Oh, yes. Fiber is my best friend! It's low-cal and makes you feel FULL! Congrats on the 2-lb loss, carol! That inspires me to start back into more fiber. Plus, it's SOO good for you. The USDA daily recommended allowance is 25 g, but I've heard you should try for 35g a day. But ease into it or you might regret it, hehe. ANd drink plenty of water.
Fiber one has a yummy fiber bar with oats and chocolate-- 9 g. I like eating fiber one cereal with yogurt (14 g of fiber for half a cup, and some yogurts are fiber fortified). Fruit and veggies have good fiber and also good water content. Any whole grains bread and rices are great, as well as whole grain pastas (much more flavorful, in my opinion). Beans have been called the perfect food because they have such great fiber and protein. I LOOOOOVE garbanzo beans! mmmm!

Fiber is one of my health soapboxes. I think getting enough can help prevent diseases, because one eats such HEALTHY things when being sure to take in enough fiber.

Hope your holidays were wonderful, everyone! Trying to clean the house up again so we can get it ready to show some more (eight showings and great feedback, but no offers yet... it's only been 2.5 weeks, though).

A few days eating.

I've had a few good days with the increased fiber intake. It seems to help with the hunger. I did drink some soy milk right before bed last night because of extreme hunger and then awoke at 4 am with the same hunger. I had eaten VERY light at supper. I decided to pray and I went back to sleep. I hope tonight goes better.

The same thing happened with the hunger last night. I drank the soy milk at midnight and skipped the 4am hunger. Strange. Still trying to stick to the fiber. Sometimes I think I need to eat a little more supper but maybe smaller meals more often will help. I have been doing a little more work on the eliptical. I have a hard time sticking to it for any length of time.

Had a good day yesterday. I ate really small portions for dinner which made the grazing of the rest of day easier. I had some soup at 7:30 and made it through the night without too much hunger. Really tired today so I'm taking it easy. My DH just doesn't understand how tired I get. Stayed up late on the 24th with company and got up early the 25th to make homemade bread because I ran out of the bread in the freezer. Now I need to get back to exercise. When I'm really tired that just goes out the window.

I take prednisone but my dose is so small now I can't believe that would cause hunger.
By the way, how do you fix garbanzo beans?

Hi Everybody,

Haven't been here for a while. My new laptop we got from QVC had to be sent back because the hard drive was bad. Ordered another one and I got it for Christmas. Just got it back on line yesterday.

Carol - I just felt impressed lately to start eating more fiber. So you can imagine how thrilled I am to find someone else doing the same. I tried taking my WW materials and counting the fiber instead of points. Can't do that. I think just using IE will work better. I find if I have "#Rules" that I get into trouble. I have a Prevention's Diabetic Diet Cookbook (think that is the name). Any way they recommend at least 35 grams of fiber a day and say 55 is better. I did learn that 35 is about all my body will handle. Seem to gain if I eat more. But I'm not counting them today. I decided I better go back to eating just when I'm hungry and not just because I'm trying to get all the fiber in for the day. I am reading labels in order to be sure to purchase things I like with more fiber,so I'm eating more fruit and veggies and plan to just eat only when hungry. The one thing I noticed in my IE book is not to go over 5 hours without eating. Seems when we go over 5 hours we have tendency to overeat when we do eat. I am learning to like apples and eat at least one each day sometimes 2. How do you make apple salad?

mom2mollie - I agree with you that fiber is healthy and it does give us protection from so many diseases. I'll have to check out the Fiber One bar. I usually stay away from bars, but that would be great to carry for emergencies when traveling or away from home. I love my oatmeal with berries (which I learned are high in fiber usually 5 to 7 grams per 1 c serving of frozen) and plain yogurt. Neat thing this morning is that I ate only half of my oatmeal and saved the rest for tomorrow morning. I really think the fiber is going to work out great for me. Oh yes, I wanted to share with you about our selling our house. We prayed knowing that God had just the right family that He wanted to have our home. I loved our home and wanted someone who would love it as I did. It was on the market along time and we were really wondering if we were going to get it sold in time to pay for our new house here in SC. Then the day the couple who bought it walked in to look at it the first time I knew the house was supposed to be theirs. Later when I talked to the woman I learned that she had felt the same way. So I would say pray about it and watch how it works. It was an exciting experience for me. Have to say that I hated having to run and pick things up every time someone wanted to see it.

