Jenny Craig announced today that actress-comedienne and mother of two Nicole Sullivan reached her goal weight on the Jenny Craig Weight Management Program. Nicole lost 35 pounds in 16 weeks. Nicole, 39, will showcase her bikini body in a national television commercial airing March 22nd. Nicole also recently signed on to join William Shatner in a tv show based on a Twitter account.
"I am beyond thrilled with my success on the Jenny Craig program," said Sullivan. "Before starting Jenny Craig, I really felt like I had tried every diet under the sun, and nothing worked - not to mention how crabby I always was from taking unrealistic steps to lose weight! With Jenny, I finally feel like I have a partner in achieving my goals and staying accountable. My consultant Becky has made losing the weight easy for me and kept me motivated along the way."
Meredith Vieira interviewed Kirstie Alley, who has a new reality TV show and a new weight loss program called Organic Liaison. Meredith asked Kirstie about the recent reports that Organic Liaison is a front for Scientology and that all profits go to Scientology projects. Kirstie (who is a long time Scientologist) vehemently denied that Scientology is behind the company and got a bit testy about the subject. Here's what she had to say:
The Daily Mailreports on a study, commissioned by the British retailer Debenhams, that found shopping helps burn calories. This is not a big surprise because shopping involves walking, which burns calories. The researchers found that women burn an average of 48,000 calories per year from shopping.
In a separate poll, experts calculated that women burned around five calories for every minute spent browsing the shelves - almost 48,000 per year. That is the equivalent of 25 days' worth of a woman's recommended daily intake of 1,940 calories.
The study revealed women make around 11 shopping trips - spending around 13 hours - on the High Street, supermarket or local shop each month.
The study also found that the average woman "covers 2.96 miles on a shopping trip and spends around 2.5 hours browsing in stores every week." Burning calories does make a good excuse for a shopping trip.
Jersey Shore star Jenni Harley, aka J-Woww, recently told People that she keeps from gaining weight through sleep deprivation and "just running around."
"I actually have not worked out since the show," she told PEOPLE Saturday, but added that she hasn't gained weight either.
So how has she managed to stay in shape? "I honestly think it's just sleep deprivation and just running around and being very active," she said while celebrating her 25th birthday at Las Vegas's Palms Casino Resort.
"I think I'm good right now," she said of her body. "I don't want to change that much for the second [season]. I still want to be myself, and if being myself is lazy, then that's great."
Actually, sleep deprivation is unhealthy and it could make you gain weight in the long run.
The third season of Ruby is premiering on the Style network. In this clip, the amazing Ruby Gettinger gives a preview of what we'll see this season. Ruby has already lost 400 pounds and is determined to reach her goal weight. She doesn't remember her childhood before the age of 13, and this season she starts to explore that. Take a look:
Intuitive Automata is a company working on the commercial application of affordable socially interactive robots. The company's first robot is Autom, a coach that tries to help people lose and keep off weight. Autom is a robotic fitness coach that encourages humans to stick to their diets. There are plenty of web services and membership clubs that offer similar tools but maybe this cute little robot's encouragement will be helpful. You can watch a video of Autom here and here.
Martha Stewart recently held a special exercise-themed show. She invited S Factor founder Sheila Kelley to demonstrate moves from a sensual and intense pole-dancing workout. Martha Stewart also tried out the exercises, include the pole-dancing. Take a look:
You can find more clips from Martha Stewart's exercise show here.
Jessica Alba graces the cover of the February, 2010 issue of Self magazine. In the interview she talked about her post-pregnancy figure, dieting and where she sees herself in ten years. She also revealed that she loves to buy things from Craigslist.
On Craigslist: "I've bought 70 percent of my house off Craigslist! I've found so many things: couches, tables, lamps. I love the idea of recycling furniture and there being a history there"
On Her Post-Pregnancy Figure:: "Pregnancy was the most incredible experience that I've ever had. So I'll take the stretch marks. I'll take the sagging boobs. I'll take the cellulite I can never get rid of."
On Diets: "Diets are for the birds. I think you have to eat in a way that makes you feel your best. I include a lot of vegetables and lean protein and fruit and grains in my diet. I’m not a big workout person. Every single day, I tell my girlfriends we're starting a regimen. And then it's, like, 'Want to get dinner? Want a glass of wine?'?
On life in 10 years: "I'd love to be raising my kids on a farm in the South of France. My mother-in-law has lived there for more than 20 years, and she has a beautiful setup. I want to be able to allow Honor and my other kids, who I hope to be blessed with in the future, to maintain their innocence for as long as possible. There is so much time to be an adult."
Valerie Bertinelli talked to Meredith Vieira about weight loss and her new book called Finding It: And Satisfying My Hunger for Life without Opening the Fridge. Valerie says over 95% of dieters gain back the weight the have lost. She talks about the most difficult maintenance part of dieting - keeping the weight off once you have lost it. She says she wants to really "strangle this beast for this last time." She also talked about Jason Alexander being the new spokesperson for Jenny Craig. Valerie also says she is training to run the Boston Marathon. Take a look:
Joseph Goldstein of The New York Times examines a new trend in New York City: going caveman. The concept is based on The Paleo Diet, the book which theorizes that humans would be healthier if they ate like cavemen: lots of protein, the occasional fruit or vegetable, lots of exercise and no cooked or processed agricultural products such as bread or sweets. Most of the devotees are men, but in the group the reporter visited, there was one woman. They all work normal jobs and enjoy high-tech items such as computers: they don't want to live completely like cavemen. They just want to eat like them, and be healthier. With big muscles and lots of endurance.
Loren Cordain, a professor at Colorado State University and the author of “The Paleo Diet,” links the movement to a 1985 New England Journal of Medicine article, which proclaimed that the "diet of our remote ancestors may be a reference standard for modern human nutrition."
