This is our second annual Biggest Loser Challenge for the Neshannock Jr. - Sr. High School staff. We'd like to share our knowledge with you and wish you much success in meeting your personal goals!
Biggest Loser Challenge - Article One
Calculating Your Caloric Needs
The following article was submitted by Mrs. Cwynar, School Nurse at Neshannock High School.
Your beginning weight is your baseline weight. How much do you know about the human body and weight loss? If you burn or reduce calories you will lose weight. But, before you start you must know where you are. You can try any Caloric Calculator online. Use the formula below to determine how many calories you need daily. This article is from Health Guidance.
How do you calculate Caloric needs based on your goal (gain/loss/maintain)? Listen, figuring out how many calories a day you need to lose weight, maintain your weight or gain weight really isn't too hard. And with the formula I'm about to give you plus a very cool website, you can easily track were you are and what you need to do daily to reach your goals. So let's begin!
If you don't know where you are, then losing, maintaining or gaining will be impossible!
Step One: Take your current body weight in pounds (lbs) and multiply by 11.
Example: 194 pounds X 11 = 2,134 calories
This is what you need to just keep what you have, without moving. But remember, you do move. So you have to then calculate your metabolic factors into this. Let's go to Step Two.
Step Two: Figure out your metabolic factor according to the table below. But first, some definitions to help you determine where you might fit in:
Slow Metabolism: You basically look at food and you seem to put on pounds. You can gain weight by eating salads but it's difficult to lose weight.
Moderate Metabolism: You can gain weight if you try. You can lose weight if you try. You really don't have trouble losing weight depending on
what you want to do.
Fast Metabolism: You are the skinny guy or gal who can eat anything and it makes no difference. Gaining weight is difficult. Losing weight can happen overnight, just by watching television.
Metabolic Percentage:
Under 30 Years Old: Slow Metabolism - 30% Moderate Metabolism - 40% Fast Metabolism - 50%
30 to 40 Years Old: Slow Metabolism - 25% Moderate Metabolism - 35% Fast Metabolism - 45%
Over 40 Years Old: Slow Metabolism - 20% Moderate Metabolism - 30% Fast Metabolism - 40%
Example: 2,134 Calories X 35% - 746.90
I took my calories needed above just to sit here and not move and multiplied it by my metabolic factor to find that I need an additional 746.90 calories because of my specific metabolism.
Step Three: Put it all together.
2,134 + 746.90 = 2,880.90 calories
This means I need 2,880.90 calories to maintain my current weight with my current activities.
Note: You can also adjust your metabolic factor if you do something that might take you to the next level. If you are a moderate metabolism person but you do distance running, it might make more sense to put yourself in the fast category since you burn a lot more calories.
Step Four: Now change the above about 500 calories every day to reach your goal!
Lose Weight: I would take 2,880.90 - 500 = 2,380.90
Maintain Weight: I would leave it at 2,880.90 and continue to do the same activities.
Gain Weight: I would take 2,880.90 = 500 = 3,380.90
Note: 500 calories a day is just a general term everybody uses to stay within safe limits. If you eat too much, you will end up storing fat. If you cut too many calories, your body just goes into starvation mode and ends up retaining more fat. 500 calories is the safe, recommended guideline.
Step Five: You must track what you are eating so you'll know if you've made your goal for the day. Tracking food does not have to be complicated with weights and scales. It's a shame so many people start to train but never figure out what they need to eat in order to reach their goals.
You can keep doing the math over and over again as you reach a goal. If you are bulking, your requirements will change as you progress. You might want to lose weight, reach a target weight and then maintain that weight. You will do this formula again when you hit the weight you want.
Source: Health Guidance
BIggest Loser Challenge - Article Two
How Many Calories Does it Take to Lose A Pound of Fat?
The following article was submitted by Mrs. Cwynar, School Nurse at Neshannock High School.
