I've recently added running to my exercise schedule, and have found that my appetite has climbed! Should I be eating anything before running? Or after? Suggestions on how to combat an over-active appetite?

           If you are an athlete or exerciser you need to have at least 45% of your caloric intake made up of carbohydrates. Your body arrangement goal determines the total calorie intake and your activity determines the % make up of those calories (protein, carbs and fats). Consequently if you are an exerciser/athlete pursuing a weight loss goal and allowed 2000 calories/day in order to continue reducing fat, then those calories should be "good" carbohydrates. If you are not an exerciser/athlete then it matters less how you eat your 2000 calories. If you choose to make up your calories with primarily protein and/or fat you may become sluggish and burn less calories, ultimately forcing you to keep lowering your intake to maintain weight loss, and you may develop powerful desires for what your body needs most in order to produce energy: carbohydrates. Better to head off those cravings before you find you've eaten two-thirds of a cheese cake pie and half a quart of ice cream!            Just remember when it comes to weight loss it's all about calories, and when it comes to production it's all about carbohydrates ~ so pick the foods that make you feel the best within the calories you are allowed.
             Should you eat before working out?  If you are a recreational exerciser or simply working to attain fitness, weight loss, etc., you can positively achieve your goal not consuming anything 45 minutes before a workout. But doing so can make the workout more productive (and for competitive athletes the practice of consuming the proper formulated snack ~10-45 minutes before a workout has become typical protocol in order to maximize energy levels throughout the training/event period and speed the recovery process).

Are there specific vitamin needs for women in the menopausal stage, and are there menopausal-specific vitamins you can recommend?

          There are specific vitamin needs for all women and it fluctuations with age, which is why usana now has a my health pak based on gender, age and level of activity.             When it comes to treating menopause with vitamins, there is a "blurred line" between drug action (high doses of specific vitamins to treat a symptom) and the use of a "standard vitamin & mineral formula" as a dietary supplement. The supplement serves the purpose of completing the daily diet, thus potentially staving off certain preventable diseases. Please see the following clinical note on the subject.

Clinical note: Scientific evidence is lacking in the efficacy of over-the-counter substances including specific vitamins for relieving menopausal symptoms. Some of the common compounds that are purported to help alleviate symptoms of menopause are soy isoflavones, black cohosh and Vitamin E. Most of the scientific research is mixed. In other words, studies have shown both positive and negative outcomes. There are certain substances that are not recommended for menopausal symptoms. They are topical progesterone, Dong quai , evening primrose oil, ginseng, licorice, Chinese herb mixtures, or magnet therapy. In some cases, side effects can be severe.

What is the difference between soluble and insoluble fiber?

            Fiber is branded by its ability to dissolve in water. Fiber that moderately dissolves in water is labeled soluble fiber and insoluble fiber does not dissolve in water. These differences are essential to curbing your risk for increasing certain diseases. 

Soluble fiber helps lower blood cholesterol and can reduce the risk of heart disease. It also slows glucose absorption and can help manage and/or lower the risk of increasing diabetes.

Insoluble fiber helps prevent and alleviate constipation, lowers the risk of diverticulosis, hemorrhoids and appendicitis. It can also be active in helping to manage a healthy weight.

                For more information on fiber, read Dietary Fiber. Robert E. Rakel, MD. Baylor College of Medicine Houston in JAMA .

Does the ability to lose or gain weight have anything to do with fat cell count?

          Only in the sense that collective fat cells may influence your decision making related to appetite, but not in any other manner. Whether one is 500 LBS and has a trillion fat cells or one is 120LBS with many fewer fat cells, one would lose the same weight if they had equal calorie shortages. That is, if each person ate 500 calories a day below their calorie burn, each would lose one pound a week.            There is some evidence that being born with a relatively high amount of fat cells may increase your chance of becoming overweight, but of course you would still have to consume the extra calories. No matter what being overweight always comes down to appetite control in relation to how much one moves.  Many things, including fat cells, can affect appetite.

But at the end of the day it becomes a matter of how driven you are to keep your appetite under control so that you can keep your weight within a healthy range - it just may be more problematic for people with relatively high fat cell counts.

In recent years we have radically increased our knowledge on body fat and how it accumulates and affects health (300,000 people a year die from it). Most significantly we have learned that body fat is an endocrine organ (like the liver, pancreas, etc.) that secretes hormones that send messages to the brain to help regulate storage - in other words, fat has a mind of its own and fights to sustain a level it deems acceptable.  Unfortunately that amount generally isn't what you had in mind!

