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A new study, however, suggests that using specific strategies -- such as weighing yourself regularly and planning for situations in which you might backslide -- could modestly slow the rate of weight regain in obese adults who have lost weight.

In the study, employing such strategies in a maintenance program increased the proportion of adults who stayed at or lowered their weight, after initial weight loss, by 13.9 percentage points, said Corrine Voils, research career scientist at William S. Middleton Veterans Memorial Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin and lead author of the study.

"We went into this study unsure what to expect," said Voils, who is also a professor of surgery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

"We knew that maintaining weight loss is hard and that previous maintenance studies have tended to focus on middle-aged white females. We were unsure if a mainly telephone-based program would work in a population that is primarily men and of mixed race," she said. "We were happy to see that our strategies reduced the rate of weight regain."

The new study involved 222 obese patients, of whom only 34 were women. All of the patients had lost at least 8.8 pounds in a 16-week weight loss program.

They were randomly assigned to participate in either an intervention group that provided weight maintenance strategies for an additional 42 weeks or a group that received usual medical care, with no emphasis on weight maintenance.

Those in the intervention group participated in three in-person group meetings and eight individual telephone calls, in which they were given a maintenance calorie budget and strategies on how to exercise, get support from their family and friends, and monitor their weight.

The phone calls also involved the patients reflecting on how their lives have improved as a result of weight loss, making a plan for situations when they might feel tempted to go back to old habits, and specifying how frequently they weigh themselves and revisit weight loss efforts if they have gained weight.

All participants, in both groups, were scheduled for assessment appointments at the beginning of the study and then after 14, 26, 42 and 56 weeks.

After 56 weeks, Voils said, 58.6% of patients in the intervention group either regained some weight or saw no change in weight, while 72.5% of patients in the other group regained or saw no change, a difference of 13.9 percentage points.

The average weight regain in the intervention group was only about 1.6 pounds, compared with about 5.2 pounds in the other group, the researchers found.

"Although this may not seem like a lot of weight, given the low program costs and the high benefit of carrying less weight over the longer term, this is an important finding that adds to our understanding about how best to help patients with obesity," said Dr. Jennifer Kraschnewski, associate professor at the Penn State College of Medicine, who was not involved in the new study.

"Obesity is now recognized as a chronic disease. However, we still don't treat it this way in the clinical setting. Clinically, we typically help patients engage in weight loss efforts, stand back and watch as they regain, and then try to re-engage them in additional weight loss efforts," she said. "We wouldn't treat someone's high blood pressure with a medication for only a year and then scratch our heads as to why their blood pressure is high again two years later. For obesity to be treated as a chronic disease, new approaches to management are critical."

Yet, the new study had some limitations.

It remains unclear in the study whether regular weighing, planning for high-risk situations or obtaining outside support was most effective in weight loss management, Voils said.

"Our study design did not allow us to say which component of our intervention was most effective," Voils said.

"There is evidence that self-weighing and relapse prevention help people maintain weight loss. Our intervention incorporates those skills and adds having patients reflect on the benefits they experienced with weight loss and talking with a support person about what they can do to support weight maintenance efforts," she said.

Though it remains difficult to establish which part of the intervention had the most impact on patients, having constant interaction with a supportive coach probably played a significant role in weight maintenance, said Dr. Samuel Grief, associate professor of clinical family medicine at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago, who was not involved in the study.

"Group dynamics tend to be more helpful, or a team-based approach using care coordination," Grief said.

"That would be my answer. Because strategies like food journaling or diaries or writing out what activities you do every day or emotions that you're feeling, all that is relevant, but there's not a lot of science behind those causing weight loss or mitigation of weight regain. Otherwise, everybody would do it," he said. "Also, it would have been helpful to gauge their self-efficacy."

Additionally, the researchers were unable to assess longer-term weight maintenance and relied on self-reports about dietary intake and physical activity.

"Our population was primarily middle-aged men who were white or African-American, and results may not generalize to other populations," Voils said.

Rena Wing, a professor at Brown University's Warren Alpert Medical School, and James Hill, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, established the registry in 1994.

"To maintain weight loss, there must be continued adherence to a low-calorie diet and high physical activity," Wing said.

She said the registry suggests that the following strategies may help someone who is trying to maintain their weight loss:

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If your long working hours is your excuse for weight gain, read this.

