Monitor Kids’ Diet And Exercises
While there is a unchangeable genetic component to type 2 diabetes – the form closely linked with weight – parents can still help prevent their children from developing the disease by keeping an eye on their weight and diet, said Dr. Kanika Ghai, a pediatric endocrinologist with a practice at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge.
«Certainly you can control it to some extent,» she said about type 2 diabetes.
Here are the tips:
- Provide children with more foods from natural sources (e.g. fruits, whole grains and vegetables) and less processed and fast foods.
- Offer youngsters a regular meal pattern at home. Try to cut down on their snacking.
- Avoid sugar
- Encourage children to exercise regularly
- If a child is at risk, go for annual check-ups
Source: Joanna Broder, pioneerlocal.com
Hannah: Diary Of A Diet
IN front of me there is a piece of paper with 12 smoking guns on.
At the top of the page are the words, «Eating triggers».
Under each picture, and within a Countdown-like timeframe, me and three other women with weight «issues» or a Curly Wurly-like body image were asked to write down under each one what we thought our triggers are.
I started off with «breathing», as in I’m awake and that’s normally enough to set me off into the dangerous playground of carbohydrates if unsupervised, then I got to «thoughtlessness».
Confused faces from the room resulted in me explaining this away in my usual cockeyed manner.
«Girls,» I said. «It’s like this, see. The only time I DON’T think of eating or how wrapped up I am in the confusion of what I can eat versus what I can’t is when I’m actually stuffing my face. See? That’s thoughtlessness. Because if I allowed myself some space to actually think about what I’m doing, or try to iron out the lumps in my self-perception, maybe I wouldn’t want to act out in the way that I do.»
My new pals all nodded their «ahas» and «yeps» and «God, I know what you mean» with gusto, as we each shared our divergent stories about what binds us all together.
And that’s lasagne with crusty bits on the edge. It’s melted cheese. It’s full-fat pop and orange. It’s knowing you’re going to have chicken salad in a hotel restaurant when you’re travelling on your own only for your mouth to betray you during your order and you somehow silence the guilty chattering in your mind with beef burgers and chips. It’s about saying no to dieting. Or yes. And back again, without really understanding the force of your yo-yo. It’s about paying for that choice afterwards in the currency of guilt.
It’s the desertion of will power, the constant battle to DO something about it, to exercise yourself away and back into the safety zone of average.
It’s lack of motivation, it’s confusion, it’s bloody bonkers, that’s what it is.
And that’s what Lifeshapers, a multi-media Welsh company which helps you «find the tools you need to reduce your comfort eating, escape the dieting game and still lose weight», aims to help you sort out.
It’s a big promise, but one that its founder, Chrissie Webber – think Cinderella’s fairy godmother only in turquoise and without anything made of pumpkins – says she can deliver on. Unlike most women who have been there and done it and lost the T-shirt as it’s now waaaaaaay too small, Chrissie is still a big woman. The difference between her and others who have “struggled” with their weight, is that she celebrates the fact that she has achieved so much – a 5st loss and counting – and doesn’t beat herself up about the fact that she’s not «there» yet, that holy grail of self-acceptance, or can always turn down a blueberry muffin. She can’t. And that, as I’m yet to fully understand, is the twist in the sanctity of being human.
Her voice, lying somewhere between caramel and Nutella on the gooey and gorgeous scale, is an exercise in joy; her demeanour kindly but never condescending; her message so hopeful and helpful it should come in tubes to rub in on doubtful days.
The whole ethos of Lifeshapers is to discover the weight you were born to be. And that, even by my wonky reasoning, means that it could be what you are right now. Right this minute. It’s to adopt what wonder Webber calls «conscious eating» (and that doesn’t mean knowing you’ve got gravy running up your arm), «mindfulness» (meditations to reduce stress and therefore the need for comfort eating), «feeding your soul» (this is about loving yourself, perhaps the hardest skill to learn of all) and «body awareness» (loving the skin you’re in, another corker).
After only one session, I felt lighter, in spirit if not in stones. The danger for me is that I’ll fall hopelessly in love with this new philosophy. It’s happened on every diet I’ve ever been on, a full-on passionate affair which eventually fades away to something less promising when reality, or at least my version of it, sets in.
