Pioneer press ran an interesting story recently on the effect your weight can have on your job.  If you think your weight isn’t anybody’s business, you’d better think again.  With health insurance costs sky rocketing, many employers are paying attention to your figure whether or not you are.  Companies like General Mills have made “healthy weight” part of their mission statement.  A Minneapolis marketing firm launched a “Biggest Loser”-style weight-loss contest. An Indianapolis employer even proposed $30 fines for overweight workers!  Treasure Island Resort & Casino now requires employees and their spouses to take a medical exam which includes a body mass index reading in order to qualify for employer-sponsored insurance.

With two-thirds of Americans overweight or obese health care costs are being driven up. It is estimated that obesity costs corporate America $13 billion a year in additional health insurance expenses, sick leave, life insurance and disability insurance.  In response, employers preaching the benefits of eating better, eating less and exercising more.

Of course, this doesn’t come without some backlash.  A recent national survey of 30,000 employees shows that 88% don’t think their health should be dictated by their employer.  The same survey found that 88% of employers plan to invest in wellness programs within the next 5 years.

Consider General Mills. The food giant, a regular on lists of best places to work, has long offered fitness programs to its corporate employees in Golden Valley. Now, manufacturing plant managers across the country are using the corporate wellness programs as models for their own customized programs.

Clarian Health Partners, the Indianapolis company that tried to fine people for being overweight, had to change their program to an incentive program instead that rewarded people for meeting the standard for body mass index.

So, what are the legal limits?  The jury is still out on that. There are restrictions in how big a financial incentive can be, for instance.

Let’s face it; health and fitness are part of the new culture. Employers may not be forcing workers to run around the block or forgo the doughnuts and half-and-half with their morning coffee, but there is no doubt there is a good deal of peer pressure to shape up, or face the consequences in lost benefits — and very probably being passed over for a promotion or even a job — although you won’t find that the official reason on the paperwork.

Want to watch your figure so that your boss doesn’t see you in a negative light?  Be sure to include some exercise in your weekly routine.  Some type of aerobic exercise that gets your heart pumping and makes you use oxygen is your best bet.  Brisk walking for 20 to 30 minutes 3 days a week will increase your calorie consumption and aid you in releasing unwanted pounds.  In addition to eating healthy foods, try calorie cycling to really speed up your weight release by shifting your metabolism into overdrive and giving you an extra energy boost.

There is a new form of substance abuse spreading like wildfire. It’s one that usually goes unrecognized because it seems so innocent and benign. It’s also perfectly legal, because you can buy these substances over the counter. They are legally sold dietary supplements — vitamins, minerals, herbs and homeopathic remedies.

The hazards of ephedra garnered a lot of publicity when this one-time weight-loss aid was found to be deadly. Shortly after the ephedra fall out, cold and sinus medications containing pseudo ephedrine were moved from the generally accessible store aisles to the pharmacy and now require a signature for purchase. But, there are many other popular supplements which can be harmful — especially when taken in large doses or in combination with another substance or prescription drug.

Other issues can arise if you have hidden health problems, or if you fail to report the substances you are taking to your doctor. For example, green tea, grapeseed, ginkgo biloba turmeric, salmon oil and vitamin E, all have properties which prevent or inhibit blood clotting, which can lead to excessive bleeding.

In an article earlier today, the New York Times described a new federal law that requires supplement manufacturers to report serious adverse effects to the Food and Drug Administration, but it depends on consumers to call in reactions. The article goes on to say that most consumers are unlikely to relate health problems to a supplement they assume to be safe. Even if they do, they may be reluctant to report an adverse effect from a self-medicated substance.

A 2002 Harris poll found that 70 percent of adults in the United States take vitamins, minerals, herbs or other supplements. And the use of supplements is on the rise. Most people believe that they can make you feel better, give you energy, improve health and prevent and treat disease.

It’s important to remember that while some supplements are beneficial, they are not risk free and can be dangerous when taken in large amounts or the wrong combinations. Just because a small amount is good, doesn’t mean that more is better. In fact, some studies have shown the opposite to be true.

The bottom line: Exercise, eating healthy foods, watching your caloric intake and shifting calories is still the best way to release excess weight and keep it off. Be sure to check with your doctor before adding over the counter diet supplements to your regimen, and remember, more is not necessarily better.

Calorie cycling helps people effectively lose huge amounts of weight in small amounts of time (think up to 13 pounds in a week).

Before you think “fad diet”… read on to see why it works so well:

By switching up calories, a dieter’s body can never figure out how many calories are coming to it (which is the opposite of low calorie and low carb eating plans), and therefore it can never plateau.

In fact - calorie shifting MAKES people have cheat days or else the diet won’t be effective.

This is because our bodies are made to eat this way. Back in caveman days our ancestors would starve for almost weeks at a clip. When they  had the chance to eat, they would binge in order to stay satisfied until the next time they had the opportunity.

