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If youre thinking of starting a diet, but dont know which one to go for, it can be reassuring to hear from an expert.

Kim Pearson , a nutritionist who specialises in weight loss , recommends the ketogenic diet to many of her clients.

The keto diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet similar to the Atkins Diet. Those who adhere to the diet will cut back on carbs, and get most of their calories from protein and fat.

This puts your body in a state of ketosis, which means it starts burning more fat.

Kim explained to Daily Star Online: Eating a very low carbohydrate diet induces ketosis a state when your body runs out of carbohydrates from food for your cells to burn for energy and turns to burning stored fat for fuel instead.

This allows you to lose weight fast, according to the nutritionist.

She said: Ketogenic diets have become a popular approach to weight loss and for good reason. They focus the body on burning stored fat and that results in fast, noticeable weight loss.

One of the benefits of the keto diet is that the style of eating is filling, which means you wont end up hungry with cravings that will make you want to raid the biscuit tin at 3pm.

When you are in ketosis your body will produce energy, so you wont feel tired or lack concentration.

Kim continued: Optimal amounts of protein also ensures that muscle mass and your metabolic rate is preserved which means that when you reach your target weight, you have a much better chance of maintaining it.

There is evidence to show that ketogenic diets can be beneficial for individuals who have certain health conditions, such as epilepsy. It is also helps insulin regulation and prevention of type 2 diabetes.

Keep in mind that ketogonic diets are strict, which is why it is easy to achieve weight loss.

Kim said: The amount of carbohydrates you can have and stay in ketosis varies from person to person but its typically under 40g. That is not a lot.

Cutting out carbs not only means avoiding the standard bread, pasta, rice and potatoes that we think of as carbohydrates, but also a lot of other foods you may not have considered.

It means you cant eat food which you might have considered healthy including fruit and a number of starchy vegetables.

Although the keto diet involves eating a lot of meat, butter and cheese, Kim doesnt recommend skipping vegetables altogether.

She explained: I always encourage anyone on a ketogenic diet to eat plenty of low carb veg and to consider taking a fibre supplement.

Ketosis can increase excretion of certain nutrients, namely electrolytes which regulate our fluid balance. For this reason it may be necessary to take supplements.

It's worth working with a qualified nutrition expert to find an approach that helps you achieve your goals while also supporting your wider health.

Ketogenic diets arent recommended for those with kidney or liver problems. If you are unsure you should speak to you GP or a nutritionist before starting a diet.

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How to lose weight fast with Keto diet, according to weight loss expert - Daily Star

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As of October, Marylanders can now buy at-home test kits to check for things like diabetes, cholesterol and more.The state was one of four holdouts until the General Assembly passed a new law allowing it.Maryland residents don't have to head to the doctor for certain medical tests anymore. Now, residents can get tested for things like high cholesterol, diabetes and even testosterone from the comfort of home.Public health physician Dr. Charlene Brown said it's something to which everyone should have access."It reduces barriers to engaging in home health systems. I believe that at-home testing is the final frontier in terms of engaging people in their own health. People can answer their own questions and work closely with their physicians," Brown said. The sample you collect is sent off to the same labs that do the testing for doctors."The tests are accurate as any other tests being sent to the lab that's been inspected and cleared," Brown said. Brown said at-home test kits are good for busy people and people who are reluctant to call their doctor about a concern."I don't believe people should be off by themselves outside of the health system making decisions. It's a tool you can use in concert with your provider. Get the test, conduct the test then bring the results into your doctor," Brown said. Results will come in easy to understand, layman's language and a detailed report for your physician. It is important to check with your insurance company to see if the cost of the test is covered.In some instances, the at-home test may be cheaper than what your doctor orders or vice versa. Also, they can by bought in store or online.

As of October, Marylanders can now buy at-home test kits to check for things like diabetes, cholesterol and more.

The state was one of four holdouts until the General Assembly passed a new law allowing it.

Maryland residents don't have to head to the doctor for certain medical tests anymore. Now, residents can get tested for things like high cholesterol, diabetes and even testosterone from the comfort of home.

Public health physician Dr. Charlene Brown said it's something to which everyone should have access.

"It reduces barriers to engaging in home health systems. I believe that at-home testing is the final frontier in terms of engaging people in their own health. People can answer their own questions and work closely with their physicians," Brown said.

The sample you collect is sent off to the same labs that do the testing for doctors.

