Pear-Shaped Women More Likely to Lose Memory

The more weight a woman carries around her hips, the more likely her memory is to worsen as she ages, at least that's what the folks over at Northwestern Medicine are saying, according to a recent study. After conducting a study of 8,745 women between the ages of 65-79, researchers found a link between brain function and increased BMI.

The study was part of the Women's Health Initiative hormone trials and is the first to establish a possible connection between poorer memory and a specific area of fat on the body.

Diana Kerwin M.D, a physician at Northwestern Medicine says, "The message is obesity and a higher Body Mass Index are not good for your cognition and your memory. While the women's scores were still in the normal range, the added weight definitely had a detrimental affect."

Memory loss was proven to show up worse for pear-shaped women versus apple shaped women because of where the fat was stored. Obesity is bad regardless, but apparently it has detrimental cognitive affects depending on where it's located.

The researchers drew this conclusion based upon the release of cytokines, hormones that get dispersed by fats in the body, producing inflammation and ultimately affecting cognitive thinking. Because different kinds of fat releases different cytokines, which have varying effects on blood pressure, the trick is figuring out which type of fat is more destructive.

"We need to find out if one kind of fat is more detrimental than the other, and how it affects brain function,” Kerwin continues. It sounds a bit far fetched, but when you consider the cause of Alzheimer's, the build up of plaques and restricted blood flow to the brain, researchers might be on to something.

But don't let all this pear-shaped memory-loss talk get you down. You're on the road to healthy change with All Day Slim, what else is there to remember?

Distractions to Prevent Over-Eating with All Day Slim: Push Thursday 7/15/2010

It's time for that Push again! We all know dieting is a pain in the rear, and that's why this week's Push Thursday is going to focus on how we can keep on pushing, despite the ever present cravings, boredom, and depression that time and time again cause us to overeat. Here is a great list of distractions to keep you from reaching into that pantry for those peanut butter cookies, and to keep on persevering!

1. Take a warm bath: Hot water is soothing for the mind and body. Light some candles, throw in some bath bubbles, and turn on some soft music, it'll keep the cravings at bay.

2. Take a walk: Just a small, twenty minute one. A little air will get you out of the house and further from the fridge. And you'll burn some calories!

3. Keep a journal: Journals aren't for everyone, but diet journals are suggested by most physical trainers. Look over what you've eaten for the day. Do you really need to eat more? Count your successes for the day, it'll keep you motivated.

4. Treat yourself with a gift: Hit the mall, pick out a cute outfit you might not be able to wear until you've lost that last 5 lbs!

5. Browse the bookstore or library: My personal favorite. Pick up a bestseller and camp out on a park bench. Get lost in the world of fiction!

6. Brush your teeth: It sounds a little off-base, but a little teeth brushing goes a long way. It leaves you with that clean, minty feeling, and mint never tastes good with anything salty or sweet.

7. Drink water: Drink two tall glasses of water, it'll leave you feeling fuller, and it's good for you.

8. Get organized: Organize or rearrange your room. It's time for change anyway right? Color coordinate your closet. Get rid of old clothes and throw away old bank statements. Make way for healthy change!

9. Go to the movies: While a movie theater might seem like a junk-food hub, sitting in the dark for 2 hours with a giant water bottle, or small, healthy snack really keeps the cravings at bay. While it may seem hard in the beginning, shortly after the movie starts, it'll be the last thing on your mind.

10. Get lost in meditation: Visualize all of the beauty in the world!

Thinspirational Diet Books to Supplement Your Supplements

Diet supplements often take time to see real results, as with anything. We can't afford to splurge on unhealthy eats because there's a good chance they'll prolong our progress. Joy Bauer, health expert on the Today show, says that one of the main reasons diets fail is because of lack of commitment. "Weight loss is at least 50% attitude. If you're not truly ready to make a full-time commitment to losing weight, chances of long-term success are pretty slim."

Slim. That's the idea. In order to get there, we need constant motivation and easily attainable resources that will help us reach our goals. Aside from the internet, your best resource to find motivation is simply buying a book. It's summer after all, and reading should be at least in the middle of your priority list. You're going to be at the beach flaunting that newly shredded body, after all right? And Kindle's don't do well in the sun.

Here are some of the top thinsperational books out there, or "skinny reads" as Shape magazine so aptly puts them. listed by popular sites like Diets in Review, Shape, and Basil and Spice. Fully loaded with easy recipes, tips, tricks, and treats, the books listed below will help you along as you carve out a niche for yourself in the slim world with All Day Slim. I was very careful to choose only those books that target issues people identify with the most: fad-diet failures, food lovers that have trouble restricting, dieters with a loss of motivation, and all the rest who've tried everything and just outright quit.

Thin for Life by Anne M. Fletcher, MS, RD: This book is best suited for the fad-diet failure. We all know how disappointing it is to buy a product that promises a quick fix and ends in regain. Which is why Fletcher has included in her book stories of 160 different men and women who've lost 20 pounds or more and kept the weight off for at least three years. How much more inspiring is it to lose weight than by hearing about the success of the very people who've accomplished it? In addition to their stories, each person includes their favorite recipe, one they've concocted that stands as both a delicious treat and a healthy choice. So not only will you have 160 weight-loss tools of the trade, but recipes to go with them!

Eat, Shrink, and Be Merry by Janet and Greta Podleski: This one's for depressed food lovers. And when I say depressed, I mean there are a lot of laughs to be had in this cook book. I laughed aloud reading the review, it's that good. Whimsical cartoons and mind-tickling monikers are used to describe each dish, like "Soprawnos" and "Wise Guy Pizza Pie". Also the book is divided into categories like the "Ex Files", a section dedicated to exercise. What helps is that the ingredients for each recipe can be bought at any grocery store, and there's a ton of information to help people who are uncertain of how many carbs each meal should have, or if they're getting an adequate amount of protein.

American Dietetic Association's Complete Food and Nutrition Guide by Roberta Larson Duyff: Now that you've got your motivational stories and your handy recipes, you'll need a little something to reference. The Complete Food and Nutrition guide is penned by the American Dietetic Association, and is a great source of reliable information on how to embrace and maintain optimum health. The book is a great resource for beginners, as it contains scientific information regarding what types of nutrients to include in your diet plans as you embark on your path to weight loss. The guide also provides sound advice on diet myths, strategies to prevent disease, and diet supplements.

Eat This, Not That by David Zinczenko: Editor-in-Chief for Men's Health magazine, Zinczenko has compiled a 320-page list of healthy substitutions for those who eat out more than they eat in. If you're looking to shed some pounds but simply can't resist the urge to eat out, this would be a handy tool to have around. The editor hasn't stopped at writing books though. Read what he had to say about Subway bread, and why people are actually voting to ban high fructose corn syrup from their ingredients!