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Grain-free pet foods are no healthier, vets say. Focus on this nutrition issue instead. – Washington Post
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Losing weight is tough. It would be easier if a benevolent someone concerned about your health controlled exactly how much you ate and how often you exercised, right? Thats the situation for most dogs and cats in the United States, and yet the majority are overweight or obese.
As with our own dieting woes, the unpleasant prospect of the simple solution feeding our furry friends less makes us reach for alternative, quick-fix strategies. Many pet parents have turned to radically new menus. These grain-free, all-meat and raw-food diets are inspired by the meals eaten by wild relatives of our fidos and felixes.
But are these diets really better for our pets? Veterinarians and pet nutrition researchers say probably not.
According to clinical veterinary nutritionists at Tufts University, grain-free foods were one of the fastest-growing sectors of the pet food market in 2016. All I ever hear is, oh, on a good diet, its grain free, said Dena Lock, a veterinarian in Texas. The majority of her pet patients are overweight.
Why have these pet diets become so popular?
Its a marketing trend, Lock said.
Grain-free is marketing. Its only marketing, said Cailin Heinze, a small-animal nutritionist at Tufts Universitys Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. A lot of foods market themselves by what theyre not including, and the implication is that the excluded ingredient must be bad.
Grain-free is definitely a marketing technique that has been very successful, said Jennifer Larsen, a clinical nutritionist at the University of California Veterinary School in Davis. (Disclosure: I went to graduate school at the University of California at Davis, but studied plants, not pets.) People think that if they pay a lot for food and there are a lot of exclusions on the bag, that the food is healthier, but theyre buying an idea, she said, not necessarily a superior product.
There is absolutely no data to support the idea that grain-free diets are better for pets, Heinze and Larsen noted.
Some pet owners have a false impression that grains are more likely to cause an allergic reaction, but its much more common for dogs to have allergies to meat than to grain, Heinze said. Chicken, beef, eggs, dairy and wheat are the most common allergies in dogs. And its not that theres anything particularly allergenic about these foods, she said, theyre just the most frequently used ingredients.
Marketing campaigns such as Blue Buffalos Wilderness or Chewys Taste of Wild claim that their grain-free, meat-forward formulations better reflect the ancestral diets of our dogs and cats evolutionary predecessors, but the veterinarians I spoke with also questioned this logic.
For one, our pets wild cousins arent all that healthy. People believe that nature is best, Larsen said, but animals in the wild dont live that long and they dont lead very healthy lives.
For dogs, we know that they have diverged from wolves genetically in their ability to digest starches. Dogs arent wolves, said Robert Wayne, a canine geneticist at UCLA. They have adapted to a human diet. Research in Waynes lab showed that most wolves carry two copies of a gene involved in starch digestion, while dogs have between 3 and 29 copies. According to Heinze, the average dog can easily handle 50 percent of itsdiet as carbs.
For cats, this argument makes a little more sense. Cats are carnivores rather than omnivores, so they have higher protein requirements than dogs, but cats can digest and utilize carbohydrates quite well, said Andrea Fascetti, a veterinary nutritionist at the University of California Veterinary School in Davis.
Many grain-free pet foods are made with starch from potatoes or lentils and they may be higher in fat. If you cut grains but increase calories, your pet is going to gain weight, Heinze said.
Dogs and cats also have a drastically different lifestyle fromwolves or tigers. Pets are almost always spayed and neutered which is in itself a risk factor for obesity. And most live inside or in pens, so their energy needs are reduced dramatically.
In the wild, wolves and feline predators eat the hair, bones and cartilage of their prey, not just meat. For pet owners who do choose to feed their animals an all-meat diet, its essential to add supplements to make sure their pet isnt missing out on key nutrients such as calcium, Fascetti said. And theres the environmental impact to consider: Pets consume a quarter of all animal-derived calories in the United States.
Experts especially caution against feeding pets raw meat. Its not uncommon to find things like salmonella and E. coli and listeria in raw meat, Larsen said. There are a lot of microbes present in our farming systems, and unlike when an animal is hunting in the wild, there are many opportunities for bacteria to contaminate meat between the time an animal is slaughtered and when it reaches our kitchens.
Even if eating contaminated meat doesnt make pets sick, it poses a health risk to pet owners and their children who handle the pet food and waste. The Centers for Disease Control and Preventionand the Food and Drug Administrationboth warn against feeding raw meat to your pets, and I really cant advocate it, because its not safe for the whole family, Heinze said.
