Exercise for women: Avoiding weight gain as you age
Aging does not have to be fattening. Exercise is a great tonic. (©Istockphoto.com) Although many women put on extra pounds during middle age, you can help beat the bulge with a boost to your exercise routine.

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Part 4 in this series about MSG (E621) will show how to avoid it in grocery stores and restaurants as MSG has many hidden names! The flavor enhancer monosodium glutamate or MSG is used in thousands of savory food products such as sauces, snacks, flavored potato chips/crisps, soups, meats, fast food and most chinese food. Trade names of MSG include Ajinomoto, Vetsin and Accent. MSG is ‘hidden’ in many other names. www.truthinlabeling.org MSG enhances the flavor of your food, but it is NOT safe! Additives that always contain MSG: gelatin, calcium caseinate, monosodium glutamate, hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP), textured protein, hydrogenated vegetable oil, autolyzed plant protein, monopotassium glutamate, hydrolyzed plant protein (HPP), sodium caseinate, glutamate, glutamic acid, yeast extract, yeast food or nutrient, autolyzed yeast. Additives that often contain MSG: natural flavors, flavors, flavoring, seasonings, broth, bouillon, malted barley, modified food starch, barley malt, reaction flavors, rice syrup or brown rice syrup, stock, malt extract or flavoring, natural chicken, beef or pork flavoring, maltodextrin, dextrose, dextrates, lipolyzed butter fat, caramel flavoring (coloring), soy protein, soy sauce or extract, soy protein iIsolate or concentrate, corn syrup and corn syrup solids, high fructose corn syrup, citric acid, cornstarch fructose, milk powder, dry milk solids, protein fortified milk, carrageenan, wheat, rice, corn or oat protein, flowing agents …

Every year it seems as if there is a new diet on the market that is guaranteed to help you lose weight more quickly and easily than ever before. Many women who have struggled for years to lose weight see fad diets as a sort of miracle cure. As the saying goes, however, things that seem too good to be true, often are just that. Unfortunately, while many fad diets can help you to lose some weight, quite often the loss is temporary and the harsh restrictions of the diet make it virtually impossible to keep with it indefinitely. Depending on fad diets as opposed to developing healthy eating habits can also lead to yo-yo dieting. Studies have shown that women who rapidly lose and regain weight on a consistent basis are setting themselves up for heart problems in the future. The best way to lose weight safely is to alter your diet to include moderate servings of healthy foods while exercising on a regular basis.

Problems Associated with Popular Fad Diets

The Protein Power Diet. Like many trendy low-carbohydrate diet plans, the Protein Power diet focuses on reducing the amount of carbohydrates you consume. While cutting down on carbs can be a healthy way to lose weight, many low-carb diets allow you to eat as much fat, including saturated fats you want. Too much saturated fat in your diet can lead to heart disease, some forms of cancer and high blood pressure. Additionally, this diet also is devised to help you burn extra fat. While this seems like a great thing, failing to hydrate adequately while burning fat can lead to problems with your kidneys.

Sugar Busters Diet. Another diet aimed at targeting the carbohydrates in your diet, the Sugar Busters diet promotes replacing bad carbs with the good carbs found in foods sold under the Sugar Busters label. The main problem with this diet is that it claims that caloric content is unimportant so long as you are eating the right foods. Also, there is no recommended exercise program to supplement this diet.

Liquid Replacement Diets. Diets which encourage you to replace two meals a day with a liquid substitute can be very effective in the short term. Unfortunately, once the weight is lost and you return to your normal eating habits, weight gain is frequently quick to follow. When choosing a diet, it is best to stick with something you can maintain on a long term basis.

Tips for Avoiding Fad Diets

The opportunity for losing weight can be a strong temptation, but knowing what to look for can help you to avoid fad diets and find a healthier way to lose weight.

Do not fall for any diet that promises a miracle weight loss. Healthy dieting takes time and effort.

Sensible diets are based on balance and moderation, be wary of any diet that allows unlimited quantities of any particular food group.

Take a good look at studies purporting to prove the effectiveness of the diet. Truthful reporting should come from more than a single source, and should not read like a sales pitch.

I recently completed months of research to compile a list of the top ten diets that work. I put together the list at the request of MANY personal training clients. In performing my research, I not only uncovered key aspects of successful diets, I also found shared characteristics of unsuccessful diets.

1) Starvation Is NEVER Successful

Never means NEVER!
I discovered one diet, for example, that limited individuals to 500 calories a day. The diet was developed by an Italian doctor, and combines the 500 calorie diet with injections of HCG, which is a growth hormone found in young boys. Despite a lack of creditable evidence that the combination “aids” weight loss, the diet has been around for years.

Individuals do, in fact, lose weight rapidly on the diet. However, common sense tells us that ANYONE would lose weight on 500 calories a day!

H-E-L-L-O!

I discovered that individuals tend to feel tired and weak on the diet, and gaining back the lost weight is the general rule. Frequent periods of no weight loss,(plateaus), are common due to a profound metabolic slowdown. Plateaus were far less common in the top ten diets that work.

2) The Diet Has Little Variety

Diets that offer little variety can be boring and unsafe. If a diet focuses on one food group, for example, such as protein, it lacks essential vitamins, minerals and fiber. Each of these has an important role in an individual’s health and well being

The monotony of eating too much of one kind of food can make sticking to the diet long term, very difficult. Also, if an individual manages to lose some weight, the chances are great that the weight will return when they return to their previous eating preferences.

3) The Plan Has No “Exit” Strategy
For a weight loss program to be truly succesful. a maintenance plan must be included. The top ten diets that work, for example, all had a maintenance plan to hep individuals keep the weight off