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New Study Confirms: Eating Breakfast Keeps Weight Down
April 1, 2008 - Harper Chooses Keep Canada/Keep America Slim
What's the Magic Secret for Weight Loss?
Taking the Yo out of the Yo-Yo
Is Stress Making You Fat?
Is Your Job Making You Fat?
Low Calorie Benefits May Be Misleading
Keep Canada/Keep America Slim Launches Elementary School Program
Keep Canada/Keep America Slim Joins Canadian Obesity Network

New Study Confirms: Eating Breakfast Keeps Weight Down

Hamilton: A five-year study of Minnesota school children showed that those who skipped breakfast were found to weigh about 5lbs (2.3kg) more, ate less healthy during the day and exercised less frequently than those who ate first thing in the morning.

"It may seem counter-intuitive," said Mark Pereira, who led the research at the University of Minnesota, "but while they (breakfast eaters) ate more calories, they did more to burn those off, and that may be because those who ate breakfast did not feel so lethargic."
“This confirms what we have been teaching since 1997,” said Keep Canada/Keep America Slim president Lee Fairbanks. “People gain weight by skipping breakfast. And skipping breakfast is part of most people’s approach to dieting. It is a great example of how dieting makes you fatter.”

Fairbanks suggests that part of the puzzle is the ratio between fat and calories during the day. “Breakfast is typically a low-fat, high-fibre meal. This starts you off with a ‘cushion’ to offset the higher-fat meals most people have later in the day. Without that cushion, you are more likely to store the fat from later meals.” Fairbanks predicted that adult studies would show that the problem gets worse with age.

“Our consulting work across Canada has shown that adults, especially women consistently under eat to the point of starvation levels,” he said. “This almost always starts with skipping breakfast. Once the habit is set as a child or teenager it becomes a lifestyle by default for the rest of a person’s life. We believe an adult can gain as much as eight pounds per year by skipping breakfast, and this offsets any gain they might have achieved by reducing calories later in the day.”

"It's not just a girl problem, but it is certainly more of an issue among the younger girls age group," said Mr. Pereira. "They skip breakfast because they worry about weight gain - and it's ironic that the ones who aren't worried and eat in the mornings are the ones who keep their weight down. What happens is that total fat and saturated fat as a percentage of total daily energy were lower in the breakfast eaters compared with breakfast skippers," he explained.

Over 2,216 students from Minneapolis and St. Paul middle and high schools contributed to the study by completing diet and weight surveys from 1998 to 1999 and again from 2003 and 2004. The average age of the students at the start was 15 and at the end 19. The study found that at age 15 only 27 per cent of girls and 38 per cent of boys ate breakfast, and by age 19 that number had dropped to 21 per cent for both genders. Sixteen per cent of girls skipped breakfast at 15, while 13 per cent of boys never ate breakfast at that age. During the five years, the researchers found an almost 17 percent increase in the number of boys who skipped breakfast, rising to 19 per cent, while the number of teenage girls skipping breakfast actually declined by 2 per cent to 14 per cent. The rest were listed as “intermittent” breakfast eaters.

Breakfast Eating and Weight Change in a 5-Year Prospective Analysis of Adolescents: Project EAT,” March edition of Pediatrics, AmericanAcademy of Pediatrics.
PEDIATRICS Vol. 121 No. 3 March 2008, pp. e638-e645
Abstract:  http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/121/3/e638

Contacts:
Lee Fairbanks, President, Keep Canada/Keep America Slim, 905-628-0279, bigskinny@keepcanadaslim.com
Mark Pereira, Faculty, Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, 612-624-4173, perei004@umn.edu  

April 1, 2008 - Harper Chooses Keep Canada/Keep America Slim

OTTAWA: Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced that he has chosen Keep Canada/Keep America Slim (KCS) for his personal weight loss program. Harper said he intends to set the pace for the country by losing 20 pounds.

“Obesity is the Number One health issue facing our country,” said Mr. Harper, “and I believe as leader of the country I should set a good example and lead the way to a healthier future for Canada. Together we can Keep Canada Slim.”