But what about all those benefits you hear about from feeding a raw diet, like shiny coats and less frequent stools? I cant tell you how many clients send me pictures of poop, Larsen said. But changes to a pets bathroom habits dont have anything to do with their food being raw.
Raw diets tend to be lower in fiber, and high fiber probablyresults in larger stools. But we dont have a sense of whether stool quality and quantity correlate with health, Fascetti said. And that shiny coat probably is because ofhigh fat, Heinze said.
If pet owners wish to formulate their own diets, they should work with their veterinarian and a board-certified nutritionist. If youre feeding your pet a balanced diet such as in a commercial chow, obesity is the biggest nutrition issue pet owners should worry about, Heinze said.
We want our pets to enjoy what theyre eating, so many foods and especially treats are formulated to be high in fat, Larsen said. Most people dont realize that a milk bone has about as many calories as a candy bar, Lock said.
I know the struggle. My own hefty husky mix stares at me with her big brown eyes and licks the window whenever she wants food. Ive taken to calling the dental chews I buy her guilt-a-bones, because I cant help but give her one every time I leave.
But studies have found that feeding dogs to maintain a lean body weight has very positive effects on their overall health and can even increase life span. This is also the case in mice and rats, and we believe that these findings apply to cats as well, Fascetti said.
Theres no one magic diet for every animal. These experts strongly recommend working with your veterinarian to find a diet that works for you and your pet. When it comes to navigating marketing claims in the pet food aisle, Lock suggests finding a company that employs a veterinary nutritionist and does feeding trials. Try not to get too hung up on the no list, Heinze said. Claims like no gluten, no grains, and no soy generally mean no science.
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The hidden environmental costs of dog and cat food
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Read More..Is your diet making your liver sick? – Bel Marra Health
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Home Liver Is your diet making your liver sick?
Many diets have been hailed as being able to improve your health, such as the Mediterranean diet. On the other hand, there are diets that can make us quite ill. The Western diet is often discussed as being detrimental to health.
The typical Western diet is high in fat and sugar, and we already know these two components can wreak havoc on our health. The latest findings suggest that the Western diet can have detrimental effects on our liver as well.
A new study was done where researchers fed mice a Western diet, which is high in fat and sugar. These mice were more likely to develop liver tumors compared to mice who did not consume the Western diet. When the Western diet-fed mice were treated with antibiotics, they did not respond to the treatment.
The researchers specifically looked at mice missing farnesoid x receptor (FXR), which is involved in bile synthesis, secretion, and transport. Bile is necessary for proper digestion. Low FXR levels are seen in patients with cirrhosis or liver cancer.
The FXR-deficient mice and healthy mice were fed a high-sugar and high-fat diet for 10 months.
The FXR-deficient mice developed liver tumors and had higher levels of genes that trigger inflammation.
Lead author of the study Dr. Yu-Jui Yvonne Wan explained, Gut and liver health are linked. Because the liver receives 70 percent of its blood supply from the intestine, it is important to understand how the gut contributes to liver disease development.
There are many studies that attribute a Western diet to poor health and this is just another one that solidifies the point. Instead, we should opt for a diet low in fat and sugar. As mentioned earlier, the Mediterranean diet time and time again is hailed for its numerous benefits to health. It emphasizes a high intake of fruits and vegetables, lean meats, and above all, low fat and sugar.
Take a close look at your diet and make necessary changes if you find youre adhering closer to a Western diet. Replacing processed, fatty, and sugary foods with foods that are naturally occurring can go a long way in preventing disease.
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Is your diet making your liver sick? - Bel Marra Health
The stories of six famous women, as told through their diets – Chicago Reader
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Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin's aphorism "Tell me what you eat and I shall tell you what you are" is one of the most overused cliches in food culture, appearing everywhere from the opening sequence of Iron Chef to T-shirts and coffee mugs. But to the culinary historian Laura Shapiro, learning what someone ate is just the beginning of unlocking his or her identity.
"Tell me what you eat," Shapiro imagines herself asking her subjects, "and then tell me whether you like to eat alone, and if you really taste the flavors of food or ignore them, or forget all about them a minute later. . . . Please, keep talking . . . and pretty soon, unlike Brillat-Savarin, I won't have to tell you what you are. You'll be telling me."