Sunday is my weigh in day and I had lost 3 lbs last Sunday. Still haven't gotten away from the scale thing, but at least I don't weigh quite as often as I used to. I went way over the 35 grams of fiber for a few days even eating when I wasn't hungry so as to get my fiber in for the day and so far the scales show I've gained the 3 lbs back. So I am back to eating just to satisfy my hunger, but to satisfy it with healthy fiber. I have a tendency to fall back into that "diet thinking" that I am still trying to overcome. So it will be interesting to see what happens Sunday for my WI day.

This is pretty long so I better close off and catch y'all again later.

Hi, i am getting with fiber the first of year. so share lots of ideas with it. new to it. never watched it before. but i know they say it is filling and we need it. loss my wt on atkins and the fiber kept me from getting hungry. now its just more of portions and watching cal, carbs and fats. i wish all a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR. LaDean

For apple salad I just combine diced apples and bananas and make a dressing of a little miracle whip thinned with water and a little sugar. Simple. That's great about your house, Patty. Must be hard to leave it. We've lived in the same house for 26 yr. Did you DH change jobs? Just so many memories connected with a house. We actually moved about 12 times before that so we moved a lot when we were young between going to school, army, etc. I love to see how God works in such wonderous ways. The other night I had my granddaughter shopping. She is 8mo. old and God found me close parking spaces 2 times. She is quite an armful for grandma. With the fiber thing, I think it does something to your blood sugar so you don't crave junk food. I eat all bran every morning. I get other fiber from soy milk, ww bread, fruits and veggies.

Hello Everybody,

Carol - DH and I are on SS and his Mother had been living with us. She didn't want to leave FL. She passed away and we felt things were just too expensive living in South FL. DH's deceased wife's sister and her husband and family live here in SC and they are like siblings to him. DH has no siblings. So we moved here because the cost of living is cheaper and we wanted to be close to his sister-in-law and her family. We love the 4 seasons here and the living isn't so fast either which I find relaxing and great.

It is true that fiber slows down our blood sugar. In fact, eating fiber is great for helping diabetics control it. Also, I read some where that fiber is great for swooping the bad toxins out of our system which is great when it comes to the bad stuff on some of our foods.

Carol: How to fix garbanzo beans? Check this out:
http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes.ph...title=chickpea

And speaking of fiber, are there any other sauerkraut fans out there?

jo

Oh, I love sauerkraut!!!!! I have since I was a kid. I make a rueben sandwich with leftover ham, rye bread, baby swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Dorothy Lynch dressing which is a type of french. I broil the bread and spray it with canola oil spray........much faster than buttering and noone even notices. My DH saw me making them the other night and was amazed that I'd been doing it that way for a long time. He's a big butter fan. They are great leftover but don't last long in this house. I can't have cheese but they are still pretty good without so I make one for myself without cheese.

I too love sauerkraut, but haven't eaten it in years. I don't think DH likes it, but I'll have to find out if he does because he likes rueben sandwich. I'll have to try making it at home with your recipe Carol. It sounds delicious.

