What do we know already?

The quest to find a diet that helps people lose weight goes back decades. In recent years, there’s been much discussion about the merits of low-fat diets, compared with low-carbohydrate diets.

Research shows the low-carb diet works well for short-term weight loss, but there isn’t enough evidence to show how well the two types of diet work in the long-term, and what the effects are on people’s health, for example their cholesterol levels.

In addition, it’s been recognised that weight loss programmes are better if they include some support to help people make changes to their eating and exercise habits. This is often called behavioural therapy, because it works through changing people’s behaviour. Group support also seems to help.

A new study has compared people who followed a weight-loss programme over two years, all of whom had behavioural therapy. Half the people followed a low-carb diet (where they could eat as much as they liked, but were only allowed small amounts of carbohydrate – just 20 grams a day at the start of the study), and half followed a low-fat diet (where they were limited to between 1,200 and 1,800 calories a day, only one-third of which could be from fat).

The researchers measured people’s weight after two years, and also other factors such as cholesterol levels, blood pressure, bone strength, and body fat percentage.

What does the new study say?

People on both diets did equally well in losing weight. After two years, they had lost on average 7 kilograms (just over a stone), or the equivalent of 7 percent of their body weight. This amount of weight loss is enough to have positive effects on the health of overweight people.

There were few differences in the other health measures. The group who’d had the low-carb diet had much better levels of ‘good’ (HDL) cholesterol than people on the low-fat diet.

How reliable are the findings?

This was a well-run study, looking at 307 people with a body mass index of 30 to 40 (classed as obese). Quite a lot of people (77) dropped out of the study, which makes the final weight loss results slightly less reliable.

However, people were equally likely to have dropped out of either diet group. So, the results comparing the effects of the diets are likely to be reasonably reliable.

Where does the study come from?

The researchers were from the University of Colorado Denver, Denver, Colorado; Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri; and the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The study was published in the medical journal Annals of Internal Medicine. It was funded by the US National Institutes of Health.

What does this mean for me?

If you need to lose weight, this study shows that low-carb and low-fat diets are likely to work equally well. You may find it easier to lose weight as part of a supervised weight-loss programme that can help you break bad habits and make healthy changes to your diet and lifestyle.

It isn’t clear how important the difference in ‘good’ cholesterol is, because the study didn’t measure long-term results, such as whether people went on to get heart disease. However, higher levels of HDL cholesterol are usually linked to better heart health.

GPs and other health professionals should tell people they are fat rather than obese, England’s public health minister says.

Anne Milton told the BBC the term fat was more likely to motivate them into losing weight.

She said it was important people should take “personal responsibility” for their lifestyles.

But health experts said the word could stigmatise those who are overweight.

Ms Milton, who stressed she was speaking in a personal capacity, said: “If I look in the mirror and think I am obese I think I am less worried [than] if I think I am fat.”

She said too many staff working in the NHS were worried about using the term, but suggested it could help encourage “personal responsibility”.

“At the end of the day, you cannot do it for them. People have to have the information,” she added.

The minister spoke to the BBC after setting out the coalition government’s vision for public health.

A white paper is expected to be published in the autumn, which she said would stress the combined role of the individual, state, business and society.

The comments come after Health Secretary Andrew Lansley last month attacked the “lecturing” of recent public health campaigns, such as the drive on school meals that followed Jamie Oliver’s TV shows.

‘More brutal’

Professor Steve Field, of the Royal College of GPs, said he agreed with Ms Milton and already tried to use the term fat as much as he could.

“I think the term obese medicalises the state. It makes it a third person issue. I think we need to sometimes be more brutal and honest.

“You can be popular by saying the things people want to hear and in the NHS we too often do that when we should be spelling things out clearly.”
The history of the term obesity
Continue reading the main story

* The term obesity comes from the Latin word obesus, which roughly translated means intensive eating
* Societies have long been worried about problems of excess weight with Greek philosopher Hippocrates even writing about the dangers
* But it was not until the mid 1600s that obesity started being used as a medical term and then in time directly linked to other diseases
* Between 1830 and 1850 a Belgian scientist invented the BMI index to measure obesity by dividing weight by height
* The Journal of Chronic Diseases reported in 1972 that BMI was the best way of measuring excess fat
* Over the last three decades the terms BMI and obesity have been getting more and more popular with health professionals as a result

But Professor Lindsey Davies, president of the UK Faculty of Public Health, which represents public health professionals, warned against using ‘fat’ when dealing with patients.

