WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US medical system spends around twice as much treating preventable health conditions caused by obesity than it does on cancer, Health SecretaryKathleen Sebelius said Tuesday.

"We're spending just under 150 billion dollars a year on health conditions related to obesity," Sebelius told the first-ever national conference on obesity to be organized by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

"We have a situation where health conditions related to obesity have nearly twice the cost-impact on the health system as all the cancers combined in this country."

The American Cancer Society, she noted, estimates that all cancers combined cost the health system around 93 billion dollars a year.

Her comments came a day after a study released at the conference found that medical spending on obesity-related conditions could reach a whopping 147 billion dollars a year.

Two-thirds of US adults and one in five children are overweight or obese, putting them at greater risk of chronic illness like heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes, according to reports released Monday at the three-day "Weight of the Nation" conference.

"If there were an epidemic in this country of children getting cancer at the rate they are presenting with diabetes, I think we would have people crying out for some sort of national solution," said Sebelius.

"But weight problems -- because they don't present themselves as dramatic problems till later in life -- we have been slow to act."

But Sebelius pledged that would change, as reducing rampant obesity in the United States was at the heart of President Barack Obama's plan to overhaul the healthcare system that leaves some 47 million Americans uninsured.

"President Obama and I are committed to delivering a healthcare system that provides all Americans with better quality and lower costs, and fighting obesity is at the heart of these goals," Sebelius told the conference.

"Keeping people healthy and reducing chronic disease will dramatically lower our costs... chronic diseases are not only responsible for 75 percent of the costs but also for about 70 percent of the deaths.

"Reducing obesity would be one of the biggest steps we could take towards this," she added.

Read more>>

FRIDAY, July 31 (HealthDay News) -- In the last 25 years, rates of severe childhood obesity in the United States have tripled, putting increasing numbers of children at risk for diabetes and heart disease, says a new study.

Researchers looked at National Health and Nutrition Survey data on 12,384 youths, ages 2 to 19 years, and found that the prevalence of severe obesity increased from 0.8 percent in the period from 1976 to 1980 to 3.8 percent in 1999 to 2004. Severe obesity correlates to a body mass index that's equal to or greater than the 99th percentile for age and gender.

The finding could mean that 2.7 million children in the United States are severely obese, the researchers said.

Black and Mexican-American children had the largest increases in severe obesity, along with children in families below the poverty level. For example, the percentage of severely obese Mexican-American children rose from 0.9 percent to 5.2 percent.

The researchers also found that a third of severely obese children had metabolic syndrome, a group of risk factors for diabetes, stroke and heart attack. The risk factors include high blood pressure, cholesterol and insulin levels.

The study appears online in Academic Pediatrics.

"Children are not only becoming obese but becoming severely obese, which impacts their overall health," Dr. Joseph Skelton, an obesity expert at Brenner Children's Hospital, part of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C., and lead author of the study, said in a news release from the center.

"These findings reinforce the fact that medically based programs to treat obesity are needed throughout the United States, and insurance companies should be encouraged to cover this care," Skelton said.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers tips to help children maintain a healthy weight.

Read more>>

WASHINGTON (AFP) – An obese prisoner in Harris County, Texas has been charged with illegal possession of a firearm after he was discovered to be hiding a 9mm pistol in between his rolls of fat, local media reported Saturday.

George Vera, who weighs around 500 pounds (225 kilograms) was originally arrested last week for selling counterfeit CDs, according to the Houston Chronicle newspaper.

A police spokesman told the Chronicle that Vera was searched three times over the course of his arrest and booking at the jail but managed to conceal the handgun with his rolls of fat until it was discovered in the shower.

Vera has been charged with possession of an illegal weapon in a correctional facility, which carries a penalty of two to 10 years in prison, but is currently free on bail of 10,000 dollars.

Read more>>

Tue Aug 11, 5:00 pm ET

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – The rate of severe obesity among U.S. children and teenagers more than tripled over the past three decades, a new study finds.

Using data from a long-running government health survey, researchers found that as of 2004, nearly 4 percent of 2- to 19-year-olds in the U.S. were severely obese.

That was up more than three-fold from 1976, and more than 70 percent from 1994, the researchers report in the journal Academic Pediatrics.

"Children are not only becoming obese, but becoming severely obese, which impacts their overall health," lead researcher Dr. Joseph A. Skelton, of Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, said in a news release from the university.

"These findings," he added, "reinforce the fact that medically-based programs to treat obesity are needed throughout the United States and insurance companies should be encouraged to cover this care."

The study also found that minority and lower-income children are at particular risk of severe obesity -- which, in children and teenagers, is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) in the 99th percentile for one's age and gender.

In the most recent survey, which included 12,000 2- to 19-year-olds from across the U.S., nearly 6 percent of African-American children and teens were severely obese, as were roughly 5 percent of Mexican- Americans. That compared with 3 percent of their white peers.

In contrast, less than 1 percent of Mexican-American children and less than 2 percent of black children were severely obese in the 1970s survey.

When it came to family income, the latest survey data show that just over 4 percent of relatively lower-income children were severely obese, versus 2.5 percent of those from higher-income families.

