of-workout finisher

(Image credit: Taco Fleur from Pixabay)

As well doing both muscle-building and cardio exercises, if you want to lose belly fat its also important to switch up the pace of your workout.

Every time you workout, you should exercise using both steady state (working hard but not at max capacity, such as during brisk jog) and high intensity (going flat out, like sprinting) to torch your abdominal fat.

Steady state or aerobic exercises include cycling, running or uphill hiking.Its a crucial part of losing belly fat because it burns through your fat stores. However, it also uses your sugar stores for energy first, so you need to do steady-state for long enough to use up all that sugar before it eats into your fat reserves.

High intensity workouts use mainly sugar for fuel, so they don't hit the fat right away, but it does help in building muscle, which will help you torch fat even on days you're not exercising. Explosive weight lifting, sprinting and HIIT-friendly exercises like mountain climbers are all great high-intensity exercises.

A good fitness tracker will help you to gauge the intensity of your workout by monitoring your heart rate. For overall fitness trackers, check out the Fitbit Versa Lite above, but for a dedicated running watch, you can't beat the Garmin Forerunner 645, the best on the market right now.

Find out more about heart rate zone training

Garmin Forerunner 645 | now 276.93 at AmazonGarmin dominates the running/fitness watch category so totally, it's almost embarrassing for the competition. The most recent addition to their premium line, the Garmin 645, incorporates GPS and wrist heart-rate tracking, which is good for monitoring your resting and all-day rates. The 645 crunches a lot of data to suggest recovery times, make a decent stab at estimating your VO2 Max, tell you how optimal your training load and lots, lots more.View Deal

FitBit Aria 2 smart bathroom scale | was 119.95 | now 105.00 on AmazonThis clever scaletells you your weight, BMI and body fat percentage which is all a lot of people want. It then reports this to your Fitbit account, so you can monitor your weight trends and use it alongside your Fitbit wearable's daily calorie-burn estimates. Add MyFitnessPal or Fitbit's own dietary features and you can then sync your meal-plans, daily calories consumed and weight goals, if you want.View Deal

The most important thing to bear in mind is this: losing weight takes time. You'll have setbacks and slip-ups, but if you stay committed to your goal, you'll be fitter and healthier in 2020, building up great habits for many years ahead.

Need some help to get started? Check out all the latest deals on the kit you'll need to get fit in 2020.To start with, you'll need a killer playlist and a good set of workout headphones to listen to it on:

Beats By Dre Powerbeats Pro | now 219 on AmazonPowerbeats Pro are a 'game changer' for Beats; the quality of them is over and above anything the brand has produced before. Designed for workouts and running, the clever design of these true wireless buds means they stay still in your ears during even the most arduous physical jerks. Battery life is way better than most true wireless buds at 8-9 hours and they recharge incredibly fast.View Deal

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How to lose belly fat: 6 easy ways to burn visceral fat, feel fitter and reveal your abs in 2020 - T3

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Following a no-sugar diet is a trending topic in the nutrition and weight loss space right now, but the concept itself isnt so new. Although there is no formal diet plan or definition to follow, it typically involves avoiding added sugar while still allowing some natural sugar in your diet. Instead of counting calories, proponents of a no-sugar diet suggest youll lose weight by getting rid of added sugar once and for all.

Sugar itself does not fulfill any nutritional need and has virtually no nutritional value, which is why sugar is often referred to as empty calories. Although sugar enhances flavor, it can become quite addictive. Sugars include types of carbohydrates that can naturally occur in some foods, but are also an additive in certain foods and drinks. Consuming too much sugar can lead to several health problems and increase your risk for weight gain and diabetes. But that being said, not all sugars are created equal.

Naturally occurring sugars are found in food organically. These include fructose, which is found in fruit and root vegetables, lactose which is found in dairy products, and sucrose which is found in all different types of naturally occurring carbohydrates. Added sugar includes sugar that food manufacturers add to products to increase flavor or extend shelf life. In the Standard American Diet (SAD), top sources of added sugar include soda, fruit drinks, cereals, cookies, cakes, candy, flavored yogurts, and many processed foods.

