Hamilton, April 15, 2009: ‘Rat Science’ Doesn't Work For Humans.
Obesity experts have failed to discover the secret to successful weight loss because their work with rats in the laboratory does not relate to real human experience. That's the opinion of one of Canada's leading lifestyle experts.
"In the past 11 years we have consulted with thousands of Canadians who are consistently consuming less than 1200 calories per day, often for months and years at a time without any weight loss," explains Keep America / Keep Canada Slim President Lee Fairbanks. “This flies in the face of traditional science which has always claimed that weight loss or weight gain is a simple equation of calories in versus calories out.”
Maintenance calorie levels for non-exercising women typically range between 1600 and 2000 calories a day.
"When I have discussed this phenomenon with researchers and scientists they simply tell me that all of these thousands of people have been lying constantly about what they actually eat. This is a personal insult to all involved and is also clearly invalid as an explanation of what we observe in the real world."
Keep Canada Slim is a weight control program that teaches a new approach to shopping, cooking and eating. It was founded 11 years ago by Fairbanks and is the only program in Canada which establishes minimum calorie levels for each individual client as well as maximum calorie levels. For information on Keep Canada Slim go to www.keepcanadaslim.com.
Fairbanks claims that a significant number of Canadians - "in the millions" - are currently undereating almost every day in a desperate attempt to either lose weight or maintain their current weight. This habit of undereating leaves them nutritionally deficient and increases their risk of degenerative disease later in life.
Perhaps more important to those trying to lose weight, Fairbanks says his research with real Canadians shows that this low-calorie lifestyle does not create ongoing weight loss and in fact has the risk of causing muscle loss in the absence of sufficient calories for energy from food.
Fairbanks says the fault lies in the way scientists use rats to study obesity.
"The human body has an amazing ability to adapt to whatever challenges it faces,” explains Fairbanks. “During repeated cycles of low-calorie diets leading eventually to a permanent low-calorie lifestyle, the body adapts its metabolic processes to allow it to survive for years without measureable health risk despite not receiving adequate levels of energy and nutrition.”
“In a lab rats are put through a single cycle of dietary adjustments and then killed so that the results can be measured. Because of this single cycle approach it's natural for scientists to conclude that weight control is simply a matter of calories in versus calories out. This equation does work in humans the first or second time they try it. However scientists never experience the cyclical nature of ongoing dieting and therefore do not observe the adaptation process.”
Fairbanks says that this knowledge is slowly creeping into academic circles (see reference below) but that it may be decades before scientists can agree on how this process occurs and be willing to put their reputations at risk by making these claims publicly.
"With advanced real-time measurement of human metabolism and continued studies of existing diet programs some scientists are starting to realize that the traditional explanations don't explain what is happening. There are clinical trials emerging which prove that people do not lose the expected weight based on the calories in - calories out equation. However no one has made this claim publicly.”
“In the meantime the millions of Canadians who are already undereating are still being told to eat less and exercise more. In our program it is routine for us to insist that clients eat more calories every day than they are currently eating. As soon as they surpass their minimum calorie level the adaptive process stops and weight loss restarts. This has been the case with thousands of real people living real lives. Lab rats are not people."
Fairbanks points out that Canadians have been following the “eat less” instructions for decades, and yet even highly-educated, highly-motivated people are not having success losing weight this way.
“Demographic researchers like to point out that obesity rates are higher among low-income and poorly-educated Canadians, but go to any $100-a-plate fund-raising dinner and you will see that obesity rates are too high in every level of our society. It’s time we stopped studying rats and starting learning what real people are doing every day. Then our message will have validity.”
Keep Canada Slim can be purchased through the company website at www.keepcanadaslim.com or through registered consultants at offices across the country in London, Simcoe, Alliston, St. Catharines, Timmins, Stoney Creek, Hamilton, Winnipeg, and Sundre, Alberta.
-30-
Contacts
Lee Fairbanks, President, Keep Canada Slim
bigskinny@keepcanadaslim.com
905.628.0279
Ref: Why do obese patients not lose more weight when treated with low calorie diets? A mechanistic perspective.