But if you’re looking for something new, something different, something not judgmental, something which you can do on-line as well as off, give Lifeshapers a go.
After all, it’s better to have loved and not lost a pound, than never to have loved at all.
Lifeshapers hosts a one-day workshop on September 27 at Tonteg Community Centre. Call 07515 640 056 or visit www.lifeshapers.co.uk
Source: walesonline.co.uk
Hormone research seeks to mimic weight-loss surgery
WEIGHT-LOSS surgery is successful because it permanently changes hormone levels, boosting the “I am full” hormone and reducing the “I am hungry” hormone. Now researchers are attempting to mimic this altered hormone balance without having to resort to surgery.
A session at the Festival of Science under way in Liverpool has heard how hormones play a central role in whether we will become overweight or obese and why weight-loss or “bariatric” surgery has proven the only reliable method to ensure long-term weight reduction.
Dr Rachel Batterham of University College London and Dr Carel Le Roux of Imperial College London described studies which explained how the surgery altered levels of three key hormones – the satiety hormone Peptide YY, Ghrelin, the hunger hormone, and CGP-1, which helps to regulate glucose. They also discussed new discoveries about how the satiety hormone affects the «reward/ pleasure» areas of the brain.
«Until last year we believed this hormone only acted on the primitive areas of the brain, but we now know it works on the reward area of the brain,» Dr Batterham said.
Two-thirds of the British population were classed as either overweight or obese, something that could be attributed to a conflict between our genes and our environment, she added. «Obesity is actually a normal response to an abnormal environment.»
Dr Batterham said our metabolisms evolved when food was scarce and periods of starvation were common. We ate a great deal when food was available and our bodies learned to store the surplus as fat to sustain us during famine. This had represented a “survival advantage” but was a danger to us now that food was always available, making it difficult to diet.
«What you are doing with dieting is fighting the biology we have developed to fight starvation,» Dr Batterham said.
Weight-loss surgery alters the hormone mix, allowing the body to reduce excess weight. Dr Batterham is seeking ways to achieve this mix without surgery. It was a challenge given that it involved hormones and these had to be injected, like the hormone insulin.
Dr Le Roux discussed the benefits of bariatric surgery, not just for the patient but for society in general. He argued there should be a tenfold increase in the numbers of people qualifying for weight-loss surgery, which he preferred to call “metabolic surgery”.
He said excess weight was a risk factor for type II diabetes and those who received the surgery tended to lose their diabetes. Because of this, these procedures quickly paid for themselves given the reduced burden on the health system, he added.
Metabolic surgery was not about vanity. «It will not make you thin, it is not cosmetic, it is about health.» Research was needed to see what types of patients would most benefit from the surgery.
© 2008 The Irish Times
The Perfect Diet
Every so often a new diet is touted as the secret to good health, rapid weight loss and flatter abs. The truth is, however, the perfect diet is out there – a balanced diet.
Eating a diet that provides the right amount and types of calories (energy) to maintain all the body’s systems is considered a balanced diet. There are three basic rules to the perfect diet: Don’t skip breakfast because it really is the most important meal of the day; eat at least three meals a day because anything less will lower your metabolism; attempt to eat food from every food group at every meal because you will ingest an adequate amount and better quality of calories.
The perfect diet consists of the types of food you learned about in the food pyramid in fifth grade. The pyramid has six food groups, each providing one or more of the three nutrients needed for survival and to build the perfect diet.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for the body. The two main forms of carbohydrates are simple (sugars) and complex (starches). Fiber also falls under the umbrella of carbohydrates. There are four calories per every gram of carbohydrates. Carbs can be found in whole grains, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, and beans.
In a balanced diet, roughly 60% of your calories should come from carbs. The average man between the ages of 19 and 30 needs 1,200 calories per day. Active men can add about 300 carb calories to their daily intake. The majority of the carbohydrate sources are healthy. Fruits and vegetables contain both fructose and fiber. Dairy products have carbohydrates as well as calcium. Whole grain or multigrain breads, multigrain cereals, brown rice, pasta, and beans and legumes provide fiber, B vitamins and tend to have low glycemic levels. They are broken down into glucose at a slower rate and prevent spikes in blood sugar and the mid-afternoon slump that happens when you’re coming off that sugar high.