KCS President Lee Fairbanks said he will personally supervise the PM’s weight loss plan. “It is very common for politicians to gain 20 pounds in the first year of office, especially a high office such as Prime Minister,” he explained. “A lot of this weight gain comes from stress, which we known increases abdominal fat, especially in people over 40.”

Fairbanks said the second leading cause of weight gain for politicians comes from eating too many cocktail wieners at political events.

“I have been charting Mr. Harper’s eating habits for the past month as we put together a personalized program for him, and he consumes three times the normal amount of cocktail wieners, when compared to his predecessors, Prime Ministers Martin and Chrétien.”

Fairbanks said Martin, know for fastidious eating habits, rarely consumed more than 2 cocktail wieners per day, except when campaigning, when he increased his intake to as many as 8. One of Chrétien’s favourite habits was to dip the wieners in poutine sauce.

“The poutine sauce made it very difficult to accurately calculate Mr. Chrétien’s overall fat and calorie intake, but he was able to offset this habit by the fact that he was such a fast talker. Mr. Chrétien burned on average 50% more calories per word than the average PM,” explained Fairbanks.

Fairbanks says Harper’s increasing weight is also a result of his political leaning as a Conservative.

“It’s well known that Conservatives gain more weight in office than Liberals. This started with Trudeau and continued with Chrétien and Martin,” explained Fairbanks. “Liberals by nature tend to jump from one side of an argument to another depending on polls, whereas Conservatives tend to take a stand and stick with it. This jumping around causes Liberals to keep their weight down.”

Fairbanks points to former PM Joe Clark as an example. “Before he became PM he was quite slim, but within months of his appointment he developed a double chin. This was because of his inability to change his position on wage and price controls. Trudeau on the other hand was a master at reversing his position, and remained slim all his life.”

Fairbanks said Mr. Harper’s personalized plan would include limiting cocktail wieners to 2 per day, and encouraging him to change his mind more often.

“People who change their mind more often tend to become emotional in defence of their never-ending new strategies. In Parliament this results in more standing to defend positions and make new statements, which burns off more calories.”

Keep Canada/Keep America Slim has also started work on a new menu for the dining hall on Parliament Hill. This will focus on adding fibre to their meals.

“We have added psyllium fibre to the poutine,” said Fairbanks. “This should increase the quality and quantity of bowel movements, which should be to everyone’s best interest.”

Keep Canada/Keep America Slim is a member of the Canadian Obesity Network an association of more than 1,000 of Canada’s leading obesity researchers.

Keep Canada/Keep America Slim materials can be purchased by individuals through participating offices or on the website at www.keepcanadaslim.com. Consultations are offered through medical and wellness centres in Alliston, Windsor, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Stoney Creek, London, Niagara Falls, Toronto, Simcoe, Winnipeg and Calgary. The program is also available at the Brantford St. Joseph’s Hospital Lifecare Centre.

Contact:

Lee Fairbanks
bigskinny@keepcanadaslim.com
www.keepcanadaslim.com
905-628-0279

APRIL FOOLS!

What’s the Magic Secret for Weight Loss?

By Lee Fairbanks
Keep Canada/Keep America Slim

Whenever I’m introduced as the author of Keep Canada/Keep America Slim the first question from most people is “so what’s the magic secret?” What they want, of course, is a 25-word summary of the 106-page book and 5-week consultation program that will instantly give them a solution to their lifetime of weight control challenges.

Is there such a solution? Yes and no. Yes there is a solution; no it can’t be explained in 25 words.

In truth, successful weight control starts by understanding why your efforts have failed so often in the past. Chances are very high (90 per cent according to the Canadian Obesity Network) that you have lost weight in the past but gained it back – and usually more than you lost. Many people have done this several times. It’s called Yo-Yo Dieting.

So the ‘magic secret’ starts with understanding what you are doing wrong, and then deciding to do something different.

In our program, Keep Canada/Keep America Slim, we begin by explaining what I call The Four Myths of
Dieting. Chances are high that you have fallen prey to one or more of these Myths, and hence have become a human Yo-Yo.

The Four Myths are as follows:

1. You must eat less to lose weight.

2. You must exercise more to lose weight.

3. Faster weightloss is always better.

4. Measuring pounds lost is the true measure of success.

How many of these do you believe? Here’s the truth on these issues.

