Popular Weight Loss Supplements No Better Than Placebo

Weight loss is a multi-billion dollar industry. We obsess about weight. Just about everyone we know is thinking about losing a few pounds (or more).

And with good reason. Most people simply think about how they look, but there are sound medical reasons for maintaining a good weight. Excess weight increases our risk for heart disease, diabetes, various cancers, joint problems, hypertension - and the list goes on. In addition, once medical problems arise, obesity adversely affects the outcome for many conditions. Obesity is linked to poorer outcomes for some cancers. Also, researchers at the American Sociological Society found that obese people had longer (by 1 to 1.5 days) and more frequent hospital stays.

Over-the-counter weight loss supplements are a popular choice for many people to help with losing weight. Now, two new studies have found that common supplements are no better at producing weight loss than a placebo. Both studies were presented at the International Congress on Obesity in Stockholm, Sweden. The studies examined the effectiveness of a broad range of supplements which claim to work in a variety of ways, including "fat magnets" or dissolvers, appetite suppressants, metabolism boosters, and carb boosters. Each study looked at nine different supplements. One study was a randomized study comparing the supplements with placebo. Researchers found no difference in the results of the diet supplements compared with placebo. In the second study, researchers reviewed all existing systematic studies of 9 weight loss supplements. They found no evidence that any of the supplements was an adequate treatment for losing body weight. In addition, several of the supplements had adverse side effects.

So, what does this mean? I would say it means don't waste your money and time on the latest fad supplement. It means pay attention to what is scientifically proven through rigorous research. Talk to your doctor about proven, effective weight loss strategies. If you and your doctor decide you really need the assistance of some drug product, opt for regulated obesity drugs (either prescription or over-the-counter) that are proven effective.

But as I wrote in my last post, and what I always tell my Life-Cise clients, losing weight is all about calories in versus calories out. It's simple: burn more calories than you are taking in and you will lose weight. It may not be easy; it may not be easy; but it is simple.

Sadly, I will never be one of the people making millions of dollars from selling weight loss advice. The weight loss industry in North America is over $50 Billion a year, but I'm afraid I won't be a part of that bonanza. People want easy; they want fast.

But what we know works is change. Change lifestyle. Make healthier choices. Cut down on calories taken in: skip the sugary drinks, eat reasonable portions, choose fresh food rather than processed foods that are loaded with unnecessary fat and calories. Increase calories burned: take the stairs, walk, turn off the TV, mow your own lawn....

It's simple: eat less, move more. And take the money you'll save by not wasting it on weight loss supplements that don't work and hire a good personal trainer.

Julie

Calories In vs. Calories Out

I just finished up a photo shoot for Fitness Magazine. They're doing a little piece on me and the fitness work I'm doing with cancer survivors in their Oct. issue - I'll let you know. It was kind of fun, but weird: "smile, not so much, look away, look toward me, look natural, don't move...." Actually, the photographer and hair/makeup person were great - really nice, easy to work with, and very patient with me as I stood around not knowing what to do with my feet, hands, body, or face.

It's just unfortunate that it came right after I got back from Saratoga where I was playing the Lake George Opera Festival. If you've read my past few posts, you know that I was getting plenty of exercise. Almost every day I was running or hiking or swimming. But I was also eating. There were parties, barbecues, beer, Martha's ice cream, and the occasional fresh fruit pie from the farmers market. So, in spite of all my exercise, I gained a few pounds (every ounce of which I was accutely aware this morning during the shoot).

Why? Maintaining a healthy weight is all about calories in versus calories expended. If you ingest more calories than you are burning, no matter how much you are exercising, you will gain weight. Diet alone is not effective at long-term weight maintenance, neither is exercise by itself. The two go hand in hand. Together, diet and exercise work.

If you really watch what you eat, but still find yourself inching up the scale, increase your daily activity, increase the number of calories burned. If you're working out, feeling good and strong, but would still like to lose a few pounds, look to your diet (as in, pass on some of that ice cream, Julie). Maintaining (or losing) weight is about balance, the balance between diet and exercise - calories in vs. calories out.

The main thing, though, is to be healthy. And remember, health is far more than just a number on the scale.

Julie

The Order Of Things

Just three shows left here at Lake George Opera at Saratoga. I've been having a great time, hiking and swimming. I had a fabulous hike up Crane Mountain yesterday, and I'm hoping to get in one more sunset swim up at Lake George.

I love getting my exercise outdoors. I prefer the fresh air to recycled gym air, and I love being out in nature. I always encourage clients to do something they enjoy for exercise; they're much more likely to stick with it.