Steven B Heymsfield, Joyce B Harp, Marc L Reitman, Joel W Beetsch, Dale A Schoeller, Ngozi Erondu, and Angelo Pietrobelli
Am J Clin Nutr 2007;85:346–54. Printed in USA. © 2007 American Society for Nutrition
Showing posts with label weight loss. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weight loss. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
The Magic Secret to Weight Loss - The Four Myths of Dieting
The 4 Myths of Dieting
Mention weight loss at any social gathering and everyone has an opinion to offer and a ready audience to listen. With 71% of Americans and 61% of Canadians overweight, people are always looking for the magic secret – the one thing that will instantly give them a solution to their lifetime of weight control challenges.
In truth, successful weight control starts by understanding why your efforts have failed so often in the past and then choosing a different approach. Chances are very high (90 per cent according to the Canadian Obesity Network) that you have lost weight in the past but gained it back – and usually more than you lost. Many people have done this several times. It’s called Yo-Yo Dieting.
Most people simply try the same approach every year, and get fatter and fatter because of it.
Many people today understand that success comes from a ‘lifestyle’ approach, but then turn around and choose a diet as their ‘lifestyle’, proving that they don’t really understand the difference at all.
To have long-term success and keep the weight off, you must avoid following the Four Myths of Dieting. How many of these do you believe?
To download your copy of the 4 Myths of Dieting go to http://www.keepcanadaslim.com/index.cfm?page=myths
Myth # 1: You must eat less to lose weight. Eat less than what? Ninety-seven per cent of people trying to lose weight are already currently under-eating. If you eat less than your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) requirements you will undermine your metabolism as you lose weight, then rebound once you are off the diet. Your BMR requirements are the minimum calorie level for basic metabolic function, i.e. if you are sleeping 24 hours per day. This is generally about 10 calories per day for each pound of your goal weight. Eating less than this causes the body to switch to ‘Starvation Metabolism’ and metabolize muscle while storing fat. Most people diet on between 800 and 1200 calories per day. This means their goal weight would be between 80 and 120 pounds. I think you can see why this equation doesn’t work.
Myth # 2: You must exercise more to lose weight. Exercise is an add-on, not a foundation of weight loss. If you make exercise the foundation of your weight control program sooner or later it will fail. Injuries, family situations, illness, lack of motivation, there are many reasons why people inevitably cut back on exercise. You must understand food to have permanent control. You must also understand food to have a successful exercise program. You need to eat more food on days that you are exercising to avoid yo-yo diet metabolism. Most people don’t do that. If you have tried exercise you have probably already experienced some of these drawbacks and therefore know that this is true.
Myth # 3: Faster weightloss is always better. Your body can only lose weight safely and permanently at a certain rate, usually 1-2 pounds per week. Faster weight loss can only be achieved through starvation (low-calorie) dieting or artificial stimulants. Both undermine your health and metabolism and make this weight loss temporary.
Myth # 4: Measuring pounds lost is the true measure of success. Your body is made up of six kinds of weight. These are fat, muscle, organs, bone, water and fecal matter. If you are only measuring pounds, you could be losing healthy weight as well as fat. Anorexics are often clinically obese when they die, and can die of heart failure because they have lost so much heart muscle tissue through starvation dieting. You’ve been doing much the same thing on diets. Post-menopausal women can lose up to 3% of their bone density in six months on a low-calorie diet. The weight you want to lose is bodyfat, so start measuring that. Healthy men should be between 11-19% and women between 17-25%. High performance male athletes may be lower.
Keep Canada / Keep America Slim is a comprehensive weight control program sold through the website, www.keepamericaslim.com and through independent consultation offices across Canada.
Mention weight loss at any social gathering and everyone has an opinion to offer and a ready audience to listen. With 71% of Americans and 61% of Canadians overweight, people are always looking for the magic secret – the one thing that will instantly give them a solution to their lifetime of weight control challenges.
In truth, successful weight control starts by understanding why your efforts have failed so often in the past and then choosing a different approach. Chances are very high (90 per cent according to the Canadian Obesity Network) that you have lost weight in the past but gained it back – and usually more than you lost. Many people have done this several times. It’s called Yo-Yo Dieting.