Long working hours, stress, unhealthy eating habits are all putting your weightloss plans on the backburner. You spend more than 10 hours each day at work, add to it the commute time and you are hardly left with any time for yourself. But if you want to lose weight, you have to make time to exercise, to eat home cooked food and get proper sleep. Here are some tips to help you achieve that:

Keep it all about you: Treat yourself as the most important person. Only when you put your health and wellbeing on the top of your priority list will you be able to make time for exercise and proper sleep. Put away things that dont need immediate attention and hit the gym or go for a run.

Cook both meals at the same time: The worst part is to get back home after a tiring day and plan what to cook. This is why most people end up eating instant noodles or ordering food from outside. Avoid this by cooking both lunch and dinner at the same time. Once you have meals ready at home, you have to just heat it up and eat. Read: How to lose weight while living in a hostel?

Control what you can: You cant control your working hours. But what you can control is eating right by packing meals and snacks from home, make time for exercise in the morning or evening. You will need to chalk out some plan for it. Also, once you are home, instead of staying glued to electronic gadgets and social media, hit the sack so you can catch 7-8 hours of sound sleep. Here are 6 tips to sleep like a baby.

Choose wisely when eating out: Work lunches, team dinners, birthday treats are all part of your work life. You may not be able to skip joining your colleagues each time. But learn to choose what you eat even though it may look awkward when everyone else is eating calorie laden food. Heres how to order healthy food at the restaurant.

Set short term goals for weight loss: Long term goals seem to be difficult to achieve at times. Hence set short term goals. Decide what you want to achieve in the next 1 month. It could be something simple like losing 3kg weight this month, or attending your yoga class or gym religiously for the fortnight. These milestones will bring you close to your long-term goal of weight loss.

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Published: February 20, 2017 3:23 pm

Disclaimer: TheHealthSite.com does not guarantee any specific results as a result of the procedures mentioned here and the results may vary from person to person. The topics in these pages including text, graphics, videos and other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only and not to be substituted for professional medical advice.

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Salt Lake City

(KUTV) Ross Jardine, Co-Founder of Skinny Utah, visited Fresh Living to discuss the Weight Loss Program.

The New You Program was designed for people who need to lose 20 pounds or more. Lets face it, when people start a new weight loss program, they want results and they want to see them quickly. Losing 20 pounds for most people is life changing. Its fun for our staff to be part of those exciting transformations.

There are dozens of weight loss programs and diets out there these days, what is it that makes Skinny Utah able to succeed where other programs fail?

First off, we dont feel like a diet is a one-size-fits-all deal, so every single one of our programs is customized for each individual client. There are no prepackaged foods or shakes to buy, there are no joint-busting exercise programs or gym memberships, and there are never any dangerous drugs or hormones.

Instead what we do is utilize state-of-the-art techniques to create a personalized plan to help your body burn fat effectively. Youll eat real food that you buy at the store and all our supplements are all-natural and plant-based. Simply put, our program is designed to bring your body quickly into a fat burning state so you burn calories without spending hours at the gym. Its a very unique approach and it works.

If someone has decided that they are ready to take the next step, how do they get started?

The first step is always to come into one of our offices and get a complete body composition analysis. Its normally a $99 cost, but for this week were offering it for free. Just go to skinnyutah.com and you can schedule an appointment for either our Lehi or Centerville offices. Were also going to be doing FREE body composition analysis in our booth at the health expo Saturday the 25th at the South Town Expo Center. So if youre at the show, be sure to stop by and see us.

This analysis gives us an amazing assessment of a persons current metabolic function and helps us determine the best plan for them. Our schedule fills up fast, so go to SkinnyUtah.com and schedule a FREE consultation today. Weve also got some amazing specials planned for the Health Expo on Saturday including a special couples package. Its always better when youre doing this with a spouse or friend, so be sure to stop by and see us and take advantage of the lowest prices weve ever offered.

Jardine shared before and after photos of some clients who have seen great success. Brian lost 58 pounds in just over 9 weeks. Hannah lost 30 pounds and Teddy lost 48 pounds.

For more information, visit SkinnyUtah.com. You can also call (801) 376-8080 or (888) 314-THIN.

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Skinny Utah Weight Loss Program - KUTV 2News

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We do not always need a definitive RCT to know what we know; and I make a living running such trials. Suppose you wanted to know with something nearing certainty what specific dietary pattern was best for human health. How would you proceed?