In short, you can't tell a life story without telling a food story, though it's astonishingto Shapiro, anywayhow many biographers try. Food provides a new way to consider people's lives, not just their activities, but also their needs and how they care for others. This is especially true of women, who have, historically, been called upon to feed others. Shapiro's three earlier books, Perfection Salad, Something From the Oven, and Julia Child: A Life, all considered the lives and work of women who changed the way Americans ate during the 20th century. Her latest, What She Ate: Six Remarkable Women and the Food That Tells Their Stories, is an experiment in straight-up biography: the food stories of six famous women, only one of whom cooked professionally. Some never cooked at allor ate, for that matter. But not eating is part of a food story too.
Her subjects are Eleanor Roosevelt, Eva Braun, diarist Dorothy Wordsworth, Cosmopolitan editor Helen Gurley Brown, novelist Barbara Pym, and Rosa Lewis, the Cockney scullery maid who became one of the most celebrated caterers and hoteliers of Edwardian London. Each woman left a lengthy paper trail, which Shapiro followed faithfully to the very end, through archives and libraries on two continents. The amount of research that must have gone into this book is staggering: Wordworth's barely legible early 19th-century diaries through Gurley Brown's chatty, heavily italicized editor's letters, with detours through endless menus, memoirs, correspondence, cookbooks, newspaper clippings, histories, and much, much more. Though each chapter is fewer than 50 pages, these aren't biographical sketches: they are complete portraits.
Naturally, after spending so much time with people, even people who are dead, you tend to feel close to them (as Shapiro, a former alt-weekly journalist, points out, dead people never hang up on you). You want to refer to them informally, by their first names, as Shapiro does. Some, it's obvious, were more congenial companions than others. Shapiro appears to feel the strongest kinship with Pym, who took notes at restaurants on what other people ate and filled her novels with meticulously described meals. "Tea plays so many symbolic roles," Shapiro writes, "that another writer would have had to create a whole slew of walk-on characters to say what Barbara says with a cup."
She also feels a deep appreciation for Wordsworth, who for years selflessly took care of her brother, William, and his family, during which she was determined to find joy and blessedness in every aspect of her life, even a disgusting black pudding. Dorothy discovered the upside of invalidism in late middle agenow everyone had to care for her for a change and, especially, cater to her incessant demands for food to satisfy her feelings of "faintness and hollowness" as she slid deeper into dementia.
This is far more understandable and less reprehensible than how Eva Braun, who became enamored of Hitler when she was just 17 (her first words to him, incidentally, were "Guten Appetit" as she served him Leberkse, a Bavarian sausage), spent the second half of her life willfully creating her own glamorous reality, in which Hitler didn't call her because he was a neglectful boyfriend, not because he was busy invading most of Europe and killing millions of people. "For Eva," Shapiro writes, "who was looking forward to starring in a movie about herself when the war was overHitler had promisedlife itself was tantamount to a glass of champagne."
Braun drank champagne because she was on a perpetual diet. So was Gurley Brown, who discovered dieting in the summer of 1959 at the ripe old age of 37. She was a successful ad copywriter, able to pay cash for a Mercedes-Benz 190 SL, but she was a failure as a woman because David Brown, whom she had targeted as the ideal husband, refused to set a wedding date. The Serenity Cocktail ("pineapple chunks, soybean oil, calcium lactate, vanilla, fresh milk, powdered milk, and brewer's yeast") did its magic, thoughthey finally made it to city hall that Septemberand after that, her greatest joy in eating came from the discipline of counting calories. Her favorite comfort food was sugar-free Jell-O prepared with one cup instead of four so, Shapiro writes, "the dense, rubbery results would deliver the strongest possible hint of chemical sweetening."
Shapiro is bewildered, but also amused, by Gurley Brown's refusal to reconcile her girlish self-image with the powerful editor and businesswoman she truly was. (Her chapter is, at certain points, laugh-out-loud funny.) Gloria Steinem once begged Helen "to say something strong and positive about herselfnot coy, not flirtatious, but something that reflected the serious, complicated person who was in there, under the wig and makeup." Helen tried, Shapiro reports, she really did, but the best she could do was "I'm skinny!"
The most poignant food story belongs to Roosevelt. At times it's also nearly as funny as Gurley Brown's. This is largely because of Henrietta Nesbitt, the inexperienced and, as it turned out, inept Hyde Park neighbor Roosevelt hired to be the White House housekeeper and who tortured FDR and various guests for a dozen years with overcooked meat and watery prune pudding. Other biographers, such as Blanche Wiesen Cook, have proposed that Roosevelt herself was indifferent to food and that Mrs. Nesbitt was her ongoing revenge against FDR, for both his 1918 affair that destroyed her entire sense of identity and, later, for forcing her to assume the role of First Lady. Shapiro sees it an entirely different way.