I weighed this morning and down another 1.5 lbs for this week making a total loss of 4 lbs since I started 2 weeks ago. I am thrilled to be able to see that I am leaving 2007 with a loss and not a gain. I love IE, just wish I could get the diet/guilt feelings/thoughts out of my head. I am enjoying things I really like and still eating healthy because of the healthy fiber foods I am eating. Even get to keep my chocolate by eating dark chocolate, but I still have the thoughts in my head that says "you can't eat that" and all the other things we feel and think when we were on diets. I guess that is the "police food voice" they talk about in IE. I've dieted for so many years about 45 so I guess it will take me a while to get rid of that voice. I even notice DH looking at me kind of funny some times like "are you sure you should be eating that?" look. He knows what I'm doing; he just doesn't understand it some times. He and his deceased wife used to argue about her losing weight because she was diabetic and died because of bad health from it. We agreed before we married that he would never "police" my eating and I promised that I would continue to work at losing. I was diabetic 2 for a short time years ago, but got it under control with weight loss and diet. So I know he has a fear of it coming back on me.

I don't know if any of you have problems with knees and joints, but I have been experiencing real problems lately. I recently recieved a newsletter from RealAge.com and they have an article saying that drinking green tea could be a good way to describe the youthful knees of a green-tea devotee. Potent compounds in green tea -- EGCG and ECG -- may help battle cartilage and collagen destruction in arthritic joints. It said that the EGCG and ECG found in green tea are powerful flavonoids known as catechins and it seems that these particular catechins may help fight inflammation, as well as some of the underlying mechanisms at work in both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. I used to think how neat it was that I had no joint problems. Now I wonder if it came on me with my left knee going out on me on July 4th and my right knee had recently started hurting because I quit drinking green tea. Even my hands had started stiffening... I could feel that they were inflammed. Green tea used to be my main drink instead of cold drinks, etc. I don't even know why I quit drinking it or when. Any way I've gone back to drinking it and my bad knee is already almost well... very little pain and my other knee which had just started hurting some feels great. Inflammation is going away from my hands and more relaxed today. So I will definitely be drinking a lot of it again as it must work. I also read that it prevents cancer so I may be getting a double whammy benefit. I also started eating grapefruit again because I read many years ago that it removes the inorganic stuff from our joints and replaces the organic. It is so amazing to me the things that we are learning about how God put in our food what we need to heal our bodies and keep us healthy.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY

Hi ladies,
I have been reading your posts but i am sorry i haven't been posting. I am getting tired of how i feel about myself. I am tired of feeling out of control when i start eating.
Hope everyone is doing well.

Hi CherryAutumn,

You know, I felt the same way when I first started IE. Do have a book on IE? If not it might be good to read one. I've got [I]Intuitive Eating[I] by Evelyn Tibole and Elyse Resch. I bought it from Amazon.com . It really helped me to get through some of those feelings. I found that once I got use to the fact that I really could have anything I wanted that I began to settle down and eat only when I am hungry. I learned that it is normal to have days that I eat more than others. When I read that I remembered a little boy I used to babysit years ago. He had days that he wouldn't eat hardly any thing and days that he ate a lot. His Mother and I learned that most of the time that if he ate good at my house that he didn't eat much for her when he got home, but when he didn't eat good for me he would eat more at home. We learned to go with his schedule. I noticed that with my DGD too. I think some times we can learn a lot from children's actions especially toddlers before they learn the bad habits from those of us around them. I hope it helps you to know that after weeks at this I have settled down. I ate breakfast yesterday... what I wanted. Today, I didn't want anything so I didn't eat anything. Finally had a grapefruit at about 10:45 am. Didn't eat a meal until about 4:30. Did have a chocolate WW cake with my green tea. Just not hungry and I don't feel deprived any more and I don't feel pressured to eat just because it is time to eat. Hope this helps.

That's interesting about the green tea. My DH takes glucosomine-chondroitin for joints but it takes 3 to 6 mo. to start working. I wonder if black tea is of any benefit. Good to see you again Cherry Autumn. Lately I have found brand buds cereal has really helped with my hunger. Just keep experimenting. Happy New Year to all.

