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Here’s a newsflash for you.  A study conducted at the University of North Carolina concludes that we eat more on weekends than we do during the week.

The study, published in the journal Obesity Research found that, on average, Americans consume 82 extra calories a day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday than they do during weekdays (for eating purposes, Friday is considered a weekend day).  People aged between 19 and 50 consume an average of 117 extra calories.

It’s easy to understand why.  If fact, I’m surprised that the average is so low. A single 12 ounce glass of beer – something a lot of us are likely to guzzle on weekends – accounts for 150 calories.  Add all those high-fat foods that are often served at weekend events and it’s easy to see how some of us might far exceed the national average.

117 extra calories a day may not sound like much but, all things being equal, it can add 5 pounds a year.  Multiply that by a few years and you can see why weekend eating contributes towards obesity.

In addition to more total calories, the researches found an increase in calories from alcohol and fat with a decrease in energy from carbohydrates.  In other words, booze and snack foods.

The researches did not study whether people tend to be more active on the weekends.  A 20 minute walk or mowing the lawn could burn off a day’s worth of those extra calories.

The study also pointed out that the fall season is also a danger zone when it comes to eating but other research suggests that holiday season weight gain might no be quite as much as some people had suspected.

There is the common belief that Americans put on several pounds between Thanksgiving and New Years but a study conducted by  the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) found that, on average, we put on about a pound during this holiday period.  That may not sound like much but, as we all know, it’s a lot easier to gain a pound than it is to lose one which is exactly what the study concluded. “When 165 of the study volunteers were weighed a year after the study began, they had not lost the extra weight gained during the holidays, and ended the year a pound and a half heavier (1.4 lb) than they were the year before,”  according to the study’s author, Dr. Jack A. Yanovski.  Obese subjects, by the way, were far more likely to gain five or more pounds.

Exercise can make a difference.  “Study volunteers reporting more physical activity had less holiday weight gain,” according to Dr. Yanovski who concluded that “increasing physical activity may be an effective method for preventing weight gain during this high-risk time.”

As I’ve said in many columns, keeping your weight under control is simply a matter of balancing intake and exercise.  While taking a 20 minute walk won’t make up for an extra helping of pie, regular exercise can definitely help you keep your weigh under control.

Nutritional Website

As someone who likes to know the nutritional content of what I eat, I’m always on the lookout for useful websites with nutritional information.  When I find one, I add it to the “Calculators and Database” section of my web site, www.NoBellyPrize.com.

Just about everyone I know who exercises regularly has been sidelined for a time because of an injury.  Some injuries result from dumb luck accidents but others can be prevented by proper warm ups, the right use of equipment and a bit of caution.

Some injuries result from exercising muscles that have long been dormant while others – repetitive stress injuries – are just the opposite.  Those who’ve been sedentary for a long period of time are especially vulnerable to sports injuries or even worse. If you haven’t exercised for quite awhile, it makes sense to get a physical before you start anything strenuous.  I don’t want to discourage anyone from starting out, but it is important to remember that there are conditions that can make exercise dangerous, especially if you start out too quickly.

But even if you get a clean bill of health, be careful not to start out with too strenuous a program.  When I got back on my bicycle a couple of years ago, I started with leisurely riding in flat areas before graduating to the hills.

The expression “walk before you run” can be taken literally.  A program of running or jogging can good for you but if you haven’t run for awhile you might be better off starting with a brisk walk before transitioning to running.

Starting slowly is especially important for weight training. When I started a weight training program earlier in the year, I started with bars that were completely devoid of weights, just to work on my form and get a feel for the equipment.  Over time, my trainer gradually added weight but never shocked me with too much of a jump.

Whatever your exercise program, think of it as a marathon, not a sprint. Your goal isn’t to see how fast and far you can run, walk or swim or how much weight you can lift but to gradually build up your strength and endurance. It takes awhile and any attempt to short circuit the process could easily lead to injury, discouragement or even the onset of an illness.

Warming up is very important.  A good warm-up routine not only stretches muscles and tendons but helps to increase circulation and body temperature.

If you are overdoing it, consider making some changes, at least temporarily. Some runners and cyclists turn to working out in a pool when they feel that their land-based activities are starting to have an ill effect. Ice after exercise, especially if you’re sore, can also help.

Varying your exercise routines can also help prevent injuries. By using different sets of muscles, you can avoid repetitive stress injuries.  I know first hand, or should I say first foot. Too much bike riding caused me pain in my feet.  The pain didn’t keep me from walking but it did require me to cut down on the intensity of my bike rides.