First, you would need to define best in an operational (i.e., measurable) way. Does best mean lowers LDL in the short term, or does it mean raises HDL, or both? Does it mean it lowers inflammatory markers, or insulin, or blood glucose, or blood pressure? Does it mean all of these, or does it mean something else? Is the short term one month, or three, or a year?

I dont think any of these, or anything like them, really satisfies what we think we mean when we say best for health. I think the intended meaning of that is actually rather clear: the combination of longevity, and vitality. Years in life, and life in years, if you will. I think a diet is best for health and yes, I have wrestled with this very issue before if it fuels a long, robust life free of preventable chronic diseases (e.g., heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, dementia, etc.) and obesity, and endows us with the energy both mental and physical- to do all we want and aspire to do. That, I think, is a robust definition of best for health.

We are obligated to wrestle comparably with the operational definition of a specific diet. Low fat, or low carb dont mean much. A low fat diet could be rich in beans and lentils, or made up exclusively of lollipops. A low carb diet could cut out refined starch and added sugar, or exclude all fruits and vegetables. Lets not belabor this, and simply concede that the relevant test to prove that one, specific dietary prescription (e.g., the Ornish diet, or the South Beach diet, or the DASH diet, etc.) is best is to establish optimized versions of the various contenders, from vegan to Paleo, and put them up against one another directly.

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And now our tribulations begin. As we noted at the start, our outcome is the combination of longevity and vitality. To get at longevity, we need a very long trial; in fact, our trial needs to last a lifetime. So, just to get started, we are toying with the notion of a randomized trial running for 80 to 100 years.

Since we are comparing optimal versions of diets reasonably under consideration for best diet laurels, we may anticipate that our study participants are apt to be healthier, and longer-lived in general than the population at large, consuming the lamentable typical American diet.

Thats a problem too. If our entire study sample does well, it raises the bar to show that one of our diets is truly, meaningfully better than another. The smaller the difference we are seeking, the larger the sample size we need to find it. That now means we need not only a RCT unprecedented in length, but unprecedented in size, too. We need to randomize tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands to study the effects of competing diets on vitality and longevity at a cost that is staggering to contemplate, and would certainly run into the billions of dollars.

This study has not been done. This study will not be done. But, so what?

Lets contrast our ostensible need for this RCT to how we know what we know about putting out house fires. There has never been, to the best of my knowledge, a RCT to show that water is a better choice than gasoline. Do you think we need such a trial, to establish the legitimacy of the basic theme (i.e., use water) of the right approach? Would you, and your home, be willing to participate in such a trial when you call 911 knowing you might randomly be assigned to the gasoline arm of the study?

I trust we agree that observation, experience, and sense serve to establish beyond the realm of reasonable (or, even, any) doubt that water is generally good for putting out house fires, and gasolinenot so much.

My friends diet is the same. The want of a RCT addressing this kind of water versus that does not mire us in perpetual cluelessness about the basic approach to putting out fires. Sure, we could do RCTs to add to what we know, but the want of such studies does not expunge what we already know based on empirical evidence, long experience, observation, and sense.

A diet comprised principally of minimally processed vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, lentils and pulses, nuts, seeds, with plain water preferentially for thirst is the best theme for human and planetary health alike, and runs commonly through all the legitimate, specific contestants, just as water is the best theme when aiming a fire hose. To conclude otherwise is to misconstrue the utility of randomized trials, succumb to their tyranny, and lose our way in a bog of tribulations.

Dr. David L. Katz, http://www.davidkatzmd.com; is founder, True Health Initiative.

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Dr. David Katz, Preventative Medicine: Diet Trial Tribulations - New Haven Register

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Dr. Vijay Bindingnavele joined us on 3 News First Edition to talk about the importance of adding fiber to your diet.

KIII 8:00 AM. CST February 19, 2017

CORPUS CHRISTI (KIII NEWS) - Constipation is a relatively common problem, but one, that can be avoided by sticking to a diet that is high in fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

Dr. Vijay joined us this morning, to talk more about fiber and what is recommended in order to keep things flowing properly.

Dr. Vijay said, there have recently been reports of laxatives causing serious health problems. This can occur particularly if they are used incorrectly or by those who should not be using them. Constipation is a relatively common problem and one that can be avoided by sticking to a diet that is high in fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains. This would give you the amount of fiber that is recommended and would help greatly in keeping bowel movements regular. When this alone doesn't work, then prunes or prune juice usually does the trick. When this also doesn't work and this problem occurs frequently, then a trip to your physician would be best. He or she may be able to identify changes in your diet that may help regularize your system.