Now that you know what your daily caloric need is, you can apply this to weight loss. Here is how. It takes 3,500 calories below your calorie needs to lose a pound of body fat in a week. You've got it; one pound of body fat equals 3,500 calories. You need to burn or reduce your calories by 3,500 a week to lose one pound in a week. Does this sound hard? It's not when you think about it. Do you drink a couple of soft drinks a day? A twelve ounce soft drink has about 143 calories. If you cut out one can daily for a week, you've just reduced your caloric intake by 1,001 calories for the week! So think about other ways you can reduce those calories. Check out www.calorieking.com to find out the number of calories in your favorite foods. Beginners can start out by eliminating 250 calories from your diet and exercising to burn 250 calories, which gives you the 500 calorie reduction you're looking for.
Here are some examples of calorie content:
1 medium apple = 72 calories
1 candy bar = 130 calories
4 oz. beef = 327 calories
4 oz. turkey = 212 calories
Outback bloomin' onion = 2,310 calories and 134 g of fat!
Stadium nachos = 1,500 calories
Olive Garden's Tour of Italy = 1,450 and 74 g of fat!
More Weight Loss Tips:
Eat breakfast! Have oatmeal with fruit. Oatmeal contains fat soluble fiber which helps to flush out toxins. Do you like cookies? Eat oatmeal cookies instead of flour based cookies.
Skip the regular cafe latte, which is 190 calories and replace it with anti-oxidant green tea, as inti-oxidants help to fight cancer.
Brush and floss your teeth to prevent yourself from grabbing a late snack.
Drink ice water since your body burns calories to warm the water in your body.
Tell your waiter to skip the bread basket.
Fill up on steamed vegetables.
Eat your five fruits and vegetables each day.
Eat less fatty meals.
Switch to diet drinks or better yet, water.
Know your portion sizes.
Exercise at least thirty minutes a day.
FYI:
1 gram of carbohydrates = 4 calories
1 gram of protein = 4 calories
1 gram of fat = 9 calories
Biggest Loser Challenge - Article Three
Servings and Portion Sizes
The following article was submitted by Mrs. Cwynar, School Nurse at Neshannock High School.
What counts as a serving?
Fruits:
1/2 cup of fruit
1 medium piece of fruit
1/2 grapefruit
1/4 cup of dried fruit
1/2 cup of berries
one dozen grapes
3/4 cup of 100 percent fruit juice
Vegetables:
1/2 cup chopped vegetables
1 cup raw leafy vegetables (a small salad)
6-8 carrot sticks (3" long)
1/2 cup cooked or canned dry beans or peas
3/4 cup vegetable juice
Food Portion Size:
Do you know the amount of food in the way of servings to eat? This is something you should incorporate into your weight loss program. Go to www.webmd.com/diet/healthtool-portion-size-plate. This site shows you food servings in relationship to items such as light bulbs, decks of cards or baseballs.
Making Sense of Portion Sizes:
Many of us tend to underestimate the amount of food we eat and tend to overestimate the recommended portion sizes of many foods. For example, try pouring out your usual portion of pasta and measure it. Then, compare it to the lable portion size. Chances are, you're eating two, three, four or more times the single serving amount listed on the label. If you're confused when reading a food label, try relating the portion size of a serving to every day items. It's an easy way to visualize what a true portion size looks like.
Baseball - a serving of vegetables or fruit is about the size of a baseball.
A rounded handful - about one half cup of cooked or raw vegetables or cut fruit, a piece of fruit, or 1/2 cup of cooked rice or pasta - this is a good measure for a snack serving, such as chips or pretzels.
Deck of cards - a serving of meat, fish or poultry or the palm of your hand - for example, one chicken breast, 1/4 pound hamburger patty or a medium pork chop.