"The tests are accurate as any other tests being sent to the lab that's been inspected and cleared," Brown said.

Brown said at-home test kits are good for busy people and people who are reluctant to call their doctor about a concern.

"I don't believe people should be off by themselves outside of the health system making decisions. It's a tool you can use in concert with your provider. Get the test, conduct the test then bring the results into your doctor," Brown said.

Results will come in easy to understand, layman's language and a detailed report for your physician.

It is important to check with your insurance company to see if the cost of the test is covered.

In some instances, the at-home test may be cheaper than what your doctor orders or vice versa. Also, they can by bought in store or online.

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At-home testing kits could help Maryland residents engage in their health - WBAL TV Baltimore

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The stock market once again found itself lacking clear direction, with different indexes moving in opposite directions. Most of the same big-picture issues remained on investors' minds, and weakness in the retail sector weighed on the generally upbeat sentiment that market participants have had about the health of the American consumer. A few stocks were able to post sizable gains despite some of those concerns. JinkoSolar Holding (NYSE:JKS), America's Car-Mart (NASDAQ:CRMT), and Myovant Sciences (NYSE:MYOV) were among the top performers. Here's why they did so well.

Shares of JinkoSolar rose more than 10% after the solar panel manufacturer announced its third-quarter financial results. Revenue climbed 12% from year-ago levels during the period, and module shipments increased 13% to 3,326 megawatts. Adjusted net income soared by nearly half from the year-earlier quarter. CEO Kangping Chen believes that the report "marks a turning point for our business," as production costs continued to fall even as shipments rose. Low oil prices haven't helped renewable energy stocks lately, but JinkoSolar is making smart moves and sees brighter skies ahead.

Image source: Getty Images.

America's Car-Mart saw its stock climb 10% following the company's release of fiscal second-quarter financials. Earnings jumped 23% from the year-ago period, and a 12.2% rise in same-store sales pointed to a healthy environment for the auto sales and finance specialist. America's Car-Mart sold almost 9% more vehicles than it did during last year's fiscal second quarter, and internal metrics like retail units sold per month and gross profit per unit sold showed modest gains. There's some uncertainty right now about the likely future course of the auto industry, but little in America's Car-Mart's report pointed to an imminent downturn for the company.

Finally, shares of Myovant Sciences skyrocketed 115%. The biotech company gave investors good news in the form of clinical results from its phase 3 HERO study of relugolix, its prostate cancer treatment candidate. Relugolix did extremely well, proving itself as an effective method of suppressing testosterone without creating undue adverse safety concerns. In response, Myovant now believes that it will seek approval for the drug from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration next year. Today's move shows just how high shareholders' hopes for relugolix are, but with advanced prostate cancer being a serious health problem, it's not surprising that a potentially game-changing drug would be valuable for the medical community and investors alike.

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Why JinkoSolar Holding, America's Car-Mart, and Myovant Sciences Jumped Today - The Motley Fool

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Posted November 20, 2019 07:07:55

It's nerve-wracking for any athlete to compete in their first competition, but for Beau Driscoll, the path to get there hasn't been easy.

Before he transitioned from female to male in 2016, team sports had been a big part of his life.

But when he began taking hormones, Mr Driscoll said he didn't feel there was space for him on any team.

Seven months ago he began powerlifting to lose weight he's lost 25 kilos and in January will participate in his first sanctioned powerlifting meet with GPC (Global Powerlifting Committee) Australia.

"It's a non-tested federation, so what that means is people can take performance-enhancing drugs and be able to compete because they don't do testing," Mr Driscoll said.

It's an important aspect for Mr Driscoll, as not every powerlifting federation is open to, or accepting of, trans powerlifters.

Mr Driscoll needs to take the hormone as part of his transition, but it is banned under tested powerlifting competitions because it's considered performance-enhancing, even for someone who is trans.

Although many powerlifting federations acknowledged athletes could be trans, many still didn't allow them to compete while taking hormones, the 28-year-old said.

"You can compete as the gender you identify as, but you can't be on hormones," he said.

"It's sort of invalidating in that sense, that 'yes, you can be who you want, we acknowledge that you're that, but you can't be on hormones'.

"Personally, I don't think it's fair."

He credits testosterone with helping him to feel more like himself.

"I'll get hair growth, my voice deepens and, as you can see, I look masculine.

"Before my transition, I didn't know who I was, it was a very uneasy ground for me, and then I started hormones in 2016 and I just feel so confident in who I am."