( 2017 KIII)

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Dr. is In: The Importance of adding Fiber to your Diet - KIII TV3

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Serena Wolf, author of a new cookbook called The Dude Diet: Clean(ish) Food for People Who Like to Eat Dirty, lives by the idea that its not impossible to crave healthy food.

One of the most unfortunate misconceptions about healthy eating is that its boring or bland, she said. My underlying goal with The Dude Diet is to prove that meals made with nutrient-dense, whole foods can elicit the same extreme excitement associated with deep dish pizza or delivery Chinese.

Today at 6 p.m., Wolf will be at The Bookworm of Edwards to discuss the recipes from her book and the story that brought them all together. Wolf didnt come from a long line of cooks in her family. In fact, she was truly a visionary when it came to her meals.

Truth be told, its pretty hilarious to my friends and family (and myself) that I ended up in the food world, Wolf said. Nobody in my family cooks, and prior to culinary school, the only thing I had ever cooked was a burnt grilled cheese. I moved to Paris and enrolled in Le Cordon Bleu on a whim after college, and I was only meant to do the basic three-month program before coming home to start my real life.

The early cooking school days were mildly traumatic, but after a couple months, I had become a completely different person. I was gutting and filleting fish, deboning chickens, breaking down whole rabbits and whipping up hollandaise sauce without breaking a sweat. Weirdly, I loved every second of it. Realizing that Id found my (very unexpected) calling, I enthusiastically signed on to complete the full diploma program and never really looked back.

After graduating from Le Cordon Bleu, Wolf found many opportunities to share the passion she had found in Paris. While in school, Wolf started up a website, domesticate-me.com, to share her skills with others with whom she wanted to keep in contact. With fun and accessible takes on recipes, the websites popularity continues to grow.

Inspiration for the dude diet

It wasnt until she met her fiance that she was inspired to compile a book of her experiences.

The Dude Diet was inspired by my wonderful, nutritionally confused fiance, Logan, Wolf said. When I moved in with him five years ago and became privy to his day-to-day eating habits, I was horrified. Id occasionally mention that he might want to eat more healthily, but these suggestions were typically met with shrugs and derogatory comments about vegetables and weird vegan things.

So, when he announced one random Saturday that he wanted to start eating better, I was determined to capitalize on the opportunity. I knew that overhauling the eating habits of someone who comes precariously close to having excitement seizures in the vicinity of finger food, and who regularly trips over himself when running to the door to get his Dominos, wasnt going to be an easy job. But I love a challenge, and I committed myself to helping Logan create better habits by feeding him nutritious, hearty meals that hed be pumped to eat.

Wolf began by creating the categories of recipes she wanted to make sure made it into the book. The book has a versatile selection of recipes, including what to make on game day, a healthy spin on takeout and, of course, cocktails. This book is tailor made for anyone who loves food that tastes incredible and doesnt erase your diet.

Im so excited to talk about my own food and cooking story, the inspiration for The Dude Diet, and to hopefully get people excited about cooking and eating clean(ish), Wolf said. More than five years later, my mission with the blog, my book and my personal brand remains the same: I truly believe that cooking should be accessible, experimental and, most importantly, fun.

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Serena Wolf, author of 'The Dude Diet,' tells her story at The Bookworm - Vail Daily News

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Watches that rock Android Wear 2.0 include plenty of new fitness tracking features.

Google's Android Wear 2.0 watch platform is the company's biggest shot yet at jumping into the fitness tracking world dominated by companies like Fitbit. Is it there yet? Not quite.

The company's revamped smartwatch operating system improves upon many of the problems that plagued Android Wear watches for the past two and a half years. I've had a chance to try out some of its features on both the LG Watch Style and the LG Watch Sport.

The good news is the interface is cleaner and easier to navigate, with an on-watch Play Store for downloading apps, and watch faces that can be customized to include app shortcuts and widgets -- including Google Fit stats like steps and calorie count for one-glance use. Shortcuts to start Google Fit workouts are easier to make, too.

When the update arrives on existing watches over the next few weeks, along with newly updated apps, the revamped fitness experience could possibly rival your Fitbit. But at this point, it still has work to do.

Android Wear watches always had some basic fitness-tracking features. They could track steps, distance, calories burned and active minutes. Google Fit will also automatically log workouts. It's similar to what we have seen from Fitbit and Samsung. The watches know when you are walking, running, biking and even doing aerobics. The workout will then be logged automatically in the Google Fit app.