Most people simply try the same approach every year, and get fatter and fatter because of it.
Many people today understand that success comes from a ‘lifestyle’ approach, but then turn around and choose a diet as their ‘lifestyle’, proving that they don’t really understand the difference at all.
To have long-term success and keep the weight off, you must avoid following the Four Myths of Dieting. How many of these do you believe?
To download your copy of the 4 Myths of Dieting go to http://www.keepcanadaslim.com/index.cfm?page=myths
Myth # 1: You must eat less to lose weight. Eat less than what? Ninety-seven per cent of people trying to lose weight are already currently under-eating. If you eat less than your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) requirements you will undermine your metabolism as you lose weight, then rebound once you are off the diet. Your BMR requirements are the minimum calorie level for basic metabolic function, i.e. if you are sleeping 24 hours per day. This is generally about 10 calories per day for each pound of your goal weight. Eating less than this causes the body to switch to ‘Starvation Metabolism’ and metabolize muscle while storing fat. Most people diet on between 800 and 1200 calories per day. This means their goal weight would be between 80 and 120 pounds. I think you can see why this equation doesn’t work.
Myth # 2: You must exercise more to lose weight. Exercise is an add-on, not a foundation of weight loss. If you make exercise the foundation of your weight control program sooner or later it will fail. Injuries, family situations, illness, lack of motivation, there are many reasons why people inevitably cut back on exercise. You must understand food to have permanent control. You must also understand food to have a successful exercise program. You need to eat more food on days that you are exercising to avoid yo-yo diet metabolism. Most people don’t do that. If you have tried exercise you have probably already experienced some of these drawbacks and therefore know that this is true.
Myth # 3: Faster weightloss is always better. Your body can only lose weight safely and permanently at a certain rate, usually 1-2 pounds per week. Faster weight loss can only be achieved through starvation (low-calorie) dieting or artificial stimulants. Both undermine your health and metabolism and make this weight loss temporary.
Myth # 4: Measuring pounds lost is the true measure of success. Your body is made up of six kinds of weight. These are fat, muscle, organs, bone, water and fecal matter. If you are only measuring pounds, you could be losing healthy weight as well as fat. Anorexics are often clinically obese when they die, and can die of heart failure because they have lost so much heart muscle tissue through starvation dieting. You’ve been doing much the same thing on diets. Post-menopausal women can lose up to 3% of their bone density in six months on a low-calorie diet. The weight you want to lose is bodyfat, so start measuring that. Healthy men should be between 11-19% and women between 17-25%. High performance male athletes may be lower.
Keep Canada / Keep America Slim is a comprehensive weight control program sold through the website, www.keepamericaslim.com and through independent consultation offices across Canada.
Friday, February 6, 2009
The Truth about Ghrelin
Advice: Eat before you shop for groceries
You may have read the article or seen a report on television recently about a so-called breakthrough in which Canadian researchers at McGill University have identified the fact that a hormone called ghrelin seems to cause people to overeat. Let me try to answer questions you may have on this issue.
Ghrelin as we mention in the Keep Canada / Keep America Slim materials is only one of a number of hormones that impact our appetite, satiety, and food metabolism. It is no more or no less important than any of the others. These other hormones include insulin, serotonin, leptin, cortisol, dopamine and others. Learn more about our program at http://www.keepamericaslim.com/.
Each one has a role to play in telling us when to eat and when to stop eating and also in helping us utilize food. When your body and your metabolism is in balance these hormones are in balance and do their job successfully. Alternatively if these hormones are out of balance your eating and fat-storing habits will be negatively affected.
In the case of ghrelin this hormone is created in our stomach and tells us that it's time to eat. Without ghrelin we might go days without food. This would not be healthy.
The articles about ghrelin, in the typical unbalanced media perspective, suggest that in the future we might have a drug that could control our ghrelin levels so that we don't want to eat. The concept would be that this drug would help us control ourselves while surrounded with all the food choices we have in the modern world. The underlying analysis is that overweight people have no self-control and are constantly gorging themselves on whatever foods pass their line of vision, apparently because of ghrelin gone wild.