And he is adamant that it doesn't give him an advantage over his competitors.

"I have 1,000 milligrams of testosterone every seven weeks, and that puts my testosterone levels at the same as a cisgendered male who is not on any [performance-enhancing drugs].

"I'm at no advantage whatsoever."

Mr Driscoll has found support from people within his federation.

His friend, powerlifter Niki Hart, said she had seen him mature in the sport.

"I feel like a proud gym mum," she said.

"When I see his working sets, when I see what he puts on the internet, I'm very proud of him and what he's done. His dedication is incredible."

She too has noticed barriers facing people like Mr Driscoll.

"There's some little loopholes that mean some organisations can discriminate against trans people ... that needs to change involvement in sport is a human right."

Fellow powerlifter Jake Hawker said it was important for sport to foster equal opportunity.

"I'm all for competing against people who are trans who want to be powerlifters, I think it's a great idea it's all about giving everyone the opportunity to compete."

Topics:lgbt,sexuality,people,powerlifting,community-and-society,human-interest,sport,carrum-downs-3201,cranbourne-3977,somerville-3912

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Training to be a powerlifter while trans can have real ramifications - ABC News

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As we enter the holiday season, Americans are abandoning their attempts to be healthy and half will break their diet to give into the temptation of holiday food, according to new research.

The survey of 2,000 Americans who celebrate a winter holiday found that 47 percent have given into the lure of their favorite treats and ended up quitting their diet as a result.

But theyre not alone in making unhealthy decisions at the end of the year results of the second annual Writing Off the End of the Year survey found that 41 percent use the holidays as an excuse to postpone being healthy, compared to 47 percent the previous year.

Commissioned by Herbalife Nutrition and conducted by OnePoll, the survey found that for those taking a start again in January approach, a third start postponing their healthy habits by mid-November.

Fifty-nine percent of respondents said it was hardest to stay healthy during the winter holiday season, and food is a major reason why.

Forty-four percent admit to having eaten more than one dessert at a meal, while 36 percent have eaten more than one holiday dinner in a day and 30 percent say theyve had to undo a button on their pants because of eating too much.

In fact, the average person expects to gain six pounds during the holiday season, according to both the 2018 and this years survey.

The biggest food temptations were found to be cookies (53 percent), pies or cakes (53 percent) and home-cooked holiday meals (44 percent).

And the survey found that three in 10 actually plan to eat more during the holidays specifically because their New Years resolution is to be healthier.

In addition to overindulging, not getting enough exercise was another reason respondents might be piling on the pounds during the holidays.

Twenty-seven percent of respondents say they exercise less during the holidays and of those, the average time spent working out each week was two hours less than usual.

Interestingly, this years survey showed that respondents are less optimistic about their ability to stay healthy in the new year (45 percent), as compared to 2018 in which 54 percent believed their efforts would be successful.

Enjoying the holidays doesnt mean you have to completely abandon your attempts to be healthy and make healthy choices, says Dr. John Agwunobi, co-president and chief health and nutrition officer at Herbalife Nutrition.

Healthy snacking is a useful tool in combating overindulgence. Consuming protein-rich snacks before heading out to a holiday feast can help make you feel full, so that you dont overindulge.

But with January comes a new year, new me attitude and results found that 33 percent are planning to make a New Years resolution compared to 34 percent last year.

The top resolution for the second consecutive year is to exercise more, but it ranked higher among last years respondents (71 percent vs. 59 percent).

For those looking ahead to 2020, this was followed by eating healthier (59 percent) and saving more money (53 percent).

Staying on track can be hard especially if you are tackling it on your own. Developing a support system of people who know your goals, strengths and weaknesses can be extremely beneficial in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, especially during the challenging times of the year, Dr. Agwunobi added.

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The top tempting holiday treats Americans abandon their diets for - New York Post

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Not many people can get excited about plaque, but Christina Warinner loves the stuff.

The recently appointed assistant professor of anthropology in FAS and Sally Starling Seaver Assistant Professor at the Radcliffe Institute, Warinner was among the first researchers to realize that calcified plaque, otherwise known as dental calculus, could shed new light on everything from ancient diet and disease to the spread of dairying and the roles of women in society.

Its like a time capsule, she said. Its the single richest source of ancient DNA in the archaeological record. There are so many things we can learn from it everything from pollution in the environment to peoples occupations to aspects of health. Its all in there.

