Tag Archives: weight gain

How to stare down that plate of chocolate chip cookies

4 Jan

by Carolyn Thomas  @HeartSisters

What would you do if you checked into your hotel room and found there a welcoming plate of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies waiting for you? I know what I’d do – I’d have a cookie. And then, because it tasted so darned good, I might eat another. And then, while I unpacked my suitcase, maybe just one more. And then, particularly if I were feeling tired or stressed or hungry, I might even say to myself: “Oh, what the heck! It’s been a hard day – and I deserve this little treat!” – and there goes the rest of that plate of cookies.

But that’s not what Dr. David Kessler decided to do when this very situation presented itself to him. As a person who had battled his own weight problems for years, he knew that he could have easily eaten all of those cookies in one gulp, but he also knew with equal certainty that he did not want to do that this time. There was only one way to gain the upper hand, and he had to act quickly.   Continue reading 

What your body fat really looks like

7 Dec

by Carolyn Thomas

These MRI scans may well be the two most powerful motivations for heart patients to step away from the Tim Hortons maple dips that I have ever personally witnessed.  Continue reading 

Mindless eating: 8 reasons women eat when we’re not even hungry

28 Mar

by Carolyn Thomas

Cornell University researcher and food psychologist Dr. Brian Wansink knows that there are other reasons to eat besides just being hungry.

Dr. Wansink, author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think, a book described by CBC television as the “Freakonomics of Food“, says:

“If we knew why we ate the way we do, we could eat a little less, eat a little healthier, and enjoy it a lot more.”

He is talking about that bag of corn chips your hand keeps dipping into while you watch TV, or that big 13-inch dinner plate you load up – whether you’re hungry or not.

He says that we make about 200 food decisions a day, like:

  • Should I have coffee?
  • Should I put milk in it?
  • Whole or skim?
  • Should I butter my toast before I spread the peanut butter on?
  • Do I pour my orange juice into a short, wide glass (you’ll drink more)
  • or a tall, narrow glass (you’ll drink less)?

He also cites these eight factors that can influence what goes into our mouths that have nothing at all to do with hunger. Do any of these sound familiar to you?   Continue reading 

Yes, French women DO get fat!

16 Nov

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Remember that book  that came out a few years ago that explained to us the “French paradox” – why don’t French women get fat?   Anybody who has, like me, been unable to resist a Paris boulangerie without stopping to indulge has marvelled at the ability of French women to remain so thin and gorgeous in spite of all those exquisite croissants, crusty baguettes, heavenly sauces, divine cheese and oh, those wines.

Author Mireille Guilano (who, incidentally, is thin and gorgeous herself) wrote French Women Don’t Get Fat in 2004, explaining that their secret is in the eating habits of the women in France. Continue reading 

Women & heart disease: obesity is contagious

10 Jun

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Having a tough time losing weight as part of your heart-healthy lifestyle? Take a look at your friends.

Close friends can influence your weight even more than genes or your family members, say researchers reporting in The New England Journal of Medicine. The study, co-authored by longtime collaborators Dr. Nicholas Christakis and Dr. James Fowler suggests that obesity isn’t just spreading – it may be as contagious between close friends as the common cold.

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