All of this is wrong on several counts. First off as we know the vast majority of North Americans have tremendous willpower when they decide to go on a diet. They are not over-eating. The problem is quite the opposite - the common North American diet approach is to eat fewer calories than you need to maintain basic metabolic function and therefore put yourself into starvation metabolism. The result of this naturally is to initially stimulate ghrelin levels which then make us feel very hungry.
For more on our natural approach to weight control go to www.keepcanadaslim.com.
Since we are using our willpower to overcome this natural urge, we begin to create internal stress. This in turn generates cortisol, the stress hormone, which makes us want to eat more. We don’t, because we are on a diet, so next we don’t stimulate serotonin, which tells us when we have had enough. Low serotonin leads to depression and makes us feel that we are depriving ourselves when we choose not to eat. This negative association makes weight loss an unhappy prospect for most people.
If we maintain our caloric level above our basal metabolic rate level and below our maintenance level, as explained throughout the KCS - KAS materials we don't over-stimulate ghrelin and therefore don't have this issue to deal with.
I hope this explains to you how dieting and chronic under-eating causes hormones to be out of balance. When people continually live on a low-calorie diet as is the case today with many adults of all ages, especially postmenopausal women, they eventually disturb hormone levels and ghrelin and the other hormones become less effective. It could to be that over time by constant dieting ghrelin is not even created in sufficient quantities to stimulate appetite. Our biggest challenge as many of you know in the Keep Canada / Keep America Slim program is to actually get our clients to eat enough food every day. None of our clients are over eating and therefore none would require a drug to reduce ghrelin levels.
In actual fact the true breakthrough in this study is the discovery that possibly ghrelin levels could be used to stimulate appetite. The first target group for this would be anorexics and people recovering from surgery who have no appetite. The second target group would be people who have conditioned their metabolism to live on a low-calorie starvation diet and are now struggling to eat sufficient calories to release starvation metabolism and achieve success with long-term weight control, such as that presented in the KCS - KAS lifestyle.
And finally there is a way that you can utilize this new understanding in a positive way. One practical application of this discovery is in the explanation of why we tend to buy more food at the grocery store if we are hungry when we go shopping. The higher levels of ghrelin in our body make food more attractive and we therefore buy more than we intended, and perhaps more than we need.
So the successful application of this new discovery would be to have something to eat before you go grocery shopping. This will satisfy the ghrelin impulse and help you to have balanced hormones when you are grocery shopping, which will result in more rational purchases.
Contact Big Skinny at bigskinny@keepcanadaslim.com
www.keepamericaslim.com
You may have read the article or seen a report on television recently about a so-called breakthrough in which Canadian researchers at McGill University have identified the fact that a hormone called ghrelin seems to cause people to overeat. Let me try to answer questions you may have on this issue.
Ghrelin as we mention in the Keep Canada / Keep America Slim materials is only one of a number of hormones that impact our appetite, satiety, and food metabolism. It is no more or no less important than any of the others. These other hormones include insulin, serotonin, leptin, cortisol, dopamine and others. Learn more about our program at http://www.keepamericaslim.com/.
Each one has a role to play in telling us when to eat and when to stop eating and also in helping us utilize food. When your body and your metabolism is in balance these hormones are in balance and do their job successfully. Alternatively if these hormones are out of balance your eating and fat-storing habits will be negatively affected.
In the case of ghrelin this hormone is created in our stomach and tells us that it's time to eat. Without ghrelin we might go days without food. This would not be healthy.
The articles about ghrelin, in the typical unbalanced media perspective, suggest that in the future we might have a drug that could control our ghrelin levels so that we don't want to eat. The concept would be that this drug would help us control ourselves while surrounded with all the food choices we have in the modern world. The underlying analysis is that overweight people have no self-control and are constantly gorging themselves on whatever foods pass their line of vision, apparently because of ghrelin gone wild.
All of this is wrong on several counts. First off as we know the vast majority of North Americans have tremendous willpower when they decide to go on a diet. They are not over-eating. The problem is quite the opposite - the common North American diet approach is to eat fewer calories than you need to maintain basic metabolic function and therefore put yourself into starvation metabolism. The result of this naturally is to initially stimulate ghrelin levels which then make us feel very hungry.