Speaking of long rides, endurance sports are more likely to cause cramping which can sometimes result from a lack of hydration. Drinking an adequate amount of fluids is essential, especially if exercise in hot weather.

If you’re doing aerobic exercises, it’s important to raise your heartbeat but not to overstress the heart.  There are all sorts of theories as to the heart rate to maintain during exercise but the most common formula for “maximum heart rate” is 220 minus your age while your target heart rate should be between 65% and 85% of your maximum.  You can find some heart rate calculators at www.nobellyprize.com.

Having the right equipment can also help. I once fell because the soles of my shoes were worn down and I didn’t even realize it. Make sure that your running or walking shoes are in good shape. My daughter Katherine, who is a college cross country runner, advises changing running shoes every 300 to 500 miles. Check the tires and breaks on your bicycle. Be sure that any strength training equipment you use is properly configured.  Wear appropriate protective gear which, depending on your activity, might include knee pads, helmets, gloves and other equipment.

Perhaps the most important advice is to listen to your body.  It will tell you if you are working too hard or need more rest.  But don’t just listen to the part that’s telling you you’re exercising too much.  You body also has its ways of telling you that you’re being a bit too sedentary.

Atkins may have been right all along.  A number of recent studies have suggested that a high-fat, low carbohydrate diet may be more effective at taking off weight than a high-carb diet.

Some argue that successful low carb/high fat diets are also low calorie diets because people on these diets – while enjoying lots of fatty foods – are actually eating less.  There’s some truth to that.  If you eliminate most high carbohydrate foods from your diet, you are more likely to become bored with what you are allowed to eat and might wind up eating less of it.  But a recent study at the Harvard School of Public Health seems to suggest that low carb diets actually do take off more weight, even when controlling for caloric intake.

Penelope Greene, a nutritionist at the Harvard School for Public Health, has conducted a study, albeit with a small sample; found that a group of dieters who consumed 1800 calories (for women) and 2100 calories (for men) lost the same amount of weight as the women who consumed 1500 and the men who consumed 1800 calories.  In other words, staying away from carbohydrates seems to have same effect as cutting out an additional 300 calories a day.

The results of this study fly in the face of the widely held assumption that calories are the only factor when it comes to loosing weight and gives credence to the theories of the late Dr. Robert Atkins and others who advocate counting carbohydrates rather than calories.

My own experience bears this out as well.  I don’t make any scientific claims nor do I necessarily believe that others will have the same results, but of my many attempts to loose weight, cutting down on carbohydrates has always yielded more success than trying to cut out calories from fat.

I always assumed it was because high protein and higher fat meals were more satiating then meals high in carbohydrates and that I probably was eating fewer calories along with fewer carbs, but Greene’s study suggests that there may be another factor. Perhaps carbs do actually contribute to weight gain, independent of the calorie issue.

There is also the possibility that people on the low carb/higher fat group in the study may have been more physically active than the other group or more compliant with their diet.  This study, however, was more controlled than many diet studies because participants eat food given to them by the researchers rather than prepare their own food or eat in restaurants.  By requiring the participants to other eat study food is the bet method known to avoid non-compliance with the research study’s eating regiment.

The main criticism of the Atkins diet is not only that it’s high in fat, but also high in saturated fat and cholesterol.  There are plenty of medical experts who agree that fat, in itself, isn’t the culprit as long as you cut back on saturated fat and trans-fat.  Fat from nuts, seeds and vegetables (such as avocado) has been shown in some studies to actually help lower cholesterol when used moderately during a weight control program.

Do you have kids who are overweight? If so, you’re not alone.  One in 10 American children are obese – about a third are overweight.  Fast food A study just completed at Boston’s Children’s Hospital found that kids who are already obese not only eat more at the fast food restaurant but when they get home as well.  The researchers studied 28 obsese children and 26 that were normal size.  Both groups were invited to eat as much as they want at a fast food restaurant.  They all started out with a large meal and they all ate it but the obese children ate more – 67% of their daily allotment of calories vs. 57% for the leaner kids.  The real problem, however, happened later in the day.  Once they got home, the obese kids ate, on average, 400 more calories than their leaner counterparts.

The lesson here, according to the researchers, is that overweight kids are less likely to compensate for a large meal than thinner kids. In other words, the normal kids cut back on their later eating because they were full while the obese kids kept on eating despite the large meal earlier in the day.