Refined sugars have no nutrients, but contain calories; limit them in a well-balanced diet. If possible choose brown sugar or honey.
A balanced breakfast: To follow the perfect diet, start your day with a bowl of oatmeal made with low-fat or 2% milk, sweetened with low-sugar fruit preserves and chunky peanut butter.
Fats
Fat is essential for survival. It makes up the cell walls and is needed to transport and absorb fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. A little goes a long way when it comes to fats in the perfect diet; 15% to 20% of your daily calories should come from fat. There are nine calories per gram of fat, twice the calories from one gram of carbs, which is why too much fat and not enough exercise can lead to weight gain. Fats are an important energy source during exercise, but not the first choice. The main source of fat on a balanced diet should be unsaturated fat. Saturated fats are found in meat, eggs, milk, and cheese. Butter, margarine, coconut oil, palm oil, and Crisco are all examples of saturated fat. If it’s solid or very thick in its natural state, it will leave fatty deposits in your arteries and colon.
Cholesterol is another essential fat and is produced in the liver. It is used for cell and hormone production. Cholesterol is found in meat and dairy products. Ingesting too much saturated fat can also raise cholesterol levels. Choose olive oil or canola oil and eat leaner cuts of meat. Fish contains the healthy fatty acids omega-3 and omega-6. A hunk of salmon, a tuna steak, tilapia, or mahimahi are meaty fish that are good sources of unsaturated fat and they’re satisfying as well.
Fat tastes good – that’s why we eat it, but it should be consumed in moderation. That’s the key to a balanced diet. Be wary of low-fat products; the fat is usually replaced with sugar to maintain flavor. Always remember to check the labels. Eat the «regular» versions of foods and just watch your portions.
A balanced lunch: A sandwich is a portable way to get a balanced meal. On 7- or 12-grain bread, have tuna fish, chicken or turkey breast, Gouda cheese, mesclun greens, and honey mustard.
Protein
If there’s ever a time men sit around and talk about their diets, protein surely comes up – how much protein they eat, the best protein shakes to drink after a workout, the best protein powder, etc. Yes, protein is important in following the perfect diet because it builds and repairs tissue. Everything from your skin, hair, nails and, of course, your muscles are made up of protein. Just like fat, however, you can have too much of a good thing.
For active men, whose daily caloric intake is 3,000 to 3,500 calories, protein intake on a balanced diet should still be 15% to 20% (or 640 calories). Protein keeps you satiated, so it’s wise to have protein with every meal, but if you’re going to eat that 16-ounce steak on Monday you may want to ease off the protein for the next few days – that steak will provide 207 grams of protein, while a 190-pound man only needs a maximum of 86 grams of protein a day. That’s enough to repair muscles after a workout and keep skin and hair healthy. For your post-workout refueling, a smoothie with milk, banana, strawberry, mango, yogurt, and peanut butter is a good source of protein. Products like Muscle Milk are marketed as great sources of protein, but be sure to read the label for the fat content. Remember, fat and protein go hand-in-hand.
A balanced dinner: For dinner, a salad with sliced almonds or pecans, baby shrimp, black beans and cheese is a good choice for adequate protein.
Strive for perfection
Forget fad dieting; cutting out carbs and loading up on proteins alone may help you drop the pounds, but it’s not helping you build a balanced diet. A little bit of everything in moderation is key. So, fill your plate with greens, add some protein and carbs on the side for good measure, and indulge in a bite or two of fat once in a while – your body will thank you for it.
Source: AskMen.com
Does Weight Loss Surgery Lower the Risk of Getting Cancer?
Previous studies have suggested a link between obesity and increased cancer risk, and a new one bolsters that link by showing that weight loss seems to reduce cancer risk.
The researchers at McGill University in Montreal studied nearly 6,800 very obese people and found that weight loss surgery, including gastric bypass and gastric banding, can cut the risk of some cancer by as much as 80 percent. The strongest evidence was for breast and colon cancer risk reduction, but there was also a trend toward reduction in other cancers.
The research team, led by Dr. Nicholas Christou, director of bariatric surgery and professor of surgery at McGill, looked at the medical records of 1,035 patients who had the surgery and 5,746 who did not but were otherwise similar. None of the patients, who were in their mid- to late- 40s, had been diagnosed with cancer before the study.