Added sugars arent always so black-and-white, and can often disguise themselves in ingredients lists under names you might not be too familiar with. Some examples include:

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends a limit of no more than 25 grams (6 teaspoons) added sugar daily for women and no more than 36 grams (9 teaspoons) added sugar daily for men. This may sound like a lot, but to put things into perspective, one Grande Caramel Frappucino at Starbucks has 55 grams of sugar which is over double the amount recommended for women in a day. Just one 12-ounce can of regular soda contains eight teaspoons of sugar and has no nutritional value. The new nutrition facts label now requires companies to list how much added sugar is in their product, which can help you decipher between the amount of natural vs. added sugars in the food. Many people refer to a no-sugar diet as a sugar detox since it involves avoiding added sugar completely. This can be very difficult since the vast majority of packaged foods available have some form of added sugar.

Theoretically, following a no-sugar diet could help you shed pounds because many sugary foods are also high in empty calories. By decreasing your intake of added sugar, youll be cutting out a substantial amount of calories and therefore may see a decline in your weight. Choosing more nutritious carbohydrate sources that are filled with fiber, such as fruits and whole grains, can provide nutrition and satiety for a fraction of the calories of those sugary foods.

Take things slow to wean your body off of added sugar and focus on one step at a time. Start by reducing your consumption of one food, such as candy or baked goods. One of the most significant sources of added sugars in the diet comes from sugar-sweetened drinks including soda, specialty coffee drinks, sweetened teas, and fruit juices. If you are drinking away your calories with any of these sugary beverages, that may be a good place to start. Gradually weaning off added sugars can also retrain your taste buds after a few weeks to make you crave less sugar.

The bottom line: Reducing your intake of added sugar is great for your health, but do so gradually and sustainably. If you restrict too much, it may eventually backfire and lead to overeating those forbidden sugary foods. No one knows your body better than you. Some of us work well with an all-or-nothing mentality, while others may benefit from incorporating their favorite sugary foods in moderation on a semi-regular basis. When you do indulge, do so mindfully and sensibly.

Link:
What Is a No Sugar Diet? - No Sugar Diet Benefits, According to a Nutritionist - GoodHousekeeping.com

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New Year's resolution time has come and gone, but reaching fitness and wellness goals is a year-round effort. Almost everything lives on our phones now, and a quick internet search will bring up a few dozen apps that aim to help if you want to lose weight, get healthier or focus on fitness. Before you download anything, it's important to do some research about what you're signing up for.

One traditional weight-loss program is Weight Watchers. After almost 60 years, the program made the digital transition and rebranded itself as WW in 2018, putting more of a focus on health and wellness than dieting, at least when it comes to its marketing. Another app that has surfaced over the last couple years is Noom, which has called itself "Weight Watchers for millennials."

While there are other apps you can use to track your diet and exercise -- including some free apps that may be built into your phone, such as Samsung Health or Apple Health -- if you're considering WW or Noom for your dieting and fitness goals, here's what you need to know.

WW has been around for decades. The program assigns points to foods and recipes, and sets a certain amount of points for your day based on your height, weight and weight loss goals, instead of having you count calories. You can search for foods or scan bar codes in the WW app -- much easier than tracking by hand, as you had to in the past.

You'll track breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks every day, with weeks tracked Monday through Sunday. You have daily points to use (a number that resets each morning). You also get extra weekly points to use, which gives you some wiggle room to go over your daily amount. You can also log exercise and activity (the app can sync with your Fitbit) and weight changes, try out WW recipes and look up WW-friendly restaurants.

WW now offers three different plans to choose from: Blue (the traditional WW plan, which gives you a number of daily points plus certain zero-point foods such as fruits, veggies, lean proteins and eggs), Purple (gives you fewer daily points but more zero-point foods, including whole grains) and Green (gives you more daily points but fewer zero-point foods).

While there are zero-point foods in every plan, that doesn't mean those foods have zero calories, or that you should only eat those foods. Instead, the goal is to train you to make healthier food choices.

What I liked about Weight Watchers was that it didn't feel like a diet (I know, how many times have we heard that?). But it's not restrictive -- it's sustainable, and it's about making better choices. It doesn't mean you can't have ice cream, just less ice cream, or choose frozen yogurt instead. I found the program to be easy to follow and effective when I committed to it.