When I was in treatment, I discovered another thing I liked about exercising outdoors: comfort from the natural order of things. My prognosis for long-term, disease-free survival was not very good. There was no evidence of disease in other organs, but most of my lymph nodes were positive - not good. With every fiber, I wanted to be the exception. But I was very aware and honest about the reality of my situation.

When I would head out into the woods for my walks, I would see all stages of life unfold before me. I saw new growth and healthy trees. I almost felt like all that life, those growing things surrounding me could somehow nudge me toward life. But there was also death and decay - dead animals, dead or dying trees, leaves falling....

What I found oddly comforting was that this was all just the natural order of things. Left to their own devices, things sprout up, live, and die. It's all so normal. It's a lesson any gardener or farmer knows: things live, things die. And hopefully we make the best use of all those stages.

It may seem odd that in my fight for my life, I would take great comfort in seeing all the stages of life laid out before me. - I still do.

Julie

An Ounce of Prevention - Why I Wear A Compression Sleeve

Hiking again yesterday:)

I generally wear my compression sleeve when I hike, especially when it's hot and humid. It's just a precaution. I don't have lymphedema, but in the past have had some episodes of swelling. After talking with my doctors and a lymphedema specialist, I decided it's just easier to wear the sleeve during activities that are higher risk for swelling. I'd rather wear the thing and not have a problem than try to deal with the swelling later if I don't wear it.

And here's the reason why I wear it when I hike:
You may not be able to tell very well from this picture, but my hand and arm are PUFFY! And this is my good arm. My knuckles were swollen enough that it was difficult to make a tight fist. I had to loosen my watch band several times. This is just the way my body normally reacts to exercise in very hot, humid weather. It's all fine, except that the side with lymph nodes removed has a harder time processing all that extra fluid.

I've found that keeping well-hydrated helps.  I'm not really sure if, scientifically, it actually helps, but it seems to. So, I drink lots of water (good to do anyway).

And I wear my sleeve. What's that phrase? An ounce of prevention....

Julie

Bone Health: Osteopenia & Osteoporosis

My friend Mel, author of The Cancer Warrior blog, told me last week that now she's got osteopenia. Osteopenia is a loss of bone density that's not low enough to qualify as osteoporosis.

Bummer! Serious bummer! Mel is a great person, young, active & fun. You can read her post about it at The Cancer Warrior.

So, this leads to another post about the importance of strength training. Breast cancer survivors are often told about the dangers of osteoporosis, with good reason. Many of our drugs cause bone loss. In addition, many younger women are thrown into premature menopause, losing the protective benefit of estrogen at an earlier age (estrogen is a key component in bone health).

But it's not just breast cancer survivors that need to be concerned about this. Treatments for many cancers, for men as well as women, can cause bone loss.

We need to pay attention to this. We don't want to survive our cancer, just to find ourselves unable to lead our normal lives because of fragile bones.

Strength training, or resistance training, is an important factor in maintaining bone strength. Make it a regular element in your exercise routine. It's good to do 2-3 days per week of strength work that is appropriate for you. Stressing your bones by adding weight (resistance) helps to slow bone loss.

I want to clarify one very common misconception, however. Strength training, slows bone loss, it does not increase bone density. Countless magazine articles and TV commercials are misleading or just plain wrong about this. In some extremely high intensities strength training can add bone strength, but it's only temporary. And I'm talking extremely high! For the rest of us, resistance work can slow or stop bone loss.

I think it's important to understand the limits as well as the benefits of strength training. It's not a cure-all, but it will help! It's a good tool. It won't add back what's already lost, but it can help to protect what density you still have.

Julie

Blueberries!!!

While I'm up playing the Lake George Opera Festival in Saratoga, I've managed to get a lot of exercise (always important for me, even when I'm away from home). In the last week, I've gotten in a couple of good (but very hot) runs, done some hiking, and had a beautiful swim to Hen & Chicken Island followed by a lovely sunset over Lake George. Coming up: biking up to Lake George. And with all this hiking, running, and biking, I need to get in some upper body work - maybe pushups and dips before tonight's performance.

After hiking the Tongue Mountain on the 4th, I headed up to Buck Mountain later in the week. Although it was the hottest day of this current heat wave we're having here in the Northeast, the summit of Buck was worth the sweat. I was richly rewarded for my efforts with blueberries. The summit was covered with them. They were just at perfect ripeness and hadn't yet been picked clean by birds and animals. I ate them huge handfuls, trying to rehydrate with blueberries.

I did run into a couple of people on the trail. I came upon a woman stopped by the side of the trail. Her face was very red and she was sweating and breathing pretty hard. I stopped to talk and make sure she was OK. It was well into the 90s and humid; the danger of heat stroke or exhaustion was high. She said she was stopping there - she was too hot and tired to continue. Her 15yr old son was up ahead. She asked me to tell him not to wait for her. She would just wait there for him. She assured me she was fine and was catching her breath, so I continued up the mountain. A few minutes later I found a lanky teenager coming down the path, looking for his mother. I told him she was just waiting and had said he should go ahead and hike to the top if he wanted, that she was fine sitting in the shade. 

