What Works?

[Anne Westlund]

On a more positive note, here we can share what has worked for us in the past.

In terms of feeling good and having a happy tummy (no acid reflux) I stay away from caffeine, spicy foods like pepperoni, and greasy foods. Not always, I have a weakness for Thai Curry and Mexican food.

As far as losing weight, a couple times I have walked for 3 miles (round trip to the library) every other day for 2 weeks and have lost weight.

I was on an exchange diet for a year after I was diagnosed with diabetes and learned some about nutrition and eating every 3 or 4 hours to keep my sugars level.

Anne

[Dan Goodwin]

Totally agree with Lin, no 5 - respect your fullness is a big one for me, and I'm not overweight by any means. I guess those are the times when it's more about the taste, the comfort, the sensation of eating, rather then the body needing fuel.

[Hannah]

So why is it a big one for you, Dan?

[Dan Goodwin]

Because there are times I probably eat about twice what I need to, and not the healthiest stuff. Mostly I eat pretty healthily and sensible proportions, but do have a bit of a weakness for chocolate digestives, cake, stuff like that. The kind of food your lust for rather than have a genuinely nutritional need for!

[Hannah]

"one study found that just six sessions of four to seven all-out thirty-second sprints (with four minutes of recovery between sprints) could be as effective at improving cardiovascular fitness as an hour of daily moderate-level aerobic exercise."

from http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/sampleworkouts/a/30sec_sprints.htm

But this is just one I found in a search for "four 30 second sprints" and there's a boatload. I'm having a bit of trouble finding out what they mean though. Six sessions of these being as effective as an hour daily doesn't add up without a lot of mental gymnastics. So six sessions of four sprints equals only one hour, right? The daily doesn't belong in there. Or what?

[Hannah]

Woops, here we go, I knew there had to be a catch:

"While that may be good news for people doing cardio for heart health, there was no evidence the 30-second sprints would help someone drop fat. For that, diet and traditional levels of cardio exercise are still the only proven option."

From http://www.webefit.com/articles_100_199/article_199_30SecondSprints...

Well, I'll leave it up there in case someone else is similarly confused if they run across it, and for those who exercise for mere cardio-vascular health :) This one's also much better written explaining about the length and equivalence of the sessions.

[Valerie]

Thanks Hannah. I'm not interested in dropping fat, but am interested in cardio-vascular excercise.

[Hannah]

Well there ya go. No excuses now!

[Susan Hosken]

Water definitely is great for me when I get hungry and it's not time for a meal.
lots of love from susan in australia