1. Ninety-nine per cent of the people who are trying to lose weight are currently undereating if they want to keep the weight off and avoid the Yo-Yo. If you eat less than your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) requirements you will lose muscle as well as fat when you lose weight.

2. Exercise is an add-on, not a foundation of weight loss. If you make exercise the
foundation of your weight control program sooner or later it will fail. Injuries, family
situations, illness, lack of motivation, there are many reasons why people inevitably cut
back on exercise. You must understand food to have permanent control.

3. Your body can only lose weight safely at a certain rate, usually 1-2 pounds per week.
Faster weight loss can only be achieved through starvation (low-calorie) dieting or
artificial stimulants. Both undermine your health and make permanent weight loss
impossible.

4. If you lose five pounds of fat, but gain five pounds of muscle you will have “failed” if
you are measuring pounds, but be spectacularly successful if you are measuring the true marker of success – bodyfat percentage. Healthy men should be between 11-19 per cent and women between 17-23 per cent, increasing slightly after menopause.

What's the Magic Secret for Weight Loss?

 

Taking the Yo out of the Yo-Yo

By Lee Fairbanks
Keep Canada/Keep America Slim

Ask 100 people the key to weight loss and 97 will say "eat less food." In our Keep Canada/Keep America Slim consulting program, we find that 97% of our clients are actually already eating too little to have permanent success. Until you clearly understand and act on this apparent contradiction you will never gain control of your weight.

It's true that people initially gain weight because they eat too much, but losing weight and keeping it off is more complicated than simply starving yourself. And each time you go that route you make future attempts at weight control more difficult.

Suppose you need 2000 calories a day to support your life's activities, but you eat 2200 calories. You would store 200 calories each day. Since 3600 calories equals one pound, you would gain a pound every 18 days. Do this for a year and you have gained 20 pounds. Consider that half a large muffin is 200 calories and you can see how easy it is to gain weight.

So you go on a diet. Most commercial programs average 800 calories per day, so at this rate your body will burn 1200 calories from storage. This results in weight loss.

However, 800 calories is less than your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) - the minimum number of calories you need to simply exist. You are actually starving and your body reacts by metabolizing muscle for energy. On a low-calorie diet up to one-third of the weight lost is muscle. This includes the muscles of the heart and other internal organs. (Anorexics often die of heart failure because they have lost so much heart muscle).

Muscle burns calories even at rest, so when you lose muscle through dieting you reduce your body's need for calories. Going back to our example, you would now need perhaps 1800 calories per day because you have less muscle. Resume your normal eating habits (2200 calories) and you are storing 400 calories per day and gaining weight at twice the previous rate. Soon you have gained back all the weight. So you diet again, eating 800 calories a day. This time you lose a little slower, 1000 calories per day (1800-800), but eventually reach your weight goal. Again, one-third of the weight lost is muscle. Now your caloric requirement has been reduced to 1600 calories per day and the weight comes back faster.

What's worse is that the weight you gained back is all fat, so your body fat percentage begins to increase, going from a healthy range of 11-19% (men) or 17-25% (women) to 30, 40, 50% or more. And this excess body fat and muscle loss is the foundation of almost all degenerative diseases, from heart disease to many cancers, diabetes, osteoporosis and so on.

So next time you decide to lose weight be sure to eat more than your Basal Metabolic requirements. This varies for everyone. Start at 1200 calories for a woman who wants to be 100 pounds, and increase by 50 calories for every 10 pounds of goal weight. For a man, start at 1500 calories to reach 130 pounds and add 75 calories for every 10 pounds of goal weight.

Taking the Yo Out of the Yo-Yo

 

Is Stress Making you Fat?

By Lee Fairbanks
Keep Canada/Keep America Slim

Weight loss, weight gain - it's all about food and exercise, isn't it? Well no, it isn't as a matter of fact. There are several other issues that have to be addressed. One of them is stress.

The understanding of the relationship between stress and weight gain is relatively new. Ten years ago, no one spoke of it. Today, it is earning a frontline place in weight loss efforts.