"Yes, asceticism was a strong aspect of her personality," she writes, "but what's striking about her culinary asceticism is that she practiced it chiefly in context of being wife to FDR. Inside the White House, she was apathetic about what was on her plate. Outside, we get glimpses of a very different Eleanor. . . . It was Eleanor, away from FDR and ensconced with the people she cherished, who discovered the delights of appetite." Those were the meals, Shapiro writes, that Eleanor associated with love. It's a devastating commentary on the Roosevelts' marriage. But it also shows the power of a food story. v
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The stories of six famous women, as told through their diets - Chicago Reader
Ketogenic diet becoming popular weight-loss plan – Pueblo Chieftain
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In the 1980s, health and nutrition experts waged a war against dietary fats.
Food companies began to cash in by creating "fat-free" versions of popular foods.
That trend continued into the 1990s and even into the new millennium.
Now, a growing number of health experts, including some doctors and nutritionists, are finding that fat may not be the enemy after all, rather shifting the focus on reducing the consumption of too many carbohydrates.
The shift in philosophy has caused a rise in popularity of a diet called the ketogenic diet, or keto, for short.
The ketogenic diet is a variation of a low-carbohydrate diet, which encourages the process of ketosis. That, in turn, utilizes fat as the body's fuel rather than carbohydrates.
"The level of carbohydrates that are consumed for a ketogenic diet are super-low," said Dr. John Thomas, owner and physician at On Point Primary Care. "Usually carb intake is at 5 percent, versus the normal diet of 45 to 65 percent in the makeup of macronutrients of proteins, carbohydrates and fats."
Thomas explained that carbohydrate consumption has been what he believes to be a leading cause of many health problems.
"All in all, we just consume, as Americans, way more carbohydrates than we need," he said.
A ketogenic diet often is a more extreme reduction of carbs. Thomas said that this isn't always necessary to help.
He recommends a less drastic approach.
"The benefits for most people are just reducing their consumption to maybe moderate levels of carbohydrates and not the extreme," he said.
Unlike other low-carb diets, the ketogenic diet focuses more on consuming a larger portion of fats, a moderate amount of protein and a very low amount of carbohydrates.
"Often times the ketogenic diet has between 70 and 80 percent fat consumption, and proteins are between 25 and 30 percent," Thomas said.
The key for a ketogenic diet to work is to trigger ketosis.
Carbohydrates are used as energy in the body.
From simple sugars to complex carbs, the body relies on the macronutrient as fuel.
However, eating too many carbs causes the body to store fat at a greater rate.
"Our bodies have a tendency to burn carbohydrates pretty rapidly, before we're going to burn protein and fat," Thomas said. "Carbs aren't bad, they serve a purpose. Too much might be a problem and that's where I say we eat too much."
In a ketogenic diet, the low amount of carbs causes the body to adapt to a new fuel utilization.
"You're not really going to break down your muscle tissue unless you're in a starvation mode," Thomas said. "But, we have plenty of fat stores, most all of us do. By lowering carbs drastically, we begin a survival process called nutritional ketosis where we start to liberate fat, typically from the liver, and we'll break that up and utilize it as fuel."
The process produces ketones in the liver, which in turn act like carbs in many ways. Ketones are transported throughout the body, providing fuel.
"The ketones will allow all these cells that normally use glucose to run on ketones," Thomas said. "This allows you to push whatever glucose you do have to the brain."
Chiefly, people use the keto diet to lose weight.
By using body fat as the energy source, the body's insulin (the hormone responsible for fat storage) levels drop greatly.
"If you're burning fat in that way, there's a tendency to lose weight," Thomas said. "Weight loss is probably the major reason people are getting into this."
The ketogenic diet has also been shown to help control blood sugar levels.
Though there are not long-term studies, research has shown several significant benefits to ketogenic, and other low-carb diets.
"We have studies that show that this diet improves blood sugar and lowers insulin levels," Thomas said. "It can lower high blood pressure, decrease weight and improve cholesterol, decrease triglycerides and can reverse fatty-liver diseases."
Keto could help treat diseases like cardiovascular disease and diabetes; however, there are no studies that show long-term lasting effects.
Though the diet is high in fat, it is recommended that a majority of that which is consumed should be from natural sources.
Peanut butter, avocado, some nuts, fish and grass-fed meat such as beef, lamb, goat and venison are recommended staples of the diet.
