Can cake for breakfast help you lose weight?

Cake for breakfast, every girl's birthday dream

Happy birthday to me! Today I woke up to best news a girl can hear on her birthday: “Chocolate cake for breakfast could help you lose weight,” reported The Huffington Post.

That’s according to a recent study from Tel Aviv University, which found that eating dessert with breakfast may help you avoid craving sweets later in the day.

Researchers divided participants into two groups, one that ate a 300-calorie breakfast and the other that ate a 600-calorie breakfast that included dessert. In both groups, men consumed1600 calories per day and women consumed 1400. The group that ate the 300-calorie breakfast also followed a low-carb diet.

At the end of the 32-week study, those who had consumed a 600-calorie breakfast had lost an average of 40 pounds more per person than those in the other group.

OK, that’s great, but how does it translate to the headline, “Chocolate cake for breakfast will help you lose weight”?  The study’s author, Daniela Jakubowicz, contends that the people who ate a large breakfast with dessert were less likely to indulge later in the day, whereas those who started the day by restricting calories experienced more intense sugar cravings and cheated on their diets.

It seems to me that this study has too many variables to be valid.  First of all, only one group participated in a low-carb diet. Second, the two breakfasts differed by the overall number of calories, not just whether dessert was included.

What we do know (and have learned from other studies) is that a highly restrictive diet does not work in the long run.

And, since I enjoyed a homemade veggie omelet and fresh strawberries for breakfast, I think I’ll wait till tonight to have my cake.

Superbowl skinny dip

Eat this dip by the spoonful -- it's good for you!

I have a mantra that accompanies me to parties: More veggies, less dip/More salsa, less chip.

You never know what’s in a dip, but most likely it  won’t bode well for your waistline. Salsa, on the other hand, is a safe bet, made mostly of tomatoes and spices.

But recently, I discovered a dip recipe that allows me to smother my carrot sticks and cucumbers to my heart’s delight – and it is SO simple.

You need only four ingredients: Fat-free Greek yogurt, dill, green onions, and sea salt

I usually start with the yogurt and add lots of dill and green onions (you can’t have too much). Then I add a tiny bit of sea salt to taste. This dip is seriously delicious and packed with protein.

Go ahead and try it for this year’s Superbowl party. No one will even suspect that it’s healthy!

I’m a Mom!

Dariusz Georg Radziszewski arrived September 29 at 6:45am via natural birth at Adventist Hinsdale Hospital. He was 7lb 13 oz and 21in. We are all doing well and could not be happier! Here’s a quick recap, by the numbers, of the past six weeks.

One day old

12: Hours I spent in labor at the hospital

4: Hours I spent power-walking the hospital hallways to speed up my contractions. (Note to self: Next time bring a pedometer and better shoes.)

6: Minutes I pushed. He shot out like a cork in a champagne bottle, along with my water.

1: Pounds per week Dariusz has gained since leaving the hospital. He’s pushing 14 now.

23: Pounds I gained during pregnancy

6: Pounds left to lose as of six weeks postpartum

5: Longest consecutive number of hours Daruisz has slept. (Once. We thought he died!)

300+: Number of diapers already changed

4: Times I’ve been peed on while changing a diaper

2: Days I’ve been to the gym since giving birth. Thank you, Grandma!

4: Weeks it took to button my skinny jeans (not including the muffin top)

10: Minutes I have (if I’m lucky) until the hungry little guy wakes up to eat.  Later!

Extreme sport: Labor

I might be tough, but am I tough enough for labor?

In my best effort to mentally prepare for childbirth, I have been comparing it to a sports competition. After all, if labor is such a physical event, my experience enduring 26.2-mile beasts, grueling interval workouts, awkward yoga poses and high-pressure team sports should prepare me for the discomfort ahead.

In fact, today I announced to my husband, who came home to find me sprawled out on the couch for the third day in a row, “I’m tapering.”

But after reviewing the game rules of labor, I’m more than a bit intimidated. I am, however, convinced of one thing: If labor were a sport, it would top Ironman.

• You spend nine months training but don’t know the exact day or time of the event. For the last month, you must be ready to go at any moment. Unfortunately, you will spend these final weeks in the worse physical condition than you were when you started training. You will feel more tired, weaker and more out of shape than ever before.
• Your coach will have never played the sport before, but he will be the main person responsible for your success – besides you, of course. Oh yeah, if this is your first birth, you will have no experience, either.
• The format can best be described as an intense interval workout that lasts up to 24 hours and continues to get harder the longer you stay in the game. By the end, intervals will consist of 90 seconds on with 60 seconds rest. Once you’ve started, there are no timeouts, no halftime and you absolutely cannot quit.
• Breathing is especially important. Although there is nothing relaxing about this game, you must practice calm, yogic breathing throughout the entire event.
• Imagine you are on your last repeat of an 8×400 speed workout, at mile 20 of a marathon and at the last pushup of a set to fatigue. Be prepared for all of the strange bodily responses that occur with these events. You may puke, lose control of your bowels and emit loud, embarrassing grunting sounds.

Despite all of these factors, millions of women enter this event called labor every day, for one reason. When all is said and done, you will get to take home a prize more valuable than an Olympic gold medal. I say, let the games begin!

To lose belly fat, does cardio really beat lifting weights?

Spare tire. Muffin top. Beer belly. Love handles. While natural disasters, terrorism and economic blight threaten our nation, millions of Americans are waging war on a more intimate enemy: abdominal fat.  

A recent Duke University Medical Center study confirms what many trainers have been telling clients for years.  Burn more calories, lose more fat. The study claims that aerobic exercise is better than resistance training is at banishing belly fat because it burns more calories.  

The truth is, traditional aerobic exercise (think running, swimming, biking) is a better calorie burner than traditional resistance training (think 3 sets of 10 with 60 seconds rest in between). But if you change its traditional format, resistance training can burn massive amounts of calories — even more than your recurring date with the treadmill.

The key is to keep your heart rate elevated throughout your workout, so that your strength workout becomes aerobic. To do this, you need to cut out the time you would spend resting between sets and instead start performing another exercise (known as circuit training).  You also need to choose exercises that work large muscles and/or target multiple muscle groups at the same time.  For example, instead of performing a machine shoulder press, combine a squat with a dumbbell shoulder press.

When you perform full-body exercise in a circuit, not only are you maximizing calorie burn during the workout, you are building more lean muscle mass, which increases your metabolism in the long run.

This 15-minute circuit workout will help you get started. Perform each move for 30 seconds. Repeat each circuit 3 times.

Circuit 1

• Lunges with bicep curls
• Pushups
• Squat jumps
• Mountain climbers
• Rest 30 seconds

Circuit 2

• Isometric (stationary) squat with wide-grip row
• Plank with hip extension (alternate kicking with each leg)
• Bench dips
• Alternating lunge jumps
• Rest 30 seconds