“People don’t want to be offensive. There is a lot of stigma to being a fat person.”

She said health professionals started using the term obesity to encourage patients to think about the condition in a different way.

“Obesity is something that happens to people rather than something they are. The language you use all depends on the relationship you have with a patient.

“I would probably be more likely to say something like ‘can we talk about your weight’ rather than obesity, but that is a judgement you make on a patient-by-patient basis.”

Then the local paper wrote a story about it and that was enough for me to make sure I had to go through with it.  Read the feature below and think what external pressure would you have to put into place to ensure you went through with your most important goals.

When a determined life coach signed up to race in a triathlon he was hoping everything would go swimmingly.

But there was just one problem with his charity fundraising stunt –this time last year he could not swim properly.

Former Warwick School teacher Iain Smith, from Rural Way, Redhill, sets himself a seemingly impossible goal every year, and this Sunday he is aiming to compete in a triathlon to raise money for African orphans.

“I couldn’t do more than 10 metres of front crawl without coughing and spluttering to a halt,” he said.
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“I had to get swimming lessons in Donyngs to learn the technique and how to breathe properly.

“I could manage breaststroke but this was a race and I didn’t want to be the slowest swimmer in the pack, moving like a great big frog.

“So my first goal was to learn front crawl without drowning.

“I swallowed so much water in training that I feel personally responsible for people’s water bills going up.”

The former English teacher at Warwick School, in Noke Drive, Redhill, has been setting himself yearly “life-goals” since 2001.

Mr Smith said: “I started by doing the Great North Run, and since then I’ve written a 100,000- word novel, bought buy-to-let properties, and started an international charity called Raincatcher.”

Inspired by his charity work that helps fund water projects in Africa, Mr Smith’s goal last year was to organise a trip for Year 11 students from his school to Tanzania.

“Students from Warwick School travelled with me for three weeks.

“We had a great time doing lots of charity work, and now we are trying to raise money to pay for the schooling of 20 orphans,” he said.

The father-of-two is hoping to raise sponsorship money through completing the triathlon at the Crawley K2 leisure centre, which includes a 600-metre swim, 25-kilometre bike ride and a six-kilometre run.

“I’ve been training six days a week since last September,” he said.

“I’m not expecting to win. I just want to finish in a time that’s respectable for me and raise a good sum of money.

“Luckily you get the swimming over and done with first when you’re strongest.

“If they did it the other way round then I think there’s a good chance I would drown.”

Anyone wishing to support Mr Smith can donate by posting a cheque made payable to Raincatcher to Woolpits, Bletchingley Road, Nutfield RH1 4HN.

Sky News, the BBC and this article from the Telegraph all highlight the excellent Welsh parody of the hit song Empire State of Mind that has become an overnight sensation on the internet.

The original song by rapper Jay-Z extols the virtues of living in New York. But the spoof version features actors singing about their love of Newport in South Wales.The spoof version of Empire State of Mind received almost 200,000 hits within just two days of being placed on YouTube.

Like the music video for the original track, the joke offering is shot in black and white with its stars singing about famous landmarks and cultural clichés.

However, rather than the Manhattan skyline as a backdrop, Newport rapper Alex Warren and singer Terema Wainwright celebrate the sights of the Welsh city.

Rather than a grand piano in Times Square, Wainwright plays a battered synthesizer on the riverfront and croons in a thick Welsh accent: “In Newport, concrete jumble nothing in order, not far from the border.

“When you’re in Newport. Chips, cheese, curry makes you feel brand new, washed down with a Special Brew.”

The video was produced by director Morgan-Jane “MJ” Delaney, 24, from London, who said she “can’t believe” how quickly the video has taken off.

She said: “We came up with the idea when we were singing along with Jay-Z and trying different words in place of New York – Newport was by far the funniest.

“My mother is Welsh so she put me in touch with my uncle’s, wife’s, sister, who lives in Newport, and she came up with some great ideas for the lyrics.

“We wanted to make something people from Newport would be proud of and we have had some really positive feedback.

“I was hoping for 10,000 hits at the most but it’s grown so fast and we can’t believe how quickly it has taken off.

“I hope Jay-Z and Alicia get to see the video as long as their publishing people don’t force us to take it offline. It’s only tongue in cheek.”