The findings underscore a central obstacle in tackling childhood obesity, Skelton and his colleagues note: The children who are most affected also generally have the greatest difficulty getting good healthcare.

"No simple answers exist," the researchers write, pointing out that along with better access to healthcare, there also need to be broader efforts to improve the diets and lifestyle habits of U.S. children.

SOURCE: Academic Pediatrics, September 2009.

Read more>>

By Anne Harding Anne Harding – Wed Aug 19, 12:37 pm ET

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Caring for obese people is eating up an ever-bigger slice of the US health care spending pie, a new government report shows.

From 2001 to 2006, health care expenditures on obese adults rose from $167 billion to $303 billion, an 82 percent jump, according to an analysis by Marie N. Stagnitti, a senior survey statistician at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in Rockville, Maryland.

Costs for overweight individuals rose 36 percent, from $202 billion to $275 billion, while spending on normal-weight people rose 25 percent, from $208 billion to $260 billion.

"Obviously we need to get this under control," Stagnitti told Reuters Health. "This is just another way to cut the data show that, especially for the obese population, we need to figure out what's going on there."

Obese people accounted for 28 percent of total health care spending in 2001, and 35 percent in 2006, the researcher found, while normal-weight people's share of these costs dropped from 35 percent to 30 percent.

During that time the number of obese adults in the US rose from 48 million to 59 million, while the number of normal weight adults actually fell slightly, from 79.6 million to 78.3 million.

The figures come from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, which samples US households on their health care spending, and account for the entire non-institutionalized civilian US population.

During the survey period, the proportion of overweight and obese people in the US population grew, which likely accounts for some of the increases in costs; in 2001, 23.6 percent of US adults were obese and 39 percent were normal-weight, compared to 27.2 percent and 36.1 percent, respectively, in 2006.

Stagnitti's analysis also showed that obese people accounted for the lion's share of the US population with at least a single chronic disease, like heart disease or diabetes. In 2001, 57.1 percent were obese, and in 2006 59.7 percent were obese.

Read more>>

By Amy Norton Amy Norton – Wed Aug 19, 1:57 pm ET

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Overweight children and teenagers may eat more when they have a snack with an overweight friend rather than a thinner peer, a new study suggests.

In a study of 9- to 15-year-olds, researchers found that all kids, regardless of their weight, tended to eat more when they had the chance to snack with a friend than when they were with a peer they did not know.

But the biggest calorie intakes were seen when an overweight child snacked with an overweight friend.

The findings, reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, highlight the role of friends' influence in how much kids eat -- and, possibly, in their weight control.

It's not surprising that children eat more when they are with friends instead of strangers, according to lead researcher Dr. Sarah-Jean Salvy, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

The same pattern has been found in adults, Salvy told Reuters Health in an email. This, she explained, may be partly because people are more self-conscious around strangers, and partly because friends act as "permission-givers."

"They set the norm for what is appropriate to do, or in this case eat," Salvy said.

For the study, Salvy and her colleagues had 23 overweight and 42 normal-weight children and teens spend 45 minutes with either a friend or an unfamiliar peer. Each pair was given games, puzzles and books for entertainment, along with bowls of chips, cookies, carrots and grapes.

Overall, the researchers found, pairs of friends downed more calories than did unacquainted pairs. And overweight friends consumed the most -- 738 calories, on average, versus 444 calories when an overweight child was paired with normal-weight friend.

Normal-weight kids consumed an average of about 500 calories when paired with a friend, regardless of the friend's weight.

Salvy noted that a recent study of adults found that people were more likely to gain weight over three decades if their same-sex friends were overweight or obese -- suggesting a role for "social influence" in body weight.

When it comes to children and teens, it's known that many follow their friends' lead in deciding whether to smoke or drink. The current findings, Salvy said, suggest that kids' eating habits are also "largely determined by their social network."

The good side of that, according to Salvy, is that helping one child make healthy changes may end up influencing his or her friends as well. She said her research interest now is to see whether there is in fact such a "contagion effect" on friends' eating habits.

SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, August 2009.

Read more>>

today i've read a weight loss plan ..i think it may achieve good results , iread it on weight loss secrets tips blog ...so i preferred to share it with you :

The Cabbage Soup Diet if followed strictly can help reduce 2 to 2.5 kgs in 7 days. Abstain from sweets, sugar, colas, tea, coffee,soda, alcohol etc and drink lots and lots of water through out the day. Cabbage Soup should be taken every day. Also do some exercise daily.The food intake should be divided into 5-6 mini meals everyday. The plan is given below.
Day 1 : Eat fruits like melons, apple,orange,papaya etc . Do not eat Banana today.
Day 2 : Eat Raw Vegetables like Tomato, Cucumber, Carrot etc. Lunch can be stir fried vegetables with onion and garlic in very less olive oil or steamed vegetables and a baked potato. Avoid sweet corn and green peas.
Day 3 : Eating a combination of fruits and vegetables eaten on day 1 and day 2, except potato.
Day 4 : Eat only bananas (6-8) and drink skim milk.
Day 5 : Eat 3 baked or grilled skinless chicken or fish meal today and around 6 tomatoes.Vegetarians can substitute with tofu.
Day 6 : Eat 3 steaks and vegetable salads today. Avoid Potato.
Day 7 : Consume unsweetened Fruit Juices and Raw Vegetables.

