Weight Loss

Grammy winner Adele is making news for more than her stellar voice. The songstress has an upcoming interview about her body image with Anderson Cooper on CBS' 60 Minutes.  She reportedly explains to Cooper that even though her weight has been criticized in the media, she feels no pressure to be skinny and is happy with the way that she looks.

Body Image and Weight Loss

While Adele may not be interested in losing weight, those who are may want to take a lesson from her.  According to research, dieters with a healthy body image are more likely to be successful at weight loss.  Negative emotions that stem from lack of confidence and embarrassment can prevent some overweight people from dieting or starting an exercise program.

In a study published in Body Image, An International Journal of Research, researchers in Portugal found that when obese women became more satisfied with their size, they were able to successfully lose weight.  In addition, study authors found that the improvement in body image and improved self-confidence was also a predictor of long-term weight loss success.

How to Improve Your Body Image

Emotional barriers to weight loss are not impossible to overcome.  A qualified therapist may be able to help you to work through feelings that stand in the way of losing weight.  If you don't have access to therapy, simple motivational techniques such as journaling and positive self-talk can also be effective.

If, like Adele, there are people around you who speak poorly about your size or contribute to your negative environment, learn to speak up and ask for the emotional support that you need.  Even if the negative comments don't stop, the confidence you gain from standing up for yourself can have a positive impact on your self-image and possibly on your ability to lose weight.

Have you made plans for a romantic Valentine's Day dinner?  Or have you opted for a casual get-together with a gal pal?  For women especially, your choice of a Valentine's Day dinner date might affect your diet.

What Women Eat When They Dine with Women

Ladies who have opted for a casual night out with girlfriends may want to beware.  Women tend to eat as much as their dining partner if the dining partner is a woman.  In fact, according to a new report, if the woman is a new friend they even match the companion's eating pattern bite for bite.  So, if you're on a diet, you may want to find a friend who eats light.

When Women Eat When They Dine with Men

But what if your Valentine's date is a man?  Studies have suggested that women eat less in the presence of a man.  A study conducted in Ontario, Canada observed that women tend to choose lower calorie foods in front of a male dining partner.  Men, on the other hand, were unaffected by the gender of their eating companion.

How to Dine Out Without Busting Your Diet

Regardless of who you choose to be your Valentine's Day dinner date, there are a few ways to stay on your diet when dining out.  Try these calorie-saving tips.

• View the menu online before going out to eat. Choose your meal in advance.  Look for foods that are roasted, steamed, or broiled.  Try to avoid foods that are fried, battered, or sautéed in butter.

• Ask your server for help. Most restaurants are happy to accommodate special requests.  If you are not sure how a food is prepared, ask your waiter.  Or inquire about his/her recommendation for lighter fare.  You may also request that dressings and sauces be put on the side.

• Choose your entrée from the appetizer menu. Portions at restaurants are often too large.  Rather than splitting a high calorie meal into two smaller meals, choose an appetizer as your main entrée and supplement with a small green salad.

If you are looking for more tips and advice about weight loss, check out the new About.com Weight Loss page on Facebook or follow About.com Weight Loss on Twitter.  You'll find trending topics and have opportunities to ask questions or comment on current events and hot issues related to diet, exercise and weight loss.

About.com Weight Loss on Facebook

Even if you are not a Facebook user yet, this is a great time to get connected on this popular social media site.  Once you set up an account, go to the About.com Weight Loss page and click the "Like" icon in the upper right corner.  Once you've done that, join in the discussion about topics like these:

• If you could choose anyone to be your weight loss coach, who would it be and why?
• What time of day are you most tempted to snack?

By participating in these discussions, you'll not only connect with dieters who are managing the same weight loss challenges that you are, but you'll also benefit from learning tips and advice from others.

About.com Weight Loss on Twitter

The fast pace of Twitter makes it a perfect social media option for dieters on the go.  Twitter provides users with short, quick blasts of information.  Often these are links to websites or simply just helpful tips.  Twitter users can also submit questions to people or organizations that they are following.

It's easy to set up a Twitter account.  Once you've done so, find About.com Weight Loss at @AboutWgtLoss.  Click on the "Follow" icon to begin tweeting about weight loss related issues.

Your plate size probably won't change the way you eat.  A new study has debunked the diet myth that a eating off of a smaller plate will help you to consume fewer calories.  New research published in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics found that plate size had no impact on the calorie consumption of either normal weight or obese individuals.

