Professor Talk: Common Myths About Weight Loss Debunked

Montclair State University was recently involved in a study scrutinizing common beliefs about weight loss. Your Montclair Patch editor recently spoke with Diana Thomas, Ph.D., who was involved in the study.

  If you believe having sex or breastfeeding are bona fide ways to keep the extra pounds off, you may want to check your sources.  Montclair State University’s Diana Thomas, involved in the Center for Quantitative Obesity Research at the university, recently participated in a study to debunk common myths about weight loss, which appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine.  The team of researchers, led by David Allison, Ph.D., associate dean for science in the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, quashed the following myths:  Myth 1: Small sustained changes in how many calories we take in or burn will accumulate to produce large weight changes over the long term. Fact: Small changes in calorie intake or …

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Tips To Stay Fit From The Montclair YMCA

Health and Wellness Director of the YMCA of Montclair Washima Solomon offers a few simply ideas to help keep the pounds off

The following article was written by Health and Wellness Director of the YMCA of Montclair Washima Solomon. The importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle and diet is hard to overestimate. It affects everything we do – either positively or negatively. So here are a few simply tips to keep in mind that will help promote a healthy lifestyle.  Get mental: Losing weight and adapting a healthy lifestyle is extremely challenging, especially if you have eaten a certain way for years or if you are new to exercising.  The key is to start off slow and make realistic short term goals. Don’t compare yourself to others and their accomplishments. Your weight loss journey is just that: Your journey! So, do what you can and pace yourself.  Remember, …

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Blog of the Day: How to Avoid Binge Eating

Nutritionist Jackie Schatell shares her secrets and knowledge for how to prevent over eating.

Food Network's 'Fat Chef' Follows Local Caterer

North Caldwell caterer Ally Vitella dropped 50 pounds since appearing on new series exploring obesity among food professionals. Episode airs tonight at 10 p.m.

Caterer Ally Vitella has cooked for the likes of Lady Gaga, Mariah Carey and John Legend. But Vitella wasn’t only making a living off of parties, she was living off of party food—a lifestyle that led to serious weight gain and poor health. The 41-year-old mother of two from North Caldwell is one of a dozen overweight food professionals featured on The Food Network’s, Fat Chef. The premise of the new series? If the typical American struggles with obesity, what’s it like for those who work in a kitchen? Vitella, of Vitella’s Catering based in Lake Hiawatha, was followed by camera crews for 16 weeks while she teamed up with a nutritionist and a physical trainer to drop from a size 28 to a size 16. She has lost a total of 50 pounds to date. …

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