We LOOOOVE sauerkraut! I feel so GERMAN when I eat it! heehee! My DH drinks green tea made from fresh leaves (he buys it at a chinese grocery store). I consider him a true green tea connosieur. His boss is chinese and believes that green tea is like windex (remember My Big Fat Greek Wedding?) and that it cures EVERYTHING. Good stuff. I should drink more

Well, got some news here... I've been feeling a little weird lately (you know how it goes with IE-- have to be very in tune with your body), and I've been smelling weird things and not hungy very much, almost... ahem... nauseated. So I took an EPT and I'm 4 wks PREGNANT! We are SO thrilled. We're not telling family yet, but I guess I can blab to you guys, heehee. So, I think I will be using IE through my pregnancy. I used my 1st pregnancy as an excuse to eat everything and anything, and since I was on bedrest, gained over 40lbs. But this one I intend to be very careful and excercise moderately to keep in shape.

Anyway, just wanted to share the GREAT news, and let you also know that I intend to keep up with IE, because it is just the right thing to do ALL the time, even while pregnant and nursing! :D

:congrat: Momtomollie!!!!!!!! As a mother of 10 I'm thrilled when I hear that kind of news. I'm anxiously awaiting the announcement of my next grandbaby though I don't tell anyone or know when it will be but with 7 married kids and another getting married this summer it could be any time. We have 8 grandkids now from 10 to 8mo. and what fun they are. We had the 10 yr old and his 7 yr. old sister overnight last night. My 17 yr. old DD and 22 yr. old DS were away when they came yesterday but the kids informed me that they liked having the whole house to themselves.......and we don't even have a TV. We do have a computer, obviously.

Oh carol, thank you! I don't think I could handle 10 (would have been up for the challenge if I'd started 10 years ago), but would like 4 or 5. I've always wanted a house full of kiddos!

Patty, thank you for the wise advice. We started out praying that someone would come along who would love the house just as much as we do, but somewhere along the way, we started thinking, "someone just buy our house! Investors welcome!" We're kidding of course (sort of). We have been praying and praying for someone to buy, and I am just trusting God's timing. We put down earnest money on a spec house we love, and if we don't sell within the next week, we'll probably lose that money and that house. I am just trusting God's hand in all of this that He knows where He wants us and it's His money anyway. :)

Doing okay on eating lately. DH wanted to eat junk last night, but it didn't agree with me the morning after LOL.

I just love new years and early mornings, because to me they represent new beginnings and so much potential for improving and becoming more of who we want to be. Definitely looking forward to what God has in store for us this coming year.

:wave: Missing you Obi. I notice you haven't been here in a couple of months. Hope all is ok. :hug:

Hi Everyone.

CONGRATULATIONS Mommie2Mollie!!! I am happy for you. Ipray your house sales really soon. I too always like the feeling of a new year. Always feels like a new beginning. We didn't didn't anything for New Year's just relaxed and enjoyed sitting around watching tv and reading. I hear you about the Windex. DH cleans everything with it. I had something (can't remember what it was) that I kept trying to get clean and DD and I got tickled because he got the windex out and used it and got it clean. Go figure. I hope the green tea does as well. It is supposed to be good for losing weight to so I hope it do that for me as well.

Carol you have a nice big family. It makes it really nice for holidays.

I did end the year and started the new with another 1.5 lb loss making 4 lbs total since I started IE. So I am really thrilled with that. Now just to keep it going.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!!

I'm using my son's laptop and it is awkward for me. I've been having a few problems with lots of company and getaways waiting to long to eat and eating things I don't like. I'm afraid I'm eating too much so not losing. All should be back to normal next week with the kids back in school, etc.

Hi, had a good christmas and new years. but i fell down flight of stairs at kids christmas day. so lucky gal no broken nothing. just swollen and sore. but thankful. i am with my eating right now. and more exercise. good luck to all a a good 2008 year. LaDean

I thought this article was interesting.

7 STEPS TO MEANINGFUL, MAGNETIC NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS

By Michelle May, M.D.