In terms of cost, you can sign up to use the app only for about $17 per month. Try the app plus workshops (strategies and support from experts and members) for about $38 per month. You can also subscribe to the app plus personal coaching for $51 per month. This means WW-certified coaches and guides are available to you online or in studios (if one is located in your area) when you need extra help. WW lets you try the app for the first month free, so if it doesn't feel right to you, you can cancel.

I found that sometimes it's hard to stick to WW, especially on the weekends. Meal planning is key. The more you put into the program, the more results you'll see. I also find it encouraging to look in the forums on the app to see real people's weight loss milestones, everyday accomplishments and struggles, tips, tricks and so on. It makes you feel less alone on your own journey.

You may have seen ads for Noom show up on social media, touting itself as "a smarter way to lose weight," but not a diet. The service, which has been around for just over 10 years, focuses on consistency and accountability. These are two things that can make or break health and fitness goals.

When you sign up for Noom, you're assigned a coach, who'll message you every few days to check in on your progress. Sometimes the comments felt vague, almost like it was an automated message, but some messages were more specific to what I had written to the coach. One nice feature is that you can set up the app to be aware of when you might be close to "falling off the wagon." For example, I set up my warning signs to be that I didn't open the app that day, which signaled the coach to check in with me.

Similarly to in WW, you track your day's food in terms of breakfast, a morning snack, lunch, an afternoon snack, dinner and an evening snack. You can set the time when you usually eat breakfast, and Noom will calculate the best times for you to eat your other meals based on how to maximize fullness and improve your metabolism. You'll get notifications subsequently. You're given a daily checklist with specific articles to read and quizzes about health, food, fitness and nutrition. You can save recipes, articles and the like to refer back to later.

Unlike WW, with its points system, Noom counts calories. I felt a little cautious when the app assigned me 1,200 calories for a day, as I'm 5-foot-9. When I used the built-in fitness app on my old Samsung phone, I was given 1,600 calories per day.

Noom sorts foods into red, yellow and green. Red foods are more processed, yellows tend to be meats and dairy and green foods are fruits, veggies, etc. The app wants you to eat more "nutrient-dense" foods, which means those with fewer calories that are more filling.

Noom is pricier than WW: It costs $45 per month, but you get all of the features mentioned above for your dollar.

When it comes to choosing between WW and Noom, think about which program would work best for you and your lifestyle. Scientific studies back up both programs: A 2016 study published in Scientific Reports examined nearly 36,000 Noom users, and found that the app drove sustained weight loss in 78% of people across a nine-month period. A 2011 study published in the Lancet medical journal found that overweight patients told by their doctors to do WW lost around twice as much weight as people receiving standard weight loss care over 12 months.

Researching both apps before you get started is important. In addition, it's important to take inventory of yourself, taking into consideration why you want to lose weight. One of the things I liked about Noom is that it asked me why I was using the app. When I entered the answer, it asked why again. Another answer was met with another why. This let me examine myself and my motives more deeply. I recommend doing this even if you don't use Noom.

I used WW first, and then tried Noom, and it was a bit of a jarring experience to go from having zero-point foods to counting calories again. It's important to remember that you can't live on zero-point foods alone, but not all calories are bad. Noom also wanted me to weigh myself everyday, while WW only prompts you to weigh in once per week. I understood on some level that this was to establish habits and so you can see how weight naturally fluctuates, but as someone who has had an unhealthy relationship with a scale in the past, it wasn't the best practice for me personally. It's easy to obsess over the slightest weight change that really doesn't mean anything besides water or the fact that you're wearing jeans.

I've done WW on and off for the past several months, but I only tried out Noom for about a week. I wasn't as keen about the price of Noom and the low number of calories it recommended for someone my height. In addition, an article by a registered dietician about Noom raised a few questions for me.

Again, it comes down to what program you feel most comfortable with. Don't be afraid to try both since there are free trials, and if you don't feel comfortable with something, discontinue it or consult a doctor. WW has been around longer, but Noom has a lot of promise. It went beyond "Eat this, don't eat this" and incorporated an educational element for sustaining healthy habits. It's a bit more expensive, but includes more features. However, I found WW more forgiving and easier to follow.

