Review: The Smarter Science of Slim

Over my holiday break, I read an excellent new book on weight loss titled The Smarter Science of Slim.  Jonathan Bailor, the author, has (according to the preface) been researching the science of weight gain and weight loss for 10 years, and it shows:  the index of references at the back of the book runs more than 70 pages. Despite immersing himself in heavy-duty nutrition science while writing this book, Bailor had the good sense to explain what he’s learned clearly and simply.  In other words, the book passes my “Aunt Martha” test.

In a nutshell, the book’s message comes down to this:  Most of us will never lose weight and keep it off by simply restricting calories. Permanent w

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Body Size May Influence How People View the World

Your size may influence how you perceive the world around you, a new study suggests.

People were tricked into believing they were either the size of Barbie dolls or 13-foot giants in a study conducted by scientists at Karolinska Institute in Sweden.

This skewed perception of space was evaluated by having participants estimate the size of various blocks, close their eyes and step over them.

“Tiny bodies perceive the world as huge, and vice versa,” study leader Henrik Ehrsson said in a journal news release.

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Nanocrystals Make Dentures Shine

The hardest substance in the human body is moved by its strongest muscles: When we heartily bite into an apple or a schnitzel, enormous strengths are working on the surface of our teeth. “What the natural tooth enamel has to endure also goes for dentures, inlays or bridges”, glass chemist Prof. Dr. Dr. Christian Russel of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany) says. After all, these are worn as much as healthy teeth. Ceramic materials used so far are not very suitable for bridges, as their strengths are mostly not high enough. Now Prof. Read more…

Stressed-out mother needs to put herself first

DEAR MIKE: I have been married for 33 years and together with the same man for 35 years. After all that time he has decided we should be divorced. We have four children and eight grandchildren but that makes no matter to him; he has decided, so we are divorced. Five years ago he felt he needed to start his own business. I stood behind him, even though I did not think it was a good idea. The business went belly up, mostly due to the economy. Ever since the business went south, he has been a changed man.

I have not been totally innocent either. Fifteen years ago we had a traumatic event where our oldest daughter was raped.

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New Year time capsule for Ryan

I saw this idea originally in my Family Fun magazine. Then, as the New Year got closer, I saw it all over Pinterest. So you may have seen it already, but it’s just too cute not to share. I LOVE this idea.

(picture from Family Fun)

In the picture above, the idea was to have your child write a note to themselves to read in the future. Or – especially if your kids are younger, like mine! – you can create a survey or questionnaire and fill it out while asking them for answers, or let them fill it out if they can.

The survey above (click for credit at Pinterest, as usual) is similar to what I did. I took a piece of co

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Weight regain could be hormonal

It’s that time of year again: The gym is packed with New Year’s resolutioners sweating off all their winter weight gain. But what if you were an angel all through the holidays and let barely a cookie pass your lips yet still gained a few?

New research shows even the most stalwart dieters could blame their weight regain on something other than their willpower, or lack thereof: hormones. A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine found that hormones involved in appetite regulation could be the culprit.

Scientists put 50 overweight or obese people on a low-calorie diet for ten weeks, then measured key hormone levels before the diet, right after it and a little more than a year later. The

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