Your New Years Resolutions should be like powerful magnets
that draw you toward them. The following seven steps will
help you create inspiring goals and a blueprint for
reaching them.

1. Create Space. Invest time this week to think about your
present life and set goals that will bring you greater
health, happiness and fulfillment. As part of your
resolution-making process, decide how you will carve out
space daily to accomplish your goals. Most of us can easily
find the time in the wasted minutes we spend on
unproductive activities like watching TV or surfing the
internet. Some of us will need to get up a few minutes
earlier or say no to joining another committee.

2. Consider Your Values. What is truly important to
you--family, health, career, achievement, contribution,
spiritual growth? When you are clear on what really
matters, you'll willingly invest your valuable time and
energy pursuing meaningful goals that are congruent with
your principles and values.

3. Be Inspired. Your goals should act like a magnet that
draws you toward them. (Hint: If you are repelled by the
thought of working toward a particular resolution, start
over with a new goal that excites and challenges you.) Go
for the shiver-factor: If the thought of achieving your
goal gives you a little shiver of excitement, you're on the
right track.

4. Predict Your Future. Close your eyes and project
yourself into the future. Imagine what it's like as you
achieve your goal. Picture how you feel, think, look, and
act--as though it's happening this very moment. Create a
vivid, exciting image of yourself living it out then return
to this vision frequently to maintain the pull your goal
has on you.

5. Set Mini-Goals. A magnet cannot attract an object that's
too far away to feel its pull. Goals that feel too far from
where you are now quickly lose their attraction. Therefore,
create achievable mini-goals that are within reach but
challenging enough to pull you forward toward your larger
goals.

6. Give your brain a map to follow. Write your goals and
mini-goals in positive, present terms using detailed words
and/or pictures. For example, instead of "I won't eat
sweets anymore," try "I enjoy eating fresh fruits and
vegetables at each meal to support my energy, health and
ideal weight." Put your goals in a place where you will see
them often--you'll be amazed at how these concrete words or
images begin to manifest themselves in your life.

7. Be flexible and creative. Use your map to chart your
course but be open to new paths to your goals. Obstacles
and detours are a natural part of change and provide
important learning opportunities. When you are patient and
gentle with yourself, you'll discover creative solutions
that help you grow beyond anything you could have imagined.

As you become more clear about your goals and mindful in
the process, you'll see that you are not only drawn toward
your goals but your goals are drawn toward you

In Health, Enjoy!
Michelle May, M.D.

This is strange. When I click on "last page" of IE it only takes me to page 19. I noticed that the pages under the topics are mixed up also. I couldn't find the maintainers thread for this week until I checked posts from one of the girls that post there and found it that way. I'm sure it will clear up in a few days.

I had a hard time even getting on the main 3 Fat chicks site last night. I kept getting a message saying the site was busy and to try again later. I've never seen that here until then. Maybe they were having trouble. I do remember reading on another thread that someone had problems reading previous messages.

Hello IE-ers. The website seems to be working okay tonight. Haven't tried to log on in a while.
We sold our house today! They want to close Jan 25, which is really close, but will fit in with the other place where we want to move in! So yay! Thanks be to God! We've been on the market less than 30 days, with two huge holidays thrown in there!

Doing pretty well with IE here. I fall into bad habits every once in a while. I was on bedrest for my 1st pregnancy, and gained and gained. For this one, I am just paranoid, because I didn't lose all of my 1st pregnancy weight. So I find myself counting up my calories at the end of the day, which is okay I guess. But when I get hungry AGAIN in the middle of the day, I kind of have to coerce myself to eat and remind myself that I'm eating for THREE (still nursing). Not that I'm pigging out. Trying to do healthy snacks and meals.

But I find that I really am retraining my mind and stomach to work together. It's so easy to eat a lot during this cooler weather (yes, it's a little cooler here in SA, but probably nothing compared to what some of you are experiencing). I've just been overloading on tea, tea, and more tea-- yum!