Now playing: Watch this: Track your food and drink intake with tech

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Originally published earlier this year. Updated periodically with new information.

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

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Noom vs. Weight Watchers: Cost and more compared - CNET

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Fasting or Big Breakfast

Are you confused about what to eat and what time to eat in the morning? Two hot topics now in the never ending world of diet and weight loss are the concept of intermittent fasting and diet induced thermogenesis. Now these two concepts could not be further apart and yet they both may work.

Intermittent fasting is not a diet, it is an eating pattern. This pattern cycles between eating and fasting, it does not discuss what foods or how much you eat it is all about timing. The most common form right now is the 16 hour intermittent fast. Lets say you have dinner at 6 pm, the goal under this plan would be to not eat again until 10am the next day. Fasting for 16 hours. Now in all reality this was probably the norm before we had grocery stores, refrigerators and preservatives. This plan does help you lose weight as long as you do not load up on the calories during the 8 hours you are eating, essentially if you eat normally during the 8 hours you will have a decrease in calorie u=intake and your body will use reserves during the fasting period thus ending up with weight loss.

How does the body react to this? We see that insulin becomes more sensitive and insulin levels drop, this allows the body to burn fat for energy. We also so Human Growth Hormone increase which also has the benefit of fat loss as well as muscle growth. This has been shown to decrease belly fat, increase your metabolic rate which in turn will lead to weight loss.

Now lets go to the other extreme, diet induced thermogenesis or DIT. The concept here is about the opposite of intermittent fasting. This concept is that you eat your largest meal of the day in the morning, followed by a medium lunch and then a small dinner. The concept is to give your body the energy (calories) when it needs it, thus the body burns more calories. It also has the idea that a large breakfast will slow or eliminate the snacking that many do throughout the day, where many calories are taken on without much thought.

Simply put the amount of energy we use every day is composed of 3 totals, the first is the energy we all need to sustain life at a basic level (30%), the second is the amount of energy we use with physical activity (60%) and the third is the amount of energy that is induced from our diet and the energy needed to digest the diet (10%). The concept of DIT is that we can impact the amount of energy expended by a specific diet and at a specific time of the day. Studies have shown that individuals who are lean had a higher DIT than those who were felt to be obese.

The main determinant of DIT is the content of the food, alcohol and protein lead to high DIT whereas fat and carbohydrates will have a lower DIT. A study out of Germany suggests that a big breakfast with higher calories than the dinner lead to higher DIT, it was also shown to lead to lower snacking thru the day which may be just as important. The concept of having your largest meal at breakfast or lunch is common thru out the world. There is some agreement that dinner should be your lowest calorie meal, something we rarely see here in the US.

So which plan works best for you? Or can you actually do both of them. That is one of the hot concepts now, it is to continue to intermittently fast and couple that with your largest meal of the day in the morning. The morning meal of more protein than fat or carbs appears to make the biggest impact.

Calories- are they changing the counting?

We all know that calories impact our weight, many common weight loss methods are simply counting calories, with the premise if we burn more calories than we take in we will have to lose weight. In 1973 the FDA regulated that foods must carry nutritional labels and since then we have looked at labels for calories, fat, protein amounts as we plan our intake. Over the past 47 years we have gotten better and more accurate as to the content of the food we ingest daily. Historically the caloric amounts were simply based on the type of food and the weight of the food. For example we know from testing in a lab that one gram of fat has 9 calories and one gram of protein has 4 calories, thus protein by weight will have a lower impact on your weight than fat would.

As we have progressed on this labeling over the past 47 years we have found that one gram of protein is not universal as we look at sources for protein, what I mean is that one gram of protein from salmon is not the equivalent of one gram of protein from almonds. How can that be if we have used the weight in grams times the lab based calorie number to get our answer. Well, the human body is not a bench lab, and all that is taken in is not necessarily absorbed into the body. Some forms of food are not absorbed well and in fact are important to our health in minimizing our risk of colon cancer as they are high in fiber.

