Mamavation is a social experiment and weight loss campaign on twitter. Mamavation, like motivation, is an opportunity for one overweight mom to change her life and create a healthy lifestyle for her family. The Mamavation Mom will be supplied with a bonafide team of personal trainers, coaches, and a cheerleading squad comprised of fit mamas that know what it takes to lead a healthy lifestyle. She will be challenged and encouraged for two months to make everlasting changes in her life. Once the two months is over, if certain goals are met, she will receive several prizes and become the first Official Mamavation Mom.

Learn more about Mamavation

I just read a report… it said that a study shows that those who eat more dairy products like yogurt will loose more fat in their middle than those who don’t. That’s just what I wanted and needed to hear. I"m going to immediately go drink a gallon of skim milk and eat a block of cheese.

Really though.. Here’s what I read

Yogurt May Help Dieters Shed More Body Fat
Tue Mar 22, 2005 5:40 PM GMT
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By Amy Norton

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Replacing other foods with a few daily servings of yogurt may help obese adults trim their waistlines better than calorie-cutting alone, a new study suggests.

Among 34 obese men and women who went on a 12-week, reduced-calorie diet, those who ate three daily servings of yogurt shed more fat around the middle compared with dieters who got little to no dairy and low amounts of calcium.

The findings add to recent evidence linking calcium and dairy foods to slimmer waistlines, including research showing that children and teens who get the recommended amounts of milk, yogurt and cheese tend to be leaner than their peers who shun dairy.

Though calcium is believed important for maintaining healthful levels of body fat, evidence is accumulating that dairy products may be particularly good weapons in the battle of the bulge, according to Dr. Michael B. Zemel of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

“Dairy contains a wide array of bioactive compounds,” said Zemel, who led the new research.

In the study, published in the International Journal of Obesity, Zemel and his colleagues had participants followed one of two diets for 12 weeks. One regimen slashed 500 calories from the dieters’ normal daily intake and allowed no more than one serving of dairy and 500 milligrams (mg) of calcium per day.

The other diet also cut out 500 calories, but included three daily servings of fat-free yogurt, which brought participants’ calcium intake to 1,100 mg – in line with the recommended intake for adults.

General Mills, maker of the Yoplait yogurt used in the diet, funded the research.

By the end of the study, both groups had lost weight and body fat, Zemel’s team found, but those in the yogurt group shed 61 percent more in fat pounds, as well as 81 percent more abdominal fat. They also held on to more lean, muscular body tissue compared with men and women in the low-calcium group.

Usually, Zemel said, when people lose weight through dieting, the tendency is to lose both fat and lean tissue.

It’s thought that calcium may keep body fat in check through effects on hormones that help regulate the storage of calories as fat and the breakdown of fat cells. Low calcium levels in the body, Zemel explained, may result in “bigger, fatter fat cells, and more of them.”

But some studies have suggested that dairy products, independent of their calcium content, help trim fat from the middle. The reason, according to Zemel, may rest in the fact that dairy foods have certain compounds, including a high concentration of small protein particles called branched-chain amino acids, whose metabolic effects may promote fat loss while preserving muscle.

However, he said, yogurt is no magic recipe for melting fat, and as the weight-loss mantra goes, “calories count.”

“There’s no monolithic answer to obesity,” said Zemel, adding that a healthful overall diet and exercise are vital.

Also, yogurt is not unique among dairy products. This study focused on yogurt for “practical reasons,” Zemel said, because adults are likely to find several daily servings of yogurt more palatable than a few glasses of milk.

Still, while the study results are “impressive,” the mechanism by which calcium and dairy may promote fat loss remains a matter of speculation. according to an editorial published with the report.

And a chief question is whether the calcium must come in the form of dairy protein, writes Ruth B. Harris, an associate professor of food and nutrition at the University of Georgia in Athens.

It’s also unknown whether a cup of yogurt and a calcium supplement, for example, produce the same fat loss as three servings of yogurt, Harris notes.

“Identification of the factors that are important in promoting weight loss…is essential for the development of appropriate dietary recommendations,” she writes.

SOURCE: International Journal of Obesity, April 2005.

© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.

if you don’t already know.. i’m 31 years old…
to some of you… 31 is still a young age.. but to me… i’m already worrying about turning 60, 70, 80, 100! Not that there is anything wrong with being 70 years old.. but i’m worried…
I want to look like i’m 18 years old forever!!! I can still remember being in Jr High School and now I’m 31 years old! That was soooo long ago.

Well….. there is some surgery free good news for those of us wanting to fight off the aging process for as long as possible.

According to the American Dietetic Association, eating nutritiously and moving more can slow down bio-markers or physical signs of aging.

Some of the bio-markers you might want to pay attention to are:

Muscle mass and strength. On average, adults lose seven or eight pounds of muscle per decade.

Body fat. That’s what generally replaces the lost muscle. It often ends up around the midriff, which is risky health-wise.

Rate of energy use. For basic work, your body uses an average 2 percent less energy per decade.

Bone density. It decreases as age increases.

Your “numbers.” That includes cholesterol and blood sugar, which rise with age and increase the risk for heart disease and diabetes.

Your body’s thermostat. Your sense of thirst fades with age.

Your aerobic capacity. As you age, the body uses oxygen less efficiently.

But don’t panic. You can slow some of these changes. Here’s how:

Stay physically active. Consistent moderate exercise keeps muscles strong and pumps oxygen to the muscles. And make sure you’re getting some weight-bearing exercise to help maintain your bone density.

Eat smart. Enjoy more fruits, vegetables and whole-grain foods. Eat enough calcium-rich foods and fewer high-fat foods.

(HealthDay News) – Though it continues to grow in popularity among the severely obese, gastric bypass surgery should not be taken lightly.

Anyone thinking about this surgery should understand what the operation involves. Patients and physicians should carefully weigh these benefits and risks, suggested by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases:

Benefits

* Right after surgery, most patients lose weight quickly and continue to lose it for 18 to 24 months after the procedure, although most patients regain 5 percent to 10 percent of the weight they lost.
* Surgery improves most obesity-related conditions, such as diabetes.

Risks

* Up to 20 percent of patients who have weight-loss surgery require follow-up operations to correct complications. Abdominal hernia once was the most common complication requiring follow-up surgery, but laparoscopic techniques seem to have solved this problem.
* Some obese patients who have had weight-loss surgery develop gallstones. During rapid or substantial weight loss, a person’s risk of developing gallstones increases. Taking supplemental bile salts for the first six months after surgery can prevent them from forming.
* Nearly 30 percent of patients who have weight-loss surgery develop nutritional deficiencies such as anemia, osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease. These deficiencies can be avoided with the proper vitamins and minerals.
* Women of childbearing age should avoid pregnancy until their weight becomes stable. Rapid weight loss and nutritional deficiencies can harm a developing fetus.

(HealthDay News) – No matter what kind of diet you’re on – low-fat, high-protein, or low-carb – hunger may be lurking to derail many weeks of discipline.

Ways to manage those hunger pangs include: minimizing the intake of trigger foods like potato chips or other foods with “hidden” fat or calories; following a diet plan that uses a meal replacement approach and portion-controlled meals to reduce caloric intake; aerobic and heavy resistance exercise; relapse prevention; social support; and stress reduction.

Regular physical activity is essential for long-term weight control, stress reduction, and overall health. Experts recommend that you participate in both aerobic activity and resistance exercise. Aerobic activity strengthens the heart and burns calories. Resistance exercise strengthens bones, builds muscle, and increases metabolism. But before you begin any new exercise program, the UCLA Health Network recommends you speak to your doctor.