【推荐1】An anti-obesity program for Australian girls didn’t lead to any improvements in their diet, physical activities or body weight a year later, according to a new report.

Findings from the school-based intervention (介入), which involved exercise sessions and nutrition workshops for lower-income girls, are the latest disappointment in a lot of research attempting to head off adult obesity and the disease risks that come with it.

Especially during the middle- and high-school years, girls’ physical activity reduces obviously, according to lead researcher David Lubans, from the University of Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia. He said, “In the future we need to make the programs more interesting and exciting and present information in a way that is meaningful to adolescent girl.”

Lubans and his workmates conducted their study in 12 schools in low-income areas of New South Wales. At the start of the study, girls in both groups weighed an average of close to 130 pounds, with about four in ten considered overweight. Over the next year, adolescents in the intervention group were given pedometers (计步器) to encourage walking and running and invited to nutrition workshops and regular exercise sessions during the school day and at lunchtime. Participation in some of those activities were less than ideal. For example, the girls went to only one-quarter of lunchtime exercise sessions, and less than one in ten completed at-home physical activity or nutrition challenges, the researchers reported. At the end of the year, girls in both groups had gained a similar amount of weight and there was no difference in their average body fat.

Preventive medicine researcher Robert Klesges said that although some anti-obesity programs have helped adults lose weight, the teen population has always been a source of failure for researchers. “The common belief is: nothing works,” he said. “And we have got to get beyond that.”

“We need to think outside the box,” said Klesges, who wasn’t involved in the new study. “That could include learning from what has worked in adult studies, such as giving meal replacement drinks or prepared foods to teens who have trouble making changes to their diet. Or, it could mean using a “step-care” method — rather than researchers or their doctor telling them to keep doing the same thing.” Klesges said.

【推荐3】Lose weight just by thinking about being slim. Sounds wonderful, right? British sports psychologist, Pete Cohen,explains how losing weight could be all in the mind.

Cohen has studied the habits of slim, healthy people for more than 10 years and has found that dieting doesn't work. It just makes you anxious about food. So, stop your diet plan for a while and think like a slim person.

Change your focus

Imagine yourself as a slim person. Getting slimmer involves having a more positive picture of yourself. If you imagine yourself looking good, you're much more likely to behave like that. It will encourage you to stop over－eating or eating unhealthy foods.

Think about what you eat

When you are hungry, don't just put the nearest food into your mouth. Stop and ask yourself how the food will make you feel guilty? Think about different things you might eat, how they'd make you feel, and then make your choice.

Treat your body better

Your body wasn't designed to sit at a desk all day and in front of a TV set all night. It was designed to move. Slim people are naturally more active. That doesn't mean they go to the gym every day. It just means taking little steps. Perhaps you can walk or cycle to work instead of taking a bus. Whatever you choose, the key to getting results is to build more activities into your daily life.

【推荐1】A 16-year-old Kansas boy will soon earn his high school diploma (文凭) and a few days later, he’ll travel to Harvard to collect his bachelor’s degree. The senior named Braxton Moral will attend both grand ceremonies in May, becoming the only student to successfully pursue a four-year high school degree and a bachelor’s degree from Harvard at the same time. The Hutchinson News reported he seemed famous overnight and many people were surprised at what he has achieved.

Harvard has changed the rules, said Braxton’s father, Carlos Moral, so his son will be the one and the only young one who can reach that milestone. And Braxton will be 17 when he gets his diplomas. His father also said the Ulysses school district allowed him to take some high school classes while he was still in middle school. Before high school, he had taken a class offered at Fort Hays State University. Then he was admitted into Harvard. Braxton studied at the high school and the Harvard Extension School simultaneously. The Harvard program typically serves the adults who work and can’t attend classes on campus full time. Therefore, it is the first time that a high school student has done it successfully. Ulysses High School math teacher Patsy Love served as the proctor for the Harvard program in Kansas, so he was responsible for Braxton’s tests and grades.

“We constantly are monitoring Braxton to make sure he is not too stressed,” said Julie Moral, Braxton’s mother. “No achievement is worth him being unhappy. However, we still let him do his own things, including making plans for the studies of different levels.”

【推荐2】Millions of people were watching a video of a 5-year-old girl from the U.S. state of Colorado completing an obstacle course at her home.

Gavin MacCall and his daughter Lylah are fans of the popular television show “American Ninja Warrior” on which competitors try to complete obstacle courses as fast as possible by climbing ladders, using ropes to swing across pools of water and running to the top of walls.

In 2015, when Lylah was 4, her father designed her first obstacle course. Lylah started in one part of the house then she worked her way across pieces of furniture, walked on bridges of narrow boards, climbed kitchen cupboards and traveled over waste containers to make it to the finish. Gavin MacCall provided the narration and crowd noises, just like on television. At one point, the family’s cat became an obstacle! Earlier this year, MacCall posted new images on Facebook that suggested a new project. He was building another obstacle course, but this time, it was outside the house.

Late last week MacCall posted another video in which Lylah wears a T-shirt that reads “Girls are superstars” and raises her fist over her head before starting the course. The course is tough for her since it even includes a zip line on which Lylah slides over a line of her toys.

The video lasts a little more than two minutes. Lylah is unruffled and confident throughout. The camera sometimes shows an audience of toys. At the end of the video, Lylah runs up a wall-the final obstacle. After that she hits the bell to complete the event. Lylah is victorious! The crowd cheers. Gavin MacCall’s video has had more than 60 million views.

【推荐3】A woman from West Yorkshire has set a new record for the fastest ever female to row across the Atlantic alone. Victoria Evans, from Huddersfield, took 40 days and 19 hours to make the crossing from Tenerife to Port St Charles in Barbados. On her journey she met sharks, bad weather, and even celebrated her 35th birthday on her own. Her crossing of 2, 559 miles beat the previous record time of 49 days and 7 hours set by a British rower, Kiko Mathews, set in 2018.

Victoria was very much a novice when she first considered the challenge, but she spent three years training, gaining the required qualifications(资格), and preparing to get seaworthy. Her 7-metre boat “True Blue“ was all that protected her from waves at the height of houses, dark nights, storms and heat. The most challenging part of the journey came around the halfway point when a wave knocked out her electrics, and she found herself locked out of her cabin.

The goal of the record-breaking adventure is to raise £50, 000 for the charity Women in Sport, which is to encourage women and girls to take part in sports. She has managed to raise a large amount while on her journey but it is still short of her target.

Victoria’s family followed her progress on social media, and were in Barbados to greet her as she made land. Victoria said, “As we turned into the marina(小船坞), I could hear my friends and family before I could see them. It’s amazing for people to fly to the other side of the world to watch you row basically 50 meters!” She decided to spend some down time in the Caribbean, recovering from her journey, before returning to her job as a lawyer in the UK.