Month: December 2018

Categories
Weight Loss Exercise

Starving on Survivor

Starving on SurvivorI have recently stopped watching the TV show Survivor but I was definitly hooked on Survivor for years. I remember when I first started watching Survivor I used to say that I would be voted off in the first week, don’t know how true that is but anyway.

I have always enjoyed watching the people on Survivor do dumbe things and lose until the almost disappeared and then in a metamorphosis they would appear to get fat in front of our eyes during the last episode when the show gave away the million dollars.

So two questions, why do they lose so much and why do they gain it all back.

Well first of all everyone knows that if you do not eat enough food and still have to get exercise you will lose weight. Look what happens as the show goes on though, people get lazy, sluggish and make bad decisions. The real problem with the contensents on Survivor is that their metabolism slows, they start lacking in sleep and nutrients and finally near the end they seethe end in sight and just push a little while longer.

Once the on-island show is over the Survivors go home and quickly put their show lost back on. The 39 days was a out of body, out of mind experience and they did not learn anything, they just starved. Everyone gets back to their old diet whether they wanted or planned to or not and they gain that 30 or 40 pounds pretty quickly.

So I think the message of Survivor is clear if you want to lose and change your lifestyle Survivor probably is not it. This gets me back to how I could survive better on Survivor.

First bulk up and get in shape before the show. Try to go in with good cardio ability and be very strong but 30 – 40 pounds over, wou will lose it anyway.

Next, don’t be a leader, be very helpful to everyone individually so that they feel a kinship to you. As we have all seen the helpers go pretty far on Survivor and the leaders get knocked off pretty quickly. The flip part of this though is that if you need to make a decision in front of others never agaonize aboout it just make it quickly and live with the consequences, no one on survivor seems to like people that think about decisions.

Once you are in the third or fourth week solidify yourself with at least three other people although all independently and start to really “play the game”. Make sure that your partners are never in trouble at the same time and for sure cater to everyone the best you can.

Now this part I think is important, suring the second or third week I think that it is important to make a couple of pretty big mistakes. These mistakes can not be something that affects other people and never in a challenge but are things that you have to clean up yourself. This will make it seem like you are not competition and people will let you stay…cross anyone though and you will be out quickly.

Lastly, as you get close to the end of survivor go all out. Start to play really hard and never lose a challenge. All the rules seem to change in the last few episodes and at this point people are never really safe. You are only safe when you have won the challanges. When you are in front of the counsel at the end of theshow you can point out how you helped everyone, where never back stabbing and you still outwitted, outplayed and outlasted everyone else.

Then the next morning go on the morning show to get the million dollar check and sign your book deal.

Categories
Weight Loss Products

Science or Snake Oil: is Garcinia cambogia the magic weight-loss pill it’s hyped up to be?

The burgeoning field of complementary medicines, including weight-loss products, is now a billion-dollar industry. Every year, more people are spending disposable income on complementary and alternative medicines that may prove to have no benefit for our health.

Garcinia Cambogia is one such example. Marketed as a weight-loss pill, it has had an exponential rise in sales since it was featured on the Doctor Oz show.

Garcinia cambogia is the former scientific name of a native Southeast Asian plant, belonging to the family Clusiaceae, that bears a pumpkin-shaped fruit. The skin of the fruit contains the active ingredient, hydroxycitric acid (HCA). HCA inhibits an enzyme that produces fatty acid, thus suppressing fatty acid and the processing of cholesterol.

But does this mode of action translate to the weight-loss claims associated with it? Or is it just clever marketing convincing us this product helps us lose weight?

An Australian advertisement for the weight-loss supplement Garcinia Cambogia.
Screenshot, http://www.garciniacambogiasave.com/, CC BY

Double-blinded, randomised controlled trials are the gold standard of clinical study and whenever possible should be conducted to test the effectiveness of a treatment compared to a placebo. Weight-loss products should be assessed for a minimum of six months, with a further six-month follow-up period (12 months total).

There has never been a long-term study investigating the efficacy of Garcinia Cambogia. Most of the studies have been conducted in animals.