Blessings to all!

So good to hear about your house selling. It kind of reminds me of my life 30 yr. ago. We moved from Boston to WI when my 3rd child was 2 weeks old. When my 6th child was 4mo. we moved into our new house on the farm and have been here for 26 yr. We actually lived in San Antonio for a month one summer while my DH was in officer training. We couldn't believe how hot it was. I've been really hungry again lately but eating smaller meals more often We'll see how that goes. I was never a night eater but last night I had soup at 9pm.

Mom2Mollie - Congratulations. I am so happy for you. I have a 2 1/2 yr. old little girl and a 7 month old little boy. I deal with Depression a lot and so two children may have to be where we stop.

I keep trying to get myself on the right track. I haven't been feeling well due to changing my depression medication and so i tend to eat to help myself feel better. I am trying to really think about it before i put things in my mouth though.

Cherry Autumn, you might enjoy a book called Hunger Free Forever. It is about blood sugar levels and all the problems it can cause, even depression. If you go to Amazon and type in the title, you can get more info. Hope you are feeling better.

Hello, fellow IEer's! I'm back with another drive-by posting, LOL! :dizzy:

It seems like it takes me longer and longer every time to go back through everything that's been posted since I was here last. Anyway, some of the posts I'm answering are very old, so please forgive my tardiness. The boss at work is still keeping me really busy, but he gave me another raise recently, so it's not all bad :)

CherryAutumn, I hope that you are feeling better. :hug: I used to have problems with self-esteem many years ago too. For me the trick was to find things I was good at and maximize the time I spent doing things I was good at, rather than things that made me feel like a failure. I'm sure there are lots of things you are good at. Are you doing them? Are you making other people aware of them? There's nothing wrong with fishing for compliments now and then.

Carol, fiber is a wonderful thing. I don't know if you're familiar with the Volumetrics weightloss plan (I think they have a thread on it somewhere here) but the basis of that plan is to eat foods that are nutrient-dense but calorie-sparse. Fiber falls into that category as do soups and things with high water content like soups. Here is a good article on the different kinds of fiber and what they do: http://www.springboard4health.com/no...nts_fiber.html

For those of you who said you liked green tea, I recently discovered a green tea that I consider the best tea I have ever tasted (and I am a BIG fan of tea). It's Stassen Jasmine Green Tea (You can buy it here: http://www.pacificeastwest.com/4791003460149.html). I like jasmine teas but I find they rarely taste or smell much like jasmine. This one has a very pronounced jasmine aroma and taste--like you're drinking flowers. I have a jasmine vine growing outside my kitchen window, and drinking this tea always makes me feel like it is summer and the jasmine vine is blooming.

Spinymouse and I went out for New Year's Eve and had a wonderful time. Rented a nice hotel room with a fireplace so we wouldn't have to drive home, went out for a nice dinner and drinks, and treated ourselves to a mini "vacation." I wish all the rest of you didn't live so far away, it would have been nice to have you there.

'Bye until next time.... :newyear:

Jo, It's so good to "see" you!!!!!!!!! Wish you could come by more often. I recently had to up my prednisone dose so I'm hungry again. I mentioned the book Hunger Free Forever which is something like Volumetrics. I wrote to the authors on their site to see if they had any recommendations for people on long term prednisone. I wonder if they will really write back.

Thanks ladies for all the Encouragement. Thanks for recommending the book i will check into it. I decided to get my haircut. Just a little something to help me feel pretty and to boost my self esteem a little bit.

hi all, doing good here. this week i plan to had another walk. i walk my dog a short one. this will be longer and for me. i use to exercise so much got away from it. so now a new year and time to get with it again. eatiing is going real good. scales are looking good to. so that is what counts. feeling good and going down on them. i wish everyone a good year and a losing one. together friends we can do it and make it fun. i am ready to goooooo. ha LaDean

From the Mayo website.

