ZEELAND, MI — Pete Pallas didn’t set any big goals when he started his weight-loss journey: He just wanted to lose 25 pounds. That, and avoid having to buy pants with a 50-inch waist.
Now, 150 pounds lighter, Pallas recently was named a winner in Weight Watchers’ 50 Years of Success contest.
And his pants? Size 32.
“I’ve changed my life,” said Pallas, 51, the director of operations at Herman Miller in Zeeland. “I’ll never go back.”
Lifting weights after work in Herman Miller’s gym, he talked about how he managed to lose about half his body weight.
His inspiration came four years ago, after taking a couple of weeks of vacation over Christmas. He was at his home in Norton Shores, getting ready for work, when he found it was a struggle to button his size-48 pants.
“I said I’m not going to a size 50,” he recalled. “Enough was enough.”
He also worried about his health. He was on medication for diabetes, cholesterol and blood pressure.
“I was way too young to have all that going on,” he said.
Hoping to lose about 25 pounds, he joined a walking group through his workplace wellness program. At 307 pounds, that was about the only exercise he could handle. Just walking a mile was difficult.
He lost about 40 pounds in the next nine months. He wanted to continue dropping weight, but became frustrated as he failed to make progress. His wife, Sally, encouraged him to try Weight Watchers.
Pallas resisted at first. He pictured the meetings as a bunch of women sitting around talking about emotional stuff.
He laughs about that now. After he started attending meetings in Muskegon, he found there were other men there. He came to appreciate the fact that different people needed support in different ways.
“And I realized, well, maybe some of my eating was emotional. Maybe it was because I was bored or whatever,” he said.
He took the tips that made sense and applied them to his life. And he lost weight, at a steady pace of a pound or two a week.
Exercising in the company gym became a daily end-of-workday habit. He used the weight machines and began trying the classes offered: yoga, spin and kickboxing.
As he made time for exercise and changed his diet, Pallas said he found tremendous support from his family - his wife Sally, and his kids, Paige, 23, Tom, 21, and Joe, 16.
Now, he weighs about 160 pounds – and he has held that weight as a lifetime Weight Watchers member for two years. His cholesterol, blood pressure and diabetes medications are all in the past.
But Weight Watchers is part of his lifestyle. Pallas still records what he eats every day, and he never misses a weekly meeting. The accountability helps him stay motivated.
“There is something about stepping on that scale every Saturday morning,” he said. “You can weigh yourself at home, but it’s different.”
Pallas made a point of saying he felt good about himself before starting his weight-loss campaign.
“It was never about the weight really, it was about being healthy,” he wrote in his contest entry for Weight Watchers.
Pallas is one of 50 winners chosen in Weight Watchers’ contest from more than 4,000 entries. When he first started losing weight, he said he never would have imagined he would one day be a weight-loss champ.
“Oh, heck no,” he said with a laugh. “No way. No way.”
Pallas remembers sitting in the back of the room at his first few Weight Watchers meetings, looking skeptically at the some of the slender women who attended and wondering why they were there. Then the leader introduced the lifetime members – those who had achieved and were maintaining their goal weight. He was surprised to hear the slender ones listing weight losses of 50, 80 or 160 pounds.
Now, he is the one inspiring others – including a group of co-workers who are exercising and losing weight.
“That helps keep me motivated,” he said. “I feel obligated to help others.”
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Monday, October 21, 2013
12 dirtiest fruits and vegetables
The environmental working group (EWG) of the United States has released nine years in a row "12 dirtiest fruits and vegetables". The list is issued at the end of April this year with apple ranking the first. Recently, the US media have reported in detail.
The so-called "the dirtiest fruits and vegetables", refers to the most seriously polluted fruits and vegetables by pesticides and pesticide residue. Each year, researchers will select 48 kinds of the most popular agricultural products on the market and conduct evaluation for 28000 samples inspected by the United States department of agriculture (USDA) and the United States food and drug administration (FDA) and finally come down to 12 kinds of most polluted ones.
Apple. Apple has for many years been on top of the dirtiest fruits and vegetables list. The test this year found that 99% apple samples contain at least one pesticide residue, and are with the highest amount of residue.
Strawberry It rises to the second from the 5th of last year's ranking .
Grapes. One grape sample has been detected with 15 kinds of pesticide residues. In terms of the volume pesticides, grape is listed at the top of the list, It contains a total of 64 different chemicals.
Celery. A sample of celery can be detected with 13 different pesticides.
Peach. Peach contains many kinds of pesticides. EWG's stressed din the report that apparently pesticides are toxic, but they are to kill insect pests, weeds and fungi, etc bad for the growth of crops.
