The Biggest Loser

I'm sure some of you have been watching The Biggest Loser on TV and are wondering how these contestants lose so much weight. Last year's winner went from 155kgs down to 83kgs - a staggering loss of 72kgs.

The secret: HARD WORK!!

The contestants are training up to 3 hours a day, six days a week over a three month period. This is unrealistic for most of us - we simply don't have the time to train 3 hours a day. Ideally you should be doing 30 minutes of exercise, 3 to 5 times a week. If you can only manage 20 minutes a day, you will get 20 minutes a day results. The harder you work, the better your results. If you use the show as motivation...you too can be the biggest loser.

Fresh v Frozen

What do you do if you run out of fresh fruit and veggies at your place? The good news is that frozen or canned versions still have nutrients.

Fresh food in season is the ideal, but if you’re flat out and want to make a meal using what's in the freezer and the pantry, you can still eat healthily.

One thing to watch out for in frozen and canned varieties is the salt and sugar levels. Choose products without added salt and canned fruits in natural juice rather than in syrup.

When cooking fresh or frozen vegetables, lightly steam the vegetables is healthier than boiling them in water. Try not to overcook them as you can lose nutrients.

Our Kids Are Getting Fatter

A recent research has shown that Australian parents seem to be ignoring the expanding waistlines of their kids. The last ten years has seen a 100% increase in obesity levels among pre-schoolers, and many parents appear not to be recognising the signs which can be indicative of health problems later in life. In a study of parental attitudes to childhood obesity, 324 mothers of four year olds were interviewed.

A research team at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Melbourne, reported that only a quarter of mothers of overweight or obese children (as defined by Body Mass Index) actually rated them as such, and 70% of these mothers thought that their children weighed about the same as their classmates. Only 17% of all mothers interviewed were concerned about their children facing future overweight or obesity problems. The results mirror those reported in other western countries, indicate that the ramifications of overweight and obesity are not being absorbed by Australian parents, who appear not to notice their child’s expanding girth as being out of the ordinary due to the prevalence of overweight kids in society.

Parents who do recognise the seriousness of the issue have to address it carefully, encouraging healthy eating whilst avoiding making their children overly weight and image conscious. Children need to follow a good eating and exercising example set by parents in the home. Parents can't lead an unhealthy or sedentary lifestyle but tell their kids to do as they say and not as they do. Without adopting a more active lifestyle and a healthier eating regime, children could be setting themselves up for a future of health problems.

Hiccups

A hiccup occurs when the diaphragm (the sheet of muscle separating the lungs from the abdomen) suddenly contracts, and the epiglottis (the flap of tissue at the back of the throat that closes the entrance to the voicebox and windpipe during swallowing) closes. The air being sucked in as the diaphragm contracts is stopped by the epiglottis, producing the hiccup sound. Hiccups are common but harmless and usually stop after a few minutes.

Factors that may trigger hiccups are:

	eating too fast, especially hot and spicy food;
	excessive alcohol consumption;
	smoking; and
	stress.

To stop the hiccups, you can:

	Hold your breath as long as possible. Repeat until the hiccups stops.
	Hold a paper bag tightly over your mouth and nose, and breathe in and out several times.
	Drink ice-cold or hot water.
	Eat crushed ice.
	Gargle water.
	Sit down and lean forward, pulling up your knees to compress your chest.

After Quitting

When you quit smoking, your body is well on the road to recovery:

After 12 hours: almost all of the nicotine is out of your system. After 24 hours: the level of carbon monoxide in your blood has dropped dramatically - you now have more oxygen in your bloodstream. After 5 days: most nicotine by-products have gone. After a week: your senses of taste and smell improve. After 1 month: your blood pressure returns to normal and your immune system begins to show signs of recovery. After 2 months: your lungs will no longer be producing extra phlegm caused by smoking. After 1 year: your risk of dying from heart disease is half that of a continuing smoker. After 10 years: your risk of lung cancer is less than half that of a continuing smoker and continues to decline. After 15 years: your risk of heart attack and stroke is almost the same as that of a person who has never smoked.

Nothing contained in this newsletter is intended to be used as medical advice and it is not intended to be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, nor should it be used for therapeutic purposes or as a substitute for your own health professional's advice.