NON-EXERCISE ACTIVITY THERMOGENESIS
Introduction
Looking out over this crowded coffee bar, I see a 40-year-old man reading a newspaper. He is stationary. He sits next to a 30-year-old woman. She can barely sit still. She gets up and curves between the tightly squeezed tables, just to get a napkin and then gesticulates wildly as she talks on her cell phone. He has still not moved. He thinks now of his three-year-old daughter at home; "she just never stops" he thinks. He smiles to himself and scratches his nose. She gesticulates further as she tells a friend of a rat she saw scuttling rapidly on the subway rails. A taxi drives by. The driver immigrated from an agricultural community in the Ivory Coast. Birds soar high over-head. All these living beings exhibit spontaneous physical activity or, Non-exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT).


Human Energy Expenditure (and semantics)
Even lean individuals store at least two to three months of their energy needs in adipose tissue whereas obese persons can carry a year's worth of their energy needs. It is the cumulative impact of energy imbalance over months and years that results in the development of obesity or undernutrition.

There are three principal components of human energy expenditure (EE), basal metabolic rate (BMR), thermic effect of food (TEF) and activity thermogenesis. There are also other small components of EE that may contribute to the whole, such as the energetic costs of medications and emotion.

BMR is the energy expended when an individual is laying at complete rest, in the morning, after sleep, in the postabsorptive state. In individuals with sedentary occupations BMR accounts for approximately 60 percent of total daily EE. Three-quarter's of the variability in BMR is predicted by lean body mass within and across species. TEF is the increase in EE associated with the digestion, absorption, and storage of food and accounts for approximately 10-15 percent of total daily EE.

Activity Thermogenesis has two constituents, exercise-related activity thermogenesis and Non-exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT). For the vast majority of dwellers in the U.S., exercise activity thermogenesis is negligible. NEAT, even in avid exercisers, is the predominant constituent of activity thermogenesis and is the EE associated with all the activities we undertake as vibrant, independent beings. NEAT has an enormous variety of constituents including occupation, leisure and fidgeting. Because of this, NEAT is challenging to study and its role in human energy balance has been difficult to define.


Non-exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT)
NEAT is likely to contribute substantially to the inter- and intra-personal variability in EE. Argue thus; if three-quarters of the variance of BMR is accounted for by variance in lean body mass and, TEF represents 10-15 percent of total EE, then the majority of the variance in total EE that occurs independent of body weight must be accounted for by NEAT. Evidence supports this. NEAT is highly variable and ranges from ~ 15 percent of total daily EE in very sedentary individuals to >50 percent in highly active persons . Even minor changes in physical activity throughout the day can increase daily EE by 20 percent. NEAT is impacted by environment, but is also under biological control .


NEAT and environment
There are many environmental cues that impact NEAT. Broadly, they can be divided into occupational and non-occupational components.

NEAT and occupation
Matched individuals with highly active ambulatory jobs can have NEAT values of 1000 kcal/day greater than sedentary peers. In areas of nutritional need, this has implications for starvation-threatened individuals. In affluent countries, industrialized can convert high-NEAT jobs to lower-NEAT jobs and this has been associated with increased obesity rates.

Non-occupation NEAT

Dish washers
Cars
Remotes
Lawnmowers
Drive-through
Game-boy
Elevators
Snow blowers
Leisure-time sedentariness has resulted from the availability and volitional use of pervasive mechanization. When the energetic cost of non-work mechanization is estimated experimentally it approximates to, 100-200 kcal/day; a caloric deficit that potentially could account for the entire obesity epidemic.


NEAT and physiology
With experimental overfeeding in humans, NEAT increases. Those who increased their NEAT the most with overfeeding gained the least fat. This suggests that along with self-evident societal slothfulness, NEAT is biologically modulated. Animal data support this. There appear to be central mediators of NEAT. For example, microinjections of orexins into hypothalamic nuclei increase NEAT whereas antagonists decrease it. There may be humoral mediators as experimental hyperthyroidism is associated with increased NEAT. There also be genetic mechanism at play; during overfeeding twinness in part predicts fat gain. Also NEAT is specific for different genetic strains of mice.