For more on our natural approach to weight control go to www.keepcanadaslim.com.
Since we are using our willpower to overcome this natural urge, we begin to create internal stress. This in turn generates cortisol, the stress hormone, which makes us want to eat more. We don’t, because we are on a diet, so next we don’t stimulate serotonin, which tells us when we have had enough. Low serotonin leads to depression and makes us feel that we are depriving ourselves when we choose not to eat. This negative association makes weight loss an unhappy prospect for most people.
If we maintain our caloric level above our basal metabolic rate level and below our maintenance level, as explained throughout the KCS - KAS materials we don't over-stimulate ghrelin and therefore don't have this issue to deal with.
I hope this explains to you how dieting and chronic under-eating causes hormones to be out of balance. When people continually live on a low-calorie diet as is the case today with many adults of all ages, especially postmenopausal women, they eventually disturb hormone levels and ghrelin and the other hormones become less effective. It could to be that over time by constant dieting ghrelin is not even created in sufficient quantities to stimulate appetite. Our biggest challenge as many of you know in the Keep Canada / Keep America Slim program is to actually get our clients to eat enough food every day. None of our clients are over eating and therefore none would require a drug to reduce ghrelin levels.
In actual fact the true breakthrough in this study is the discovery that possibly ghrelin levels could be used to stimulate appetite. The first target group for this would be anorexics and people recovering from surgery who have no appetite. The second target group would be people who have conditioned their metabolism to live on a low-calorie starvation diet and are now struggling to eat sufficient calories to release starvation metabolism and achieve success with long-term weight control, such as that presented in the KCS - KAS lifestyle.
And finally there is a way that you can utilize this new understanding in a positive way. One practical application of this discovery is in the explanation of why we tend to buy more food at the grocery store if we are hungry when we go shopping. The higher levels of ghrelin in our body make food more attractive and we therefore buy more than we intended, and perhaps more than we need.
So the successful application of this new discovery would be to have something to eat before you go grocery shopping. This will satisfy the ghrelin impulse and help you to have balanced hormones when you are grocery shopping, which will result in more rational purchases.
Contact Big Skinny at bigskinny@keepcanadaslim.com
www.keepamericaslim.com
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Top 10 Worst Fast Foods
A&W tops list of Keep Canada Slim 2008 Worst Fast Foods
HAMILTON: A&W took two of the top three spots in Keep Canada Slim’s 2008 Worst Fast Foods in Canada competition, announced today.
A&W’s aptly named “Chubby Chicken Dinner,” won the Worst Dinner/Lunch Award, while their large Chocolate Milkshake won in the Worst Drink category. A&W narrowly missed a sweep when their Deluxe Bacon & Eggs finished third in the Worst Breakfast category behind Burger King’s Enormous Omelette Sandwich.
Note: The complete list in chart form would not "paste" into this format, so we have made it available on our website newsletter archives at http://www.keepcanadaslim.com/index.cfm?page=readArchives&newsletterId=12.
Burger King topped the list with 4 awards followed by A&W with 3, Wendy’s, Harvey’s and Subway with two each. McDonalds, KFC and Taco Bell rounded out the list with one award each. Subway and KFC also received special dishonourable mentions.
Keep Canada Slim (KCS) President Lee Fairbanks said the awards were created to focus attention on food choices. “We are asking these companies to remove these foods from their menu,” said KCS President Lee Fairbanks. “No Canadian should be encouraged to eat them. In the meantime we urge Canadians to boycott these items by refusing to purchase them.”
Worst Dinner/Lunch
The Chubby Chicken Dinner clocked in at 1230 calories with a whopping 68 grams of fat and 3180 mg of sodium. In second place in the Dinner/Lunch category, Wendy’s Triple Everything with Cheese offers 980 calories, 60 grams of fat and 2010 mg of sodium. Third place went to KFC’s Poutine with 970 calories, 54 grams of fat and 2610 mg of sodium.
“Considering that Canada’s Food Guide suggests an average woman consume no more than 2000 calories and 2400 mg of sodium, these choices virtually guarantee weight gain,” said Fairbanks. “Most people would add a side order and a drink to these meals, and if they are not careful, could consume their entire day’s calories in one sitting. The Chubby Chicken dinner wins our Heart Attack on a Plate award.”
