At fourteen years old Taylor LeBaron of Georgia was an obese teen. But finding motivation in his favorite pastime, video games, helped Taylor to lose a total of 150 pounds in just eighteen months.
Taylor LeBaron
LeBaron created what he calls “The Ultimate Fitness Game” as a way of motivating himself to exercise and eat right on a daily basis. Featured on The Today Show, Taylor explained that in video games there are three things: enemies, allies, and money. He used these three aspects found in many of his video games to devise a regimen that would result in him shedding the weight.
Now, at the age of seventeen, Taylor is incredibly fit. He has released a new book entitled, Cutting Myself in Half: 150 Pounds Lost One Byte at a Time. His book explains the method that he used for weight loss. Le Baron used calories as “cash” that he had to earn through exercise. Enabling him to limit his caloric intake and incorporate exercise into his lifestyle.
According to a recent Australian study, every hour spent in front of the television raises the risk of premature death from heart disease by 18%.
HOW THE STUDY WORKED
Researchers tracked 8,800 adults and recorded their viewing habits over the course of six years. They were able to conclude that individuals who spent four hours per day in front of the television had an 80% greater risk of dying from cardiovascular disease when compared with those who watched TV for less than an hour or two. The association between television and premature death was independent of other risks including smoking, obesity, and bad dieting habits.
David Dunstan, an author and researcher at Baker IDI Heart & Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, Australia, has stated that prolonged inactivity can raise blood-sugar and cholesterol levels. The television itself is not to blame, but the sedentary lifestyle that accompanies heavy amounts of television consumption is the culprit. This study further supports studies from the Mayo Clinic correlating too much television with weight gain.
Dunstan encourages people to avoid sitting for prolonged periods of time and to move around more, as too much sitting has proven to be bad for one’s health.
In the United States, where two-thirds of all adults are overweight or obese, viewing time can be as much as eight hours as opposed to an average of three hours in Australia and Britain.