Treadmill Motivation: One Man's True Story

Ralph Klein, 63, decided to do something to lose some weight and get back in shape. This was twenty years ago. At the age of 43, the 5'8" politician weighed somewhere between 230 and 240 pounds. He says he was 'grossly overweight' at the time.

That's when he started running on a treadmill. At first he found it very difficult to complete even one mile. It took him six months to get up to three miles. He soon got down to 185 pounds. And he has maintained this weight, give or take a few pounds, for the past 20 years.

His method has been to do an average of 3-4 miles on the treadmill each day. He seems to have incredible will power; he says he has probably only missed less than five days in the past twenty years. Klein says he doesn't pay much attention to his diet and that he has a weakness for hamburgers and pizza.

But the exercise has more than compensated for this. Klein is happy with his weight and doesn't see himself stopping the exercise routine when he retires next year.

A Slimmer Waist in the Imaginary World

Those magazine covers in the check-out counter of your local grocery store are terribly misleading. It's amazing how much retouching goes on to make beautiful people look even more unrealistically beautiful.

Because young girls are the most susceptible to comparing themselves to unreal standards of slimness and beauty, the Swedish government recently hired an ad agency to create a campaign showing young girls how magazine retouching works.

Check it out for yourself. You can see the before and after pictures at this link. You'll see how they've made the models waist skinnier, her breasts bigger, lips fuller, eyes brighter and teeth whiter.

Anna Nicole Smith is Pregnant

Anna Nicole Smith, 38, has announced that she's pregnant.

Smith created a lot of interest in TrimSpa a couple of years ago when she lost a great deal of weight. She will continue to be a TrimSpa spokeswoman while pregnant.

She's keeping the father's identity a secret for now.

Update February 9th: Anna Nicole Smith is dead at the young age of 39. She died yesterday, February 8th 2007. Her son died only a few months ago and it seems this was a tragedy she was not able to cope with. She leaves behind her baby daughter, Dannielynn Hope. ET reports that she had tried to commit suicide earlier in December when she was found unconscious in the bottom of her pool in Bahama. Her bodyguard was able to revive her.

An autopsy is taking place this morning in Florida.

Jessica Simpson Loses 15 lbs

Jessica Simpson has lost 15 pounds in four months according to Life & Style Weekly Magazine.

She weighed 125 in January and earlier this month she was down to 110 pounds. How tall is she and is this too skinny for her height?

She is 5'4" tall and is now teetering between the border of the underweight and normal weight range according to Body Mass Index calculations.

Doctors normally recommend that your BMI is at least 20. Jessica Simpson's is now 18.9. A healthy weight range would put you somewhere between 111 and 146 pounds based on a BMI of between 19 and 25 for this height.

Her 'diet secrets' are quite basic and involve working out three or four times a week, eating healthy food and watching her portions.

Why are the most beautiful people also insecure about their looks? There are rumors circulating that Jessica Simpson paid a visit to plastic surgeon Julian Omidi earlier this month.

Update: August 2006, here is Jessica Simpson posing with a purple ball for the current issue of OK! Magazine where she discusses her workout plan in more detail.

A Doctor's Concern about Zetacap

ABC has a good article about Zetacap. Zetacap is being promoted as a 'gastric bypass pill'; as a far cheaper way to 'shrink' your stomach.

The company selling Zetacap says it contains a secret ingredient that will form a filling gel in your stomach and make you feel very full. But Zetacap has not been tested by the FDA because it has only natural ingredients.

The article suggests it would be better to just eat high-fiber foods to get the same feeling of fullness and alleviate hunger when you are on a diet.

See a list of ten high-fiber foods here.

Karolina Kurkova Likes Her Cake

Supermodel Karolina Kurkova will debut in her first movie "My Sexiest Year" in 2007. I gather her role is a small one as the lead actress in the movie is another supermodel, Amber Valetta.