"The one thing I think is important, and what I try to emphasize when a patient is consuming a little bit more fat, is that those fats are healthy fats instead of high fats," Thomas said. "I like to emphasize the healthy benefits of omega-3 acids."
Oils, too, can be a source of such healthy fats.
"Coconut oils, olive oils ... those should be emphasized as fats to obtain," Thomas said.
High-fat foods, like bacon, can be eaten, but in moderation.
"Bacon would be considered an edible item in the ketogenic diet," Thomas said. "But, it'd have to be mixed with the healthy fats."
While eating low-carbs, it is suggested that the carbs that are consumed come from leafy, green vegetables such as spinach, lettuce, chives, kale, celery, stalk, asparagus, cucumber and summer squash.
A drawback to the diet is what is often called the keto flu.
"It can be presented with headache, fatigue and muscle cramping," Thomas said. "Those are potential side effects with ketogenic diets, or any of the lower carbohydrate diets."
Keto can cause a significant drop in water retention, and without proper hydration, can cause dehydration.
"We encourage water intake, as these symptoms could be secondary to dehydration," Thomas said. "Some will also recommend additional sodium in their diet during that period, or as needed if you're having these symptoms. Again, I caution that sodium introduction may interact with people who have high blood pressure."
These symptoms typically last for only a couple of weeks.
Thomas said the symptoms are similar to having a withdrawal.
"They're similar effects to when people take too much caffeine," he said. "People have severe migraines because of the withdrawal of caffeine."
To combat cravings and symptoms, Thomas said to remain consistent and try salt water.
He also recommends consistent medical supervision.
"Always seek advice from your doctor and nutritionist," Thomas said. "That's super important."
If ketosis becomes too great, it can lead to ketoacidosis.
Ketoacidosis is a pathological response which can be life-threatening.
"Even with your typical American diet, we still form ketone bodies, but the amount we make is super small," Thomas said. "We generally see nutritional ketosis occur when the levels rise about 10 times the normal amount, all the way up to 70 times. When blood-ketone body concentration exceeds 250 times normal, that makes our blood become acidotic, and that's where it becomes life-threatening."
Thomas said this does not occur often, and is usually caused by a pre-existing condition.
"It would generally be rare unless there are some issues, like diabetes," he said. "You'd have to be careful, even Type-II diabetics have that possibility of going into acidosis."
Thomas again recommends working closely with a licensed medical technician when attempting to go on a keto diet.
"Any diet, and something like this, you should be monitored by a doctor or nutritionist and followed closely," he said.
Thomas himself is not necessarily a proponent of a keto diet.
He is, however, an advocate of lowering carbohydrates and tailoring one's nutrition to impact long-lasting change.
"What's important is, and what we try to do at our clinic because we can monitor our patients pretty regularly is, we identify and overcome barriers as they happen," he said. "This is typically on a month-to-month basis. I ask every one of my patience if this is something they can do for the rest of their life."
Thomas explains that diets are only truly effective if they can be sustainable. He suggests implementing a complete lifestyle change rather than creating a temporary solution.
Thus, it is important to tailor these diets to the individual.
"We begin to make this diet that is individualized for that person," he said. "It's no longer a low-carb, ketogenic diet. It's your diet within this (low-carb) spectrum that we've worked with by going back and forth and find out what you can live with for the rest of your life."
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Ketogenic diet becoming popular weight-loss plan - Pueblo Chieftain
Lifestyle Adaptations for Preventing Diabetes – Medical News Bulletin
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Lifestyle interventions were effective in reducing the rate of diagnosis of diabetes in prediabetic adults when compared with standard treatment with medication. Researchers also noted improved control of blood sugar, improved exercise capacity, and increased weight loss with lifestyle adaptations. Nevertheless, issues with adherence to lifestyle changes caused deterioration in long-term health improvements.
George Kerrison, from the School of Health Sciences at the University of Nottingham, and colleagues reported their findings in the Journal of Diabetes Research in April 2017. The researchers critically analyzed 9 randomized controlled trials to assess blood sugar control and incidence of diabetes diagnosis following lifestyle interventions. Additionally, changes in body mass index (BMI), weight, and exercise capacity were assessed.
Each study adopted different methodologies for delivering lifestyle interventions; nevertheless, healthy eating and an increase in moderate physical activity were promoted in all 9 studies. The majority of the studies delivered interventions via face-to-face meetings; others used phone interviewing or group-based sessions. The majority of the studies followed participants for 36 months.