Fitness data gets organized into the Google Fit app.

Automatic workout tracking is helpful, but sometimes it can get confused. A moderate walk with my dog was recorded as a bike ride, for example. The lack of on-watch indicators was also frustrating. It's unclear when exactly an exercise is being recorded. You won't know until you open the Google Fit app on your phone. On Samsung's Gear S3, the automatic recording happens more clearly and with better heads-up stats on recent accomplishments.

Android Wear 2.0 now comes preloaded with a new and improved Google Fit workout. The app gives you the ability to view all of your fitness data right on the watch. It also lets you set a specific fitness goal, such as walking 10,000 steps or running three times a week. Unfortunately, the app still doesn't support all-day heart-rate tracking or sleep tracking, although there are some third-party options available in the new Wear app store that do. But with Android Wear's challenged battery life, I'm still probably going to keep mine charging at night.

In addition to tracking daily activities, the new Google Fit app now includes on-watch workouts. It's similar to what we saw on the Fitbit Blaze, but a little more advanced since it can actually count your reps. You can choose from three different exercise challenges: push-ups, sit-ups and squats. The watch will then give you tips on how to do the exercise and show you the proper form.

Workouts to follow along with can be seen on the watch's display.

The idea is to do a little more each day. If you did five push-ups on Monday, you should go for six on Tuesday and then maybe seven on Wednesday.

Overall, I found the rep counting to be accurate, as long as I kept the proper form (itching my nose during a squat gave me an extra rep). The workouts were fine, although I wish there was more of a coaching aspect. I did 20 push-ups, great. Now what? Should I really be doing 20 each day or should I only do it a few times a week? I wish the Google Fit app could provide feedback and recommendations on other workouts I should be doing, rather than simply logging my exercise.

Another new (and preinstalled) app is called Fit Workout. The app is used to track a variety of exercises, such as walking, running, biking, treadmill running, stationary biking, aerobics, stair climbing machines and strength training (if your watch has a heart-rate sensor).

The Fit Workout app can track a variety of exercises.

The watch can show real-time data for each of these workouts, but it's not great. The data is broken down into three live stats that can be customized with a specific metric, such as heart rate, pace, distance, elapsed time, calories, steps or time of day. That's it. A lot of other watches, such as those from Garmin, let you customize each metric across multiple workout screens. I like to view pace, distance, elapsed time and heart rate when I run. This wasn't possible with the Fit Workout app.

There are a lot of smartwatches and fitness trackers out there, all at varying price points, but few do fitness tracking better than Fitbit. The app is easy to use and has the largest social base. If one of your friends owns a fitness tracker, there's a good chance it's a Fitbit.

Even though Android Wear's fitness tracking has improved, but your mileage may vary if it's important to have friends also using it.

The benefit of this is being able to compete with friends and family members in a variety of competitions, which helps keep you motivated and more likely to reach your goal. Fitbit will also soon be adding a Facebook-like News Feed for even more social interactions.

There are no social features in Google Fit. You can't see how friends are progressing and you can't compete against them. There is no motivation factor whatsoever. The Apple Watch made small strides with social features in WatchOS 3 fitness. They're not as good as Fitbit, but they're better than Android Wear 2.

While Android Wear is cross-platform, Google Fit isn't. Even though you can use an Android Wear watch with an iPhone, at this time there isn't an iOS app to view your fitness stats. Your only option is to view them on the watch or on the Google Fit website.

Meanwhile, Fitbit offers a web interface and apps for iPhone, Android and even Windows. Granted, Apple Watch has the same issue with its Activity and Workout app, but then again the Apple Watch doesn't support Android. Samsung S-Health, by comparison, can also run across Android, Samsung and iPhone.

If you use the watch with an iPhone, you will have to use either the watch or a web app to check your workout stats.

Running perfectly on an iPhone isn't a deal breaker. But not working as well as a Fitbit could be. Google Fit has gotten better, but it's still oddly bare-bones on Android Wear and sometimes sluggish when syncing data. Automatic fitness tracking should happen more obviously on-watch and more social connections are a must.

Fitness is one of the reasons people are buying smartwatches. At this point, I would opt for a Fitbit Blaze or Garmin watch for fitness tracking and smartphone notifications. Android Wear is moving in the right direction, but Google Fit isn't the killer feature it needs to be.

Tech Culture: From film and television to social media and games, here's your place for the lighter side of tech.