Read more>>

With over half the population in most countries being affected by obesity, it has become vital to find a solution for it. In this context, Calotren supplement has been found to be of great use. It is a protein supplement which helps the body to lose fat in a natural way. It works in combination with a healthy diet and regular exercise pattern and works slowly to show its effects. But what are the pros and cons of taking Calotren? We must find out all about the supplement before deciding to take it regularly.

Burning Up The Calories

Calotren is mainly made up of collagen hydrolysate, which is a form of protein. This protein is very essential in building lean muscle mass which is found in the muscles, organs and joint tissues. In the process of developing these muscles, collagen is produced. The more the collagen, the more the lean muscle mass. And this lean muscle mass again burns up more calories, leading to weight loss. Calotren serves as a supplier of collagen to the body. Therefore, it aids in the development of lean muscle mass and consequently in losing weight. The lean muscle mass burns up more calories than other parts of the body. As more calories are burnt, more fat is destroyed which leads to a leaner body.

What About The Side-Effects?

Calotren supplement has zero side effects. This has been confirmed by all the people who have taken Calotren. Since Calotren has no stimulants like caffeine and ephedrine, it does not cause a person to feel jittery or have a racing heart. These are the normal side-effects of weight-loss supplements. On the other hand, Calotren has displayed some positive side-effects. It has been noticed that Calotren prevents wrinkling of the skin. This means that there will be no wrinkles on your face and hands which will make you look much younger than your age. Beauty experts are also pleased with the results.

How Much Weight Do You Lose?

Calotren supplement must be able to achieve the very goal that it has been created for. Unless you lose substantial weight after consuming Calotren, there is no use in taking it. But studies state that you should be able to lose 1 pound every week. A calorie deficit of 500 calories should be created per day. Taking Calotren will add about 12 calories every day which is quite negligible. It is expected that you will achieve 86% success with weight loss after taking Calotren constantly for 90 days.

What Are The Other Benefits?

What can be better than if Calotren supplement can provide other benefits besides controlling your weight. The presence of glucosamine and chondroitin in Calotren is a very good sign. These ingredients aid in developing joint tissue. This means that there will be an increase in joint flexibility and also that you will recover better from joint injuries. Looking at all these aspects of Calotren, one can safely conclude that Calotren is an effective means of controlling your weight. There are only advantages to count.

Sean Jackson is a health freak. The sole aim of his life is to maintain a healthy and lean body and make others do the same. More info about: weight loss

weight loss diet: weight loss

Read more>>

No big surprise - we all make mistakes. From the newest newbie, to the person who has been low carbing for years, we all encounter bumps in the road, or our experiments don't turn out well. Here are 10 of the most common mistakes I see in low carb eating.

1) Getting Off on the Wrong Foot
You don't have to take a college class to understand low carb eating. But if you think it means you should just eat meat all day (or other low carb myths) or if you don't know where the carbs are lurking, you're setting yourself up for a fall. You do need to have some basic knowledge about how cutting carbohydrates works, what foods have carbohydrates, and how to eat a balanced low carb diet.
2) Giving Up Too Quickly
There are lots of approaches to low carb eating, and there are often missteps at first, as you try to find one that works for you, or to modify an existing one. There is a tendency to over-react a bit when everything doesn't go perfectly, and give up. A prime example of this is eating too little carbohydrate at first, suffering carb crash, and deciding low carb isn't for you. This is a shame, when a simple adjustment can usually get you through the first week comfortably, to the great rewards at the end of it.
3) Not Enough Vegetables
Time and time again, people tell me they don't feel good eating low carb, and it turns out they are eating almost no vegetables or fruit. This will not work in the long run. My low carb pyramid has vegetables at the base - in other words, you should be eating more of them than any other food! Fruit, too, especially fruit low in sugar, has its place in a complete low carb diet.
4) Not Enough Fiber
Eating enough vegetables and fruit go a long way towards insuring you are getting enough fiber in your diet. There are other low carb sources of fiber as well, and it's good to learn about them.
5) Eating Too Much
It's true that you don't have to count calories on a low carb diet. But that doesn't mean calories don't count! The great thing about low carb eating is that our appetites "turn down," allowing us to eat fewer calories without getting hungry. Some people make the mistake, though, of thinking they can just keep eating and eating and still lose weight as long as the food is low carb. Let your appetite be your guide - eat when you are hungry, and stop when you are comfortable.
6) Lack of Planning
When you are first on a new way of eating, you'll run into old habits that need to be changed to new healthier ones. No longer can you mindlessly hit the vending machine or drive-thru. This is a good thing: Pausing to re-consider our habits is a constructive step towards making improvements in our lives. But in the case of eating, it's important to plan ahead for awhile, until our new habits come naturally. Nothing will sabotage your goals more quickly than realizing that you're hungry but you don't know what to eat.
7) Getting into a Rut
There are people who eat the same things day after day, and like it that way. But frankly, most of us like variety, and will get bored very quickly if that is not built into the way we eat. There is no reason for not eating a wide variety of foods, and in fact, a varied diet is likely to be better for us nutritionally. Every cuisine on the planet has low carb options - you just need to skip the starch and sugar. Also, most dishes can be "de-carbed." If you want to figure out a way to have your favorite flavors, ask in our Forum - we love to talk about what we're eating.
8) Problem Ingredients in "Low Carb" Packaged Foods
Be wary of meal replacement bars, ice cream, and other "treats" labeled low carb or sugar-free. They often contain ingredients such as maltitol (the worst offender) which are just as bad as sugar in a lot of bodies. In general, products that talk about their "net carbs" or "impact carbs" deserve close scrutiny of the ingredients, and careful experimentation.
9) Carb Creep
You're eating low carb. You're feeling great, and the weight dropping off as if by magic. You're not hungry between meals! You have energy! You can concentrate better! Wheee! You think you'll have a piece of toast! It doesn't matter! You still feel great! You think you'll have some ice cream! Hey! You're still losing weight! A little sugar in the coffee can't hurt, can it? Maybe not, but...uh oh. Something has sent you over your own personal limit. Suddenly, you're having carb cravings, you're gaining weight, and you're in a vicious circle that's hard to break of eating carbs, being hungrier, eating more carbs...ugh.