Spinach. Spinach is one of the most seriously polluted vegetables by pesticide residue.
Bell peppers. Like grapes, a bell pepper sample contains 15 kinds of pesticide residues.
Imported nectarine. Each imported nectarine sample turn out to be positive in pesticide residue detection.
Cucumber.
Potatoes. Compared with other crops, potato contains more pesticide residues.
Cherry tomato. A cherry tomato sample can be detected with 13 different pesticides.
Chili. 67% of chili samples contain pesticide residue even after being washing or peeling.
The so-called "the dirtiest fruits and vegetables", refers to the most seriously polluted fruits and vegetables by pesticides and pesticide residue. Each year, researchers will select 48 kinds of the most popular agricultural products on the market and conduct evaluation for 28000 samples inspected by the United States department of agriculture (USDA) and the United States food and drug administration (FDA) and finally come down to 12 kinds of most polluted ones.
Apple. Apple has for many years been on top of the dirtiest fruits and vegetables list. The test this year found that 99% apple samples contain at least one pesticide residue, and are with the highest amount of residue.
Strawberry It rises to the second from the 5th of last year's ranking .
Grapes. One grape sample has been detected with 15 kinds of pesticide residues. In terms of the volume pesticides, grape is listed at the top of the list, It contains a total of 64 different chemicals.
Celery. A sample of celery can be detected with 13 different pesticides.
Peach. Peach contains many kinds of pesticides. EWG's stressed din the report that apparently pesticides are toxic, but they are to kill insect pests, weeds and fungi, etc bad for the growth of crops.
Spinach. Spinach is one of the most seriously polluted vegetables by pesticide residue.
Bell peppers. Like grapes, a bell pepper sample contains 15 kinds of pesticide residues.
Imported nectarine. Each imported nectarine sample turn out to be positive in pesticide residue detection.
Cucumber.
Potatoes. Compared with other crops, potato contains more pesticide residues.
Cherry tomato. A cherry tomato sample can be detected with 13 different pesticides.
Chili. 67% of chili samples contain pesticide residue even after being washing or peeling.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Weight Watchers better than self-help for weight loss
(Reuters Health) - Compared to going it alone, using the Weight Watchers diet program helps people shed extra pounds, says a new study.
What's more, the company-sponsored study found the more frequently people used Weight Watchers tools, the more weight they lost.
"The people who were most engaged were the people who did best in the program," Craig Johnston, the study's lead author from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said.
Past research found the program, which is known for its point system and meetings, helps people lose weight. But a new website and mobile application needed a closer look, Johnston and his colleagues write in The American Journal of Medicine.
The researchers recruited 292 overweight and obese adults from the Danbury, Connecticut area and randomly split them into two groups.
People in one group were given publicly available printed materials about how to lose weight. The others received access to the Weight Watchers program at no cost.
Those given access to Weight Watchers could attend weekly meetings and use the company's interactive website and mobile app. They were encouraged to use all three tools to reach their weight loss goal.
The researchers had six months of data on 257 of the study's participants.
They found people enrolled in Weight Watchers lost an average of about 5 percent of their starting body weight - around 10 pounds. That compared to an average weight loss of less than 1 percent among those in the self-help group, or just over one pound.
Participants who used the Weight Watchers program tools the most ended up losing the most weight.
For example, those who attended more than half of the weekly meetings and accessed the website and app more than twice a week lost an average of 19 pounds. That compared to about 9 pounds of weight loss among those who heavily used one of the three tools.
"Having options to choose how you get that info and support is absolutely key," Hayden Bosworth said. He studies treatment adherence but wasn't involved with the new study.
"It makes a lot of sense, the results that I saw here," Bosworth, from Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, told Reuters Health.
He said Weight Watchers may help people stay engaged, compared to just getting an initial push from a doctor.
"We know what to do, but we need help with getting it done. That's one of the reasons that Weight Watchers works really well," Johnston said.
He added, however, that it would be interesting to see how it stacks up against other weight loss programs.
"Would they do better or worse? I don't have the data on that," he told Reuters Health.
Bosworth said he's familiar with a weight management program from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs known as MOVE! The results from that program are not as impressive.
He said there could be differences in the programs themselves or the people who sign up for them. For example, people who do Weight Watchers may be more motivated because they typically pay for the program.
Currently, access to the Weight Watchers meetings, website and app costs about $43 per month.
What's more, the company-sponsored study found the more frequently people used Weight Watchers tools, the more weight they lost.
"The people who were most engaged were the people who did best in the program," Craig Johnston, the study's lead author from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said.
Past research found the program, which is known for its point system and meetings, helps people lose weight. But a new website and mobile application needed a closer look, Johnston and his colleagues write in The American Journal of Medicine.