CNET Magazine: Check out a sampling of the stories you'll find in CNET's newsstand edition.

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Juliana Goodwin, For the News-Leader Published 4:25 p.m. CT Feb. 18, 2017 | Updated 4:56 p.m. CT Feb. 18, 2017

Laura Rush, left, and Cathy Russell outside of the businesses they own: Art Zone and Studio Fitness in Nixa.(Photo: Juliana Goodwin)

When Cathy Russell opened Art Zone in Nixa, in May 2014, she only planned on a part-time gig hosting childrens birthday parties.

Russell is an art teacher in the Clever school district and already has a full-time job. But 14 months after opening, she found herself taking on a business partner Laura Rush and expanding. Now the venture has morphed into two distinct businesses that share the same space: Studio Fitness, which offers a variety of fitness classes; and Art Zone, which hosts birthday parties, monthly clay projects, paint your own pottery and more.

In December, they moved into a new space at 107 W. Aldersgate more than doubling their size and business has been booming ever since.

We get walk-in traffic all the time. We never got walk-in traffic at the old location, Russell said.

They are still in the middle of an expansion, and once it is complete, they will dedicate separate spaces to each business. As it stands now, if Art Zone is open for a party, then they cant offer a fitness class and vice versa, so they have to plan accordingly. With nine different fitness instructors at Studio Fitness, and only the two of them at Art Zone, they juggle a lot of schedules.

Laura Rush, left, and Cathy Russell outside of the businesses they own: Art Zone and Studio Fitness in Nixa.(Photo: Juliana Goodwin)

Monday through Friday, the fitness side of the business is busier; weekends are mostly dedicated to the art side because of classes and birthday parties. In winter, both aspects of the business are busy, but in summer, the birthday parties slow down as people spend more time outside, and the same goes for the fitness classes. However, they compensate by offering summer camp art classes, which keeps them busy.

Theyve added homeschooling classes, which have been popular, and they plan to expand those.

Also, once the new space is complete hopefully in April they will add wheel throwing classes.

It seems an odd fit for an art business and fitness business, but that evolved as well. Several years ago, the Clever school district encouraged its teachers to get fit, so Russell took a Zumba class and fell in love with it. Soon she was teaching Zumba, and that is where she met her best friend and business partner, Laura Rush.

When the owner of the studio where Russell taught developed health problems, she wanted to sell it, which is when the friends teamed up to become business partners.

Rush has a background in social work and is the former community outreach coordinator for Victory Mission, but she left that job to pursue this business full time. Rush says she brings marketing experience to the table and did not expect this to turn into a full-time job so quickly.

That seemed like a pipe dream, said Russell.

Studio Fitness offers a host of classes, and its only $5 to drop into any class. Theres yoga, a hula hoop fitness class, Zumba, Pound, REFIT, which is a Christian-based exercise class, RIPPED and more.

This summer, Rush is getting certified to teach additional classes, including a mother-daughter Zumba course, which they will add to their roster in late summer.

Russell is currently qualified to teach 10 different classes.

The days are long. They are at the studio at 5 a.m. to register students and help the teachers. Then Russell works a full day in Clever and comes back to the studio and teaches an 8 p.m. class.

We get about five hours of sleep a night. We love coffee, said Rush.

These are examples of projects created at Art Zone, which offers birthday parties, home-school events and more.(Photo: Juliana Goodwin)

Weekends are packed with Art Zone activities.

At Art Zone, two-hour birthday parties start at $60. Theres a monthly clay project for $5 and paint your own pottery every Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. (the cost ranges by project selected).

Russell says they have tried to keep prices reasonable on both sides of the business because she was raised by a single mom and they couldnt afford to do much as a family, so she wants families to be able to afford to let their children explore creativity at Art Zone. While they have opportunities for all ages, children 8 to 12 tend to be most involved in the activities.

The concept for Art Zone evolved from an after-school club. Several years ago, Russell had an after-school art club with more than 100 student members, but budget cuts eliminated the extracurricular activity.

Still, Russell had many parents asking about birthday parties and private art lessons, which is why she eventually opened Art Zone, expecting it to be a side business.

A table full of figurines which are available to paint from noon to 5 p.m. each Sunday. This table has $9 items, but theres a variety of others to chose from, too.(Photo: Juliana Goodwin)

Everything I did in art club, I did in my business, she said.

For birthday parties, there are a variety of options from mosaic, papier-mch, paint your own pottery to painting a picture. The child picks the theme, and then Rush and Russell design a project for them. In the front window are examples of previous works.