KFC won dishonourable mention in this category for their listing of Original Recipe Chicken by the piece.
“Each piece has up to 300 calories, 19 grams of fat and 860 mg of sodium, so if you ate 3 or 4 pieces this product would be in the race for first place,” Fairbanks points out.
Subway also received a dishonourable mention for their Ranch Dressing, 320 calories, 35 grams of fat and 560 mg of sodium.
“This is really liquid fat and salt, and has more calories and 7 times as much fat as their 6-inch low-fat sandwiches,” says Fairbanks. “And again, most people aren’t even counting their dressing as a meal, so these rank as ‘hidden calories’.”
Worst Drink
First place in the Worst Drink category went to A&W’s large chocolate milkshake, registering 1720 calories, 47 grams of fat and an amazing 254 grams of sugar.
“This is really 4 or 5 meals in a glass,” offered Fairbanks, “plus about a week’s worth of sugar. Two hundred and fifty-four grams is about 60 teaspoons of sugar. It amazes me that any company could even create such a product as this. The shake also has 1130 mg of sodium. Most of us wouldn’t consider a milkshake as a major source of salt in our diet.”
Second place in the Worst Drink category went to Burger King’s large Fruitopia with 860 calories and 213 grams of sugar, with Harvey’s 14-ounce chocolate milkshake in third. The Harvey shake has 870 calories with 47 grams of fat and 92 grams of sugar. Fairbanks points out that many parents might think Fruitopia is a good choice for children.
“Considering that Fruitopia is fat-free, the calorie count is very high, and it’s mostly from sugar/glucose-fructose. This combination drives the sugar quickly into the bloodstream and is guaranteed to create a sugar high followed by a dramatic energy drop. I would call it Mood Swing in a Cup.”
Worst Breakfast
In the Breakfast category, Burger King’s Enormous Omelette Sandwich took home First Prize at 730 calories with 44 grams of fat and an even 2000 mg of sodium. The McDonalds Big Breakfast (640-38-1250) and A&W’s Bacon & Eggs Deluxe (650-37-1010) were second and third.
“Most people should aim for 3-400 calories for breakfast and focus on high fibre, low fat and low sodium foods. This sets them up for the day and allows room for higher-fat food choices later in the day when choices become more difficult,” suggests Fairbanks.
Rounding out the Top Ten list for Lunch/Dinner are: 4 - Wendy’s Baconator (840-51-1880); 5 – Burger King Poutine (750-42-2720); 6 – Burger King Original Double Whopper (850-51-990); 7 – A&W Grandpa Burger with Cheese (752-49-1200); 8 – Taco Bell Fiesta Taco Salad (850-45-1690); 9 – Subway 6-inch Double ColdCut Trio (660-39-2160); 10 – Subway 6-inch Double BMT (630-34-2640).
All contents were taken from company websites and were current as of April 7, 2008.
More info at
http://www.keepcanadaslim.com/
Lee Fairbanks
bigskinny@keepcanadaslim.com
HAMILTON: A&W took two of the top three spots in Keep Canada Slim’s 2008 Worst Fast Foods in Canada competition, announced today.
A&W’s aptly named “Chubby Chicken Dinner,” won the Worst Dinner/Lunch Award, while their large Chocolate Milkshake won in the Worst Drink category. A&W narrowly missed a sweep when their Deluxe Bacon & Eggs finished third in the Worst Breakfast category behind Burger King’s Enormous Omelette Sandwich.
Note: The complete list in chart form would not "paste" into this format, so we have made it available on our website newsletter archives at http://www.keepcanadaslim.com/index.cfm?page=readArchives&newsletterId=12.
Burger King topped the list with 4 awards followed by A&W with 3, Wendy’s, Harvey’s and Subway with two each. McDonalds, KFC and Taco Bell rounded out the list with one award each. Subway and KFC also received special dishonourable mentions.
Keep Canada Slim (KCS) President Lee Fairbanks said the awards were created to focus attention on food choices. “We are asking these companies to remove these foods from their menu,” said KCS President Lee Fairbanks. “No Canadian should be encouraged to eat them. In the meantime we urge Canadians to boycott these items by refusing to purchase them.”