We all know what causes fat gain, which is that calories consumed are averaging greater than output (if you are wearing it, you ate it). But now we know the system of events that lead to the devastating health consequences related to fat storage: First, fat cells increase their size, and when most of them reach their maximum, the body then increases the number of fat cells. As weight gain continues, messages go out to tell the body to look for more storage areas (not just the subcutaneous adiposities or the kind you see) and here is where the trouble begins. Fat is now getting dumped into vital organs (e.g. liver, heart, etc.) and other tissues (like muscles). This fat is very active, leading to a frequent rise in blood fats and cholesterol and forcing the body to resist insulin so it can't proficiently burn blood sugar from carbohydrates and proteins (it wants to burn the accumulating fats). Unburned sugars are then converted to fats and now add to the problem - higher blood fats, increasing storage and little satiety (cells crying for more CHO) - it's a vicious cycle with no way out except to lose weight. But the first place you need to lose it is - that's right, the hazardous areas - the last place it was deposited - the liver and other non-adipose tissues. Unfortunately that may not happen or certainly not fast enough.

If I can only eat 300 calories in one meal, what's the best protein/carb/fat breakdown you'd recommend to give me the best satiety?

   There is no one perfect combination for everyone, but we always recommend including all three of the macronutrients (protein, fats and carbohydrates) because each one contributes to satiety through a different mechanism. This also helps minimize cravings.

     For your relatively low-calorie meal, we suggest including 50 percent of calories from complex carbohydrate (whole grain breads, rice, pasta, etc.), 25 percent from protein and 25 percent fat. Your meal could include a lean-meat sandwich, two eggs and toast, a large salad with proper amounts of dressing (fat) or toppings (protein and fat) with bread (carbohydrates). By including plenty of vegetables (such as in a salad), you'll discover a larger volume of low-calorie foods. Salads also take longer to consume, contributing to satiety.

      For a 300-calorie pre-workout snack, we endorse consuming a meal-replacement liquid or bar for quick digestion and maximum nutrient absorption. Satiety is generally not an issue before training because exercise itself has been found to be one of the most active appetite-control aids available.

Does the female cycle affect weight loss?

     A few days before and during the time you are menstruating, you do burn more calories due to the added cellular activity taking place within. Some female metabolisms may increase up to 15% during this time due to hormonal changes and loss of blood. The increase in metabolism can lead to an increase in appetite in order to compensate for the greater calorie burn (in the same manner that as exercise can lead to an increase in hunger), which is why some women tend to eat more or yearn for different foods during this time of the month. Desires can also be caused by the hormonal changes that affect taste or thought processes. Additionally, certain foods can help sooth difficult times, thus leading to different or unusual food choices.     What all this means is that although a woman may burn more calories for a few days, she usually make up for it, and depending on how one gives into cravings, over-compensates (leading to a slight weight gain).
     In the latter case when the "period" is over and during the next week/s, the woman may return to her pre-period "normal weight'. But as you can see from this very typical situation, although this person may be sticking with her proper diet for 2-3 weeks a month, she still ends up with no net weight lost for the month, making dieting annoying.
      So what's the fix? Now that you are aware of what's going on, try to control your appetite and think "move more if you eat more" during the difficult phase of your cycle - or you may slightly increase your calorie intake during the tough period (i.e. give into a few cravings) and make up for it during the rest of the month so that your monthly weight goals end up on track.
      On the other hand, if your calorie burn is less during the time frame we are discussing it may be because you are not feeling your best and you end up moving less - in other words resting more till the discomfort passes. Fix: move more, because not only will you burn more calories, but exercise also generally helps ameliorate the uncomfortable state.

Why is it that improved muscle mass burns more calories?

    1 pound of muscle burns roughly 6 calories/day at rest and can burn many times more this rate while executing different activities.  The more intense the activity, the more calories the muscles will burn (running stairs for example can burn 10 times the resting amount, weight lifting around 4 times, etc.) A pound of fat burns nearly 2 calories per day and no matter what you do that’s all it burns because body fat doesn’t have anything to do with performing activities – it only jiggles and stores stuff.

Will using the Stairmaster make my legs and butt larger?

   That extra insulation around your butt does not grow because of any kind of exercise; it's genetic and from eating too much. Don't worry about any exercise making your butt larger--you couldn't even measure the difference. Just keep moving, eat less and watch it shrink.    If the exercise is done at the correct intensity to make it aerobic, the spur will not be sufficient to cause muscle hypertrophy (growth). Often what happens is that when one begins an exercise program, their hunger may increase or they may begin justifying additional food – the "I deserved this" syndrome. If caloric consumption exceeds expenditure, then fat stores can increase. This may occur on the thighs and buttocks.

If it takes 3500 calories to lose a pound, do you have to eat 3500 calories to increase a pound?