During a five-year follow-up period, 2 percent of the surgery group was diagnosed with cancer, compared with 8.5 percent of the nonsurgery group. Christou, whose prior studies on weight loss surgery have shown a reduction in the risk of overall mortality, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes as well as cancer, said in a telephone interview that the most likely mechanism for the reduced risk of breast cancer is hormonal.
Fat tissue produces estrogen, which drives some breast cancers. In the latest study, the incidence of breast cancer was reduced by 85 percent in the surgery group.
«This effect is so strong it surprised a lot of people,» Christou said.
The risk of colon cancer was reduced by 70 percent in the surgery group, perhaps, Christou said, because after surgery, people eat less and ingest fewer carcinogens. It’s the weight loss per se, not the surgery, that packs the punch, he added.
«The point is to get the weight loss and keep it off permanently,» he said. The study was presented at a scientific meeting in June and will be published soon.
Dr. George Blackburn, a nutritionist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and associate director of the division of nutrition at Harvard Medical School, welcomed the study as further proof of the link between obesity and cancer.
Research shows that an estimated 10 percent to 40 percent of cancer cases in the United States are attributed to obesity, he said. The strongest links are between obesity and esophageal, kidney, endometrial, colon and some breast cancers, he said. But obesity also contributes to pancreatic, ovarian, and gallbladder cancers.
So, if you’re a candidate for weight loss surgery – if your body mass index is 40, or if it’s 35 and you also have another major disease – ask your doctor about the surgery, including how much it might lower your cancer risk.
JUDY FOREMAN
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
Source: Boston.com
New Diet Books Put To The Test
We asked members of the Times Health Club to try out the current crop of new diet books. Here’s their verdict
ANNIE L, 33, ESSEX
Dieting Makes You Fat by Geoffrey Cannon (Virgin Books)
The idea
The book outlines seven golden rules to help change your attitude to food and encourage a much more positive and healthy lifestyle. Follow each one for a month.
Easy to follow?
I attempted a condensed version, which was easy to follow. The rules included: drink more water; be active every day; eat more fresh food, etc. I struggled with one where you are encouraged to fast, although this means only cutting out processed junk.
Did it slot into your day-to-day life?
It would be sensible for the whole family to follow. Cannon is not suggesting anything outlandish, simply to be more aware of choices and to go for healthier options.
Will you keep it up?
Yes, absolutely. It’s sensible but definitely not a quick fix of any kind. It is more an overhaul of your entire diet.
Did you supplement it with exercise?
Yes, I go out running twice a week, as well as a six-mile walk once a week.
How much did you lose?
7lb in four weeks.
Verdict?
Very good, but I struggled to stay interested, as there is so much background on the author, on the dieting industry and the food business.
GOESONA BIT, 46, HERTFORDSHIRE
Why the Chinese Don’t Count Calories, Lorraine Clissold (Constable)
The idea
Food that’s good for the mind and body rather than satisfying a hunger. Fill up on staples (rice and noodles), vegetables should make up the main part of a meal (the Chinese eat little protein) and eat only until full.
Easy to follow?
Most of it was, but a small part deals with the idea that foods are related to elements, which in turn are related to certain organs of the body. I found that complicated.
Did it slot into your day-to-day life?
I’m home most of the time so it wasn’t that hard to fit into my routine.
Will you keep it up?
Filling up on fresh veg and rice, experimenting with different ingredients and drinking plenty of green tea, yes. I don’t miss protein and because the Chinese don’t do sweet foods (sweet foods are related to the mouth and stomach, so if we put too much in our mouths, it ends up around our stomachs), I don’t get those dips in blood sugar and huge cravings.
Did you supplement it with exercise?
Rigorous exercise routines are discouraged in favour of regular gentle exercise, so I bought a pedometer and tried to increase the amount of steps I take every day.
How much did you lose?
4lb in four weeks.
Verdict?
If you eat with chopsticks you can’t shovel your food down, so the brain has time to realise the stomach is full. Best of all, it teaches you that counting calories is a waste of time.
MAGGY B, 53, NORFOLK
No Fads, No Frills, No Nonsense Weight Loss Plan by Jim Johnson (Virgin Books)
The idea
The book looks at different formulas for losing weight (avoiding carbohydrates, or vegetable-only diets, for example) and gives a basic round-up of the most successful techniques.