Golf ball or large egg - one quarter cup of dried fruits or nuts
Tennis ball - about one half cup of ice cream
Computer mouse - about the size of a small baked potato
Thumb tip - about one teaspoon of peanut butter
Six dice - a serving of cheese
Check book - a serving of fish (approximately three ounces)
Take at look at recommended serving sizes on the new USDA www.mypyramid.gov food guidance system. Get out a measuring cup or a food scale and practice measuring some of your favorite foods onto a plate so you can see how much (or how little) a half cup or three ounce serving is. This will help you "eyeball" a reasonable serving. Try www.mypyramid.gov to customize a meal plan to you!
Biggest Loser Challenge - Article Four
The Mayo Clinic on Visceral Fat
The following article was submitted by Mrs. Cwynar, School Nurse at Neshannock High School.
Weight loss is about being healthy and living longer. Included in this article is some important information from the Mayo Clinic on visceral fat. Are you exercising? Your success depends on you incorporating both diet and exercise into your daily routine.
This week's challenge is to consider if you are medically cleared to exercise. Try getting thrity minutes of exercise in for three days a week. If you are already exercising, try adding an additional ten minutes to your workout routine. If you are having trouble finding time, try to pre-plan your workouts on your calendar, sticking to it as if it were an important appointment. Do you still have no time? Try breaking up your workouts into three ten minute workouts.
Fat in Your Abdominal Region:
As you age and your metabolism slows down, the amount of fat in your body slowly increases. Women experience an even greater fat percentage increase than men. After menopause, you body's fat distribution tends to shift, with less fat in your arms, legs and hips but more in your abdomen. You may think that belly fat is the stuff out front that you can grab, but it's the fat you can't see that is really cause for concern. Visceral fat lies deeper inside the abdomen, surrounding the abdominal organs. Gaining this type of fat has been linked to cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other health problems. Subcutaneous fat, located between the skin and the abdominal wall, is more visible but also less likely to be a health risk. While a slowing metabolism and decreased physical activity contribute to overall weight gain as you age, those factors don't influence visceral fat accumulation directly. Heredity may be the culprit. You may simply have inherited a tendency to gain weight in your midsection. Hormones also play a role. Hormonal changes after menopause may change the way your body breaks down and stores fat, leading to more fat accumulation in your belly.
Some women experience a widening waist without gaining weight. Although you may not be gaining extra fat, your abdominal fat is increasing as limb and hip fat decreases. Even in women of a normal weight, too much fat concentrated in the midsection is unhealthy. The midsection matters!
Gaining weight in your abdomen does more harm than simply making your waistband too tight. While putting on weight in general can have negative effects on your health, abdominal weight gain is particularly unhealthy. Too much belly fat increases your risk of heart disease, breast cancer, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, gallbaldder problems, high blood pressure, colorectal cancer and joint problems.
Researchers also have found that abdominal fat cells aren't just dormant energy waiting to be burned. The cells are active, producing hormones and other substances that can affect your health. For example, some fat cells produce hormones that can promote insulin resistance, a precursor to type two diabetes. Others can produce estrogen after menopause, which may increase your breast cancer health, but they do know too much visceral fat can disrupt the body's normal hormonal balance.
Source: Mayo Clinic
Biggest Loser Challenge - Article Five
How to Understand Daily Weight Fluctuations
The following article was submitted by Mrs. Cwynar, School Nurse at Neshannock High School.
Even though you've been following your healthy eating plan and exercising regularly, to your surprise, you step on the scale and are shocked to find you've gained three pounds since yesterday. Why? Weight fluctuations can be one of the most frustrating parts to dieting. Just when you think the number on the scale is going to drop; it not only doesn't, but surprises you with adding a few pounds. During this time, it's important to know that weight fluctuations are completely normal.
What causes daily weight fluctuations? It may be caused by a variety of factors ranging from water retention possibly from excess salt intake, hormonal changes, constipation, or eating a big meal. Remember what we said in an earlier article. It takes 3,500 calories to gain a pound of body fat and it's unlikely you'll eat that amount in a single day. That is why many people recommend not to weigh yourself too frequently because the weight fluctuations can be discouraging.