The spoof song is titled Newport (Ymerodraeth State of Mind). Ymerodraeth is the welsh word for empire.

MJ came up with the idea in May this year and wrote the lyrics with friends Leo Sloley and Tom Williams before filming with Warren and Wainwright in June.

The song follows in the footsteps of hip hop group Goldie Lookin Chain, from Newport, who shot to fame in 2004 for their comedy take on Welsh society.

MJ includes references to famous Welsh celebrities and boldly states: “Bugger off Alicia, Shirley Bassey is our queen.”

The first verse continues: “On the dance floor raving, pack of 16 Benson, someone fighting bouncers – turns out it’s Gavin Henson.”

One of the choruses pays tribute to Newport’s Chinese twin town and presenter Josie D’Arby.

“In Newport, twinned with Guangxi Province in China, there’s no province finer. Josie D’Arby’s from Newport. Yes it’s strange we didn’t know either, thank you Wikipedia.

“Let’s say some more Newports, Newports, Newports.”

Another mocks the Gwent city’s well-documented problems with traffic congestion: “In Newport, access from the A4042, traffic will enrage you, on your way to Newport.

“Our shopping centre is quite new, big leeks will inspire you. Repeat to fade Newport, Newport, Newport.”

The track has been aired on BBC Radio 1 and tweeted by celebrities including Lily Allen, Gavin and Stacey comic Rob Brydon, and comedians Phil Jupitus and Dom Joly.

While Jay Z has a wealth of world-famous landmarks to rap about, Warren even stoops to a reference about the offices of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

He sings: “Yeah you know the D to the V the LA. Dad said ‘Get a job with them’, but Swansea’s too far away.”

Later he pays homage to Welsh celebrities, rapping: “Tom Jones, Steve Jones, Zeta-Jones, traffic cones, if you come and visit, use the designated parking zones.”

Sorry Dr Atkins, eating LESS meat is the way to lose weight, results of five-year study show.

Despite what the late Dr Robert Atkins believed, eating less meat is the way to lose weight, a major study has discovered.

Keen meat-eaters were found to gain far more weight than those who had less meat in their diet – even when they consumed the same number of calories.

The findings suggest that people should eat less meat to stay healthy and that overweight people could lose weight by removing meat from their diets.

This contradicts the claims of many celebrity-endorsed diets, such as that of Dr Atkins, that promote eating high levels of protein and low levels of carbohydrate to lose weight.

The results come from a major British research project that tracked the diets of hundreds of thousands of people in ten European countries.

The authors of the study, from Imperial College London, said their results ‘do not support the theory that a high-protein diet prevents obesity or promoted weight-loss, contrary to what has been advocated’.

The research team examined data from the Epic study, which looks at links between diet and cancer.

While many studies have suggested eating a lot of meat can lead to weight gain, it was thought that these people were also prone to other unhealthy activities, such as smoking, drinking and not doing enough exercise.

But the authors of the latest study say they have taken all these factors into account.

The team from Imperial College analysed dietary questionnaires filled out by more than 100,000 men and 270,000 women and weights taken before and after the five-year study.

They found that for every additional 250g of meat a person ate daily – the equivalent of a half-pound, or 450-calorie, steak – they would gain 4.4lb more weight over a five-year period.

The meat most strongly associated with weight gain was found to be poultry, followed by processed meats and red meat.

Those who ate processed meats, such as bacon and sausages, put on almost 5lb more over five years than those whose diets were relatively meat-free.

People from Denmark, Germany, Spain and Sweden were found to be the biggest meat-eaters, with men consuming around 300 calories worth of meat daily and women consuming 200 calories.

Greek people ate the least meat, with men eating about 200 calories a day and women 140 calories, according to the findings, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

The team, led by Dr Anne-Claire Vergnaud, concluded: ‘Our results are in favour of the public health recommendation to decrease meat consumption for health improvement’.

Dr Vergnaud added that gaining an average of 4lb in five years ‘could have an important effect from a population perspective’.

Other dietary experts have, however, questioned the findings and the controversial suggestion that calories in meat could be more fattening than those in other foods.

They suggest some of the study’s participants may have lied about their weights when filling in the questionnaires.

Sian Porter, spokeswoman for the British Dietetic Association, said: ‘This is an interesting study and more research is needed. It may be that some of those involved underestimated their intake, which would have skewed the results.

‘The message is to limit your intake of processed meat, check your portion sizes and try to eat pulses, beans, oily fish and a variety of vegetables and wholegrains.’