Where to from here?

Mechanism: by understanding the neuromodulators and non-central mediators of NEAT; its biological function will become clear.

Physiology: What are the key components of NEAT? What is the role of NEAT in aging, children, gender, and race? How does positive and negative affect NEAT and its components?

Pathology: What is the role of NEAT in obesity and eating disorders?

Intervention: Targeted, evaluated interventions from person to population.

Having read this abstract, please get up and take and short walk down the corridor (or similar). Repeat for each abstract you read. Please let me know how it went.

Carol, this post may be intended to be serious but I am laughing because I once had the goofy idea about weight loss through exaggerated gestures! I mean, nothing I was going to take seriously but I did have some fun with some friends trying to demonstrate the idea. Like when you say "I'm going to go now," you must wind your arm around and around for a little bit like the "windmill" move on a guitar, before pointing to youself on the work "I." Then the same kind of thing, at the same time as moving your legs around and around in one place like those old Hanna Barbara cartoon characthers used to do before they actually ran, and and point very agressively towards the door when you say the word, "go." It got to be really goofy.
The people who gesticulate a lot and fidget and hum and tap on thier desks etc, for real - annoy me a LOT!

Hi Jo, I'm a fidgeter and I don't think it has ever done me any good as far as losing weight. ha! I always feel sorry for little kids that can't sit still when they are supposed to. I know how they feel.

I think I've come up with a definition for IE at least for me. It is eating like you normally would (not someone else's idea of what you should eat) in such amounts that you can lose weight and keep it off. I mean, I like fruits and veggies just fine but if I try to go by what someone says I should eat I can't stick to it. I like variety, too.

Hi carol, i do the same thing. i check out different diet plans and make my own. right now i am just having what i want and portions. and keep things low. trying to add my exercise again. I hope you have a good week. LaDean

What exercise do you do LaDean? We have an eliptical which I like but today I have the flu.....stomach ache and other body aches. At least it's better than yesterday. And I can't eat much. ha!

Hi Carol & LaDean, I decided to do the same thing with IE. I got messed up again trying to follow a diet plan or even mix some ideas. That "Diet thinking" is so hard to shake isn't it? It just doesn't work for me any more. I too love fruits and veggies. In fact, I really enjoy a really good salad with protein, but when you say I have to leave certain foods out... I am in big trouble. So I'm back on IE. I am also trying to learn to know the difference in real hunger and taste hunger. So many times, I am hungry for something just because I want to taste it not really hungry. I have also been experiencing something I did as a teenager. I get hungry, but I don't know what I want, and I go look in the fridge and there isn't one thing there (plenty of food in there) that I want to eat. I wonder does anyone else do that? I think I am triggered by when I was a teen. Mama never kept anything ready to eat in the fridge or cabinet. I think she did it to keep from eating. I think she was fighting weight gain that way. I remember in the summertime that I would stand at the fridge starving and wonder why Mama didn't fix us girls lunch. There was food in the freezer but nothing you could just fix real quick. She only cooked in the evening when Daddy came home from work. Breakfast was sweet rolls. So now I wonder, am I really hungry in those moments or not? I have to assume that if I don't want what is there since I always have food I could eat that I am not really hungry.

I am up to 1/2 mile on the stationary bike and drinking loads of water each day. So I guess I am making some progress. Have good week end.

Carol - :hug: I pray you get to feeling better soon.

Oh yes! I do this all the time. Nothing sounds good but I am really hungry. I always have plenty in my fridge, though. I've been trying to remember the things I used to eat when I was young that I really like but stopped making because my kids didn't like it.......tomato soup, meatloaf, asparagus, etc.