For years, dieters have been advised to choose a smaller plate at mealtime in order to limit the amount of food that they eat.  The theory was that your meal will look larger on a smaller plate and you'll be less likely to overeat.  But according to the new study, both normal weight and obese individuals consumed roughly the same amount of calories on both small and large plates.

Even though your plate size won't help you eat less, there are other ways to control portion sizes of the foods you eat.  If you find yourself eating too much, try one of these tips:

• Read nutritional labels. The nutritional label will give an exact measurement of a reasonable serving size.
• Avoid buying in bulk. Try to purchase smaller packages of less healthy foods.  If the food is not in your house you're less likely to eat it during a weak diet moment.
• Order small portions when eating out. When eating in a restaurant, you can always save half of your large entrée for another day. But better yet, don't order it in the first place.  Choose your main meal from the appetizer menu.

If you bought smaller plates to increase your chances of losing weight, don't despair.  Remember, plate size had no impact on calorie consumption, so you won't be eating more on small plate either.  But you'll want to retire this diet myth and move onto more successful methods of managing how much you eat.

This weekend, you may find yourself shopping for snacks for the Super Bowl or for the week ahead.  If you're trying to find a few healthy options, you'll want to avoid making one of these giant snack mistakes.

• Snack-sized treats. Some manufacturers have begun packaging foods into small sizes and advertising them as low calorie or diet -friendly.  You'll see some "100 calorie packs" on store shelves.  The problem is that most people don't eat just one pack.  The foods are often low in nutrients and high in salt and sugar.  Be sure that you read the nutritional label before you buy and multiply the calorie count by the number of packs you will realistically eat.
• Fat-free pretzels. The phrase "fat-free" is tempting when it comes to buying diet friendly foods.   Buyers might be tempted to buy fat-free pretzels instead of potato chips or tortilla strips in an effort to decrease their fat intake.  While this isn't necessarily a bad idea in theory, snackers often fall into the trap of thinking that because a food is fat free that they can eat more of it.  Pretzels are very high in sodium.  This option is likely to leave you loaded up with too many calories and too much salt.
• Trail Mix. The term "trail mix" seems to be a catchall phrase for any mix of high salt, high fat, high sugar finger foods.  The mixes often contain ingredients that sound healthy, like nuts and granola.  The problem is that most of the foods are very high in fat and calories.  And because it is eaten as finger food, it is easy to overeat.

Looking for some healthier options?  Check out these tips and recipes and remember that portion control is key when losing weight or trying to avoid weight gain.

Photo: Morguefile

If you are a people-pleaser, a person who goes out of their way to make other people happy, you are at higher risk for overeating in social situations.  A new study conducted at Case Western University found that college students who identified themselves as people-pleasers were not only likely to overeat in social situations, but were also likely to regret their decision at a later time.

People-pleasers like to keep their social situations free from conflict.  "They don't want to rock the boat or upset the sense of social harmony," said Julie Exline in a release.  Exline, a Case Western Reserve psychologist and lead author of the study, explained that people pleasers are less likely to turn down food when it is offered to them, even if the food isn't healthy.

So if you are a people pleaser, are you doomed to gain weight?  Probably not.  You can't avoid social situations altogether, so if weight maintenance or weight loss is on your agenda, your best bet is to learn to manage environmental barriers, including social pressure.  You can also enlist the help of family and friends by talking to them and asking them to avoid serving you unhealthy foods at parties and get-togethers.

If you are looking for obesity help, your best bet may be to find a doctor with a healthy BMI.  A recent study published in the Journal of Obesity found that physicians with a normal BMI are not only more likely to discuss weight with their obese patients, but those leaner doctors also feel more confident about the advice that they give.

More Weight Loss Help from Physicians with Normal BMI

The study was conducted at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Department of Health Policy and Management.  Researchers evaluated 500 physicians to determine how physician body mass index affected the quality of obesity care given to overweight patients and the physicians' level of confidence in the obesity help that they give.

According to their results, 30 percent of physicians with normal BMI were likely to discuss weight loss with their obese patients as compared to only 18 percent of overweight/obese physicians.   The leaner physicians also reported feeling more confident about the weight loss help that they provided.