Sometimes it happens more subtly, but it's common to let more and more carbs creep in, sometimes unawares. If that happens, it's time to take stock and probably start over, at least for a few days, to break that cycle.
10) No Exercise
There is a temptation to leave exercise out when talking about low carb diets, because often people can be successful at first while staying sedentary. However, there are several reasons for talking about exercise in any diet discussion (Atkins called it "non-negotiable"). One is that exercise lowers insulin resistance - this is probably partly why exercise alone will tend to help many people lose a few pounds. The second is that exercise is good for our bodies in so many ways. And the third is that while we can lose weight by diet alone, at least to some extent, we are very unlikely to be able to maintain a significant weight loss without exercise.
source :lowcarbdiets.about..

Read more>>

Among the benefits of "natural green tea" , remember the following:
Green tea helps reduce levels of LDL lipid and protein which is known bad cholesterol and works as a prophylaxis of heart disease and atherosclerosis.

The antioxidants, which protect the body from disease, are available in abundance in "natural green tea". One of the most powerful of these compounds known as short codes EGCG, who works on the prevention of harmful sun rays effects and various types of tumors.

It also protects ,when placed on the skin, against the sores and blisters and abnormal cell division which is due to the harmful sun rays.

The "natural green tea" dyes the teeth, but it protects the teeth from decay; because it contains fluoride and maintains on the gums, and resistant to harmful bacteria in addition to resisting the bad smell of the mouth .

Tea as well as improve the kidney function and resist against renal failure , and reduce the risk of ulcers and regulates bowel movement. In addition to being resistant to high blood sugar levels and helps to lose weight if drinking after meals.

we Can distinguish the good "natural green tea" by its delicate touch and its light green color, and one of the most important characteristics of green tea leaves that : floating on the surface of the hot water for tea at the cast and then sink again after several minutes.

You can prepare a cup of useful and delicious cup of the "natural green tea" by following these steps:

1. Use clean water and be careful to be free of impurities so as not to change the tea taste .
2. Heat water to boiling point, to give its known flavor .
3. Put a teaspoon of tea for each cup of tea.
4. Leave the tea in water for 3 minutes before you drink it.
5.have a nice cup of "natural green tea"……

Read more>>

"Great weight loss " tips

Why most people fail to lose weight permanently ,I think there's something go wrong in their "weight loss"plan , So I write this article:

Make your decision:
"weight loss" isn't so hard as some people think,but why most people fail??..Lack of motivation is one of the most important factors that make people fail.. There are many programs which are very good to you but you must check them before your final decision.

Lack of motivation isn't the main factor lonely,but the correct combination between healthy diet and physical exercise are the corner stones in this program.

Take a pen and write your plan in a white paper and put it in every place at your home, in the kitchen ,bed room,at a refrigerator door,…etc

And always ask your self why should I "lose weight"??..to be more healthy ,lives better feel confident,and then you can wear clothes you like!!!!

Healthy diet:
You should first choose plan that fits you and make you more comfortable and always remember the great "weight loss" plan is to eat the right food at right times not only to decrease the amount you eat..

Eat food with low calorie but you shouldn't eliminate fat from your diet..if you do ,you won't "lose weight" but you may should eat some fat because if you don't consume fat at all, your body thinks you're starving and tends to store every ounce of stored fat and thus you don't" lose weight"..you can review "if you don't eat fat ,you won't lose weight" article

Then eating vegetables that are low in calorie and rich in fibers, natural food show you are in the right way…

Also, you should avoid starchy foods like pasta,bread and potatoes,

Eat at regular times at the day and not in the evening as the metabolism slow down at night..

Water:
There's something most of people have no idea about it ,water..