Cheat days are similar to the days that our ancestors fasted. Because the metabolism never expects these days, it can never adjust to a certain way of eating, and the body is literally forced to continue dropping unwanted pounds.

Because people get to have these cheat days where they can literally eat anything they want, psychologists heartily recommend this diet. They love that dieters don’t need to feel deprived of malnourished. Doctors love it because it’s a natural way to lose weight without people having to deprive themselves of nutrients, food groups, or even “bad” food.

Many people have heard about all types of extreme weight loss tips that are supposed to help them lose weight.

Let’s explore some of the myths.

Extreme Weight Loss Tip 1: Avoid eating carbohydrates if you want some quit weight loss… right?

If you want to lose weight, you should cycle your calories (or carbohydrates). But cutting them out is not a good solution at all for long term weight loss.

Make no mistakes - you will lose weight if you cut out carbs, and you’ll lose it with a quickness. However, you will, without a doubt, gain the weight back.

No one type of food group should be avoided in order to lose weight.

Extreme Weight Loss Tip 2: It doesn’t matter what you do… genetics will determine your weight!

Yes, biology studies have shown that relatives do usually have similar weights to hat of their family, it doesn’t mean that you’re destined to be whatever weight your family is.

A good diet will help anyone - even if they might take longer to lose weight than those people with faster metabolisms.

Shifting calories is quite simple.

All one needs to do is eat moderate calories 5 days of the week, and then have two higher “cheat days” (calculators are available within yayFOOD.com).

The reason that this works so well is because the body is kept constantly guessing. It can’t ever anticipate a set amount of calories coming to it, so it doesn’t know what to hold fat storages for. With normal low calorie diets, the body is able to easily adjust.

People love it since they’re not miserable at all (they don’t have to eat low calorie for any of the days… and the days that they want to eat more, they know that they have a cheat day right around the corner.

People who shift calories end up falling in love with this method of weight loss since they don’t feel restricted or neglected at all.

As mentioned in other posts, psychologists and doctors heartily recommend shifting calories.

A common misconception with calorie cycling is that it’s a new “fad” to lose weight. The truth is, bodybuilders have been using it for years. Calorie cycling is just taking the same concept and applying it to LOSE weight.

What calorie cycling does is take the way that our bodies were made (since evolution) and spins it to work for the way that our bodies are now.

The thing is – when we first started out as cavemen, we had totally different lifestyles. We chased our food to the ground, we were very active, and we didn’t sit around and watch T.V. for hours on end in our heated homes.

(Not saying there’s anything wrong with that – but it’s a fact of life.)

Anyway, when people used to eat in the cavemen era, they never knew when they were getting more food… so every time they’d eat, they would eat a LOT… and their bodies adjusted and held on to the food as “fat storages”. Their metabolisms literally slowed down to adjust for the fact that they were eating the way that they were.

Today, this isn’t the case. We still eat a lot… but we don’t need the body to hold on to fat storages, because we always have a lot of food around.

Our bodies don’t know this though… so when we eat the extra food, it continues to hold everything.

With calorie cycling (also known as shifting calories or the zigzag method), the metabolism can never remain stagnant, because the user is constantly “shocking” it by changing up their calorie intake.

Some days they might eat less calories, and some more… so the body can’t adjust to one set way of eating (most people eat consistently high calorie, or even consistently low calorie), and the whole “fat storage” formula is shocked.

The body doesn’t know what to do – hold on to fat storage, don’t hold on to fat storage – and as a result, you end up losing weight.

While this sounds a bit odd, it’s actually very healthy and is recommended by most doctors and psychologists.

When you eat low calorie or low carbohydrate, your body gets used to the same routine. Eating 1200 (or however many you choose) calories every day is something that your body can easily get used to, and it will adjust accordingly. It will lower your metabolism accordingly, and it will make you lose weight at a much slower pace.

Changing up your calories is a great way to lose weight, because it helps you easily trick your body.

With this method, your body never knows what’s coming to it, so it will never be able to plateau. You’ll continuously lose weight, over and over again.

This is also great for your mindset, psychologically speaking. First of all, you’re never bored on this “diet”. This is great because a “diet” isn’t a long-term fix. People get bored with “diets”, and then revert back to their old eating habits. The shifting calorie method is one in which you can stay with for life.

With this lifestyle change, you shift you calories to a certain level on different days. Because some days are almost drastically higher, you get to “cheat” on those days. This is great for people because they don’t feel like they’re missing out on their favorite foods, or that they’re different from the non-dieters in their life.

With the shifting calorie method, you also don’t need to deprive yourself of nutrients, as you would on diets such as the cabbage soup diet, the cookie diet, or other popular fad diets. You can eat whatever you want, as long as it’s within calorie allotments.