Easy to follow?
Yes.
Did it slot into your day-to-day life?
Very easily. The message is simple: eat less, exercise more.
Will you keep it up?
Now I’m back from holiday I’m starting again.
Did you supplement it with exercise?
Yes, it was part of the deal, so that you can offset the calories you eat with the calories you burn off with exercise.
How much did you lose?
3lb in two weeks.
Verdict?
I was impressed. This diet showed me how to lose weight without starving myself, so it should also be more sustainable. You have to write everything down, which I think helps, and also do 30 minutes of exercise a day, but that included things such as gardening, housework, etc, and I do more than that anyway!
JACKIE M, 43, THE SCOTTISH BORDERS
Life-Changing Weight Loss by Amanda Hamilton and Sandy Newbigging (Piatkus Books)
The idea
Hidden causes (physical and emotional) prevent you from getting the body you want. It also demands that you entirely avoid processed and ready-prepared foods.
Easy to follow?
No, as I had to source lots of bizarre ingredients, such as psyllium husks, and some of the recipes were difficult to follow.
Did it slot into your day-to-day life?
No, as it was very time-consuming. Everything had to be prepared from scratch, even muesli.
Will you keep it up?
I will still continue to use it as a guide.
Did you supplement it with exercise?
Yes, at the moment I’m training for a mini-triathlon, on September 21, only I have a calf injury at the moment and have to be careful.
How much did you lose?
4lb in two weeks.
Verdict?
Although the psychology of “Discover, Resolve and Enjoy” (love yourself from the inside and eat less processed foods) seemed strange at first, it did make a lot of sense.
RUTHIE M, 57, PETERBOROUGH
Getting The Best From The GI Diet, Rick Gallop (Virgin Books)
The idea
Balancing the three main food groups, fats, proteins and carbohydrates, and understanding how they are digested and metabolised by our bodies.
Easy to follow?
Yes.
Did it slot into your day-to-day life?
It fitted quite easily into daily life. I did have to buy one or two store cupboard items, such as wheatgerm and rolled oats, which were expensive, but can be used in several recipes.
Will you keep it up?
Yes, I think it’s a plan anyone could follow for life.
Did you supplement it with exercise?
I do a lot of exercise already but I haven’t increased this.
How much did you lose?
9lb in five weeks.
Verdict?
It made me realise how much sugar and saturated fats were in my diet, which I now try very hard to cut out. I loved it – I’ve even bought another of Rick Gallop’s books.
Source: timesonline.co.uk
Photographing meals ‘could help weight loss’
Taking a photograph of your meal before you eat it can encourage weight loss, a new study suggests.
Slimmers began to eat healthier food when they were asked to take a picture of what they were eating, scientists found.
The pictures appear to have concentrated the dieters’s mind at just the right time, before they were about to eat, the researchers who carried out the study believe.
Photographs were also more effective at encouraging volunteers to watch what they ate than traditional written food diaries.
To test if encouraging slimmers to photograph everything they eat might also encourage them to change their diet, scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison asked
43 people to record what they ate for one week in pictures as well as in words.
When the volunteers were later quizzed the photo diary appeared more effective at encouraging them to change their eating habits to more healthy alternatives.
The photographs also acted as a powerful reminder of any snacking binges, the researchers found.
«I had to think more carefully about what I was going to eat because I had to take a picture of it,» was a typical response from volunteers, the scientists found.
Prof Lydia Zepeda and David Deal, the researchers who carried out the study reported in New Scientist magazine, found that written food diaries were often filled in hours after the meal and were not as powerful in creating an impression of how much food had been consumed.
«Nutritionists see diaries as recording tools. Now they should explore the role of photo diaries as intervention tools,» Prof Zepeda said.
Frankie Phillips, a dietician with the British Dietetic Association, said that photographs could also help dieticians to identify if a patient is eating too large a portion size.
«Many patients tend to underestimate how much they are eating, especially when it comes to things like takeaway portions,» she said.