This research has implications for parents, trying to help their overweight kids and, even though it didn’t study adults, I think the findings might apply to grownups as well.  I know that I’m capable of eating a very large breakfast, followed by a large lunch, in between meal snacks and then a large dinner.  My son, who is thin, seems to have a better “thermostat” when it comes to cutting back later in the day after a large meal.

The lesson – put some thought into how you’re eating and don’t let appetite alone control what you eat.

My son Will, a junior at Gunn High School in Palo Alto, is preparing for the treaded SAT tests by taking a class at Foothill College. Like most test preparation classes, this one focuses primarily on the cognitive and test-taking skills necessary to get through the ordeal. But the instructor, Norman Prince, has added a twist — test taking nutrition, exercise and relaxation routines.

Prince, who is an adjunct professor of English at Skyline College, doesn’t consider himself to be a health and fitness expert but he is passing on knowledge he acquired from the work of Dr. Andrew Wiles, Dr. Dean Ornish, Deborah Kesten and other diet and nutrition experts.

Prince argues that doing well on tests is not just a matter of knowing the material (though that is certainly necessary) but also your state of mind and your general condition as you sit down for the test. While his work applies to adolescents taking tests, the same theories also apply to the rest of us. Being in the right state of mind and body can have an impact on everything we do.

Prince cautions students to try to “relax and enjoy yourself” the night before a test but enjoying oneself does not mean consuming large quantities of food. He recommends a “light healthful” dinner that “should be not much larger than the size of your closed fist which is the size of your stomach.” I’m not convinced that a pre-test meal should be quite that small, but I do agree that stuffing yourself prior to a mental ordeal is generally a bad idea. For example, I am occasionally called on as a luncheon or dinner speaker and I never eat much just prior to my speech for fear that I’ll fall asleep or, at the very least, wind up spilling something on my shirt. Seriously, it’s no accident that some cultures take naps after lunch. Digesting large amounts of food takes energy which is fine if you have time for a siesta but not if you need to perform mentally.

By the same token, starving right before a test or any other mental exertion is also a big mistake. Your brain needs food as does the rest of your body. Prince recommends a portion of “quality protein about the size of a deck of cards” such as 3 to 4 ounces of chicken, fish or soy protein. White meat chicken or turkey is best, avoiding as much fat as possible. It’s a good idea to have some complex carbohydrates such as whole grains and vegetables, but — again — avoid stuffing yourself.

Candy and other foods that contain sugar can give you a quick burst of energy but the problem is that they can also let you down fairly quickly. Prince says to avoid them completely. My advice is to use them sparingly if you use them at all but definitely not before the test. A small piece of candy or a small cookie in the middle of a test can be a quick “pick me up” as long as it’s consumed close enough to the end of the ordeal that you’re not likely to get a let down. A better choice is fruit snacks such as cut up apples or pears. Dried apricots or raisins are more convenient but a bit more candy-like because of a higher concentration of natural sugars.

There is controversy about caffeine. Most of the “healthy eating” advocates like Andrew Weil will argue that it’s stress producing and generally bad for you. That’s probably true — caffeine can increase your jitters, especially if you’re already nervous about the test, but it also stimulates your nervous system and “wakes you up” which can be beneficial. The important thing is to take it in moderation, if at all, and not so far before the test that the effects wear off midstream, leaving you more tired that you would have been had you not used caffeine.

Having said this, it is important to note that there are other opinions out that. The Michigan State University Counseling Center’s web site advises that you have a “moderate breakfast, no caffeine” and suggests that you “bring hard candy to the exam.”

Personally, I think it’s best to avoid caffeine, especially for kids, but I admit that I drink a cup of coffee every morning and it seems to help jump start my day, as long as I don’t let it get out of hand.

Getting a good night’s sleep before an exam is very important and probably more useful than whatever advantage you’ll get from last minute cramming. I think it’s often necessary and even OK to work late into the night finishing a paper, but studying is a different matter because sleep deprivation can affect your performance the next day when it counts. Prince recommends that you try to get to bed by 10:00 PM the night before a morning test. He says to avoid watching, listening to or even reading the news in the evening which is probably a good idea especially if what you’re watching is war coverage. He also suggests a slice of plain bread a half hour before bedtime as well as a warm bath. Sounds soothing to me.

Regular exercise is good for all sorts of things including being in good shape to take tests but you probably shouldn’t do something strenuous the day of the exam also exercise is great during breaks as you study in the days prior to the exam. On the day of the exam, you should definitely do whatever you can to relax yourself including deep breathing, yoga, stretches and other relaxation exercises.