And it was a discovery, Warinner said, that happened almost entirely by accident.

After receiving her Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in the Anthropology Departments archaeology program, the Kansas native took a postdoc at the University of Zurich in what was then the new Center for Evolutionary Medicine. There she set out to investigate whether it would be possible to identify pathogens in the archaeological record to study the evolution of diseases. She chose dental caries, or cavities, as a case study, because they are visible amid skeletal remains and abundant in the archaeological record. She set out to examine whether the bacteria that caused caries in ancient teeth could be identified genetically.

I started to notice all this dental calculus, which is very common on teeth, and was always getting in the way, she said. Most people would just take it off and throw it away, but I thought it could be interesting, so I turned that thought around and looked at it from a different angle.

As a side project, I started applying genomic and proteomic techniques to it, which hadnt been done before, she continued. Its not perfect, and not everything preserves but it turns out we can say an awful lot about the past through calculus.

Applying genomic tools has allowed Warinner to get the clearest picture yet of not only ancient genomes, but ancient microbiomes as well.

We have a project running now on the evolution of the oral microbiome where we are comparing looking at New World monkeys, gorillas, chimpanzees, Neanderthals, and a diverse range of humans, she said. Were looking to see if there are shifts in oral microbial communities through time, and whether functional shifts might indicate changes in diet or other adaptations.

[Plaque is] like a time capsule. Its the single richest source of ancient DNA in the archaeological record. There are so many things we can learn from it everything from pollution in the environment to peoples occupations to aspects of health. Its all in there.

Christina Warinner

She also investigates paleofeces, and another project in her lab focuses on understanding recent evolution in the gut microbiome. A number of studies have shown that the gut microbiome of traditional societies around the world is very differently structured than that of industrialized populations. We can tell that it is the industrialized gut microbiome that has changed, but the question is: Over what time scale? Is it 100 years? A thousand years? Ten thousand years? What caused it to shift? Was it agriculture? Was it industrialization?

Answering those questions, Warinner said, is important from a public health perspective as well as a historical one.

The thing that characterizes, more than anything else, the industrialized gut microbiome is a lack of diversity, she said. Microbial loss may lead to reduced resiliency and a higher susceptibility to disease. Conditions like Crohns disease, IBD [inflammatory bowel disease], and many gastrointestinal disorders share, as a common feature, reduced or altered microbial diversity, and it may be that theres something about our current, industrialized diet that is driving this pattern.

In addition to modern ailments, Warinners work has also shed light on one of the most mysterious puzzles in medical history the cause of a 16th-century epidemic that decimated the indigenous populations of colonial Mexico and Central America, and that was known only as cocoliztli, the Aztec word for pestilence.

Most people know that when the Spanish came to the Americas they introduced a number of diseases, she said. In the 16th century alone, there were 11 documented epidemics, including an outbreak of smallpox in 1520 that contributed to the fall of the Aztec Empire. However, the worst epidemic the one considered to be the single greatest killer in terms of loss of life occurred two decades later in 1545, and neither the Spanish nor the Aztecs knew what it was.

Though researchers had debated the exact nature of the epidemic for more than four centuries, with hypotheses ranging from influenza to plague to hemorrhagic fever, there was scant evidence to support any one theory.

In 2006, Warinner, then a grad student, was part of a team of archaeologists who stumbled onto a mass burial site for cocoliztli victims, but it wasnt until 2018 that she and colleagues at the Max Planck Institute finally were able to identify a rare strain of Salmonella enterica that they believe was responsible for the epidemic.

Warinner has also used the study of dental calculus to shed light on cultural practices, including the production of medieval books.

Several years ago, we started a study on periodontal disease and as part of that study we analyzed the teeth of individuals buried at a small medieval monastery in Germany. Quite unexpectedly, we found that one womans dental calculus was full of blue crystals we later determined to be pigment from lapis lazuli, she said. At the time, that was one of the rarest and most expensive mineral pigments in Europe, and the only explanation that made sense was that she must have used the pigment, likely as an illustrator. Only a very skilled artist would have been entrusted with such a valuable substance, and here it was on the teeth of a woman buried at a rural womens religious community. So this discovery revealed new information about trade routes and the more extensive use of this pigment during this early time period, as well as the involvement of women in art.

