That's Fit

There's really no big secret to losing weight and keeping it off. Burn more calories than you consume and you'll see what I mean. Eating a healthy diet, exercising well, minimizing stress, and getting enough sleep will help your cause. So will another factor, according to this LA Times article.

The Internet may help you lose weight -- you're using the Internet right now, after all, and look at the wealth of diet and weight loss information That's Fit has to offer. But communicating with real people is just as important.

According to a 30-month multi-center study conducted at Duke University Medical Center and three other research institutions, participants in a personal-contact support group gained back 8.8 pounds of the 18.7 they lost. Those in an Internet support group and control group regained 11.4 and 12.1 pounds.

These maintenance results might be modest. But the research supports what has been previously established -- that continued support from people who help with the weight loss process is associated with keeping weight off.

I love my little boys' magazines. Their National Geographic Kids just arrived today and already I'm diving into the good stuff this publication has to offer. Stuff like human footprints.

Every time you eat a snack, ride in a car, or take a shower, you leave a mark on the world -- that's your "human footprint," say the National Geographic experts who go on to offer 10 ways we all affect the Earth. One look at these incredible facts, they say, and we'll realize how using less really can save the planet.

In our lifetime we will:

• Chow down on 5,054 slices of pizza or 632 whole pizza pies.
  
  

• Snack on 14,518 candy bars, enough to fill about 12 shopping carts.
  
  

• Eat an amount of hamburger meat equal to the weight of a family car.
  
  

• Consume 12,888 oranges. A stack of the fruit would be taller than two Eiffel Towers.
  
  

• Throw away enough trash to fill up about five garbage trucks.
  
  

• Own eight microwave ovens, 10 TV sets, and 13 cars.
  
  

• Use more than 1.2 million gallons of water. This would overflow two Olympic-sized swimming pools.
  
  

• Gobble down 9,917 pounds of potatoes. That's the weight of about eight average-size racehorses.
  
  

• Scrub up with 656 bars of soap. If stacked, these bars would stand taller than a five-story building.
  
  

• Drive about 627,000 miles or 25 times around the world, using enough gas to fill three fuel tankers.
  

Clearly, cutting back can save our planet. It many respects, it can also save our waistlines.

Not only should you dish out hugs and kisses on Valentine's Day. You should dish them out every day, because these natural signs of affection -- holding hands counts too -- can really do a body good.

The reason most of us reach for a hand, cuddle our loved ones, and smooch sweet little babies is because it feels good. I guess that's because it is good.

Researchers are now looking deep into the brain to explore how these loving practices help the heart, boost the immune system, and lower blood pressure. What they're finding is that human touch triggers a cascade of events inside the body, reprogramming heart rate, blood pressure, and certain mood-altering brain chemicals. Consider this:

• Couples in one study who held hands for several minutes and then hugged for 20 seconds experienced an immediate drop in blood pressure and heart rate. Couples with no close contact had no such benefits.

• A Japanese researcher found that when men and women with chronic skin allergies or hay fever spent 30 minutes kissing their partners, blood levels of immunoglobulin E, a compound that triggers allergic reactions, plummeted. Those who spent time cuddling, but not kissing, did not reap the same reward.

• When deep in stress, women who hold hands with their husbands gain quick relief.
  
  

The point of this post: To urge you to not just celebrate Valentine's Day tomorrow but to celebrate it all year long. You might be a happier, healthier person if you do.

My six-year-old ran with me yesterday in a two-mile race. He ran ahead of me, actually, and I never did catch him until after we'd both crossed the finish line.

I never expected Joey could conquer two miles. We ran once together not long ago, and he fizzled on me before we even made it to the end of our street. Today, though, he made up his mind he would run. And he did it. It may have been the excitement of the crowd that inspired him, or the number he got to pin on his shirt, or the parade onlookers who cheered as we passed them by -- this race, the Gator Gallop, was the kick-off event to the University of Florida Homecoming Parade. Regardless, my little boy kicked butt. I am so proud of him. He is so proud of himself.

Joey taught me a valuable lesson today by running his little heart out. He taught me that the human spirit, the human body, and an enthusiastic support system are powerful forces. Put them together, and phenomenal things happen.

Right now, I consider myself one lucky mommy because yesterday, I got to witness a phenomenal thing.

Genes are starting to show up in the medical news in abundance these days, and MIT researchers said this past week that a gene already associated with longer life span may also be linked to a lower cholesterol levels in the body as well.

The gene was connected to a pathway that clears cholesterol from the body, and the researchers stated that this finding could pave the way for more effective drugs that lower the risk of diseases like atherosclerosis (clogged arteries).

The identified gene, called SIRT1, causes 'good' cholesterol (the HDL kind) to actually flush away bad cholesterol buildup by using a 'cellular pathway' as the activating mechanism.

A study from this past week stated that African-Americans and those of Hispanic descent, when they suffer from the liver disease cirrhosis, suffer from a more severe version than Caucasian counterparts.

The disease in question was primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), which generally affects young and middle-age Caucasian women more than any other race or gender group.

What wasn't explained (but rather, concluded) was that when this particular type of cirrhosis affected those outside the Caucasian population, it significantly rose in severity at the same time. The researchers noted that the reasons for this were "unclear" at this time.

I've read and read about the daily ritual of caloric restriction and have been fascinated by what I read. In the case of many people with an ultra-conscious habit about monitoring what they eat, the reduction of calories (but not nutrients) is supposed to be a ticket to a longer life.

A new study confirms that, and scientists say they now know what caloric reduction prolongs lives. The conclusion: that the link between food restriction and longevity may stem from being a molecular response to the stress from cutting back calories.

In effect, the stress from cutting back on calories preserves cellular function in our cells, which gives us the enhanced ability to fight off age-related diseases. Who knew stress could be so useful?

Merck has stopped promoting the mandatory use of Gardasil that targets the human papillomavirus (HPV). It's probably no coincidence that their turn-around comes at the same time that reports from the National Vaccine Information Center are surfacing about fainting and dizziness reported by dozens of patients as side effects of Gardasil. There are also some concerns that Gardasil may cause infertility.

An early version of the Virginia house bill contained a clause addressing liability issues "if a female who is inoculated with the HPV vaccine becomes incapable of naturally conceiving a healthy child carried to live birth or experiences impaired fertility as a result of the HPV vaccine".

Legislators got that idea because the vaccine contains Polysorbate 80, which is linked to infertility in mice. The Merck HPV vaccine also contains sodium borate which is a common roach killer in each of its three doses. The National Library of Medicine (NLM) of the National Institutes of Health notes of sodium borate that it "is now known to be a dangerous poison, it is no longer commonly used in medical preparations." That was published in 2005. Yet the FDA in 2006 approved the Merck vaccine with this "dangerous poison" to be "commonly used" in these vaccinations. The symptoms of sodium borate poisoning according to the NLM citation include many of the side effects being reported after less than six months of the vaccine usage. These include convulsions, collapse, and seizures that include twitching of facial muscles, arms, hands, legs, and feet.

How many of these young women taking this vaccine will find out that they are barren 10 to 15 years down the road and what will their options be if they are forced to take this drug because of legislation mandates?