Source: telegraph.co.uk, By Kate Devlin Medical Correspondent
Celebrity Diet Secrets: Republican National Convention edition
Sarah Palin’s caribou diet
Republican party vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who is also the governor of Alaska, revealed what sounds like a pretty strange diet and fitness routine to those of us from the lower 48, but that’s probably pretty common among people from the great white north.
Palin told the Wall Street Journal that she’s always been a runner and her first child is named Track because he was born in that season. She is now running three miles every other day, down from seven to 10 miles a day before she got pregnant with her fifth child, Trig, and admits she’ll run at midnight in the summer, since it’s still light then.
While pregnant she says she was doing aerobics classes at the gym to stay in shape, and uses dumbbells and snowmobiling to keep her upper body strong.
She says the family eats a pretty healthy diet full of wild Alaskan seafood, caribou and moose, as well as fresh fruit. (By the way, we’ve got all the nutritional information you could want on classic Alaskan foods.) Her health pitfall is skipping breakfast, or having nothing but a white chocolate mocha.
Water is her workout fuel and what she consumes after a run as well, and she says her biggest obstacle to consistency is being pregnant every few years.
Huckabee offers tips for staying slim
Another Republican runner offering health tips this week is former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who tells the New York Times that he used to hate exercise, but now that he’s dropped more than 100 pounds he’s hoping to encourage some of his fellow convention-goers to be a little healthier.
He says at a big event full of temptation like a convention, it’s important to eat six or seven small meals a day and load up on protein but go easy on the carbs early in the day.
If you want to eat carbs, make sure they’re whole grain and only eat them later in the day. Drink plenty of water and never drink calories. And spend plenty of time running away from reporters for exercise, he says.
(By Sarah E. White for CalorieLab Calorie Counter News)
Diet-drug Lawyers Face Additional Charges
A federal grand jury in Covington returned a new indictment yesterday against two lawyers charged with bilking their clients in Kentucky’s diet-drug case.
The indictment against suspended lawyers William Gallion and Shirley Cunningham Jr. adds new charges of wire fraud and seeks forfeiture of nearly $50 million more from them.
Gallion, Cunningham and Melbourne Mills Jr., were tried in July on a single count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, but the jury was unable to reach a verdict in the case against Gallion and Cunningham.
Jurors acquitted Mills, whose lawyer said the defendant was too drunk to have participated.
The new indictment returned yesterday seeks $94.6 million from Gallion and Cunningham and adds eight wire-fraud counts.
Some former federal prosecutors and other defense attorneys said in interviews after the mistrial that the prosecution should have brought additional charges to give jurors more choices.
But Steve Dobson, an attorney for Cunningham, said he was disappointed that the government is adding charges, after the jury voted 10-2 to acquit his client and Gallion. «I hope they are not being vindictive.»
U.S. Attorney James Zerhusen could not be reached for comment. The case is set for trial Oct. 14 but is expected to be continued.
After more than a year in Boone County Jail, Cunningham was released last week when he posted a $1.25 million bond; Gallion remains incarcerated.
Judge Danny Reeves, who was newly assigned to the case, reduced Cunningham’s bond from $45 million and Gallion’s from $52 million to $2.5 million.
Gallion’s lawyer, O. Hale Almand, couldn’t be reached for comment yesterday, but Gallion’s release may be delayed because the former fen-phen plaintiffs have won a foreclosure judgment against his home in Jessamine County.
In the new indictment, Gallion and Cunningham are again accused of paying only about one-third of the $200 million settlement to the 440 fen-phen clients and paying themselves, Mills and other lawyers and clients most of the rest.
They are also accused again of placing more than $20 million in so-called leftover money into a charitable fund, called the Kentucky Fund for Healthy Living, that they paid themselves to manage.
The lawyers said they withheld money in case new claims arose. When none did, they said they were entitled to the money because their clients had been sufficiently compensated.
Lawyers for Gallion and Cunningham said in July that the jury was unable to find them guilty because they were innocent.
But some attorneys and others who followed the eight-week trial in U.S. District Court in Covington say a host of factors likely contributed, including mistakes by the prosecution.
More than 400 of the ex-clients also sued Gallion, Cunningham and Mills, along with Cincinnati lawyer Stan Chesley, who negotiated the $200 million settlement, and won a judgment for $42 million, plus the return of the money placed in the fund.