Worst Dinner/Lunch
The Chubby Chicken Dinner clocked in at 1230 calories with a whopping 68 grams of fat and 3180 mg of sodium. In second place in the Dinner/Lunch category, Wendy’s Triple Everything with Cheese offers 980 calories, 60 grams of fat and 2010 mg of sodium. Third place went to KFC’s Poutine with 970 calories, 54 grams of fat and 2610 mg of sodium.
“Considering that Canada’s Food Guide suggests an average woman consume no more than 2000 calories and 2400 mg of sodium, these choices virtually guarantee weight gain,” said Fairbanks. “Most people would add a side order and a drink to these meals, and if they are not careful, could consume their entire day’s calories in one sitting. The Chubby Chicken dinner wins our Heart Attack on a Plate award.”
KFC won dishonourable mention in this category for their listing of Original Recipe Chicken by the piece.
“Each piece has up to 300 calories, 19 grams of fat and 860 mg of sodium, so if you ate 3 or 4 pieces this product would be in the race for first place,” Fairbanks points out.
Subway also received a dishonourable mention for their Ranch Dressing, 320 calories, 35 grams of fat and 560 mg of sodium.
“This is really liquid fat and salt, and has more calories and 7 times as much fat as their 6-inch low-fat sandwiches,” says Fairbanks. “And again, most people aren’t even counting their dressing as a meal, so these rank as ‘hidden calories’.”
Worst Drink
First place in the Worst Drink category went to A&W’s large chocolate milkshake, registering 1720 calories, 47 grams of fat and an amazing 254 grams of sugar.
“This is really 4 or 5 meals in a glass,” offered Fairbanks, “plus about a week’s worth of sugar. Two hundred and fifty-four grams is about 60 teaspoons of sugar. It amazes me that any company could even create such a product as this. The shake also has 1130 mg of sodium. Most of us wouldn’t consider a milkshake as a major source of salt in our diet.”
Second place in the Worst Drink category went to Burger King’s large Fruitopia with 860 calories and 213 grams of sugar, with Harvey’s 14-ounce chocolate milkshake in third. The Harvey shake has 870 calories with 47 grams of fat and 92 grams of sugar. Fairbanks points out that many parents might think Fruitopia is a good choice for children.
“Considering that Fruitopia is fat-free, the calorie count is very high, and it’s mostly from sugar/glucose-fructose. This combination drives the sugar quickly into the bloodstream and is guaranteed to create a sugar high followed by a dramatic energy drop. I would call it Mood Swing in a Cup.”
Worst Breakfast
In the Breakfast category, Burger King’s Enormous Omelette Sandwich took home First Prize at 730 calories with 44 grams of fat and an even 2000 mg of sodium. The McDonalds Big Breakfast (640-38-1250) and A&W’s Bacon & Eggs Deluxe (650-37-1010) were second and third.
“Most people should aim for 3-400 calories for breakfast and focus on high fibre, low fat and low sodium foods. This sets them up for the day and allows room for higher-fat food choices later in the day when choices become more difficult,” suggests Fairbanks.
Rounding out the Top Ten list for Lunch/Dinner are: 4 - Wendy’s Baconator (840-51-1880); 5 – Burger King Poutine (750-42-2720); 6 – Burger King Original Double Whopper (850-51-990); 7 – A&W Grandpa Burger with Cheese (752-49-1200); 8 – Taco Bell Fiesta Taco Salad (850-45-1690); 9 – Subway 6-inch Double ColdCut Trio (660-39-2160); 10 – Subway 6-inch Double BMT (630-34-2640).
All contents were taken from company websites and were current as of April 7, 2008.
More info at
http://www.keepcanadaslim.com/
Lee Fairbanks
bigskinny@keepcanadaslim.com
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Don't be The Biggest Loser !
Weight Loss Expert Warns: Do Not Become The Biggest Loser
Hamilton: Joining your company’s “Biggest Loser” competition may seem like a good idea if you want to lose weight, but one Canadian weight loss expert warns not to do it.