One of the extras on the set had some comments about Karolina Kurkova's fondness for cake. I guess this confirms that supermodels are not always dieting 24 hours a day and it also suggests that they may be more insecure than we might guess;

As we took a break for lunch, I almost fell over with delight when I spotted my idol - Karolina Kurkova, who was loitering by the dessert buffet and stuffing her face with cake. Let me tell you, that girl deserves to be paid millions for being born with a body like that - she is superbly stunning. She also lurrvvvvvves to be the center of attention - breaking out R-rated poses for pictures with Director Howard Himelstein and his parents who came to visit him on set (he even put them in one of the restaurant scenes - awwwww...), and frolicking about in a Versace-type minidress that hardly covered her hoohaa (granted, the movie is set in the 70s so we were all dressed scantily in bold prints and disco attire). At one point she skipped through the room where all the extras were waiting, yelling out that we should be quiet, and telling us in a rather loud baby voice how cute we were... A tad strange - I thought she might have been drunk, but it might just be her need for constant attention.

Angelina Jolie's C-Section Baby

(Update: Angelina Jolie's baby was born May 27th, details below.)

Angelina Jolie is scheduled to have a C-section tomorrow to deliver her first baby - as reported by In Touch Weekly magazine today.

This topic is completely unrelated to weight loss, but as this baby is said to be the most anticipated birth since Jesus Christ, I thought I would break the rule here. The media are in a complete frenzy over this. Expect it to dominate your television and newspaper news for the next few days.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have been voted as the most beautiful couple in the world by People Magazine. Angelina Jolie won the prize for the most beautiful woman in the world in 2006.

Beauty does pay apparently. The rights to the first photo of the baby have already been sold for $5 million. Proceeds will go to a UNICEF child charity.

In Touch says the pregnancy due date was not till the first week of June. But Angelina Jolie decided to go ahead with a c-section tomorrow because of a 'minor complication.'.

I'll post an update here tomorrow as more news comes in about the birth.

Update: May 27th. Angelina and Brad's baby girl was born at night in Namibia today on May 27th. They named her Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt. But no other details are available. No pictures are available. Here is the brief press release from their publicist.

"The night of May 27, 2006 in Namibia, Africa, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt welcomed their daughter Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt. No further information is being given," publicist Cindy Guagenti said in a statement.

Update June 12th: Here's a photo of Shiloh and her dad from this week's issue of People Magazine.

See also how women can tell just by looking at a man if he is fond of children.

Update: See the recent news on Angelina Jolie's post-baby weight loss plans.

Janet Jackson is Dining Fresh

Janet Jackson has just provided a huge boost to an Los Angeles based company called Fresh Dining. A few months ago Janet Jackson weighed 180 pounds. Now she has lost 60 pounds in just four months. This weeks Us magazine has Janet on their cover, looking fantastic. And in the magazine, Jackson reveals that her diet consists of getting all her prepared diet meals delivered to her door each day.

Fresh Dining is only available to residents of Los Angeles and Orange Counties. If you live there, you too can get meals delivered to your door everyday. The service is not cheap. It costs about $55 per day for three organic meals and two snacks. The meals are planned around how quickly you want to lose weight. You can choose the 1,000 calorie package or the 1,400 calorie package.

It would be hard for Fresh Dining to pay enough money for the kind of massive advertising coup they just got with this media blitz. The gossip and weight loss blogs are all covering the story. The net is lit up with Fresh Dining buzz. I hope they are at least providing her meals for free.

How does Elizabeth Hurley Stay in Shape?

Elizabeth Hurley was born with the best of the beauty gene. She always looks fabulous and has never been overweight in her life. That's easier for some to achieve than others, but it's usually much harder for women who have had a baby and who are over forty.

Hurley is now a mother over forty. How does she maintain such a gorgeous and slim figure?

According to People Magazine, she doesn't even exercise much. I don't really believe this. I don't think it's possible to have toned arms and body like she does without some kind of regular exercise regiment.

But it does sound as though she is quite obsessive about her calorie intake. There's a famous quote going around about how she explains that 'a snack' for her might be six raisins. I would think that when you're counting your raisins, you must know there's a bit of an obsessive compulsive component in your dieting behavior.