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Researcher looks at plaque to gain insight about the past - Harvard Gazette

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Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon are opening up about their favorite dieting tips. The actresses, who joined forces for Apples new television series, The Morning Show, just revealed that they are both big believers in the new dieting trend known as intermittent fasting. Based on how they have both managed to say fit over the years, it is pretty clear that the technique is working for them. But experts caution that intermittent fasting is not for everyone.

Ahead of the premiere of their new show, Aniston andWitherspoon sat down and talked about how they are able to maintain their trim figureafter all these years.

The co-stars revealed that they both practice intermittentfasting in the mornings and that the diet has worked wonders over the years.

For Aniston, she usually stays up late at night and wakes up around nine in the morning. When she gets up, she usually skips breakfast and opts for a small juice instead. She also drinks coffee, but not before feeding her dogs, working out, and doing a little meditation.

I do intermittent fasting, so theres no food in the morning, JenniferAniston shared. Today, I woke up and had a celery juice. Then I started tobrew some coffee, but I dont drink coffee that early.

According to Insider,Witherspoon added that she usually enjoys a juice and coffee in the morning aswell but stays away from solid food. This gives her and Aniston a full 16 hourswhere they are not eating anything solid.

Her day also starts a lot sooner than Aniston and she isnormally out of bed before six in the morning but mainly because her 7-year-oldis also up at that time.

For those that do not know, intermittent fasting is the practice of going through cycles of fasting and eating. This includes eating regular meals five days in a row and then cutting your calories by 25 percent over the next two days.

Some people also do 16-hour fasts in which they do not consume any type of solid food. This is the approach Aniston and Witherspoon are using when they skip out on breakfast.

Witherspoon also noted that she usually turns to Aniston fordieting and workout advice, so it is possible that the Friends star introduced her to intermittent fasting in the firstplace.

While some people may dismiss intermittent fasting as justanother dieting trend, there are benefits to fasting on a regular basis.

Scientists have done multiple studies on the effects ofintermittent fasting and have found that it does offer some benefits.

This includes lowering blood pressure and boosting longevity. Some people also, of course, lose weight while practicing intermittent fasting but usually this is because they are more likely to consume fewer calories.

If you are interested in trying intermittent fasting, thenskipping breakfast in the morning is an easy way to start. The only key is toget 16 hours between your last meal of the night and your first meal of thefollowing day.

While intermittent fasting has its benefits, it is not theright choice for everyone looking to shed a few pounds.

There are plenty of nutritionists that argue against intermittent fasting and caution people to follow whatever dieting plan works for them. Everyones body is different, and while intermittent fasting is good for Aniston and Witherspoon, it might not work for you.

Depending on your body type, you may operate better if youfeed your body throughout the day. Whatever the case, you should always consulta dietitian before trying out a new plan.

Fasting can be a slippery slope to unhealthy habits and a screwyrelationship with food, registered dietician Jessica Cording shared.

Cording added that intermittent fasting is not the easiestdiet in the world and that some people may find it challenging. And if you arethe type of person who loves breakfast, giving it up might not be in the cards.

That said, intermittent fasting does work for some people, so if you are looking for a new way to switch things up it is not a bad thing to try. There are also several ways you can incorporate intermittent fasting into your schedule, so there is some flexibility there.

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Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon Love Intermittent Fasting, But It May Not Be For Everyone - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

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High blood pressure naturally fluctuates throughout the day and this is normal, but when it remains consistently high, even when resting, this can spell trouble. It means that your heart has to work harder to pump blood around your body, and, while this process may seem harmless, over time it can cause hike the risk of developing deadly diseases like heart attack or stroke. To prevent the condition from escalating, it is important to make healthy lifestyle changes to lower your blood pressure.

Eating a heart-healthy diet plays a key role in lowering blood pressure and studies have found an association between drinking certain beverages and lowering blood pressure.

Here are three blood-pressure friendly drinks:

In a study published in Food Science & Nutrition, drinking unsalted tomato juice lowered blood pressure and LDL cholesterol in Japanese adults at risk of cardiovascular disease.

LDL cholesterol is a waxy substance found in your blood and having high levels of LDL cholesterol in your blood poses the same risk as having high blood pressure, such as heart disease and stroke.

In the study, 184 male and 297 female participants were provided with as much unsalted tomato juice as they wanted throughout one year.

READ MORE:High blood pressure: Three natural supplements proven to lower your reading

Beetroot juice may help lower your blood pressure, according to one study, which found that people who drank eight ounces of beetroot juice daily lowered both systolic and diastolic blood pressure.