“Results indicate time and time again that any weight lost on these crash diet programs always comes back, and often brings more weight with it,” explains Keep Canada Slim President Lee Fairbanks. “And worse than that, crash dieting virtually guarantees that you will lose valuable muscle as well as fat, whereas you will likely only gain back fat.”
This loss of muscle combined with additional fat gain is the foundation of obesity, says Fairbanks, and leads to higher disease risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke and some forms of cancer.
Fairbanks quoted a recent Hamilton Spectator story on Laurel Steel’s (Burlington) annual “Biggest Loser” challenge (Big Steel Weighs In – Good diet, healthy weight – company and employees win” Jan 22, 2009) to prove his point.
“The so-called ‘winner’ two years ago went from 228 pounds to 194 pounds on the Challenge and then back up to 242 pounds,” he points out. “This rebound effect is built in to every rapid weight loss program.”
“A quote from the ‘winner’ highlights the complete disconnect from reality that diets encourage,” explains Fairbanks “He said ‘you're going out with the guys and they are all having two pounds of chicken wings and you’re there eating carrots.’ The proper solution to this situation would be to cut down from two pounds of chicken wings to one pound of chicken wings -- and then add the carrots.”
Fairbanks warns Canadians that only by committing to permanent lifestyle changes, which have nothing to do with a short-term diet, can they hope to turn the corner on obesity and start to build a healthier country.
“We need to encourage our employees and corporate wellness departments to embrace a New Year’s Resolution to promote healthy approaches to weight loss rather than supporting pop-culture entertainment vehicles which use humans as fodder for fun and games at the cost of their health,” he suggests.
Keep Canada Slim educational material is available through their website at http://www.keepcanadaslim.com/, as well as through a network of certified consultants across the country. The company also offers a free school program for Grade 3 students called the Healthy Eating Challenge. The Challenge was run in 31 Hamilton classrooms last year by Mohawk College students.
Contacts
Lee Fairbanks
President, Keep Canada Slim
905-628-0279
bigskinny@keepcanadaslim.com
Hamilton: Joining your company’s “Biggest Loser” competition may seem like a good idea if you want to lose weight, but one Canadian weight loss expert warns not to do it.
“Results indicate time and time again that any weight lost on these crash diet programs always comes back, and often brings more weight with it,” explains Keep Canada Slim President Lee Fairbanks. “And worse than that, crash dieting virtually guarantees that you will lose valuable muscle as well as fat, whereas you will likely only gain back fat.”
This loss of muscle combined with additional fat gain is the foundation of obesity, says Fairbanks, and leads to higher disease risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke and some forms of cancer.
Fairbanks quoted a recent Hamilton Spectator story on Laurel Steel’s (Burlington) annual “Biggest Loser” challenge (Big Steel Weighs In – Good diet, healthy weight – company and employees win” Jan 22, 2009) to prove his point.
“The so-called ‘winner’ two years ago went from 228 pounds to 194 pounds on the Challenge and then back up to 242 pounds,” he points out. “This rebound effect is built in to every rapid weight loss program.”
“A quote from the ‘winner’ highlights the complete disconnect from reality that diets encourage,” explains Fairbanks “He said ‘you're going out with the guys and they are all having two pounds of chicken wings and you’re there eating carrots.’ The proper solution to this situation would be to cut down from two pounds of chicken wings to one pound of chicken wings -- and then add the carrots.”
Fairbanks warns Canadians that only by committing to permanent lifestyle changes, which have nothing to do with a short-term diet, can they hope to turn the corner on obesity and start to build a healthier country.
“We need to encourage our employees and corporate wellness departments to embrace a New Year’s Resolution to promote healthy approaches to weight loss rather than supporting pop-culture entertainment vehicles which use humans as fodder for fun and games at the cost of their health,” he suggests.
Keep Canada Slim educational material is available through their website at http://www.keepcanadaslim.com/, as well as through a network of certified consultants across the country. The company also offers a free school program for Grade 3 students called the Healthy Eating Challenge. The Challenge was run in 31 Hamilton classrooms last year by Mohawk College students.
Contacts
Lee Fairbanks
President, Keep Canada Slim
905-628-0279
bigskinny@keepcanadaslim.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