The incidence of diabetes diagnosis was higher in the control groups (standard treatment) than in the lifestyle intervention groups in all studies except for the only study that used group-based sessions. This indicates that an individualized approach might be more effective. Blood glucose was better controlled in the intervention groups; fewer participants remained with prediabetes at the end of the study. In the short term, lifestyle adaptations were effective in controlling blood glucose; however, long-term follow-up revealed obstacles with adherence. Physical exercise capacity was greater in the intervention group; still, the number of participants performing 150 minutes of activity per week was low. Finally, over the short term, weight and BMI were improved following lifestyle adaptations, but a lack of long-term motivation for change resulted in weight and BMI increases.
The results of this systematic review encourage lifestyle changes to prevent diabetes in prediabetic patients; however, obstacles with adherence to lifestyle modifications were apparent. Once the intensity of the interventions dropped, improvements in blood glucose control, physical exercise capacity, BMI, and weight all deteriorated.
Lifestyle adaptations were effective in preventing diabetes, controlling blood glucose, improving exercise capacity, and reducing weight and BMI. Before this intervention is used in practice, more studies are required to assess how to improve patient adherence to lifestyle adaptations.
Written by Jessica Caporuscio, PharmD
Reference: Kerrison G, Gillis RB, Jiwani SI, et al The Effectiveness of Lifestyle Adaptation for the Prevention of Prediabetes in Adults: A Systematic Review. J Diabetes Res. 2017.
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Samsung’s new fitness smartband leak reveals offline Spotify support, 5 ATM water resistance – The Verge
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Samsung plans to unveil a new fitness smartband, the Gear Fit2 Pro, at the companys Unpacked event on August 23rd, according to VentureBeat. The latest fitness tracker has added water resistance up to 165 feet, and it can sync to the Speedo On app, which lets you swim with it and track lap times. Samsungs current smartband, the Gear Fit2, isnt submersible underwater, so thats a definite winning point. Theres also a music playback option that allows Spotify tracks to be played offline, as well as GPS functionality.
Details about the new Gear Fit2 Pro were posted by well-known leaker Evan Blass, who got his hands on training slides that feature the upcoming smartband. The Gear Fit2 Pro will be compatible with iOS and Android phones, and comes with a premium subscription to Under Armours digital fitness platform. The clasp has also been updated to a more functional watch style from the Gear Fit2s snap closure.
There are no details yet on when the Gear Fit2 Pro will be released or how much it costs. In addition to this new smart band, were expecting to see the Galaxy Note 8 and a new GearVR headset at Samsungs event next week.
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Samsung's new fitness smartband leak reveals offline Spotify support, 5 ATM water resistance - The Verge
Fitness influencer Kayla Itsines thinks social media needs to stop … – Fox News
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Shes been named the worlds most powerful fitness influencer, with a $46 million empire, worldwide stadium tours, the richest exercise app in Apples Store and more than 20 million followers online.
But 26-year-old Australian social media wunderkind Kayla Itsines is striving to change the medium that helped make her famous, and let women know theres more to life than faultless selfies, photoshopped bodies and pretending to be perfect on the internet.
The Adelaide-based fitness celebrity, visiting Sydney with her apps new trainers Sjana Elise Earp and Kelsey Wells, said she was determined to ensure social media did not hold back or discourage women of different fitness levels and sizes.
Well talk about everything and well talk about things that women dont want to talk about on social media like when we have our periods or when we feel bloated or when we miss a workout, she said.
We all get bloated, we all have stretch marks, its just completely 100 percent normal. We talk about those things to make it more real.
And Itsines, who recently spoke out about being branded too skinny on Instagram, predicted an imminent groundswell against negative body image messages online as more women rebelled against them.
Coming in 2018 theres going to be a big trend focusing on body confidence, she said.
There are some girls on social media at the moment who are pushing this big (idea) that it doesnt matter what you look like, it matters what you feel like, and thats what were pushing as well.
Itsines said some of her favorite examples of inspiring women railing against online stereotypes included the joint account of Australian models Kate Wasley and Georgia Gibbs that showcased women of different shapes standing together, and mother Lexie Woodmansee who shared the unfiltered, sometimes unglamorous stories behind her fitness journey.
Itsines said exposing what goes on behind the scenes of a photo can help shut down unrealistic expectations and create more supportive online environments.
Its really important to talk about why you took that photo or the hard work that goes into everyday life, or goes into yoga, or becoming a mum, or after you have a baby, she said.
You have to talk about those things. Whats the point of social media if youre just going to upload a photo and say nothing? Our aim is to motivate and inspire.