  If you wanted to gain one pound of body fat, you would have to consume about 3500 calories more than you burned in any given time frame. Many adults gain one pound each year.  Therefore, if all the weight gained was fat, over the course of the year their consumption netted 3500 calories greater than those used – end of story. The warning is that people who gain weight often gain lean body mass (LBM) even if they don’t exercise. Why? Because as weight increases, your body adds small amounts of muscle, bone, etc. With the body fat (generally 1/4 muscle and 3/4 fat) in order to carry the now heavier body through life. Therefore, we often use the formula of roughly 3000 calories per pound of weight gain. Muscle weight is primarily comprised of water and its dry weight (protein) contains 4 calories per gram vs. the 9 calories per gram that fat holds. Thus muscle can yield around 800 calories per pound when including the water weight. Additionally, when we project muscle gain within any goal, we make calorie adjustments based on these numbers.

Is it true that carbohydrates make a person overweight?

   Any amount of food that you eat above the amount of calories you burn will be stored as fat. Carbohydrates are the least likely of the three food types to become fat. The reason is that when too much carbohydrate is expended, it can actually excite your metabolism before it is converted to fat. Excess fat can do the opposite, making more of the excess calories available for fat storage. Our society's waistline has stretched simply because we eat about 250 more calories per day than we did a decade ago and we move less because of technology and lifestyle.

Carbohydrate facts:

• One gram of carbohydrate yields four calories

• Carbohydrates are the perfect preferred form of energy

• Help maintain proper cellular fluid balance

• Maintain satiety by keeping glycogen stores full and adding bulk to the diet

• Spares protein for muscle building

• Primary sources are fruits, vegetables and grains

Remember: extra calories make you fat.

Carbohydrate

   Carbohydrates provide the bulk of calories in the diet for most of the world's population. They represent the major energy source for the average American as well. Daily intake should be at least 50 percent of total caloric intake, and 50-70 percent is often mentioned. This large amount is suggested because carbohydrates are relatively easy for the body to break down so they provide a readily available source of energy.

  All carbohydrates are composed of simple sugars. "Simple" carbohydrates are no bigger than one or two units of sugar. The single sugars, such as glucose, are called monosaccharide. Double sugars, like sucrose, are called disaccharides. Mono- and disaccharides are building blocks for starches and fibers, which are larger carbohydrates, called "complex" carbohydrates. Fibers are complex carbohydrates that are largely indigestible. They are beneficial in that various types of fibers have been shown to decrease cholesterol, slow sugar absorption and change the rate of digestion. Most diets should include 25-30 grams of fiber daily.

What are the benefits of taking Omega supplements, and who should take them?

   you are talk about fish-oil supplements, which generally contain omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids, so-called because of their position of the unsaturated bonds on the fatty acid molecule. In the last 3 to 4 years, it has become fairly clear that certain fish oils ingested in specific amounts may yield health benefits (see below) for certain groups. But what is now beginning to unfold (because clinical trials using fish oils are now being completed) is the information regarding the subpopulations of people that shouldn’t use them. For example, it appears that chronic ingestion of fish-oil supplements may cause problems for users with certain heart conditions.
Many supplement manufacturers jump on the bandwagon early. But because USANA is a research and development company, we always wait until the data regarding a supplement with potential health benefits becomes complete enough to make the proper product and accompanying recommendations, which may include groups of people that a particular supplement may not be appropriate for (contraindicated).
That said, we now have enough data and have released our Fatty Acid supplement along with the proper recommendation and contraindications.
  If you prefer not to use a supplement, we recommend getting your fish oils from food sources. Know that it would be very difficult for anyone to consume too much fish oil from traditional (as opposed to ingesting daily supplements where one may easily reach an intake that may not be proper for them).  Current working recommendations: Omega 3-Fatty acids: 1g of eicosapentaenoic acid plus docosahexaenoic acid (cardioprotective effects); 2-4g/day (lowering cholesterol effects).

Foods: Consume fish, especially fatty cold water fish, 2 times weekly (~6 oz total). Women of childbearing age, nursing, pregnant and young children should choose fish known to have low levels of mercury.

Sources
Fish (3.5 oz. cooked)/ AMOUNT (mg)
Herring: 2,000 mg

Salmon: 1,800-2,100 mg

Whitefish: 1,600 mg

Mackerel, jack, canned: 1,200 mg

Sardines, canned: 1,000-1,400 mg

Bluefish: 1,000 mg

Tuna, canned white (albacore): 900 mg

Trout: 900-1,200 mg

Halibut: 500 mg

Tuna, fresh or canned light: 300 mg

   People with bleeding disorders, those taking anticoagulants, and those with uncontrolled hypertension should not take fish-oil supplements. Large doses of fish oil may suppress the immune system. Thus, supplements may be risky for those with weakened immune systems.
What’s a "large dose"? One definition is 3 grams or more a day, but no one really knows what the cutoff point is. Large doses can increase glucose levels in people with diabetes. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that fish-oil supplements might increase the risk of cardiac arrhythmias in people with implantable cardioverter defibrillators.