If its art, we can do it, Russell said.

Russell received her B.S. in Education with an emphasis on K-12 Art Education from Missouri State University in 2004; she earned a Masters in Studio Art and Theory from Drury University in 2013.

Throughout her career, Russell has been active in the Missouri Art Education Association, holding the Elementary Art Teacher council position from 2010-2012 before transitioning to District 10 council position in 2012-15.

While Rush previously had no art education, she wanted to be an art teacher growing up.

Working together has been a pleasure, they say. The only fight theyve had so far is what color to paint the walls, laughed the ladies.

Coming from an art background, Russell thought the walls should be colorful; Rush thought the walls should be more neutral more fitting for a yoga class. In the end, they compromised.

They hope the businesses continue to grow.

Its been fun, said Russell. But it takes passion to keep this going.

Art Zone and Studio Fitness are located at 107 W. Aldersgate Drive, Suite 6, Nixa. Call 417-861-0338. Art Zone has monthly $5 clay projects; birthday parties start at $60; theres paint your own pottery from noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Studio Fitness has a variety of exercise classes from yoga to Zumba to hula hoop fitness. Cost: $5 to drop in to any class. Online: http://www.artzonenixa.com; and http://www.studiofitnessnixa.com

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Art and fitness make successful combination - Springfield News-Leader

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An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

This old adage often rings true. Apples are chock-full of vitamins and antioxidants, and some medical research suggests that fruits and vegetables can lower the risk of cancer and heart disease. However, diet is not the only ingredient needed for cardiac health.

Exercise is the cornerstone of every heart-healthy lifestyle. The American Heart Association recommends at least 150 minutes a week of moderate exercise, which comes out to about 30 minutes of exercise a day, five times a week.

In the United States, 1 in every 3 deaths is from heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases, according to AHA. Heart disease and stroke were the top two killers worldwide.

Fortunately, there are many ways to get the heart pumping and reduce the risk of heart disease.

Buying a fitness tracker or app is a good place to start. Scott Wohl of Fitness 1440 in Fredericksburg said the wide range of smart devices and apps available today have taken heart health to a new era, and technology has been one of the biggest areas of growth in the fitness industry.

Wearable devices provide a convenient aid to help people transform their habits and monitor progress, Wohl explained. Users can set heart-smart goals, like 10,000 steps a day, which pushes them to increase daily activity levels. These devices can also provide accountability, increase motivation and help users train more effectively.

What the average person is looking for is whether or not he or she has made progress day to day and trackers and apps definitely help, he said.

Fitness trackers typically measure the number of footsteps a person takes, distance traveled and specific type of movement (e.g. walk, run, etc.). More sophisticated devices also display a users heart rate, blood pressure and blood oxygen levels; track calories burned; and monitor sleep.

They are available in a number of forms including as wristbands, pendants and clip-ons.

Starting slowespecially for those with a sedentary lifestyleis often the best way to begin to make healthy changes. There are many programs and training plans available that can help individuals set realistic goals.

For example, Couch to 5K is a beginners running program that gets people off the couch and ready for a 5k over a nine-week period. Participants start by alternating running and walking, and as the weeks go by, they gradually build up to running 3 miles non-stop.

Keone Pierce of Fredericksburg Fit Body Boot Camp advises his clients to create small goals. This makes exercise less overwhelming and eliminates some of the pressure associated with starting a new workout routine. These incremental changes are the building blocks of a major lifestyle change.

Setting small goals keeps them coming back to the gym, Pierce said. It makes exercise a long-term lifestyle choice instead of a fleeting New Years resolution.

Sarah Jennings, a certified personal trainer in Fredericksburg, advised starting with a 20 minute walk and gradually moving up to a longer sweat session. The key is to set realistic goals, and then stick to the plan.

You must remain patient and consistent with your fitness goals no matter what they are, she said. We all want instant results, but that is just not realistic. Hard work and dedication are key.

Building exercise into ones lifestyle is important for consistency. Wohl said an overzealous approach can lead to injuries that will thwart even the best of ambitions. More importantly, that approach begins with a tremendous amount of failure, which can also defeat the best of intentions.

This understanding, alone, can overcome most I dont have the time arguments, Wohl said.

There are a number of creative ways people can sneak physical activity into their daily routine when the idea of reserving 30 minutes or more a day for exercise seems overwhelming. Wohl recommends parking far from your destination and taking stairs instead of the elevator.