Angela Ford, a Lexington lawyer who represents the ex-clients, has been trying to collect on the judgment, including an attempt to force the sale of Curlin, the 2007 horse of the year, in which Cunningham and Gallion have a minority stake.
Reporter Andrew Wolfson can be reached at (502) 582-7189.
Source: Courier-Journal.com
Weight-loss Camps Invite Families to Come Along
It took Kelsey Galer four weeks at a weight-loss camp to lose 9 pounds. It took her dad just three days to start acting like a «dork.»
«He wears his pedometer around all the time,» said Galer. «He’s just really into it with the family workshop he went to.»
Her weight-loss camp and others are inviting mom, dad and siblings to share the camp experience so they can help campers stay motivated when they return home where unhealthy temptations and habits lurk.
For her father, Michael Galer, and 16-year-old sister, Kyla, that meant a three-day family workshop at the end of Kelsey’s stay at Wellspring Camp for young women in New York’s Adirondack Mountains.
They got an induction into the 18-year-old’s new, healthier lifestyle. Her father found himself doing aerobics and using a stability ball for yoga during the family session. Her sister cheered as Kelsey climbed to the top of a towering pine tree and flew down a zip-line.
Back home in Canton, Mass., the whole family has been reaping the benefits: her father lost 8 pounds, and now Kyla joins her at the gym. Within days, they were planning healthier grocery lists.
Wellspring is one of several weight-loss camps that add some family participation to the standard menu of exercise and healthy diets. Wellspring’s camp in Pinehurst, N.C., and the Pritikin program in Aventura, Fla., offer programs that include family members for the entire camp session.
But all that attention comes at a price: Roughly $5,000 to $9,000, depending on the camp and length of stay.
At the Adirondack camp, visiting family members join campers in the mornings for a long walk and at every meal. The rest of the time, parents attend classes on cooking, exercise and how to shop for healthy food. Siblings can tag along with campers to watch the daily activities.
«That had a big impression on her,» Kelsey Galer said of her sister’s visit to camp. «She just got a taste of my new lifestyle. We had spent a lot of time together (before camp), but it was never time like that – being active and eating healthy.»
The results of a three-year Wellspring survey of campers suggests that family support is beneficial, according to Daniel Kirschenbaum, Wellspring clinical director. The campers who reported having strong family support or used the post-camp program did better at maintaining or continuing to lose weight than those without strong support.
At the Wellspring camp in Pinehurst, N.C., about 60 miles southwest of Raleigh, parents join children between the ages of 5 and 14 for sessions that include sports, personal training and a spa.
Therapy is part of both programs to help people understand why they overeat and how to manage stress. Parents learn how to motivate their children to be healthy instead of discouraging them or emphasizing bad body image.
Dr. Chris Bolling, who heads the weight loss program at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, said fat is a family affair.
«You have to model good behavior,» he said. «We know this for all sorts of behavior in kids. You don’t tell kids to do one thing and then do something else … kids, very quickly, pick up on it when their parents aren’t practicing what they’re preaching.»
The Pritikin Program near Miami offers a family camp that promotes exercise and a diet emphasizing fruits, vegetables, whole grains, seafood, nonfat dairy foods, and limited lean meat. Children also take cooking classes and go on field trips to learn about things like finding healthy options at the mall.
Priscilla Marquard has taken her triplets – 12-year-olds Caroline, Alex and Audrey – to the Pritikin family camp each summer for the past three years. The girls have always been a healthy weight, but she saw it as an opportunity to reinforce healthy habits as a family.
«You can really put them in a room full of unhealthy food, somehow they’re going to find a way to eat healthy,» said Marquard, of Orlando, Fla.
Her daughter Audrey concurs: «I loved Oreos, and now I can’t even look at that stuff.»
Kelsey Galer had tried to lose weight before by exercising but without much success. The 5-foot teenager started camp at 170 pounds and lost about 9 pounds in a month. About three weeks after leaving camp, she had dropped 12 more pounds. She has followed up with the camp, logging her food intake, exercise and weight online. She can also reach out to counselors if she needs additional help or motivation.
She said the support has helped her stay on track and get ready for college in the fall.
«It would have been a lot harder. I probably would have had a really hard time sticking to the diet and staying motivated,” she said. “It’s really good to know that other people want you to succeed.»