The fitness entrepreneur is well placed to make an impact, having recently published a book, finished a worldwide stadium tour with stops including London and New York, and established a growing global audience for her Sweat app, which features workouts in eight languages and last year became the richest fitness app in Apples Store.
Itsines said adding yoga and post-pregnancy workouts to the app from Earp and Wells friends with their own online communities was designed to expand its reach and give variety to her loyal followers, some of whom are now on week 159 of her workouts.
While Itsines has been building her fitness brand since 2014, and now boasts more Instagram followers than high-profile health commentators Gwyneth Paltrow and Jillian Michaels, she said more Australian fitness experts were definitely seizing opportunities to grow a similarly strong international following.
And good on them, she said.
Theres a lot of communities young entrepreneurs have built up through fitness and thats the aim. Thats how you keep your brand for a long time.
This article originally appeared on News.com.au
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Fitness influencer Kayla Itsines thinks social media needs to stop ... - Fox News
New Orangetheory Fitness gym of former Fever star Douglas has no basketball goals – WTHR
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GREENWOOD, Ind. (WTHR) - Recently, I accepted an invitation to work out at Orangetheory Fitness in Greenwood with franchise owner Katie Douglas. The former star of Perry Meridian High School, Purdue, and the Indiana Fever opened her new gym, which has no basketball goals, April 28.
"This is home," said Douglas. "It feels so good. I wake up every morning super excited to go to work, kind of like when I was playing."
Douglas was introduced to Orangetheory Fitness in Florida while she was still playing professionally. There are over 700 locations nationally.
"I fell in love with it because it was for all fitness levels," said Douglas. "It's heart rate based. It challenges you. You can play games with yourself in here. You can challenge yourself. You can challenge another member. I love the music. I love the atmosphere."
The studio glows orange, a constant reminder of the theory behind this one hour, high-intensity, interval training.
"This helps me maintain," said the 38-year-old Douglas, who claims she can still play a mean game of H-O-R-S-E, but not competitive basketball. "You know I'm not Katie Douglas, the WNBA All-Star athlete anymore. It's so funny to work out with other members because they're like, 'You're a professional athlete.' I'm like, 'ex'."
Upbeat music plays over the speakers while class coach Kelly Hewitt shouts always-changing instructions and encouragement to almost 40 members at three rotating stations.
"I absolutely fell in love, first class," said 31-year-old Lacy Whitaker, a founding member at the Greenwood studio. "It's never the same workout. I'm always pushed. When I start to think I'm getting the hang of it, they switch it up and I'm challenged again. I like that challenge, pushing myself and getting stronger."
Everyone in class wears a heart rate monitor on their wrist. The video screens around the room constantly show each client how fast their heart is beating in five colored zones measured as a percentage of their maximum heart rate. The goal is to reach the orange zone of push exertion for 12-20 minutes combined during the hour. Fitness science says that should stimulate an afterburn of calories for up to 36 hours after the workout.
"One-hour workout is four percent of your day," said Douglas, "so we're not asking for a lot. Here at Orangetheory, we run classes on time. We respect that everybody's got such busy time, busy lives, busy schedules. We guarantee you will be in and out, have a fantastic, awesome workout in one hour."
I rotated from the rowing machine, to weights, to the treadmill. I worked hard and never stopped. I actually spent too much time in the orange and red zones (maximum effort), 32 minutes with an average heart rate of 148 beats per minute. I burned 907 calories. If I was in better shape, my heartbeat would recover more quickly to the green base zone throughout the workout.
"I'm not in the best of shape, so trying to get back down in that green is hard," said Orangetheory Fitness member Katie Nikou, a 31-year-old teacher. "But I've noticed a difference already just coming for a month, that my heart rate is coming down and recovering quicker. The board drives my class the entire time. When she says, 'Get to your push,' I watch it and make sure I am in that orange. When she says, 'all out' I'm in that red and I need to do that."
The Greenwood gym opens at 5:00 a.m. Monday-Friday and 6:45 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday with multiple classes throughout the day. Memberships are sold month-to-month at various levels of workout sessions per month. Almost 700 people have joined since the gym opened in April.
"People are losing all kinds of weight," said Douglas, who is hands-on with daily operations. "I'm all about getting the south side more fit, healthier. It's all about coming in here, getting your burn on, those 12-20 minutes at Orangetheory. Orange was my way to kind of stay connected to my community. I come excited every day. I love being a business owner. The thing I do is I learn every single day."