Water is absolutely essential to our well being

"Proper water intake is the key to" weight loss"," says Dr. Donald , Scottsdale, Arizona. "If people who are trying to "lose weight" don't drink enough water, the body can't metabolize the fat, they retain fluid, which keeps their weight up, and the whole procedure we're trying to set up falls apart."..see H2O IS THE BEST

Exercise:

Exercise is very important in combination with healthy dieting,to become more clear with you ,any "weight loss program" don't include exercising isn't good at all..but it doesn't mean you spend hours a day In a gym,only select an exercise plan that fits your life style ,walk more,climb up the stairs,…etc

Rules of "weight loss" :

It's very important to review this article very carefully on my blog

Finally,Go and do it , yes you can, that's awhile and you can change your life ,be persistent, be patient and don't give up until you can reach your goal
To read more about healthy diet programs please visit: www.fatloss4idiots.com

Read more>>

Rules of Weight Loss

To lose one pound, you must burn approximately 3500 calories over and above what you already burn doing daily activities. Whew...that sounds impossible doesn't it? Here's how it works.

1. Calculate your BMR (basal metabolic rate). Your BMR is what your body needs to maintain normal functions like breathing, digestion, etc.
2. Calculate your activity level. Use a calorie calculator to figure out how many calories you burn while sitting, standing, exercising, lifting weights, etc. throughout the day.
3. Keep track of how many calories you eat. Use a food journal to add up what you eat and drink during the day. If you're eating less calories than you're burning, you'll lose weight.

Example:

Mary's BMR is 1400 calories and she burns 900 calories in daily activity. To maintain her weight, she should be eating 2300 calories but, after keeping a food journal, Mary finds that she's eating 2550 calories every day. By eating 250 more calories than her body needs, Mary will gain one pound every 2 weeks.

This example shows how easy it is to gain weight without even knowing it. But it's also easy to lose weight. In fact, you can start losing weight right now by making a few simple changes. If you can burn an extra 500 calories each day, you'll lose a pound a week and you won't even have to change your clothes. Try these ideas:

Instead of....	Do this...
Having an afternoon Coke	Drink a glass of water. (calories saved: 97)
Eating an Egg McMuffin	Eat a small whole wheat bagel +1 tbls of peanut butter (calories saved: 185)
Using your break to catch up on work or eat a snack	Walk up and down a flight of stairs for 10 minutes (calories burned: 100)
Hitting the snooze button	Get up 10 minutes early and go for a brisk walk (calories burned: 100)
Watching television after work	Do 10 minutes of yoga (calories burned: 50)

Total Calories Saved: 532 (based on a 140-lb person)

Focusing on daily changes is the best way to reach your goals. No, you won't lose weight overnight but isn't it better to permanently change your life for the better? Say it with me: My Health Is More Important Than My Appearance. Repeat that 10 times a day and you're on your way to better health.

about.com

Read more>>

We all want to lose weight for different reasons: a wedding, party, beach trip or just to be healthy. Whatever our motivation, trying to lose weight quickly is always tempting. Why only lose a healthy 1-2 pounds per week when you can work harder and lose double or even triple that? The answer is because if you try and lose weight at a very rapid pace, you will increase your risk of adverse health effects and make it more likely that you will gain the weight back and have to go through another diet at a later date.
1.
Step 1

Losing weight requires you to diet as well as exercise. Both of these, if taken to an extreme can cause harm to your body. To diet, you need to cut your calories. This can actually be a healthy step since the foods you should ditch are the ones filled with empty calories. By removing these foods and adding healthy, low calories ones, you will actually improve your health while you lose weight.
2.
Step 2

If you drastically cut calories to speed up weight loss, you risk not being able to get all the vitamins and minerals you need each day. For your body to properly function, you need a certain amount of nutrients. When you cut your calories below 1,200, it makes it very difficult to get them all. Also, when you cut your calories below 1,200, your body will think it is going into a period of starvation. It will begin to slow certain metabolic processes down to conserve energy. When this happens, your weight loss may slow or stop all together.
3.
Step 3

Exercise is the other part of the weight loss equation. To burn more calories, you need to increase your exercise level. Some take this to an extreme and try to workout hard six or even seven days per week to lose extra weight. Sometimes too much of a healthy thing can be bad. With too much exercise, you will start to feel fatigued, lethargic and even start getting injured. Marginally increasing your exercise level is usually preferred over drastically cutting your calories. If you are already eating around 1,500 calories and aren't losing up to two pounds per week, try working out more instead of eat even less.
4.
Step 4

Losing weight quicker than the recommended rate (1-2 pounds per week) will also increase the chance that the weight will come back once you end your diet and exercise. Losing more than two pounds per week requires huge changes to your daily life including big cuts in calories and huge increases in activity levels. Because the changes are so different than what you're used to, once you reach your weight loss goal, you are much more likely to start eating junk food and being sedentary because of how you've been depriving yourself over the last few weeks and months.
5.
Step 5

Think of a diet in which you reduce your calorie intake by 500-1000 per day. Now think of what it must be like to cut 1,500 calories out of each day. The change to your lifestyle will be unbearable and the first chance you get to ease up on your diet, you will, and you will do it in a way that will cause you to gain even more weight than you started off with. Losing weight slowly allows you to better adjust to the changes in your life and makes it less likely you'll revert to your old ways.
6.
Step 6

While it is possible to lose more than 1-2 pounds per week, doing so can put your health at risk. Is losing a few more pounds worth any long term effects to your body? Take the extra few weeks and lose the weight in a healthy way. You'll thank yourself later.

if you're interested in ...try this weight loss program


source

Read more>>

H₂O is still the best!