Recently information has come out on almonds which has led to changing many dietary labels. Almonds are a low carbohydrate food that are high in calories but also have a decent amount of fiber and protein. But an almond is a generic term when discussing its nutritional value. Studies have shown that the nutritional value of almonds change as we process them. If we cook or grind them it breaks down the composition of the almond and thus more can be ingested and less acts as non digested fiber. Roasted almonds may have higher digestible calories than raw almonds however the salt and sugar content often will skyrocket. If the almond is not roasted, the studies have shown that they have a lower number of calories due to the amount ingested. This will impact protein bars that have almonds, allowing for a decreased calorie count and may actually increase that caloric impact of almond butter.

This allows us to be as accurate as we can and allows for individuals to make good choices when it comes dietary intake.

Heart News

As we exit the Heart Month of February results of a study completed over the past ten years may have men in their 30s and early 40s rethinking exercise and the importance of muscle mass.

A study was published recently that looked at the importance of muscle mass and maintaining muscle mass as we age and the protective properties of muscle mass. The study was completed mainly in Spain and Greece which is interesting as we look at the study and what they promoted and tracked. For years we have known that excess weight, smoking and diabetes will lead to much higher incidence of heart disease and stroke. What this study looked at was to take individuals who had no signs of heart disease and were over the age of 30 and the impact that maintaining muscle mass has on their risk of heart disease and stroke.

We know that as we age our muscle mass declines for most people. If you looked at all individuals you would see that their muscle mass peaks at the age of 30 and that we lose about 3 % of our muscle mass each decade from that point going forward and that rate increases as we age. We know that simple decrease in muscle mass impacts health in many ways, activity, mental health, bone health, balance and most importantly heart health.

This study started with simply signing up thousands of individuals and doing an extensive medical exam, testing and lifestyle questionnaires. They chose individuals who had no signs of heart disease at that time. Ten years after joining the study the individuals returned for a second round of testing with a focus on cardiovascular illness.

They looked again to see if these individuals who had no signs of cardiovascular disease 10 years earlier had progressed to having signs of CV disease. 27% of the individuals had, with men showing a 6x higher rate than women. They looked back at the data and it showed that those individuals that had significant muscle mass when the study started had a 81 percent lower risk of heart disease when compared to the others. The study showed that early muscle mass in your 30-40s may have a protective measure against heart disease as we age.

Now many of you may be thinking of course this is the result as those individuals probably eat better, exercise more and may be more educated about health. The researchers tried to remove these variables as much as they could and the results still held up.

The big message is having a substantial muscle mass in your 30-40s and attempting to maintain muscle mass as you age appears to have a substantial impact on protecting your heart.

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Big Breakfasts, Calories in Nuts, and Heart Muscle mass - WGN Radio - Chicago

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When you make the choice to live a healthier life, you have to make a lot of changes. It isnt just simply deciding to eat healthier. You have to buy the right foods and prepare them correctly. Which means you need to make your kitchen prepared to handle a healthier lifestyle.

If you prepare meals for yourself a lot, you need to make sure you have everything you need in your kitchen to make eating healthy easier. Because you can keep on using your stove or microwave, but that isnt all you need. There are plenty of gadgets you can pick up to help you prepare meals.

To make a healthy meal, you need to cook things correctly. Youll also need to prep them correctly. Youll want to have the right amount of ingredients to make the meal right. A little too much or not enough can push a meal over into an unappealing end product.

If you want to eat better when you are at home, you should pick up some of the items we have gathered for you below. So our picks should make the shift into a better diet all the more convenient.

For access to exclusive gear videos, celebrity interviews, and more, subscribe on YouTube!

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5 Gadgets To Add To Your Kitchen To Lose Weight And Save Money - Men's Journal

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The FODMAP diet is used to help manage irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but its becoming more popular. Now bloggers and so-called health gurus have jumped on board, claiming it can treat everything from acne to weight loss.

While it would be great if the diet did help to manage these hard-to-treat conditions, these claims are closer to science fiction than science.

FODMAPs are a group of carbohydrates found naturally in a wide range of foods, including garlic, onion, dairy, many fruits and vegetables, breads, cereals, pulses, nuts and many manufactured foods.