Douglas plans to open a second Orangetheory Fitness location in downtown Indy, perhaps by the end of this year.
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New Orangetheory Fitness gym of former Fever star Douglas has no basketball goals - WTHR
Fitness First Take: Evolve Fitness – D Magazine
Fitness Comments Off on Fitness First Take: Evolve Fitness – D Magazine
The Class:I took the MET45 training class at Evolve Fitness at 5:45pm on Wednesday.
The Appeal:Evolve is new to the Dallas area. Though there is a membership option and the option to workout independently, Evolve also offers group sessions. Several NBA and NFL dancers have shown the gym love on Instagram.
The Instructor: Co-ownerSharif Abboud was the instructor of the class. Sharif did an amazing job engaging with everyone. It can be hard for instructors to keep a 45-minute-long session fun and upbeat while making sure everyone is using the proper technique, but he nailed it.
The Space:The small studio includes all your typical weight training necessities and cardio machines, alongside a long patch of artificial grass for plyometric training and sled runs.
Whos There:Men and women of all ages and fitness levels looking for a good workout and an encouraging environment to go with it.
What to Wear:Whatever you typically work out in and tennis shoes. Just prepare to get extremely sweaty.
How It Went:The class is centered on a hybrid training format that incorporates resistance, metabolic, and athletic training within a 45-minute high intensity circuit. The circuit is comprised of five stations with two exercises at each station. You move through each station with a partner and do each exercise in the station two times through. Each station was either focused on weight training like olympic squats, high intensity training like sled runs, or both. Once we completed the five station circuit, we lined up in next to the treadmill in groups of three and did three more stations one on the treadmill and two plyometric exercises on the ground. After this ended I was convinced that we were done because I was totally exhausted by this point, but then we lined up and did the whole circuit again, but at a little faster of a pace and that concluded the workout.
The Aftermath: Two days later, my legs are still extremely sore. I mean, my upper body is sore too, but not as bad as my legs. I felt amazing right after the class.
Loved:I was a big fan of how Sharif organized the class. It was hard to do, but easy to follow. The atmosphere is encouraging, as are the other class goers. I also loved how the class incorporated everything in 45 minutes.
Didnt Love:I felt a little light-headed after the first circuit, but thats a sign of hard work, right?
Difficulty:I work out everyday and this class was extremely challenging for me. With that said, Sharif gives everyone different moderations for the exercises depending on their fitness level. You can make the class as easy or as hard as you want it to be, and youll still get a great workout.
Bottom Line:This is a workout everyone needs to try because it is a game changer. Its perfect for anyone and everyone because it incorporates all aspects of fitness. I 10/10 recommend!
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Fitness First Take: Evolve Fitness - D Magazine
Apple Watch’s New Fitness Regime Could Be Highlighted by Deal With Aetna – TheStreet.com
Fitness Comments Off on Apple Watch’s New Fitness Regime Could Be Highlighted by Deal With Aetna – TheStreet.com
Aetna's (AET) reported deal to offer a discounted or even free Apple Watchto its base of 23 million customerswould underscore the importance of health and fitness apps to Apple's (AAPL) line of smart watches.
Apple boss Tim Cook has been bullish on health and fitness apps for the smart watch, noting that the device is "motivating [users] to sit less and move more" during a third fiscal quarter earnings call in early August. Upgrades coming in Watch OS4will allow the device to serve as a personalactivity coach, whileApple's GymKit program will connect the watchto cardio equipment, he continued.
The current Apple Watches require proximity to an iPhone to connect to the Internet, limiting the appeal to Aetna customers or others who ownphones with Android or other operating systems.The next iteration of the iPhone reportedly will have its own wireless connection, a boon for non-iPhone users.
"If you don't have an iPhone today, the Apple watch is probably not going to be in your consideration set," said Jeff Orr of ABI Research. "If those rumors do come true and a stand-alone smart watch like an Apple watch with LTE integrated into it becomes available, it's going to open up the possibility for even more people who would look to it as a potential solution for them."
Former Apple product development head Jean-Louis Gassee suggested that the company is "playing the long game" with the watch and its capabilities for health and fitness,inan interview with UBS earlier this year.
Health apps were a priority underthe late Steve Jobs, who reportedly established a biomedical engineering team to work on technology to monitor blood sugar for diabetics. Tim Cook reportedlytested a blood monitoring accessory earlier this year.
Apple is a holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells AAPL? Learn more now.
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Apple Watch's New Fitness Regime Could Be Highlighted by Deal With Aetna - TheStreet.com