The researchers recruited 292 overweight and obese adults from the Danbury, Connecticut area and randomly split them into two groups.
People in one group were given publicly available printed materials about how to lose weight. The others received access to the Weight Watchers program at no cost.
Those given access to Weight Watchers could attend weekly meetings and use the company's interactive website and mobile app. They were encouraged to use all three tools to reach their weight loss goal.
The researchers had six months of data on 257 of the study's participants.
They found people enrolled in Weight Watchers lost an average of about 5 percent of their starting body weight - around 10 pounds. That compared to an average weight loss of less than 1 percent among those in the self-help group, or just over one pound.
Participants who used the Weight Watchers program tools the most ended up losing the most weight.
For example, those who attended more than half of the weekly meetings and accessed the website and app more than twice a week lost an average of 19 pounds. That compared to about 9 pounds of weight loss among those who heavily used one of the three tools.
"Having options to choose how you get that info and support is absolutely key," Hayden Bosworth said. He studies treatment adherence but wasn't involved with the new study.
"It makes a lot of sense, the results that I saw here," Bosworth, from Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, told Reuters Health.
He said Weight Watchers may help people stay engaged, compared to just getting an initial push from a doctor.
"We know what to do, but we need help with getting it done. That's one of the reasons that Weight Watchers works really well," Johnston said.
He added, however, that it would be interesting to see how it stacks up against other weight loss programs.
"Would they do better or worse? I don't have the data on that," he told Reuters Health.
Bosworth said he's familiar with a weight management program from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs known as MOVE! The results from that program are not as impressive.
He said there could be differences in the programs themselves or the people who sign up for them. For example, people who do Weight Watchers may be more motivated because they typically pay for the program.
Currently, access to the Weight Watchers meetings, website and app costs about $43 per month.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Eating orders for waist watchers
Vegetables
Dieters must grasp a principle: Food of low "heat density" should come first. Food such as vegetables are not only low in quantity of heat but also high in fiber. Fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamins, minerals, and contain more phytochemicals that helps the body to prevent disease the "plant". Remember not to put too much oil into the vegetables.
Soup
After eating a plate of vegetables, you can drink some soup. But remember when you are trying to lose weight, don't drink too much strong soup. Go for some light-flavored soup as far as possible.
Meat, fish, eggs and other food containing proteins
At this time, your stomach is close to half-full already. At this point, you can go for some food with high protein content. You should note that the food had better not be deep fried as not only heat will increase, it is also easy to produce carcinogens; It is suggested to cook the high-protein food with steaming or stewing method.
Rice
We have got used to have plain rice. Rice can easily raise the blood sugar. We can choose to take rice more tardy to prevent ourselves from eating too much food with high starch content. But we cannot avoid having starch. So this sequence can help balance our diet while deduce our calorie intake. We can replace white rice with corn meal or brown rice for weight control purpose.
Fruits
A lot of people think eating fruit before meals can help digestion, but if from the concept of weight loss, it is suggested to eat fruit at last because eating fruits on an empty stomach can raise blood sugar and stimulate the secretion of insulin,which is not conducive to weight loss. It is suggested to choose fruits with low sweetness of fruit such as apples, tomatoes, etc. Slightly adjust your eating sequence and you will find that the weight slowly drops.
Dieters must grasp a principle: Food of low "heat density" should come first. Food such as vegetables are not only low in quantity of heat but also high in fiber. Fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamins, minerals, and contain more phytochemicals that helps the body to prevent disease the "plant". Remember not to put too much oil into the vegetables.
Soup
After eating a plate of vegetables, you can drink some soup. But remember when you are trying to lose weight, don't drink too much strong soup. Go for some light-flavored soup as far as possible.
Meat, fish, eggs and other food containing proteins
At this time, your stomach is close to half-full already. At this point, you can go for some food with high protein content. You should note that the food had better not be deep fried as not only heat will increase, it is also easy to produce carcinogens; It is suggested to cook the high-protein food with steaming or stewing method.
Rice
We have got used to have plain rice. Rice can easily raise the blood sugar. We can choose to take rice more tardy to prevent ourselves from eating too much food with high starch content. But we cannot avoid having starch. So this sequence can help balance our diet while deduce our calorie intake. We can replace white rice with corn meal or brown rice for weight control purpose.
Fruits
A lot of people think eating fruit before meals can help digestion, but if from the concept of weight loss, it is suggested to eat fruit at last because eating fruits on an empty stomach can raise blood sugar and stimulate the secretion of insulin,which is not conducive to weight loss. It is suggested to choose fruits with low sweetness of fruit such as apples, tomatoes, etc. Slightly adjust your eating sequence and you will find that the weight slowly drops.