The South African – nicknamed Shrek – won The Open by seven shots on Sunday.

But renowned sports psychologist Karl Morris says Oosthuizen’s thought process was “a mess” a week before the tournament.

Morris revealed: “His brain was scrambled.

“He was like a safecracker who knows all the right numbers but doesn’t know what order to put them in to open the door and get at the cash.

“I walked nine holes with him in the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond last week, and sat him down for an hour or so afterwards.

“It was clear that mentally, he was a mess.

“So it was a case of getting him to think clearly, learn when to concentrate fully on the task at hand and when to switch off.

“The key to it all was the red spot we marked on his glove, which Louis referred to a couple of times after he had won The Open.

“That was designed to act as his trigger, in the same way that the referee’s whistle concentrates a player’s mind in football.

“The idea is that Louis would look at that spot as the beginning of his pre-shot routine and use it as his whistle.

“I watched him closely at St Andrews and it was noticeable how well he put that into practice.

“He looked totally focused before every shot but a lot of people remarked on how relaxed he looked for the rest of the time.

“It is impossible to keep your concentration at peak level for five hours, especially under the pressure that comes with leading a Major championship.”

Morris has worked with several other stars from Oosthuizen’s managment company, ISM, including Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke plus ex-England cricket captain Michael Vaughan.

But Oosthuizen, 27, is the firm’s first Major winner – Ernie Els claimed his three titles before linking up with them. But with Rory McIlroy also on boarde, no one could have predicted Oosthuizen would be the man to break the duck.

ISM boss Chubby Chandler joked: “With Ernie’s terrific Open record and his fondness for St Andrews, it’s fair to say at best Louis would probably have been our No 2 South African hope, let alone among the whole stable.”

Oosthuizen texted Chandler yesterday, moments after pinching himself to make sure he was not dreaming.

He explained: “I was in bed with my wife, and in between us was my seven-month-old daughter Jana and the Claret Jug!

“I sent Chub by a jokey text saying ‘How did this get here?’ I meant the Claret Jug, not my daughter.”

Shakespeare gave this line of perceptual acuity to his ‘glass half empty’ Danish Prince a few hundred years ago. Can’t help thinking that the VW version is a bit more punchy though. Which do you think will last the test of time?!

An amnesty is defined as a pardon for offences previously committed. Today I want you to give yourself an amnesty on your past.

To be able to start afresh you need to clear the decks and open the doors to truth and reconciliation. Remember what has happened before and agree to forgive yourself for those past mistakes.

List as many events from the past as you can that still hold you back in some shape or form. Things that happened when you were a kid, at school, in your teenage years, at university, at work, with friends, with family, on holiday. Whatever it was, get a pen and pad and make a list.

These are all things that went before. They’re what you did back then. These actions are in the past.

Here is a great article from today’s Los Angeles Times explaining how life coaching can help so many people improve their lives.

If you want to plant a garden, cook what you grow, find a husband, be a better husband, get a baby to sleep, get along with a teenager, get that teenager into college, get a divorce or lose 20 pounds, you don’t have to go it alone. There’s a coach to help you find your way just about anywhere you’d like to go.

Muddling through on our own doesn’t seem to be much of an option today. The urge to do things perfectly — or as close as possible — and the fear that we’re not up to the task has opened the field of coaching in myriad subjects, from coaching high-level executives in time management to coaching parents about how to communicate with their nannies.

“I think it’s an offshoot of an evolved and specialized world. There are fewer generalists and more specialists in everything. You can find the person who is the best bathroom caulker instead of just finding a handyman,” said Evan Marc Katz, a dating coach in Los Angeles.
If you are not satisfied with any aspect of your life, type it into Google and a coach is there to help you, he said.

“We live in an age when there are experts everywhere,” said Ada Calhoun, whose recent book, “Instinctive Parenting,” tries to get parents to rely on themselves. “You want to trust that somebody else knows.”

And she understands the impulse: “Having a kid is just so overwhelming. They’re so vulnerable. People get really scared, and there’s an industry preying on their fears,” Calhoun said by phone from New York.

Insecure and ill-prepared parents — particularly those who live far from family — may be especially needy. They can hire coaches to help them give birth, breast-feed their babies, get them to sleep through the night, find the perfect preschool. Calhoun knows of a sleep coach who charges $1,000 a night.