By Sherali S. Bharwani

Most people have no idea how much water they should be drinking, and most people especially in the developed work live from day to day in a dehydrated state. They don't drink enough water.

Water is absolutely essential to our well being. Without water, we would be poisoned to death by our own waste products and toxins resulting from metabolism.

Water is vital to digestion and metabolism, acting as a medium for various enzymatic and chemical reactions in the body. It carries nutrients and oxygen to the cells through the blood, regulates body temperature and lubricates our joints (which is particularly important if you're arthritic, have chronic muscular-skeletal problems or are athletically active).

We need water to breathe. We lose approximately one pint of liquid every day just by exhaling. If you are not in 'fluid balance', you can impair every aspect of your body's physiological functioning.

Dr. Howard Flaks, Beverly Hills says:

"As a result of not drinking enough water, many people encounter such problems as excess body fat, poor muscle tone and size, decreased digestive efficiency and organ function, increased toxicity in the body, joint and muscle soreness (particularly after exercise) and water retention."

"Proper water intake is the key to weight loss," says Dr. Donald Robertson, Scottsdale, Arizona. "If people who are trying to lose weight don't drink enough water, the body can't metabolize the fat, they retain fluid, which keeps their weight up, and the whole procedure we're trying to set up falls apart."

"I'd say the minimum amount of water a healthy person should drink is 10 eight-ounce glasses a day," he continues, "and you need to drink more if you are overweight, exercise a lot, or live in a hot climate. Overweight people should drink an extra eight ounces of water for each 25 pounds that exceeds their ideal weight."

Your water intake should be spread judiciously throughout the day, including the evening. Dr. Flaks cautions against drinking more than four glasses in any given hour. Always check with your physician before embarking on a water intake increase program.

Now you may ask, "If I drink this much water, won't I constantly be running to the bathroom?" Initially, yes, because of the hypersensitivity of the bladder to increased fluids. But after a few weeks, your bladder calms down, and you urinate less frequently, but in larger amounts.

There is a difference between pure water and other beverages that contain water.

Water is water. Obviously you can get it by consuming fruit juice, soft drinks, beer, coffee or tea. Unfortunately, while such drinks contain water, they also may contain substances that are not healthy and actually contradict some of the positive effects of the added water.

Dr. Jerzy Meduski, Los Angeles, California quotes:

"Beer contains water, but it also contains alcohol, which is a toxic substance. Beverages that contain caffeine, such as coffee, stimulate the adrenal glands; fruit juices contain a lot of sugar and stimulate the pancreas. Such drinks may tax the body more than cleanse it."

Another problem with these beverages is that you lose your taste for water.

The way to interpret all of this, therefore, is that the recommended daily water intake means just that, WATER!

Read more>>

If you don't eat fat, you won't lose weight!

By Sherali S. Bharwani

You have always been told that fat is your enemy and responsible for your overweight-ness. You are also generally advised to completely abstain from fat if you want to lose weight.

I think the low-fat craze has gone too far. My clients are not only confused about it, they feel disappointed even betrayed. They say.. "I’m eating fat-free foods, why then am I not losing weight?" "I’m counting fat grams instead of calories, but I’m still fat!" "Aren’t fat-free products healthier?"

The focus on fat content seems to have so much backfired now that we’ve forgotten all about calories. According to a study, we’re taking in nearly 250 more calories a day now than we were 30 years ago. Meanwhile, Americans are spending over $30 billion a year on weight control, a large chunk of that on diet and low-fat foods.

A lot of people mistakenly assume that since a food is labeled fat-free, they could eat as much of it as they wanted. So, instead of replacing high-fat foods with low-calorie fruits and vegetables, they’ve been bulking up on highly processed foods loaded with added sugars and refined starches, which offer little nutrition other than calories.

Let's clear it up. If you completely eliminate fat from your diet, you will not lose weight! Research is showing that you should probably eat more fat, especially if you're trying to lose weight.

If you don't consume fat at all, then your body thinks you're starving. In this 'starvation mode' or 'famine mode', your body tends to store every ounce of stored fat and thus you don't lose weight. You may lose muscle and water mass but you don't lose fat!

Additionally, appropriate amounts of fats are required in your daily diet in order to keep your body functioning properly. Fats are required for your hair, your nails, your joints etc.

But determining the proper amount of healthy fat in your daily diet is a very tricky issue. You have to be very careful with the foods that contain fat. Just consider this..

• Eat too much fat and you will not lose weight!

• Eat too little fat and you will not lose weight!

• Eat the 'BAD' fat and you will not lose weight!

• Don't eat the 'GOOD' fat and you will not lose weight!

• source
  

Read more>>

FREE General Secrets Collection

1. First things first.. Prioritize. The beds might not get made but making time for exercise is more important. That's how Amy Reed, 36 has kept off more than 80 pounds for 11 years. "I have to schedule it in and let go of other things like a perfectly clean house." she says.
   