Another source of paleo converts is CrossFit, a fitness program known for grueling workouts combining weightlifting and gymnastics. CrossFit trainers, who teach at more than 1,200 gyms and other affiliates across the country, generally encourage clients to follow either a caveman diet or the Zone diet, which requires tracking calories. "Some of the gyms have hardcore paleo folks, and if you're a member of that gym then you're paleo, while other gyms are hardcore Zone," said Anthony Budding, who manages the content on CrossFit.com.
Experts in early humans dispute some of the tenets of latter-day paleos, including the belief that fasting is beneficial and that the body is unequipped to handle an agriculture-based diet.
Still, there is a "sharp contrast" between the strength and fitness of our distant ancestors and us, said Clark Larsen, a physical anthropologist at Ohio State University. "The male or female of 12,000 to 15,000 years ago will be considerably stronger and in better shape," he said. Unfortunately, life was short: If you made it to age 30 or so, you had done well.
The paleos consider the vegans a "a misguided, rival tribe," which we found kind of hilarious. Mr. Goldstein didn't interview the rival vegan tribe, but we already know what they think about the paleos: that they're a bunch of raw meat-eating barbarians. In point of fact only one guy in the group eats his grass-fed beef raw. He does use a fork, though.
Trainer Tracy Anderson, who is opening a gym with Gwyneth Paltrow and used to train Madonna before they had a reportedly nasty parting of ways, attempts to get The Early Show's Harry Smith in shape using only a towel. Tracy says that to keep New Year's fitness resolutions, break them into specific, sustainable goals, such as "I will lose two pounds this week." She also says to try to make fitness fun. Take a look:
Sting's wife Trudie Styler and trainer James D'Silva have a new exercise video out called Trudie Styler's Warrior Yoga. Trudie and James take Kathie Lee and Hoda through some simple moves; Kathie Lee alerts us that one move has revealed her Spanx. Trudie is 55 and has been doing yoga for 20 years. She looks fabulous. Take a look:
Have you ever had more trouble exercising in the morning than in the afternoon? If so, you are not alone. It turns out that it really is harder to exercise in the morning than later in the day. Most world records for athletes were broken in the late afternoon. And those that exercise later in the day get more benefit out of it. Gina Kolata of The New York Times investigates:
But, it turns out, a small group of researchers has studied the question of exercise performance and time of day, even doing studies of heart rates. And not only are performances better in the late afternoon and early evening, but, contrary to what exercise physiologists would predict, heart rates are also higher for the same effort.
One recent study, by the late Thomas Reilly and his colleagues at the Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences at Liverpool John Moores University in England, found that people's maximum heart rates and sub-maximal heart rates were lower in the morning but that their perception of how hard they were working was the same in the morning as it was later in the day.
Dr. Reilly and his colleague Jim Waterhouse, in a review published this year, also noted that athletes' best performances, including world records, were typically set in the late afternoon or early evening.
Greg Atkinson, also at Liverpool John Moores University, said that some researchers, noticing that heart rates during exercise were lower in the morning, reasoned the way I did -- that people must be more efficient in the morning. It would mean that exercise was easier in the morning. Of course, it seemed harder to me, but I could have been deluding myself. Not really, Dr. Atkinson said. It actually is harder to exercise in the morning.
"Most components (strength, power, speed) of athletic performance are worst in the early hours of the morning," he wrote in an e-mail message. “Ratings of perceived exertion during exercise have generally been found to be highest in the early morning."
If you exercise later in the day, your muscles are more flexible and stronger and your heart and lungs are more efficient, said Michael H. Smolensky, an expert in chronobiology, the study of the body clock.
Of course, if the only way you can get your exercise in is to do it early in the morning, that's perfectly fine. It just may feel more difficult than if you did it later in the day. This study was based on regular exercisers who exercised vigorously at least three times a week.
Chefs are surrounded by delicious food all day and they must taste the food before they send it out to customers. So how do they lose weight when they need to? Time magazine has a very interesting article on this subject.
Alton Brown lost 50 pound by simply banning certain foods, such as french fries. Rocco DiSpirito (who has a new diet cookbook coming out called Now Eat This: Fried Chicken, Macaroni and Cheese, Brownies and 147 Other Favorite Dishes You Thought You Could Never Eat--All Under 350 Calories) went on Dancing With the Stars, did a heavy exercise program and cut out all sugar. Tyler Florence and Michael Lomonaco have a different method, as does chocolatier Jacques Torres.
Tyler Florence is among the chefs who told me they had massively cut down on their meat intake. Even Michael Lomonaco, the chef of the Manhattan steak joint Porter House New York who recently knocked off 10 lb., eats a lot of simply cooked proteins surrounded by vegetables. "I do a slow-roasted salmon--there's no oil, no added fats--roasted on cedarwood in an oven. It's served with big white beans, fresh tomatoes and tarragon," he says. "What a great steak house this is: the chef is telling us to eat salmon."
But Jacques Torres, the New York City--based chocolatier, still eats his chocolate. Through Weight Watchers, he knocked off 20 lb. and then another 12 lb. in September in a charity competition for chefs that was sponsored by the weight-loss program. He stocks up on 70%-cocoa chocolate bars, with the goal of always having a low-sugar option on hand. Because when a craving hits, not even a Weight Watchers--trained, insanely talented pastry chef with a refined dessert palate can get in its way. "Last Sunday I was craving so much for sweets, I went to buy a cheesecake." Even worse, he confesses, "I bought it at the supermarket. I was in Jersey."
You can see diet recipes from eight chefs who managed to lose weight despite being surrounded by temptation every day here.