I couldn't help comparing these people with the family I wrote about who had to be rescued off of Tongue Mountain a few days before. Here, the mother recognized that on this day, this trail was too much for her. She did the prudent thing and sat down to wait. And her son, up ahead, had turned around to find out where his mother was. Yea mom! Yea son! And when he knew she was OK, Josh continued his hike, meeting up with his mother on the way down. 

My only complaint about them was that they didn't have enough water with them. They each had just one small bottle, not nearly enough on such a sweltering day. I insisted that Josh take some of my water. I refilled his tiny bottle from mine. I was carrying a large and small bottle with me, and had 2 more bottles waiting for me in my car. Plus, I had an orange - and all the blueberries I could eat!

Staying hydrated is important anytime, but it's essential when it's hot. Getting overheated and dehydrated is dangerous. You can't wait until you're thirsty. Thirst doesn't kick in until your body is already a liter or two low. Staying hydrated helps regulate your core temperature. It also helps your muscles work better, including your most important muscle: your heart.

Drink plenty of water before you exercise, and carry plenty of it with you while you exercise. Try to stay in the shade as much as possible. If it's really hot, adjust your pace accordingly. Slow up. If your heart starts racing or you just can't catch your breath, stop and rest, get somewhere cool if you can, and drink water!

And this is not just good advice during a heat wave. If you are currently in chemotherapy, staying hydrated is just as important. It's good to get out and get some exercise, just make sure to work a little harder at staying hydrated.

Julie

Get Moving! - from Coping with Cancer Magazine

My article in Coping with Cancer magazine is now available online. Check it out for tips on starting an exercise program and safely progressing. And, of course, I offer some ideas on fitting exercise into your busy life. Click here to read "Get Moving" in Coping with Cancer online.

Julie

Sometimes Pacing Yourself Is A Good Thing

Happy belated July 4th. I hope you all enjoyed yourselves. I'm up in Saratoga, playing the Lake George Opera Festival. For my day off, I went up to Lake George for an excellent hike.  I repeated the hike I did last July 4th, going over the Tongue Mountain and down to the shore of Lake George at 5-Mile Point. It's a beautiful hike, but not easy. It's 3.7 miles each way, with around 1200' elevation gain, loss, gain, and loss.

This is me, after 3.7 miles, 1200' up, 1200' down, stripping down for a much needed dip in the cool waters of Lake George. OK, I know it's not a very flattering picture, but all I cared about was cooling off!

(note: I was wearing my compression sleeve/glove. I try to wear it, just as a precaution on a long hike when it's hot because I tend to puff up. Better safe than sorry!)

On the way down to the shore, we met a family coming up: parents and their teenage daughter. This was on the first really steep section on their way back up. They all looked pretty tired, but the dad was definitely suffering. I asked how he was doing, made sure he had plenty of water, and offered what encouragement I could - he was at least a little more than halfway done. Of course, I knew he had a long, hard climb ahead of him, but all I could do was wish him well and head on my way.

Down at the bottom, we enjoyed some swimming and a little snack - and lots of water. A little while later, we saw two police boats coming in hard and fast to shore, just down from us. The family had come back down and called for a rescue. They couldn't make it back up and out. Their rescuers were happy to help: it's easier to pluck exhausted hikers from the shore rather than rescue an injured hiker or someone having a heart attack from the middle of a mountain.

I trust the story had a good ending, that they got back home safe and sound. They were in good hands so we went on with our hike. We still had a long, steep trail to get up and back down on the other side.

Pacing yourself (and judging your abilities honestly) is essential to a good hike, bike, run, or kayak. All too often, people underestimate the challenge, or overestimate their fitness or abilities. I applaud that family for getting out together and doing something healthy. But it's really important to make a good plan. Look at the map; read the trail description. Decide if it's really the best hike for you, for all of your group. And if you get into something that turns out to be too much for you, you can always change plans.

It's tough sometimes, if you're out of shape for whatever reason (injury, surgery, chemotherapy, anything),  to really judge what you are capable of. The best advice I can give people, which I've had to remind myself of from time to time, is to remember that you always have to get home. Getting to the top of the mountain, the turnaround of the trail, or the end of your driveway is only halfway. You still have to have enough energy to get back.

So, even if you turn around before your destination, it's better than getting stuck without the strength to get home. Go ahead, get out and get moving, push yourself a little, but be realistic. It should be fun. It should be a positive experience. And most of all, it should be safe. I hope your 4th was all of those!

Julie