   

2. Enjoying your life is as important as anything else. Find a passion. "I have a dance background and when I found jazzercise, I said, 'Thank God.' If somebody told me I had to go out and run five days a week, I'd still weigh 185 pounds," says Anne Geren, 41, who lost 55 pounds and has kept it off for 13 years.
   
   

3. If you keep track of something, you're more likely to be responsible about it. Keep an exercise log. It makes you more accountable. Norma from Dallas, TX, who hangs hers on the refrigerator, checks off six workouts a week dutifully. "If I miss one day, I make that my day off for the week."

4. Setting goals is important .That keeps you inspired in your effort. Sign up for some fun runs and try to improve your times. "I went from a 5-K to a 4-miler, then a 5-miler, then a 10-K. As I was building miles and speed, I was getting fitter and losing more weight," says Therese Revitt, 42, who lost 80 pounds and recently ran a marathon.
   
   

5. Get pumped. "It wasn't until I put on more muscle through resistance training that I was able to keep the weight off - almost effortlessly," says Verona Mucci-Hurlburt, 37, who went from a size 18 to an 8. The reason? Muscle burns more calories around the clock.
   

6. Quick fix diet plans won't make you stay slim, a healthy lifestyle will. "I learned how to eat and live with it for the rest of my life," says Barbara Miltenberger, 42, who lost more than 40 pounds and hasn't seen any come back in three years.
   
   

7. Be sensible about what you eat instead of forbidding yourself most of the menus. "The best thing I did was quit dieting," says Reed. "I'd always find ways to cheat. So instead, I stopped forbidding myself certain foods and just started eating less of them."
   
   

8. Realizing the problem and the extent of its gravity is part of the solution. Get a grip on reality. "When I started keeping a food diary, I discovered that I was eating somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 calories a day," says Rebecca, 46, who found the number shocking.
   
   

9. Eat mini-meals. Having smaller, more frequent meals can prevent you from getting ravenously hungry and overeating. On average, weight loss winners eat five times a day.
   
   

10. Follow the 90% to 10% rule. "If you watch what you eat 90% of the time, the other 10% is not a problem," says Mucci-Hurlburt, who learned this tip from a fitness professional.

11. source
    

Read more>>

Everybody has heard of “low carb" diets -- since they are emerging as the newest trend in dieting.

But do they really work? ...And if so, are they the solution to weight loss that everybody is looking for?

We don’t think so, because most low carb diets have several problems which make losing weight very difficult for the “average” dieter.

For example, if you follow the Atkins diet (a popular low carb program) then the restriction on carbs for the first couple weeks is very severe (by almost any standards).

The Atkins program allows just 20 grams of "net carbs" per day during the first phase of the diet (which usually lasts for 2 weeks).

Just to give you an idea of how few carbs that really is – even a large apple has more than 20 grams of "net carbs".

This low level of carbs is often too severe for the “average” dieter to tolerate for 2 weeks straight, and in fact eating such a low level of carbs can make a person feel “weak” and “miserable” all day long (because your body needs more carbs than that for energy).

Other low carb diets (such as the South Beach Diet) are not quite as severe as the Atkins Plan, but in our opinion even the South Beach Diet is not as easy to follow as it could be.

We believe that a successful diet needs to be easy to follow – because that’s the only way that people will stick to the diet and lose weight.

We believe that diets should not make average people feel “miserable” and “weak” all day long, because if a diet makes people feel miserable and weak then it’s going to be very difficult for average dieters to adhere to such programs.

We’re not saying that all low carb diets are as restrictive as the Atkins Diet is, but we're saying that most low carb diets are so hard to follow that “average dieters” will probably wind up feeling hungry and weak all day long (which is not a good thing for dieting success in our opinion).

We believe that “low carbs” is not the answer to losing weight, since your body needs a reasonable amount of all 3 types of calories to lose weight consistently (protein, carbs, and fat).

The truth is that your body needs a reasonable amount of protein, carbs and fat calories too.

To lose weight quickly you must eat all 3 types of calories in the right proportions, and that’s why most dieters fail. They fail because nobody knows what the right proportions of calories should be.

To begin losing weight fast we recommend using the new Idiot Proof Diet shown below -- since there are no specific "portion limits" at any meal (and dieters can eat as much as they need to at each meal). Also, unlimited amounts of certain condiments can be eaten with every meal.

This is a brand new type of diet never seen before.

You can begin this new diet right here.

Read more>>

Most people believe that calories are the "enemy", since eating excess calories leads to excess fat, right? That’s why most people believe that the fastest way to lose weight is to cut way back on calories each day.

After all, if a dieter is eating 2,500 calories per day and they decide to cut back to 1,500 calories per day – then obviously those extra 1,000 calories have to result in weight loss, right?

Well, actually this is not exactly true.

In fact, if you try to cut your calories too much (via starving yourself and skipping meals) then you'll quickly reach a dieting "plateau" (a point where the scale refuses to drop any lower no matter how little your are eating).

Firstly, let’s talk about how the average person begins a new diet...

