Posts

Nutrition and Weight Loss: Debunking the Myths

These days, it seems like there's always some new "magic bullet" or weight loss secret everybody's talking about. This holds especially true when it comes to food and nutrition practices. Whether be it diets involving severe calorie restriction,…

Are Cheat Days Good or Bad for Your Diet?

Time and time again I've seen fitness gurus and weight loss enthusiasts proudly posting images depicting tons of unhealthy foods on various social media platforms during their so-called "cheat days". You too may have ascribed to occasional cheat…

The Freshmen 15: Simple Ways to Avoid Gaining Weight

With every passing year, a new pool of incoming college freshmen are faced with the sudden risk of double-digit weight gain commonly known as the "freshmen 15". While some folks call it fiction, the fact of the matter is that many students do…

Are You Overestimating Your Daily Calorie Burn Rates?

Those of you who regularly follow my blog, know that I often post images of my daily calorie burn rates as tracked by the activity app of my Apple Watch. But, what you may not know is that I actually have a love-hate relationship with activity…
© Nike

So Now We’re Shaming People for Approaching Fitness While ‘Fat’?

Like me, you've probably seen the above image of a 'plus-size' mannequin dressed in fitness apparel, which Nike just recently added to the visual display of a London Oxford Street store. Upon seeing it, my immediate reaction was excitement,…

Dieting: Making It Work For You

I'm often asked, "What's the best diet for weight loss?" Honestly, I almost never give a straight answer to this question because, quite frankly, any "diet" that involves masterful manipulation of calories and/or macronutrients (carbohydrates,…

Five Tips for Fighting Your Muffin Top

Are you struggling with an unsightly appearance of fat just above the waistline, otherwise known as a "muffin top"? It's not a hopeless situation! The appearance of a muffin top generally results from a central distribution of excess body fat,…

What Is the Mediterranean Diet and Should You Try It?

If you know me personally or even follow me on social media, you've likely noticed that I eat my fair share of vegetables and fruits. I also eat a lot of nuts and seeds along with sizeable amounts of fish and seafood on a day-to-day basis. These…

Achieving Successful Weight Loss in the New Year

For many, January is the most important month of the year. It marks the start of the New Year, a time when people generally feel renewed, refreshed, and full of hope and promise. January is also a time when people feel extra motivated to…

A Beginner’s Guide to Intermittent Fasting: What It Is and Why It Works

Chances are you've heard of intermittent fasting, as it's an emerging health and fitness trend that's garnering quite a lot of attention these days. In case you aren't familiar with the concept, "intermittent fasting" is essentially an umbrella…

3 Highly Effective Ways to Lose Weight Without Counting Calories

I've always emphasized that the most effective way to lose weight is to moderately reduce your daily calorie intake while engaging in exercise training and other forms of physical activity, as doing so creates the calorie deficits needed for…

Is It Possible to Trigger Starvation Mode If You’re Obese?

I was recently asked if: "There's such a thing as going into 'starvation mode' if you're morbidly obese?"—That's being more than 100 pounds overweight. My short answer is: Yes. My long answer is: Yes, but it's complicated. If you've ever…

Don’t Let the Opinions of Others Interfere with Your Weight Loss Efforts

The start of your weight loss journey is a very delicate time at which you'll generally decide to either give up or keep going. It's also a time when other people's opinions can easily make or break your success—and those opinions might come…

A New Resolution: Breaking the Sedentary Cycle

Each and every year people resolve to initiate an exercise training program for health and/or weight loss purposes. Unfortunately, they assume that after a year (or even years) of physical inactivity, they can pick up where they left off at…

The Skinny on Being Fat

Think having a "normal" body weight equates to being healthy? If your answer is yes, you're sadly mistaken. Unfortunately, when it comes to measuring health, many rely solely on the scale. While the scale reading generally provides a quick…

Top Down or Bottom Up: Things to Consider Before Getting a Colonic

As a scientist and health expert, I'm often asked about the benefits of regular "colon cleansing" for detoxification and general health purposes. Colon cleansing is basically an umbrella term that encompasses a number of different procedures…

Before and After: Achieving Lasting Weight Loss with Bariatric Surgery

As an option of last resort for individuals who are extremely overweight or obese, bariatric surgeries have become increasingly popular these days. While this is due in part to the relatively safe and minimally invasive nature of today's procedures,…

Revving Up Your Body’s Fat Burning Potential with Weight Training

When it comes to fat burning workouts, most people turn to cardio exercises like running, cycling, and elliptical training. Put a hundred weight loss seekers in a gym and I can almost guarantee that ninety will flock to the cardio machines and…

Is It Possible to Be Fit and Fat?

During my latter years as a private personal trainer, I developed a keen interest in sculpting the bodies of full-figured women who weren't necessarily seeking to lose weight. One of my most memorable clients was a curvy plus-size model who…

Are Diet Soft Drinks a Healthy Choice?

I was recently asked my opinion on drinking diet soft drinks. The person specifically wanted to know if there's anything wrong with enjoying a diet soda in the morning for a quick caffeine boost. Initially, this question was somewhat difficult…