Are you Obese or Cuddly?

When people join online dating sites, they often exaggerate their mental and physical characteristics. You don't find too many people stating they are mobidly obese on these sites.

Here's what people really mean when they say certain things about themselves on the online dating sites. I found this very funny list of common embellishments at the Radar Blog.

Athletic Stupid.

Attractive Appealing personality, physically repulsive.

Bubbly Bipolar.

Cuddly/curvaceous/extra padding Morbidly obese.

Down-to-earth Slob.

Educated Condescending.

Enjoy long romantic walks No car.

Free spirit Raring to ravish your friends.

Honest Brutally insensitive.

Independent Social leper.

Like a good wine Old and full-bodied

Live life to the max Your credit card max.

Looks not important Just money.

Masters degree Bunnings shop floor role.

Millionaire In defunct Italian Lira.

Must know how to treat a lady Platinum cardholders only.

No baggage Wife and kids terminated via lethal injection.

Not concerned about looks Pitt or Jolie lookalikes only.

Personality a must Because I have none.

Prince Charming Charismatic psychopath.

Quirky Attracted to children.

Recently single Enmeshed in cut-throat child custody battle.

Shy at first Embarrassingly boisterous after one drink.

Spiritual Flaky. Doesn't pay bills.

Traditional Live with my parents.

True romantic You take the tab.

Try anything once Crack habit.

Unique Self-obsessed.

Zany multiple unstable personalities.

SPANX Slimming Shapewear

SPANX is a relatively new company that's seen huge success in making all sorts of shapewear or body shaper underwear that can help you look slimmer in your clothes.

I was at a clothing store trying to find something nice to wear for the hot weather and aghast at seeing the rolls of fat under my arms in the big mirror. Here I also noticed a big, catchy ad for SPANX products. I've been seeing them around a lot lately, so later I looked them up on the net and it's quite a story about one women's good idea coupled with extraordinary marketing skills.

Sara Blakely got the idea to make slimming underwear that wouldn't show panty-lines just a few years ago. By 2005 SPANX was grossing over $45 million in annual sales and had 25 employees. The products have been featured on the Oprah Winfrey show, The View, The Other Half, The Ananda Lewis Show, CNN, CNBC, Every Woman, and countless news channels, as well as in the pages of Forbes, Fortune, People, InStyle, The New York Times, Vogue, Glamour, Self, and USA Today.

Fast Food Nation: The Trailer

The book "Fast Food Nation" came out a couple of years ago. It's an inside scoop on the fast food and meat packing industries. It's great inspiration for losing weight by getting turned off junk food. And now we have the movie. Here's a one minute trailer;

Healthy Diet Meals Delivered to your Door

At least one company is betting there is a big business in people ordering regular healthy meals to be delivered to their home. eDiets.com plan to start airing infomercials about their meal delivery service - eDiets Express Fresh Cuisine - around Memorial Day.

They'll be offering two meal delivery packages. One will cost $20 per day, the other will be about $35. They believe the average dieter may be prepared to pay $200 a week for this kind of convenient and healthy meal option plan.

Extreme Weight Loss Measures

There's been a real surge in weight loss related surgeries in the last couple of years. There were over 170,000 gastric bypass operations performed last year and the number of liposuctions to suction localized fat from different parts of the body is skyrocketing each year.

Some people are even taking 'vacations' to go and get their fat suctioned out somewhere in the tropics. It seems very extreme, and there are serious health complications associated with many of these procedures, but it looks like it is a weight loss method that is here to stay. See Plastic Surgery: Show and Tell for the latest stories around this trend.

Slimming Camera Makes you Look Thinner

If you haven't lost the ideal amount of weight yet (like me) and still need to send current photos to the friends and relatives, a new digital camera has arrived to make life more pleasant and deceptively slimming for you.

It's the HP Photosmart R927 digital camera and one of its fun features is the ability to make your subjects look quite a bit slimmer than they really are. UrbanDaddy reviewed the camera today and my guess is it's going to be a very popular new gadget. The slimming effect can be achieved right there with the camera, you don't need to make alterations using your computer.