Did you know your body weight can vary by as much as five pounds from day to day based on the fluid and salt intake, plus the amount of food still being processed by our digestive system? If you went and ate at a buffet the night before, your weight will probably be up the next morning, especially if you ate foods high in sodium and haven't had a bowel movement. Even if you did overindulge a bit, you will not experience a significant increase in your true body weight. Real weight gain is a more gradual process.
The best way to avoid the stress of weight fluctuations is to weigh yourself on a weekly basis. Weigh youself without clothes or shoes (which can add two pounds to your frame), and weigh yourself first thing in the morning after you empty your bladder and bowels to avoid a falsely elevated weight due to food and liquid intake. If you find your weight is elevated, drink lots of water, reduce your salt intake, and reweigh yourself for the next two mornings. If your weight is still elevated at this time, reassess your eating and exercise routines to make sure you're not taking in too many calories.
Be aware of how your clothes are fitting. This can be a more reliable indicator of true weight gain. If you have a scale that also measures body fat percentage, look for fluctuations in this rather than looking at your overall weight. If you are doing resistance exercises, remember this can increase your lean body mass. Most of all don't let yourself get alarmed by daily weight fluctuations. They're a normal part of living!
Source: www.ehow.com
Biggest Loser Challenge - Article Six
Drink Water!
The following article was submitted by Mrs. Cwynar, School Nurse at Neshannock High School.
Scientists at Virginia Tech have found that dieters who downed two 8-ounce glasses of water before breakfast, lunch and dinner lost an average of 16 pounds over a three month period. This is nearly five pounds more than those who didn't drink before meals. "Water helps fill up your stomach, which may make you less hungry," says senior study author Brenda Davy. "Plus, you'll save calories if the water is replacing regular soda, juice or sweetened teas." Find the plain stuff boring? Add a slice of lemon or cucumber, or stir in a no-sugar added drink mix, says Shape Magazine. Check out www.shape.com for more ideas.
Do you know what the number one disease fighting side dish is? It's spinach and leafy greeens. According to a study in the British Medical Journal online, people who ate the most leafy green vegetables had a 14% lower risk of developing type two diabetes than those who ate the least. "They contain magnesium, which has been associated with a reduced diabetes risk, and alpha-linoleic acid, which may up insulin sensitivity," says study author Patrice Carter. For a speedy side, saute fresh spinach in olive oil and sprinkle it with red pepper flakes. Also, don't forget your exercise!
Biggest Loser Challenge - Article Seven
Add Cardiovascular Exercise to Your Diet Routine
The following article was submitted by Mrs. Cwynar, School Nurse at Neshannock High School.
This week's challenge is to keep a food diary. Log in everything you eat and don't cheat. You can log in your exercise as well. Use an online calorie counter to check your caloric intake. At the end of the week, see how it correlates with your weight loss or gain. Some free calorie counters are:
www.webmd.com - Go to Eating and Diet at the top of the page, then go to Food-O-Meter.
Biggest Loser Challenge - Article Eight
Rev Up Your Workout This Week
The following article was submitted by Mrs. Cwynar, School Nurse at Neshannock High School.
This week's challenge is to rev up your workout this week. Do you feel like you have hit a wall with your diet? Do you feel like giving up? Remember, you have to move to lose!
Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it.
~Plato
Check out these websites for more help with your workouts.
For Women: www.shape.com/fitness/workouts
For Men: www.mensfitness.com/fitness/new-moves
And remember, the weather will be getting warmer (believe it or not) which means it will be time to break out those shorts! Do Not Give Up!!!
Biggest Loser Challege - Article Nine
Jameson Hospital Health and Wellness Opportunities
The following article was submitted by Mrs. Cwynar, School Nurse at Neshannock High School.
Click on the Jameson Hospital link below to learn about their health and wellness programs.
http://www.jamesonhealth.org/nutrition-and-wellness-programs
Nutrition & Wellness Programs - Jameson Hospital
Nutrition & Weight Loss ProgramsOsteoporosis Prevention