Nitrates, compounds in beetroot juice that convert into nitric acid in the blood and help widen and relax blood vessels, are thought to be the cause.

Furthermore, another study found that participants who drank 17.6 ounces of beet juice had a lowered systolic blood pressure within hours of drinking it, suggesting it has an immediate impact.

Hibiscus tea, an herbal tea that's made by steeping parts of the hibiscus plant in boiling water, have also been shown to lower blood pressure in several studies.

In one study, 65 people with high blood pressure were given hibiscus tea or a placebo. After six weeks, those who drank hibiscus tea had a significant decrease in systolic blood pressure, compared to the placebo.

Echoing the findings, a 2015 review of five studies found that hibiscus tea decreased both systolic and diastolic blood pressure by an average of 7.58 mmHg and 3.53 mmHg, respectively.

High salt intake remains the biggest culprit of high blood pressure so cutting the amount of salt you eat is one of the quickest ways to lower your blood pressure.

According to Blood Pressure UK, an adult should eat no more than six grams of salt a day, but most people eat much more than this.

Part of the problem stems from the fact that salt is often hidden in processed foods such as bread, biscuits and breakfast cereals, and prepared ready meals or takeaways, so it is best to eat foods that are low in salt and stop using salt when cooking or at the table, advises the health site.

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High blood pressure: Include these three drinks in your diet to lower your reading - Express

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Actress Kate Hudson, 40, has four businesses, three kids and two upcoming movies. But she still finds time to prioritize her health and wellnessand eating well is a big part of that.

In her interview for the cover story of the December issue of Women's Health, Kate said she eats around five times a day. She starts each morning by drinking celery juice, followed by a protein shake, oatmeal, an acai bowl, or eggs. Her other meals are mostly plant-based and include squash or zucchini noodles. And occasionally, she'll add chicken, fish, or steak to the mix.

Her new eating routine is motivated in part by Kate's daughter, Rani, who she had with boyfriend Danny Fujikawa in October 2018. Kate told WH that losing weight after having Rani was much harder than when she had her two sons.Unlike with the other two, I didnt really have time to work out. It took a different kind of discipline, Kate said.

This time around, Kate had to rely on stricter eating habits with the help of her Weight Watchers (now WW) partnership. Within just four months of healthy eating, Kate says she had almost hit her goal weight. Kate posted this photo updating followers on her progress in April. She wrote, "Im a couple lbs. from goal weight! Ive done it without stressing on food or working out like crazy although I have been disciplined."

Looks that celery juice is really working, Kate. Brb, running to Whole Foods!

A version of this article originally appeared in the December 2019 issue of Womens Health. Pick up an issue on newsstands November 26.

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Kate Hudson's Diet Includes Celery Juice And Five Meals A Day - Women's Health

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The Boston Transportation Department has halted design work on a proposal to reduce Centre Street from the Holy Name Rotary to Spring Street in West Roxbury from four lanes to two and add pedestrian islands, bike lanes and new turn lanes so that it can study an alternative plan from a newly formed neighborhood group to keep four lanes but add pedestrian crossing lights at some intersections, re-stripe cross walks and step up police enforcement of traffic laws.

Interim BTD Commissioner Gregory Rooney told a packed meeting of the West Roxbury Safety Association at the Irish Social Club tonight the department should never have simply rolled out the proposed "road diet" plan at a June meeting without additional meetings with local residents and business owners. He said he now expects BTD to release a new proposal, or proposals, in January.

Residents who have been calling for increased enforcement are about to get a feel for that, good and hard. New E-5 Capt. Darrin Greeley, himself a West Roxbury resident, told the group he plans a traffic-safety crackdown along Centre Street - starting with all the double-parking residents and Uber Eats drivers who now infest the westbound side of Centre as they pick up food at the take-out places clustered along Manthorne Road. He said he knows only too well what happens between the Continental and Christo's from personal experience, because that was his route home from his previous job as a detective in the BPD homicide unit.

Greeley said he also plans to step up "Operation Crosswalk," in which officers will pull over drivers who blow through intersections without stopping for pedestrians there - and that he will bring in additional resources if necessary to get miscreants under control. He added, however, that, at least initially, most people will likely get warnings, rather than tickets. "We want to educate people," he said. "We don't want to fine people."