In fact, the majority of well-designed trials investigating the effect of this product on weight loss have found no effect that is of clinical relevance. In a 12-week double-blind, placebo-controlled trial conducted in humans, people receiving 3000mg of Garcinia Cambogia extract (1500mg of the active component HCA) per day lost the same amount of weight as the control group.

Another 12-week study with a four-week follow-up (16 weeks total) also found no greater weight-loss effect than for a placebo control group. For those studies where a statistically significant effect was reported, the weight loss was around one kilogram more than for those receiving a placebo pill.

Positive and greater weight losses were found in some studies, but this effect is suppressed when looking at all of the studies combined.

The Garcinia Cambogia plant.
Livia Lacolare/Flickr, CC BY

With respect to other health benefits from taking this supplement, the evidence to suggest it can improve blood cholesterol levels is lacking.

Most importantly, the product safety profile of Garcinia Cambogia has been adequately tested and there appear to be no issues.

Some complementary medicines have been found to contribute to improved health outcomes, through increased efficacy and cost-effectiveness. However, if there is to be a role for such complementary and alternative weight-loss products and medicines, we must build upon the evidence to investigate whether these increasingly popular products are a viable treatment option.

A recent Obesity Australia and Price Waterhouse Coopers report found obesity cost Australia A$8.6 billion in 2011-2012, with the indirect costs far higher. We must establish whether complementary medicines have a role to play in preventing and treating obesity. If we take no action to reduce obesity rates, an additional 2.4 million people will become obese at a cost of $87.7 billion over 10 years.

Please visit this website if you’re interested in taking part in our clinical weight-loss trials on Garcinia Cambogia and other weight-loss supplements.

Categories
Weight Loss Exercise

Starving on Survivor

Starving on SurvivorI have recently stopped watching the TV show Survivor but I was definitly hooked on Survivor for years. I remember when I first started watching Survivor I used to say that I would be voted off in the first week, don’t know how true that is but anyway.

I have always enjoyed watching the people on Survivor do dumbe things and lose until the almost disappeared and then in a metamorphosis they would appear to get fat in front of our eyes during the last episode when the show gave away the million dollars.

So two questions, why do they lose so much and why do they gain it all back.

Well first of all everyone knows that if you do not eat enough food and still have to get exercise you will lose weight. Look what happens as the show goes on though, people get lazy, sluggish and make bad decisions. The real problem with the contensents on Survivor is that their metabolism slows, they start lacking in sleep and nutrients and finally near the end they seethe end in sight and just push a little while longer.

Once the on-island show is over the Survivors go home and quickly put their show lost back on. The 39 days was a out of body, out of mind experience and they did not learn anything, they just starved. Everyone gets back to their old diet whether they wanted or planned to or not and they gain that 30 or 40 pounds pretty quickly.

So I think the message of Survivor is clear if you want to lose and change your lifestyle Survivor probably is not it. This gets me back to how I could survive better on Survivor.

First bulk up and get in shape before the show. Try to go in with good cardio ability and be very strong but 30 – 40 pounds over, wou will lose it anyway.

Next, don’t be a leader, be very helpful to everyone individually so that they feel a kinship to you. As we have all seen the helpers go pretty far on Survivor and the leaders get knocked off pretty quickly. The flip part of this though is that if you need to make a decision in front of others never agaonize aboout it just make it quickly and live with the consequences, no one on survivor seems to like people that think about decisions.

Once you are in the third or fourth week solidify yourself with at least three other people although all independently and start to really “play the game”. Make sure that your partners are never in trouble at the same time and for sure cater to everyone the best you can.

Now this part I think is important, suring the second or third week I think that it is important to make a couple of pretty big mistakes. These mistakes can not be something that affects other people and never in a challenge but are things that you have to clean up yourself. This will make it seem like you are not competition and people will let you stay…cross anyone though and you will be out quickly.

Lastly, as you get close to the end of survivor go all out. Start to play really hard and never lose a challenge. All the rules seem to change in the last few episodes and at this point people are never really safe. You are only safe when you have won the challanges. When you are in front of the counsel at the end of theshow you can point out how you helped everyone, where never back stabbing and you still outwitted, outplayed and outlasted everyone else.

Then the next morning go on the morning show to get the million dollar check and sign your book deal.