FODMAP is an acronym that stands for Fermentable Oligo- Di- Monosacharides And Polyols. Our team at Monash University coined the term in 2005 when we showed this group of carbohydrates trigger symptoms of IBS in susceptible people, and reducing all of them together would have a greater impact on IBS symptom relief than reducing any one of them alone.

FODMAPs attract water as they pass slowly through the small intestine. They then pass undigested into the large intestine where bacteria ferment them. In people with IBS, this leads to excessive gas production and changes in bowel habit, along with many other typical IBS symptoms including pain, bloating and distension.

One in seven Australian adults are thought to have IBS. Our research, which has been replicated by groups all over the world, has shown the diet reduces IBS symptoms in three out of four sufferers.

Read more: Explainer: what is irritable bowel syndrome and what can I do about it?

While a limited number of studies indicate weight loss is an unintended consequence of a low FODMAP diet, the diet is ill fit for this purpose. For people needing to lose weight, the food restrictions the FODMAP diet imposes are unnecessary.

Unless carefully implemented, the diet can compromise intake of nutrients such as fibre, iron and calcium. This can lead to a shortage of these nutrients if the diet is followed strictly long-term.

One example of this is the diet restricts intake of prebiotics, the fuel source for good bacteria in our bowel. Numerous studies have shown an unintended consequence of the FODMAP diet is it changes the composition of the gut microbiota. While the long-term consequences of these changes are unknown, it is not advisable to restrict FODMAPs unnecessarily.

There is no scientific evidence to suggest the FODMAP diet reduces acne.

A FODMAP diet is a three step diet best followed under the guidance of an experienced dietitian.

People follow the diet strictly at the start, and relax and personalise the dietary restrictions over time. The aim is to strike a balance between adequate symptom control and a minimally restrictive diet.

In step 1, people reduce intake of all FODMAP groups below a threshold level. The aim of this step is to reduce IBS symptoms. If IBS symptoms improve sufficiently, people progress to step 2.

In step 2, people undertake a series of food challenges to determine which FODMAPs they can tolerate.

In step 3, well tolerated FODMAPs are brought back into the diet, while poorly tolerated FODMAPs are restricted, but only to a level necessary to control IBS symptoms.

Read more: Multigrain, wholegrain, wholemeal: what's the difference and which bread is best?

The success of the FODMAP diet is due to its widespread uptake among patients with IBS. Backed by scientific evidence, the diet is recommended in various local and international clinical guidelines as a first-line IBS treatment.

As consumer demand for low FODMAP food choices grows, some companies have started to adopt Monash Universitys low FODMAP certification. Brands like Vegemite, Kelloggs USA, and Bakers Delight now offer low FODMAP-certified products.

But with bloggers and health gurus promoting fad diets under the FODMAP name, our research team is spending more time combating disinformation. This takes time away from our research and the support we can offer IBS sufferers.

To learn more about the FODMAP diet, visit monashfodmap.com.

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The FODMAP diet is everywhere, but researchers warn it's not for weight loss - The Conversation AU

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A new study suggests olive oil could be integral to the Mediterranean diet's brilliance.

The diet, which US News & World Report ranked the best diet of 2019, has been linked to good health and longer lives.

According to new research by the University of Minnesota Medical School, olive oil alone, a staple ingredient of the diet, has properties that promote longevity and decreased the risk of age-related disease like diabetes and heart disease.

Dr. Doug Mashek, the lead researcher, said, after studying how olive oil affected human cells in petri dishes, it appears the fats in olive oil activate cell pathways in the body that are linked to longer lifespan.

"We found that the way this fat works is it first has to get stored in microscopic things called lipid droplets, which is how our cells store fat. And then, when the fat is broken down during exercising or fasting, for example, is when the signaling and beneficial effects are realized," Mashek said in a press release.

Foods includingwhole-grain pita bread, fresh fruit, salads, nuts, beans, olive oil, and salmon are Mediterranean diet staples. Anna Kurzaeva/Getty Images

This isn't the first time the Mediterranean diet has been found beneficial for long term health.