See the HP Photosmart Slimming Cameraat Amazon.

Obesity and Genetics

Most people don't believe that genetics has much to do with a person being overweight or obese; that it is much more based on the environment and conditioning you grow up with and how this effects the diet and exercise lifestyle you lead.

But scientists have recently found a gene 'CPTic' which makes a protein that protects against weight gain caused by a high-fat diet. They've only tested this on mice so far but the implications seem to be that people who lack this gene will gain much more weight than people who carry a normal level of this gene.

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The above photo is by Piddy77

Boy Shorts in Plus Sizes

UNEASYsilence had a titillating post about a year ago stating that thongs were on their way out and boy shorts were in. We're talking about underwear for women here. (It seemed their survey was from personal experience and not necessarily scientifically statistically significant). But their certainty in their conviction seemed to make it so.

I decided to check this out with the brand new tool provided by Google. It's called Google Trends and it lets you search as to the relative popularity of two search terms.


As you can see by this graph, according to Google Trends, the thongs (in red) are still way ahead and were never threatened in their leadership position as compared to boy shorts (in blue).

But boy shortsare much more comfortable and really help to hide pantie lines on your skirts or pants. Personally, I'm not a thong girl myself (well, to tell the truth it's been a while since i was a girl) and actually think that women who wear thongs may have some deeply personal issues that I wouldn't want to console them with.

So here are some boy shorts and swimsuit options in plus sizesas pictured on Amazon.

Getting Thin - One Man's Story

Here's an excerpt from "The Fun of Getting Thin", a book written by Samuel G. Blythe about a hundred years ago (and now a Project Gutenberg eBook). It's interesting to read one man's personal weight loss story and how he went on to lose fifty pounds way back then.

Fat, the doctors say, is fatal. I move to amend by striking out the
last two letters of the indictment. Fat is fat. It isn't any more
fatal to be reasonably fat than to be reasonably thin, but it's a
darned sight more uncomfortable. So far as being unreasonably thin or
unreasonably fat is concerned, I suppose the thin person has the long
end of it. I never was thin, so I don't know. However, I have been
fat--notice that "have been"? And if there is any phase of human
enjoyment, any part of life, any occupation, avocation, divertisement,
pleasure or pain where the fat man has the better of it in any regard,
I failed to discover it in the twenty years during which I looked like
the rear end of a hack and had all the bodily characteristics of a bale
of hay.

When you come to examine into the actuating motives for any line of
human endeavor you will find that vanity figures about ninety per cent,
directly or indirectly, in the assay. The personal equation is the
ruling equation. Women want to be thinner because they will look
better--and so do men. Likewise, women want to be plumper because they
will look better--and so do men. This holds up to forty years. After
that it doesn't make much difference whether either men or women look
any better than they have been looking, so far as the great end and aim
of all life is concerned. Consequently fat men and fat women after
forty want to be thinner for reasons of health and comfort, or quit and
resign themselves to their further years of obesity.

Now I am over forty. Hence my experiments in reduction may be taken at
this time as grounded on a desire for comfort--not that I did not make
many campaigns against my fat before I was forty. I fought it now and
then, but always retreated before I won a victory. This time, instead
of skirmishing valiantly for a space and then being ignominiously and
fatly routed by the powerful forces of food and drink, I hung stolidly
to the line of my original attack, harassed the enemy by a constant and
deadly fire--and one morning discovered I had the foe on the run.

It always makes me laugh to hear people talk about losing
flesh--unless, of course, the decrease in weight is due to illness. No
healthy person, predisposed to fat, ever lost any flesh. If that
person gets rid of any weight, or girth, or fat, it isn't lost--it is
fought off, beaten off. The victim struggles with it, goes to the mat
with it, and does not debonairly drop it. He eliminates it with stern
effort and much travail of the spirit. It is a job of work, a grueling
combat to the finish, a task that appalls and usually repels.