Simply put, it works like this. Stress causes your body to increase production of a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol increases your appetite and "signals" your body to store fat and not to release it. This is particularly true of abdominal fat. Cortisol in some people can also cause them to binge eat when they are not really hungry.

Cortisol can exert good or bad effects in the body. Cortisol triggers the release of glucose and amino acids for cellular energy, and is closely associated with the "fight or flight" response. So a little is a good thing. However when we're under stress, when we're sleep-deprived, or when we're actually dieting and restricting our calories for weight loss, our body releases cortisol. And we get fatter.

From my work with clients it seems that our ability to offset this stress effect changes as we age. When we are young we can handle stress - or perhaps we don't translate events into stress in the same way - but after the age of 40 or 50 our reaction to stress is weight gain.

By bringing cortisol back into a normal range, you are able to alleviate that metabolic signal so your appetite is under better control, your blood sugar is under control, and your fat cells are in a state where they're more likely to release fat instead of store fat.

So controlling cortisol levels becomes essential if we want control of our weight. In today's post 9/11 world with our daily, often hourly doses of media-delivered bad news, stress is at an all-time high. Suggestions to sleep longer, meditate or practise yoga, while valid are rarely embraced by the average person. (Hey, I'm too stressed to meditate!). Therefore we need to look elsewhere for help.

Fortunately along with the study of stress as a cause of illness - elevated cortisol has been associated with obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis, memory problems and suppressed immune function - scientists have also isolated a number of plant nutrients that can naturally lower cortisol levels. These include magnolia bark, epimedium and Beta-sitosterol.

Magnolia bark is a traditional Chinese medicine used for treating low energy as well as a variety of syndromes such as digestive disturbances caused by emotional distress and emotional turmoil. Animal studies have shown that epimedium may function like an adaptogen (as does ginseng, for instance) by increasing levels of certain hormones when they are low (an energy-promoting effect), but reducing cortisol levels when they are elevated (an anti-stress effect). It has been used traditionally in China as an aphrodisiac to offset the effects of cortisol on the libido.

Beta-sitosterol has been shown to help maintain the normal ratio of catabolic stress hormones to anabolic hormones. This means we encourage our bodies to build muscle (anabolic) from protein we eat as opposed to encouraging our body to utilize muscle for energy (catabolic). This is especially important when dieting, since there is a greater risk that we will burn muscle for energy when calories are reduced. The Keep Canada/Keep America Slim program includes these nutritional supplements.

Is Stress Making You Fat?

 

Is Your Job Making You Fat?

By Lee Fairbanks
Keep Canada/Keep America Slim

As most people know, many modern jobs require long periods of inactivity, often sitting at a desk for hours at a time. But lack of activity is not the whole story on why your job is making you fat.

Other careers require extended periods of concentrated efforts which dictate your day's schedule, causing you to skip meals. Believe it or not, this work habit will also cause you to gain weight. In our consulting program we often run across these explanations as to why people can't eat properly during the day: "I'm too busy at work to stop and eat," or "I'm not allowed to take a break between lunch and the end of the day."

In both cases, their job or career is making them fat.

Consider this: a person can gain weight while eating 1500 calories per day; the same person can lose weight while eating 1500 calories a day - without any change in their activity. The secret is in balancing meals - when you eat and how much you eat at each meal.

Let's say at 7:30 a.m. you eat a typical breakfast of cereal with milk and black coffee. You might consume 250 calories. If you have a quick lunch at 12:30, maybe a salad with fat-free dressing, yogurt and an apple; or soup and half a sandwich; you might eat 250 calories there. Then you get home after a 60-minute commute, take an hour to settle and make dinner, then eat a 1,000-calorie meal at 7:30.

Because you have eaten so little during the day, your body is in 'starvation' mode by dinner time, something we explained in our first column. In starvation, you will store pretty much all of that dinner. In addition, you can't burn off 1,000 calories before your next meal, so some of that storage is still there when you have breakfast the next day.

Compare that routine to this one: You eat a little more for breakfast - maybe add an egg and hit 300 calories. At 10:30 you have a low-fat muffin with low-fat cream cheese and an apple with your coffee - another 300 calories. At 3 o'clock you eat a whole wheat chicken wrap for another 300 calories.