Patient Weight versus Doctor Weight

But the more striking data came when researchers evaluated the physician's perception of the patient's body weight as compared to their own weight.  In most cases, it affected the quality of obesity help provided.  Ninety three percent of physicians were likely to record an obesity diagnosis if they perceived the patient's weight to be greater than their own.  Only seven percent recorded the diagnosis if the patient's weight was perceived to be less than that their own.  Similar results were obtained when researchers looked at the likelihood of the doctor initiating a weight loss conversation.

New research supports a brown fat theory that may provide scientists with a weight loss breakthrough.  In mice, brown fat is tissue that burns large amounts of fat and creates significant weight loss. Until recently, scientists didn't know if adult humans carry this fat or if it behaves the same way in human bodies that it does in mice.  But a small study published this month in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, provides new evidence that it does.

Brown adipose tissue, or BAT, is literally fat that is brown in color.  The tissue has more mitochondria that standard white fat which gives it a darker color.  Mitochondria are the energy production centers in the body.  Unlike white fat, the mitochondria in brown fat uses fat for energy and burns larger quantities of it than other tissue.

Brown Fat Theory in Humans and Mice

In mice, studies have shown that an increase in brown fat created significant weight loss because the tissue burned substantially more fat and calories.  Two things created an increase of brown fat in mice: exercise and exposure to cold air.

This new study confirms the presence of brown fat in adult men. Researchers found that when six men were exposed to cold air they demonstrated the same brown fat burning capacity that was shown in mice.  The study was small but important for those who study weight loss.

Waiting for the Weight Loss Breakthrough

Researchers still need to investigate the brown fat theory in humans.  So far only six men have been studied.  And scientists don't know if an increase in exercise will cause the BAT increase in humans that it does in mice.

The weight loss breakthrough may come with further studies.  For now, no one is recommending that we expose ourselves to the cold air to boost brown fat metabolism.  But this small revelation is helping researchers to get more excited about brown fat theory.

America is fat.  Despite years of awareness campaigns, public service announcements and incessant ads for weight loss programs, obesity rates in the United States have remained at about 36 percent, according to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Researchers examined both body mass index scores as well as height and weight data to determine obesity rates in 2009 and 2010.  The bad news is that there has been no improvement in obesity rates since the last evaluation period (2003-2008).  The good news, however, is that there has been no increase in obesity rates either.

Are you surprised?  It seems over the past few years there has been increased media coverage of obesity issues.  Shows like Biggest Loser, Celebrity Fit Club and Jamie Oliver's Food Revelation have made entertainment out of the issue of weight loss. We have a first lady in the White House who has made healthy eating and exercise her platform issues and online weight loss resources have made tools and education more accessible.  It would seem that America has concocted a fairly decent recipe for healthier living.  But the obesity rates tell a different story.

Are the wrong issues being addressed?  Many angry blog responses point to the fact that change needs to happen in the home.  Others point to the failure of the medical community to address the underlying medical issues that cause weight gain.  Still others say that the plateau in obesity rates is an improvement in itself.

What do you think?  Are we on the right track?  If you are trying to lose weight, do you have access to the tools that you need?  What needs to happen so that obesity rates in the U.S. decline?

Do you crave fatty foods?  Your genes may be to blame.  A new study shows that people who have more of a gene, identified as CD36, are more sensitive to the taste of fat than people who have less of it.  In fact, people who had the highest levels of CD36 were 8 times more likely to detect fat in food than people who had less of the gene.

Do Our Genes Determine How Much Fat We Eat?

These new findings are being evaluated alongside recent research into the same gene performed on mice.  In those animals, a high fat diet led to a decreased production of CD36 and a decreased sensitivity to fat. Senior investigator Nada A. Abumrad, PhD, explains more in a University of Washington publication.

"It may be, as was shown recently, that as people consume more fat, they become less sensitive to it, requiring more intake for the same satisfaction. What we will need to determine in the future is whether our ability to detect fat in foods influences our fat intake, which clearly would have an impact on obesity."

How to Manage Fat Cravings

So what do you do when you find yourself craving fatty foods?  Some fats are better than others.  Small amounts of "good fat" can be part of a healthy diet.  Look for foods that contain poly or monounsaturated fats such as salmon, walnuts or olive oil.  Try to avoid saturated fat or trans fats such as butter, ice cream, and foods that contain palm or coconut oil.  And to maintain a healthy diet, try to keep your total fat intake to less than 35% of your total caloric intake each day.