To some extent, whatever our age, we just can’t help ourselves.

“I believe that as human beings, we have an innate desire for perfectionism,” said Michael Hyde, a professor at Wake Forest University and author of the new book, “Perfection: Coming to Terms With Being Human.”

The desire to get better “appeals to something that is so fundamental to who we are as creatures,” he said.

Sometimes that’s to be applauded: It would be nice if your surgeon is perfect on the day you’re getting a new hip. But that desire “can also turn rotten,” Hyde noted. “To the extent you want to have a perfect look as that has been defined by the culture, you might become anorexic or bulimic, and you might die.”

A world that can seem like it’s changing before our eyes also can fuel a desire for a coach.

A couple of generations ago, most people made three or four important decisions that guided their lives, said Giovanna D’Alessio, president of the International Coaching Federation and a coach for companies and individuals in Europe. Today’s complex world requires decisions all the time: Should I move? Where? Is it time for me to change jobs? What’s the best way to invest for retirement? Will my child thrive in his school? All these questions put people in unfamiliar territory, she said.

Katz sees a paradox of choice that leaves many people frustrated. “In today’s society there are more choices, but nobody’s happier,” he said. Too many choices often lead to discontent, he said.

Novices might hear the word “coach” and think football. But athletic coaches generally are in charge, setting the goals and the path to victory. With other sorts of coaches, it’s the client who sets the goals.

The International Coaching Federation said there are 16,000 coaches worldwide, hundreds of schools offering training, as well as an endless variety of subjects: health, relationship, spiritual, creativity, business, career, acting, sewing, gardening, dating, parenting, divorce.

Coaching isn’t therapy, D’Alessio said. It often is very practical, focusing on actions a person can take to reach goals. Unlike therapists, coaches don’t focus on the childhood experiences that might be the root of the way a person lives or feels.

There’s also a difference between getting help from a coach and getting help from family and friends, several coaches said. Loved ones might be influenced by the past and long-held expectations. “Their advice is based on their point of view,” D’Alessio said. You shouldn’t hear a coach say, “If I were you, I would blah-blah-blah,’” but you’ll hear that from a friend, she said.

Coaching relies on a set of skills that lay people also can use: active listening, asking powerful questions, communicating directly, said Vikki Brock, a business and personal coach since 1995 who wrote about the profession for her doctoral dissertation.

It emerged in part from the human potential movement, in which people who were functioning well wanted to do better, and from corporate leadership training programs, Brock said. The field grew as people moved away from families, churches and other supportive institutions and became more isolated from humans and more connected to the Internet, Brock and D’Alessio said.

The career coaching business is booming at the moment, as people lose their jobs or retire early and don’t know how to enter another profession — perhaps one that speaks to their soul more than to their bank account, Brock said from her office in Ventura.

The ICF has a credentialing process for coaches and a code of ethics. But anyone can put out a shingle saying they’re a coach. D’Alessio and others recommend that people interview several coaches before choosing one.
The cost of hiring a coach ranges widely, from less than $50 an hour to more than $200.

Coaching is a sign of the times, said Mike Taylor, an “old hippie” and master gardener who works as a garden coach in Camarillo.

“What’s happened to our family structure? I saw my grandmothers at least once a week. They passed along a lot of cultural lore,” he said.

The goal for a coach “is to give people the knowledge they need to be successful at what they want to do. And if we had a different society, we wouldn’t need a coach,” Taylor said. Your grandmother would fill that job.

It’s not just the desire for knowledge that motivates people to turn to coaches, however.

Dave Herz is the founder and president of Vive Inc., a company that coaches teenagers and their parents. He said he sees many families who turn to coaching because they feel isolated. He and the other coaches at Vive work to help families create a web of support and learn to reach out to one another.

“I think in our society, we’re striving and hungry for connections with individuals — a boss, a grandparent,” he said. “That is hard-wired in human beings.”

Lisa Shield, a dating and relationship coach in Los Angeles, has been at it for seven years. Some of her clients, she said, have been through therapy, have “figured out why they are the way they are, [but] they still haven’t gotten the success they want.”

And that’s a good place for a coach to come in, she said.

“They have dreams and goals and in the midst of their busy hectic overfilled lives, they need someone to help them put together a game plan. And then they need someone to hold them accountable” for following that plan, she said.

“This really is an amazing process,” Shield said. “People make radical changes through coaching. They transform their lives. And I think that’s why it’s growing.”