The concept of the Mediterranean diet comes from the countries that border the Mediterranean sea, where people historically ate mainly vegetables, oily fish, nuts, and healthy fats. The Harvard School of Public Health and a think tank called Oldways created a diet based on the general eating principles of these places, according to US News.

Unlike highly restrictive diets like the keto diet or the Atkins diet, the Mediterranean diet allows people to eat a wide variety of foods in moderation. In fact, the diet is safe formost people, including children and older people.

Foods including whole-grain pita bread, fresh fruit, salads, nuts, beans, olive oil, and salmon are Mediterranean diet staples and promote a variety of health benefits.

When a person fills their diet with the kinds of fresh, unprocessed foods found in the Mediterranean diet, they may lose weight, improve their heart health, and prevent diabetes, according to US News.

Since the diet focuses on heart-healthy fats like olive oil, avocado, and salmon, it also couldlower bad cholesterol, a major cause of heart disease, according to the Mayo Clinic. "The Mediterranean diet discourages saturated fats and hydrogenated oils (trans fats), both of which contribute to heart disease," the Mayo Clinic said on its website.

The diet could also help prevent cognitive diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's as well as breast cancer.

See more here:
There's evidence that consuming olive oil after exercise could trigger changes linked to longevity - Insider - INSIDER

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Did you know that having a big breakfast can prevent risk of obesity and high blood sugar rather than having a large dinner?As per the findings of a recent study published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, researchers at the University of Lubeck in Germany have found that the body appears to be better at processing food in the morning.According to the researchers, our body expends energy when we digest food for the absorption, digestion, transport and storage of nutrients.This process, known as diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT), is a measure of how well our metabolism is working and can differ depending on mealtime.

"Our results show that a meal is eaten for breakfast, regardless of the number of calories it contains, creates twice as high diet-induced thermogenesis as the same meal consumed for dinner," said the study corresponding author, Juliane Richter, from the University of Lbeck in Germany.

"This finding is significant for all people as it underlines the value of eating enough at breakfast," Richter added.

For the results, the researchers conducted a three-day laboratory study of 16 men who consumed a low-calorie breakfast and high-calorie dinner, and vice versa in a second round.

They found identical calorie consumption led to 2.5 times higher DIT in the morning than in the evening after high-calorie and low-calorie meals.

The food-induced increase of blood sugar and insulin concentrations was diminished after breakfast compared with dinner, the study said.

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Follow this eating pattern to lose weight quickly - Times of India

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Intermittent fasting, which calls for not eating from anywhere between 16 hours to several days, has become one of the buzziest ways to lose weight. Brendan Jones of the popular YouTube channel Goal Guys, tackles alternate-day fasting, meaning he ate food every other day, in a new video.

First, he undergoes a full body DEXA scan, to get details about his body composition, including fat mass. Jones uses these findings to compare his results after attempting alternate-day fasting for an entire month to see if his body fat decreased. He shares the entire process with fans in his new video.

On days that he eats, Jones starts the morning with scrambled eggs and tofu served on multigrain toast with a side of brown beans. Lunch is a simple quinoa salad with broccoli and sweet potato. He maintains his typical workout routine and adds in more isometric work, planks, interval training, and cardio to build muscle mass. Jones tries to push himself just a bit harder on meal days since he plans to take it easy on days he goes without food.

After one week, Jones loses five pounds but admit it's most likely water weight. Going an entire day without food would be torture for most people, but Jones says it's not so bad. His worst cravings usually occur around 6 p.m., but he takes comfort in thinking about breakfast.

"I know food is coming in the morning," he says.

The experiment is compromised when Jones gets sick. He begins eating one meal a day and refrains from hitting the gym. However, he still loses 14 pounds in 30 days and decreases his body fat by four percent. At the end of the experiment, Jones completes another DEXA scan and learns that he lost nearly 10 pounds of body fat and three pounds of lean muscle mass.

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"It doesn't look like alternate-day fasting is a magic bullet for preserving muscle mass, " he says.

Jones says alternate-day fasting decreased hunger and improved his mental clarity. However, he will most likely practice an easier intermittent fasting period, like abstaining from food for 16 hours, in the future.

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Alternate-Day Fasting Helped This YouTube Star Transform His Body In a Month - Men's Health

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