The scenario usually sounds something like this...

One day you look in the mirror and see that your clothes are fitting tighter than normal, and you look more overweight than normal. ...And on this day you get “angry” with yourself, you’re angry with what you see in the mirror – and you decide that you’re going to lose weight no matter what it takes.

You are filled with lots of motivation and anger on this day, and you feel determined to do whatever it takes to get slimmer.

So what's the first thing you do?

...You begin skipping meals and cutting way back on calories in an attempt to starve yourself thinner, since you're convinced that calories are the enemy.

Anyway, the above scenario is how you begin your “starvation diet.”

On the first day of dieting you feel so “motivated” to lose weight that you decide to skip breakfast.

Unfortunately, this motivation doesn't last for long, because after a few hours your hunger begins making you feel weak -- because your body is not accustomed to "skipping meals" like this, and your body is not accustomed to being without calories for so long.

Anyway, by the time lunchtime arrives you’re so hungry (and weak) that you feel absolutely miserable --- but yet you bravely tell yourself that you can handle this diet (because after all, you certainly don’t want to feel like a quitter).

So you perhaps have a piece of fruit for lunch (or perhaps another small food item instead), since you're still convinced that you can starve yourself thinner.

Finally, hours later when dinnertime arrives you’re so miserable and hungry that you have a major headache – and this is the moment when you finally begin to realize that starving yourself might not be such a good idea after all.

After this first day of starving yourself you feel horrible, but you’re determined to stick to your diet since you don't want to be a quitter so soon -- so you’ll likely hold out for another few days on this diet.

Or, if you are particularly brave then you may even hold out for a week or two.

However, regardless of how long you actually hold out -- you won't get any slimmer and the final result will still be the same.

You see, even after two weeks of starving yourself you won’t have achieved any serious weight loss at all. In fact, your body will still look the same when you look in the mirror.

Why is this true?

This is true because most of the weight lost during a “starvation diet” is just water weight, and not real fat loss.

You must remember that any “water weight” lost during a starvation diet will be gained back immediately when you stop dieting and start eating normally again.

Also, whenever you starve yourself you cause a “hidden” factor to come into play...

You see, whenever you starve yourself your body will begin burning fewer calories each day.

For instance, let’s say that you normally eat about 3,,000 calories per day.

....But then you suddenly cut way back on calories -- so that you're now eating only 1,000 calories per day.

Guess what happens?

Even though you’re eating 2,000 fewer calories per day your body will begin burning 2,000 fewer calories per day – so in reality your weight will remain the same even though you’re eating 2,000 fewer calories per day.

When this happens the scale will stop going down regardless of how little you are eating each day, and this is known as a weight loss “plateau.”

This is why most starvation dieters cannot make the scale go down anymore after just two weeks of dieting. They all hit a “plateau” where the scale just refuses to go down any further, no matter how little they are eating each day.

Now you know why you’ve always failed when trying to starve yourself in the past, since it’s just not possible to lose weight by starving yourself.

The truth is that “serious” weight loss can never be achieved by starvation dieting.

Serious weight loss can only be achieved by giving your body the right types of calories at the correct times each day, which is something that we talk about below...

Your body is actually like a big “engine” -- and the truth is that your body needs all 3 types of calories (protein, carbs, and fat) to some degree.

To begin losing weight fast we recommend using the new Idiot Proof Diet from Fat Loss 4 Idiots -- because it does not require any calorie counting (it's one of the only diets in the world which forces fast weight loss without the need to count calories).

You can begin this new diet right here.

Read more>>

Low Fat Foods DON'T WORK.

You cannot lose weight using Low Fat Diets. Low fat foods have been popular for more than 15 years, but yet our society is getting more overweight as each year passes. This fact alone should tell you that eating a purely low fat menu is not the answer to losing weight.

Low Calorie Diets DON'T WORK.

You won't lose weight using a Low Calorie Dieting Plan either. In fact, eating low calories is the worst thing that you can do to your body, since that will only slow down your body's fat burning engine and ruin all chances of losing weight (low calorie diets may allow a few pounds of weight loss for the first few days, but then after that all weight loss comes to a halt --- known as a dieting plateau). You can never get slim by starving yourself.

Low Carb Plans DON'T WORK.

You'll probably find it extremely difficult to get slim using a Low Carb Dieting Plan. Low carb diets have recently become popular over the last couple years, but the problem with low carb menus is that they are too strict and TOO HARD TO FOLLOW for average people. Low carb menus tend to rob your body of too much energy (carbohydrates) and make it nearly impossible to remain on the program for very long. This is why so many dieters find it difficult to follow a strict low carbohydrate menu.

What about Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig Dieting Plans?

Weight loss programs such as Weight Watchers (and Jenny Craig) usually involve slower dieting progress over a longer period of time, since such programs generally promise only 2-3 pounds of weight loss per week. Also, programs such as Jenny Craig usually involve buying special meals and/or dietary supplements during the initial phases of the program. While some people may like these types of dietary programs, we prefer a dieting plan which focuses on faster weight loss, such as the Accelerated Fat Burning Program shown below...

Try Fat Burning Diet right here

Read more>>