When you get home, you're not that hungry, so you have a small plate of pasta with tomato sauce and some fresh chopped veggies at 7 p.m., adding another 300 calories to your day. About 10 o'clock you feel like a snack so you have that last piece of apple pie you've been saving for another 300 calories.

The difference with this meal plan is that it has kept your metabolism moving at a steady pace all day. You never go into starvation metabolism, so you don't store any of it.

Think of your metabolism as a fire. If you feed it wood regularly it will burn steadily, consuming the fuel, producing energy and leaving a little ash. On the other hand if you cut back on wood for extended periods of time the flame will die down. Then you dump three times the regular amount of wood on it and the flame is suffocated, causing incomplete combustion and leaving a lot of wood only partially burned.

That's the way it is with your metabolism. Feed the flames a steady flow of fuel and you will not store it. This is one of the key strategies we teach in the Keep Canada/Keep America Slim program.

Is Your Job Making You Fat?

 

Low Calorie Benefits May Be Misleading

HAMILTON: A new study proving that reduced calorie diets offer substantial life extension benefits could create the opposite result if improperly interpreted, according to a warning issued by Keep Canada/Keep America Slim today.

"We have been incorporating the approach recommended in the study for the past 8 years," said KCS President Lee Fairbanks, "however the use of the term 'low calorie' is almost guaranteed to create confusion for the general public. It is unfortunate that the authors of the study chose this term to describe their program. In addition, the study specifies 'optimal nutrition' as a requirement for long life. This is another vague term whose benefit is likely to be lost on the general public."

The report, to be published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology January 17th, proves that people who restrict their caloric intake by a specific amount have heart function equal to people 15 years younger who are eating a "typical" Canadian diet.

"The study proves what we have known for several decades based on animal trials," explains Fairbanks, "but the wording of the report is guaranteed to be misinterpreted. The report suggests that 1400-2000 calories for women, and 1800-2500 for men represents a 'low-calorie' diet. In the real world (as opposed to the world of clinical trials) the term 'low-calorie' diet means less than 1200 calories for women and less than 1400 for men. These diets undermine health and increase the risk of disease and shorter lifespan. It is these diets that responsible weight control programs seek to eliminate from the Canadian landscape."

In addition, says Fairbanks, large groups of at-risk Canadians are not eating the so-called 'average' or 'recommended' amount of calories to begin with. For these people to reduce calories further is a guaranteed prescription for illness.

"The prevailing opinion that most over-weight Canadians are eating 2000-3000 calories or more per day is a complete myth," says Fairbanks. "I can tell you - and this is a huge shock to most people - that over 90 per cent of our clients have been on 'starvation diets' of less than 1200 calories for months and sometimes even years. For these people to receive the benefits reported in this study they would actually have to eat much more food that they are currently eating."

Fairbanks suggests that the widespread misunderstanding about calorie counts is the foundation of our country's weight problems. He says the focus should be on restoring metabolism first, then adjusting calorie intake.

"Contrary to popular opinion, most people with a weight problem today are not over-eating," explains Fairbanks, "but they do have a depressed metabolism. Following a low-calorie diet plan actually undermines your metabolism, causing you to store fat and burn muscle for energy. The rebound from this approach, known as "yo-yo dieting" leads to ever-increasing body fat and diminishing muscle, the number one health risk for degenerative diseases including heart conditions, diabetes, osteoporosis and many forms of cancer."

Fairbanks also points out that no "one-size fits all" plan can possibly work for everyone. "News reports and clinical trials often suggest examples of safe ranges, but in truth, everyone is different. Everyone needs their own specific information."

Low Calorie Benefits May Be Misleading

 

Keep Canada/Keep America Slim Launches Elementary School Program

ABERFOYLE, ON: Keep Canada/Keep America Slim announced the start of its school pilot project, the Keep Canada Slim (KCS) Healthy Eating Challenge at Aberfoyle Elementary School today. "It's been an ongoing plan of mine to create a program that can impact the health of our kids," explained KCS author Lee Fairbanks. "The support from educators and parents has been great and we are looking for great things from this initiative."