The theory of taking off fat is the simplest theory in the world. It
is announced, in four words: Stop eating and drinking. The practice of
fat reduction is the most difficult thing in the world. Its
difficulties are comprehended in two words: You cannot. The flesh is
willing, but the spirit is weak. The success of the undertaking lies
in the triumph of the will over the appetite. There's a lovely line of
cant for you! Triumph of the will over the appetite. It sounds like
the preaching of a professional food faddist, who tells the people they
eat too much and then slips away and wolfs down four pounds of
beefsteak at a sitting. However, I suppose it is necessary to say this
once in a dissertation like this--and it is said.

In writing about this successful experiment of mine in reducing weight
I have no theories to advance except one, and no instructions to give.
I don't know whether my method would take an ounce off any other person
in the world, and I don't care. I only know it took more than fifty
pounds off me. I am not advancing any argument, medicinal or
otherwise, for my plan. I never talked to a doctor about it, and never
shall. If there are fat men and fat women who are fat for the same
reasons I was fat I suppose they can get thin the way I got thin. If
they are fat for other reasons I suppose they cannot. I don't know
about either proposition.

I have great respect for doctors--so much respect, in fact, that I keep
diligently away from them. I know the preliminaries of their game and
can take a dose of medicine myself as skillfully as they can administer
it. Also, I know when I have a fever, and have a working knowledge of
how my heart should beat and my other bodily functions be performed. I
have frequently found that a prescription, unintelligibly written but
looking very wise, is highly efficacious when folded carefully and put
in the pocketbook instead of being deposited with a druggist. I
suppose that comes from a sort of hereditary faith in amulets. No
doubt the method would be even more efficacious if the prescription
were tied on a string and hung around the neck. I shall try that some
time when my wife lugs in a doctor on me.

Still, doctors are interesting as a class. After you get beyond the
let-me-feel-your-pulse-and-see-your-tongue preliminaries they are
versatile and ingenious. Almost always, after you tell them what is
the matter with you, they will know--not every time, but frequently.
Also, they will take any sort of a chance with you in the interest of
science. However, they generally send out for a specialist when they
are ill themselves. When you come to think of it that is but natural.
Almost any man, whether professional or not, will take a chance with
somebody else that he wouldn't quite go through with on himself.
Besides, doctors treat comparative strangers for the most part, and the
interests of science are to be conserved.

Almost any doctor can tell you how to get thin. To be sure, no doctor
will tell you to do the same things any other doctor prescribes, but it
all simmers down to the same thing: Cut out the starchy foods and
sweets, and take exercise. Also: Don't drink alcohol. The variations
that can be played on this simple theme by a skillful doctor are
endless. When a real specialist in fat reduction gets hold of you--a
real, earnest reducer--he can contrive a diet that would make a living
skeleton thin--and likewise put him in his little grave. I have had
diets handed to me that would starve a humming-bird, and diets that
would put flesh on a bronze statue; and all to the same end--reduction.
Science has been monkeying with nourishment for the past ten or fifteen
years to the exclusion of many other branches of research; and about
all that has happened to the nourishment is the large elimination of
nutriment from it.

Continued in Chapter 11 : THE SO-CALLED CURES

Weight Loss at Any Cost

Weight loss surgery has become one of the fastest growing elective surgeries in America. And liposuction (the suctioning of fat from specific areas on the body) is gaining popularity at an even faster rate. Some companies are now even advertising 'liposuction vacations', where you can go to the tropics and get operated on for half of what it would cost here while staying at a five star beachfront hotel.

The photos shown here are from a controversial 80-page spread in the Italian Vogue last year. The feature was called "Makeover Madness" and portrayed supermodels Linda Evangelista, Inguna Butane, Elise Crombez, Missy Rayder, Hana Soukupova, Jessica Stam, Julia Stegner and Eugenia Volodina as plastic surgery patients. The famous photographer, Steven Meisel said the images were "a “reaction to where entertainment is right now - everything is makeovers and plastic surgery, altering oneself at any cost.” See these supermodel plastic surgery pictures here.