Parents, teachers and caretakers can try joining children for a game of tag, jumping on the trampoline and playing on the playground instead of sitting on a bench.

Breaking exercise into small segments throughout the day can also be effective. Ideas include jumping jacks and high knees during commercial breaks while watching TV or performing squats and lunges while waiting on the microwave or brushing your teeth. Another good habit is doing a few exercises before bed each night and after waking in the morning.

According to AHA, some evidence suggests that too much sedentary time increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and death. So staying active in little ways throughout the day can play an important role in improving overall health.

A common misconception is that running is the only way to lose weight and build a healthy heart. But medical professionals and the fitness community have been working to dispel this myth for years.

AHAs weekly exercise recommendations include anything that gets the body to move and burn calories. This could be something as simple as climbing stairs or going for a walk.

The best way to maintain consistency and make exercise a habit is to choose an exercise you actually like doing. There are many creative options including trampoline parks, dance classes, swimming and sports.

Wohl said education and enjoyment often go hand-in-hand. He recommends exploring different exercise options and then trying to understand the benefits of the chosen exercise to improve awareness of why you are doing it.

The best bet is to first find something appealing for you to undertake while, simultaneously, you are pursuing an understanding of where you are and how you are going to get to your destination, he said.

At the end of the day, just as an apple a day is only one ingredient in a healthy lifestyle, fitness is not a magic solution to achieve perfect health. It is important to avoid smoking, overeating and other lifestyle choices that could undermine your efforts in the gym.

At some point, everyone gets off track. Jennings said that no matter how long it has beena day, a week, a month or even yearsthe important thing is to get moving again.

She also noted that guilt is the enemy of progress.

Get those awesome exercise endorphins rolling again and stop putting so much pressure on yourself, she said. Guilt sets in when people fall off the wagon. Crush any guilty feelings that rush into your mind. Just hop back on that wagon and continue to move forward.

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Cardiac Health: Five fitness tips for heart attack prevention - Fredericksburg.com

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Theres a new study out saying Augusta is one of the unhealthiest cities in America.

Wed tell you to take it with a grain of salt, but theyd probably ding us for that, too.

But the truth is, all these various rankings, regardless of their methodology and sincerity, are subjective and suspect.

The recent WalletHub.com survey ranks Augusta 141st out of 150 cities in terms of health using four criteria: health care, food, fitness and green space.

OK, well try to look at it objectively, though its hard to when your hometown is getting shamed.

You would think health care would be in Augustas favor. Weve got terrific hospitals and our vibrant health care community is the envy, and the destination, of the region.

As for our food, fitness and green space well, all right, we could stand some improvement there.

Augusta is cherished as a bit of Old South and that comes with a diet that is infamously fattening and unhealthy. A 2015 study, wrote Forbes magazine, reported that People who reported high adherence to a Southern style diet had a 56 percent increased risk of developing coronary heart disease.

It may be one reason that our 11-state region Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia is known as the stroke belt.

And while outdoor sports are wildly popular here, the kind of green space that invites vigorous exercise often comes at a premium in cities such as ours.

In our defense, walking, biking and jogging trails are growing in the area, and the Augusta Canal and its towpath are a jewel were only now discovering the full value of.

One of our challenges one of Americas challenges is promoting the kind of healthy eating that leads to healthier, more active lifestyles. Augusta is home to more poverty than it should be, and poor households often have poor eating habits and availability. Indeed, on that last point, the closing of the Kroger on 15th Street means the drying up of food availability for the area.

Our obesity rate reportedly at about 35 percent was a big factor in WalletHubs ranking.

So, while we might take issue with being 141st in the country, theres definitely room for improvement in Augustas health.

We encourage folks who are concerned about their own health and lifestyle to take that first step toward doing something about it. Join one of the growing gyms in the area. The Family Y not only has great facilities, but also great programs and classes (as do most private fitness facilities). Take up bicycling or jogging or walking on the canal or at an area recreation center.

Then theres the Kroc Center at 1833 Broad St. a terrific community and fitness center made possible by the generosity of Ray and Joan Kroc, founders of McDonalds.

The riverwalk is a great place to walk or jog or even have a moving meeting. Downtown strolling is available every day, too.

Whatever you can do to get healthier, do it for yourself. Do it for your loved ones. Do it for your city. We cant take this lying down.

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Fitness or fatness? The choice is ours - The Augusta Chronicle

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