The KCS Health Eating Challenge gets kids to score their school lunches and snacks. Kids get points for good choices and lose points for poor choices. At the end of the week the boy and girl with the top scores each win a sports prize.

"We also added a second prize for the two kids who have the greatest increase during the five days," points out Fairbanks, "so even if you have a low score to begin with and have no real chance to win the first prize you can still win by trying the improve your habits during the week." Fairbanks said he plans to create three separate Keep Canada/Keep America Slim Healthy Eating Challenges, one for each of the Third, Fifth and Seventh grades, in keeping with the Provincial curriculum guidelines for health education. The pilot project in Aberfoyle is being conducted with the help of Aberfoyle teacher Chad Guyitt and his grade 3-4 split class.

"My goal is to run the program three times per year, once in the fall, once in the winter and once again in the spring. This will increase the retention of the lessons contained within the Challenge and encourage kids to keep thinking about the value of what they are eating. Each grade level will add complexity and detail to the Challenge. Once it is implemented in all three grade levels we will have continuity throughout their school career. In this way we will have much greater impact that the many piece-meal approaches currently in use."

The Keep Canada/Keep America Slim program for adults was originally created by Dundas author Fairbanks in 1998 and published in book form in 2001. The current program was updated last year and is now available on DVD as well as in a new book available through certified consultants and on the website at www.keepcanadaslim.com.

KCS seminars for adults are offered at health and medical offices as well as through independent certified consultants. Office locations include Guelph, Hamilton, Burlington, Brantford Paris, London, Windsor, Woodstock, Perth and Calgary.

Clients can utilize the materials in a do-it-yourself format, or enrol in a 4-week personalized consultation program.

Keep Canada/Keep America Slim Launches Elementary School Program

 

June 12, 2006: Keep Canada/Keep America Slim Joins Canadian Obesity Network

DUNDAS, ON: Keep Canada/Keep America Slim President Lee Fairbanks announced today that his company has joined the Canadian Obesity Network/Reseau Canadien en Obesite (CON). The network, headed by McMaster University Professor Dr. Arya Sharma brings together the top Canadian obesity experts from universities, governments, hospitals, nongovernment and non-profit organizations and the pharmaceutical industry.

"We are the first actual weight control program to join the CON," said Fairbanks. "We believe our consumer-focused approach will bring some balance to the researchdominated network." Fairbanks attended last week's Toronto conference of the CON. "The statistics are staggering - some 60 per cent of Canadians now overweight with almost 25 per cent clinically obese. Twenty-five per cent of our medical costs today are directly related to weight issues," points out Fairbanks. "If we don't turn the tide on this pandemic the health costs of future overweight generations will bankrupt our country's health system."

Fairbanks, a former president of the Hamilton Council on Smoking & Health says that weight has now surpassed smoking as the number one health risk for Canadians. "We have turned the corner on smoking and every year the numbers decrease. Obesity on the other hand increases every year. Twenty years ago not one province had more than 15 per cent of its people in the obese category. Today, every province is over 25 per cent." Conference participants were told that Canada ranks 7th as the world's fattest nation, but that our children are the third-fattest in the world. Fairbanks says that one problem facing educators is getting people to understand that they are actually obese and not just overweight. You can measure your Body Mass Index on www.heartandstroke.ca. A BMI higher than 30 is considered obese.

"Most of us think the term 'obese' only refers to the 'morbidly obese' person - that person who can't fit into an airline seat for instance. But 'clinical obesity', the point at which health is seriously affected is generally considered by most people to be simply overweight.

"The experts are telling us that low-calorie diets don't work, that almost all of us are nutritionally-deficient, that exercise suggestions are being ignored," continues Fairbanks. "This is exactly why I created Keep Canada/Keep America Slim." says the former journalist, "to help people make sense of what the scientists are saying. With our focus on better communication and education materials we are able to help people understand and embrace the minor lifestyle changes necessary to take control of weight. And with our focus on nutrition we are meeting that challenge also. The combination of the two creates a program that is more successful than either approach individually."

Keep Canada/Keep America Slim Joins Canadian Obesity Network