1) You reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes
2) If you have diabetes, you can better manage the disease by reducing your weight.
3) You can live longer:

People who eat less are more efficient at converting food into energy, which may help them live longer, a new study shows.
Scientists at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, studied 36 overweight people for six months. A third of them ate a diet meeting their energy needs. A second group had their calorie intake cut by 25 percent, and a third group consumed 12.5 percent fewer calories and exercised to increase their energy expenditure by the same percentage.

4) You’ll save money
5) You’ll look better
6) You’ll feel better
7) You’ll be able to perform more physcial activities (sports, sex, etc.) Clothes will fit you like they were designed to
9) You’ll reduce global warming – a little far fetched but …

As Canadians continue a widespread information campaign about the rise of diabetes, Vancouver endocrinologist Dr. Keith Dawson said the epidemic has a stubborn driver:

“It’s very hard to change people’s behaviour” toward food, exercise and disease management, said Dawson, a member of the Canadian Diabetes Association guidelines committee. “A lot of people just don’t give a damn.”

Canada authorities are realizing something has to change in order to reduce the load on their healthcare system.

Being overweight is the number one risk factor towards developing Type 2 diabetes, which can reduce a person’s life expectancy by at least eight years. It can also lead to a myriad of complications including blindness, neuropathy, heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure.
These are facts that are known to many but perhaps ignored by most.
In Scotland, for example, the number of people diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes will rocket up by 60 per cent within the next ten years. The primary reason is obesity.
We’ve also witnessed a previously unheard of phenomenon: obese children developing adult onset (Type 2) diabetes.
The disease is epidemic and affects many of us in profound ways. It will also have a staggering effect on the world economy as developed nations strain under the burgeoning load of health care costs.
All because, as a society, we choose poor eating and exercise regimens.
If that were not enough, there are an untold number of individuals and companies who gladly sell the guilty overweight get slim fast programs. These are the indulgences of the health care industry for which Americans shell out more that $40 billion each year. You’ve seen them, they operate using these marketing methods:

• Scare tactics or emotional appeals rather than proven results.
• Non-scientific terms like “revitalize,” “detoxify,” or “balance your body with nature”
• Proof based on personal testimonials rather than sound science
• Claims to also “treat” or “cure” health problems, like cancer or sexual impotence
• A “secret formula”

And yet, we’re getting fatter. Yes, the $40 billion seem ill-spent but perhaps succeeds in appeasing the sins of the past.
It is time to get serious, to eat responsibly and follow our doctor’s advice.

I’m wondering how each city rates in relation to its incidence of Type II Diabetes:

The results are in and all bets are off – - Sin City weighs in as the metropolis with the most pounds. Las Vegas has been named the fattest city in the U.S. in Men’s Fitness’ “9th Annual Fattest and Fittest Cities in America Report.” San Antonio comes in at #2, up ten spots from 2006, while Miami put on a few pounds to move to #3, followed by Mesa, AZ, and Los Angeles. On the other side of the scale, Albuquerque ranks as the fittest city in America, followed by Seattle, Colorado Springs, Minneapolis, and Tucson.

[Read more...]

At least not in the long-term.

To lose weight effectively, you need to set realistic goals and create a personal action plan. Your planning should focus on you, your commitment to yourself, and the three essential circles — think smart, eat well and move more. These circles will overlap as you work toward your goals, and you will need to embrace all three to achieve successful weight control for life.

Here’s a book that can help from the American Heart Association: click here.

Much needed encouragement comes from Forbes Magazine:

Want to keep off those pounds you’ve lost? Then weigh yourself daily and have an “action plan” you can turn to when your weight creeps back up five pounds.

Accountability and encouragement appear to be a significant key in maintaining weight loss.

If there is one number to know when it comes to your health, it’s your blood pressure.
Dr. Michael Roizen and Dr. Mehmet Oz, authors of The New York Times best seller “You: The Owner’s Manual,” say that blood pressure is the key to healthy arteries, and arteries are the key to aging.
The average national blood pressure is too high, according to Oz and Roizen. They said the ideal blood pressure is 115/75. The average is 130/86.
Source: ABCNews

Eat right, especially during pregnancy. Generations depend on it.
Scientists found insulin resistance – which can lead to diabetes – may be programmed across two generations. In a study involving rats, they showed grandchildren denied proper nutrition during pregnancy were at greater risk of obesity and insulin resistance. In addition, males seemed to be more affected if their mothers failed to get sufficient nutrients when being breastfed.
more from the BBC

An interesting study, conducted on mice, indicates that poor sleep patterns may lead to obesity, diabetes, cholesterol and other health patterns. The study compliments existing research that has shown a link between sleep habits and diabetes.

A new mouse study suggests that a brain system that controls the sleep/wake cycle might also play a role in regulating appetite and metabolism. Mice with a mutation in a gene called “Clock,” which helps drive circadian rhythm, ate significantly more and gained more weight. The finding could help explain why disrupted sleep patterns