You can order your Omega-3 supplement from my Nutrition Store today. By clicking on the link My HealthPak

Is it possible to have the prearranged meal plan set with only food that I will eat and eliminate the foods that I do not, and if so how?

It would be virtually impossible to create a program that would allow you to do this.  No one eats the exact same thing each day, and we've learned from 15 years of creating menus for up to 150,000 people per year, that even with the "perfect" menu people don't stick to that menu each day, or at least not nonstop, which makes the whole menu-creating process an exercise in futility.

Which is better to do first in the same day....cardio or weight/strength training?

  It all hinge on your goal.  If your primary focus is strength/muscle gain, then follow a 5-10 minute warm-up with your strength training routine and execute your cardio work at the end of the exercise period.  If you primary goal is fat loss, then it doesn't matter which you start with-many people like to start with cardio in order to get the body fully warmed up.

   There are many arguments on the Internet about which one should be done first. Some believe that if you perform weight training initially, you will use up all of your carbohydrate stores in your body and therefore burn unconditional fat during your cardio session, however there is no truth in this type of workout routine. If your cardio sessions are rather intense, you may want to start with the strength training first for a couple of reasons. One, if you perform a long duration, intense cardio session; you may be too tired to focus on your strength training routine which would rise your risk of injury during weights and/or reduce your resistance training results. Lastly, carrying out the optimal strength training workout that addresses muscle imbalances, core and balance, etc... First will assist in ideal efficiency, and calorie burn during your cardio exercise.

I am a 35 yr. old female and I am underweight and wanted to know would taking vitamins and exercising actually help to gain weight?

    Resistance training will help you gain muscle, and you will gain weight as long as you consume more calories than you are burning over any given period of time. By carrying out progressive weight training during your increase in calorie intake the weight you gain will be predominately muscle.Although a multivitamin & mineral supplement (MVM) has no direct connection with weight gain, everyone should take one and especially if you are underweight. 

      As mentioned above exercising will help you build muscle (as long as you consume more calories than you burn and follow a healthy macronutrient guideline-this is addressed below).  If you choose to exercise, you may temporarily skip any kind of cardio workout and focus more on resistance training to build muscle.

   Eventually you will need to consume more calories than you burn in order to gain weight, so you will need to keep track of your caloric intake each day.  How quickly you gain weight will be determined by the size of your daily caloric surplus. Keep in mind that one pound of muscle equals 1500 calories and you can use this as a general guideline when determining how much more you need to eat per day to start adding pounds.

   If you lead a fairly active life ("moderate" on the Daily Caloric Needs tool) and if you're about 5'5" and 100 lbs., you probably burn around 1800 calories per day (this is just an example-please re-calculate based on your actual height and weight).  If you add a half hour of strength training per day you'll burn another 70-100 calories (depending on intensity).  So if you want to gain about a pound per week, you would need to consume 2-400 calories per day more than you burn.  If you want to gain a half-pound per week, cut that in half. The general blessing for macronutrients is 55% carbohydrates, 25% fat and 20% protein.  Focus on the total number of calories you're consuming and do your best to make sure you are meeting your protein recommendation.

How do body fluids affect my weight?

   As an example, weigh yourself, step off the scale, drink 16oz (1lb) of water, and then step back on. See what's happening? The point is that most foods and fluids are made up of predominantly water.  After your body absorbs the calories and nutrients that were part of the food or fluids, you will ultimately eliminate the unneeded water. Until then, you have the worthless weight in you.

    Everyday weight can vary slightly based on the type of foods/fluids you consume, and sometimes by up to 2% of your total current “real” weight in either direction. To avoid this issue, weigh yourself once a week in the same type of clothing, time of day, scale & continue the same personal (including bowel) habits leading up to the weigh-in. Bottom line is that if you are truly losing fat, your weight will be trending down – you can only blame it on water at a single weigh-in – 7days later, if your weight is not down from the weight you were 14 days ago – you’re cheating. One way to fix that is with the RESET program  

Why do men lose weight easier than women?

    It is a very common belief, or fact depending on who you ask that men have an easier time losing weight than women. A study from Brookhaven National Laboratory published in January looked at one of the possible reasons for the differences. Here is the short version of what the study found: A group of men and women were told to fast for 17 hours. After the 17 hours, they were presented with their favorite foods, were required to smell and taste it, but could not consume it. Both men and women’s brain activity showing hunger were exceptionally more active. They were then asked to think about something else while still in the room with the food. The researchers found that men were better able to forget about the hunger, but the women continued to have emotional cravings.