Steve Morris, who helped form the safety association, said the group agrees with proponents of the road-diet plan that the end goal is to make Centre Street safer, but that members felt the road-diet plan would only force drivers onto side streets. And citing what they said were stats from other cities, members said the plan would actually lead to increased pedestrian and bicyclist deaths, that the plan would put residents of the neighborhood's seven nursing homes at risk because it would slow first responders and that it would drive businesses out of the neighborhood. And besides, hardly anybody rides bicycles on Centre Street, they said.

Morris and other members conducted "audits" of all the intersections along Centre from the rotary to Spring Street and while he acknowledged they were not traffic engineers, he said they had something valuable - common sense. And that common sense led them to believe that the answer to greater pedestrian safety was to install pedestrian-crossing traffic signals that would only activate when a pedestrian pressed a button at certain intersections. such as at Hastings Street, where Marilyn Wentworth died in February and another pedestrian suffered a traumatic brain injury when it by a car a few years ago.

The group also called for replacement of the brick crosswalks Tom Menino was enamored of with more traditional and easier to spot striped crosswalks - something BTD crews recently have begun doing. And despite their disdain for the members of an alleged "bicycle lobby," they said they support signs along the road alerting drivers that they have to share the lane closest to the curb with bicyclists.

Although the group's founders spoke calmly and said they wanted to engage in dialog with both BTD and road-diet supporters, once they turned the room's microphones over to the audience, the anger spilled out towards bicyclists, people not from West Roxbury and the federal government, all of whom they accused of foisting the road-diet idea on West Roxbury for reasons that some said were quite sinister indeed.

The very first resident to get a mic said the city doesn't give a damn about safety and that the road diet is part of a plot to reduce Boston's carbon footprint. He accused the city of installing Blue Bikes stations along Centre Street - and even down by the Star Market on Spring Street - as part of this plot.

To applause, he said it's time to license and fine bicyclists who "cut cars off, they drive down the sidewalk and they hit people."

He was followed by the owner of a Centre Street business who said the road diet would drive her out of business. Besides, she yelled, "This isn't Amsterdam!"

Another resident said bike lanes on Washington Street in Roslindale and Beacon Street downtown have turned those roads into gridlocked hellscapes.

City Councilor Matt O'Malley (West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain), was booed when he said there are parts of the road-diet proposal he thinks are good, but that he wants to hear other proposals, too. "You're tap dancing, Matt!" one resident jumped up to yell at him. The resident then accused O'Malley of acting like a socialist whenever he's in the Jamaica Plain end of the district.

Nobody mentioned that the road-diet idea sprang from a study by a civil-engineering team at Northeastern University about Centre Street two years ago - which started when a graduate student from West Roxbury complained to her professor about Centre Street safety - and which basically gathered dust on a shelf somewhere until a February meeting at the Elks Club at which Wentworth's husband and son pleaded for the city to do something so that nobody would ever again have to go through what they did.

A Roslindale resident, who first joked he wasn't sure if he would make it out of the room alive, was, in fact, booed into sitting down when he explained how he thought the road diet would improve safety by forcing motorists to slow down and how the ultimate answer was to get more people onto public transit.

A West Roxbury resident essentially told bicyclists they can just shut up until they start paying taxes for roads. After asking car owners to raise their hands, he said, "These are our roads!"

One West Roxbury resident did rise to support the road-diet proposal, saying he owns both a car and a bicycle and that he and his wife both "drive all over the place." He said his top concern are crashes in which one driver stops for a pedestrian and a second one then plows into the person.

He tried to rebuke the notion of some "Bicycle Lobby" sinisterly pulling strings to destroy West Roxbury.

"We're people just advocating for safety," he said. "I"m a dad, a brother, a husband and a son, I'm not just a [bicyclist]."

Morris, who had earlier called the road diet "a stupid idea," said his group's plans would reduce such crashes through better sight lines - in part by having police deal with the issue of double parkers. And he said he and other founders felt "bushwacked" at the July meeting, when he said it seemed like outside bicyclists and other non-local agitators had had a series of secret meetings to prepare.

One mother of two young children, who live up at Lagrange and Keith streets, said she wasn't even sure what the fuss was about - she walks up and down Centre with her kids in a double-wide stroller and finds it "extremely safe." But if people don't agree, "why can't we put it on a ballot?" she asked.

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City tables plan to reduce car lanes on Centre Street in West Roxbury to study other possible ways to keep pedestrians from getting mowed down -...

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