These photos are somehow extremely disturbing but fascinating at the same time.

Digestion and Overeating

It's interesting (and sometimes comical) to look back and see what people were saying about diets and weight loss in previous generations. As one example, R.L Alsaker was the popular authority on food and health about a hundred years ago. Here's an excerpt from his book;

In all my reading it has not been my good fortune to find a diet table
for healthy people, giving moderate quantities of food. Diet lists seem
scientific, so they appeal to the mind that has not learned to think of
the subject from the correct point of view. Quantitative diet tables are
worthless, for one person may need more than another. Some are short and
some are tall. Some are naturally slender and others of stocky build.
There is as much difference in people's food needs as there is in their
appearance. To try to fit the same quantity and even kind of food to all
is as senseless as it would be to dress all in garments of identical
size and cut.

If we eat in moderation it does not make much difference what we eat,
provided our diet contains either raw fruits or raw vegetables enough to
furnish the various mineral salts and the food is fairly well prepared.
There are combinations that are not ideal, but they do very little harm
if there is no overeating. People who are moderate in their eating
generally relish simple foods. Unfortunately, there is but little
moderation in eating. From childhood on the suggestion that it is
necessary to eat liberally is ever before us. Medical men, grandparents,
parents and neighbors think and talk alike. If the parents believe in
moderation, the neighbors kindly give lunches to the children. It is
really difficult to raise children right, especially in towns and
cities.

After such training we learn to believe in overeating and we pass the
belief on to the next generation, as it has in the past been handed down
from generation to generation. Finally we die, many of us martyrs to
overconsumption of food. Ask any healer of intelligence who has thrown
off the blinders put on at college and who has allowed himself to think
without fear, and he will tell you that at least nine-tenths of our ills
come from improper eating habits. It is not difficult to make up menus
of compatible foods. No one knows how much another should eat, and he
who prepares quantitative diet tables for the multitude must fail.

However, every individual of ordinary intelligence can quickly learn his
own food requirements and the key thereto is given by nature. It is not
well to think of one's self much or often. It is not well to be
introspective, but everyone should get acquainted with himself, learning
to know himself well enough to treat himself with due consideration. We
are taught kindness to others. We need to be taught kindness to
ourselves. The average person ought to be able to learn his normal food
requirements within three or four months, and a shorter time will often
suffice.

The following observations will prove helpful to the careful reader:

Food should have a pleasant taste while it is being eaten, but should
not taste afterwards. If it does it is a sign of indigestion following
overeating, or else it indicates improper combinations or very poor
cooking. Perhaps food was taken when there was no desire for it, which
is always a mistake. Perhaps too many foods were combined in the meal.
Or it may be that there was not enough mouth preparation. It is
generally due to overeating. Cabbage, onions, cucumbers and various
other foods which often repeat, will not do so when properly prepared
and eaten in moderation, if other conditions are right.

Eructation of gas and gas in the bowels are indications of overeating.
More food is taken than can be digested. A part of it ferments and gas
is a product of fermentation. A very small amount of gas in the
alimentary tract is natural, but when there is belching or rumbling of
gas in the intestines it is a sign of indigestion, which may be so mild
that the individual is not aware of it, or it may be so bad that he can
think of little else. When there is formation of much gas it is always
necessary to reduce the food intake, and to give special attention to
the mastication of all starch-containing aliments. Also, if starches and
sour fruits have been combined habitually, this combination should be
given up. Starch digests in an alkaline medium, and if it is taken with
much acid by those whose digestive powers are weak, the result is
fermentation instead of digestion.

People should never eat enough to experience a feeling of languor. They
should quit eating before they feel full. If there is a desire to sleep
after meals, too much food has been ingested. When drowsiness possesses
us after meals we have eaten so much that the digestive organs require
so much blood that there is not enough left for the brain. This is a
hint that if we have work or study that requires exceptional clearness
of mind, we should eat very moderately or not at all immediately before.
The digestive organs appropriate the needed amount of blood and the
brain refuses to do its best when deprived of its normal supply of
oxygen and nourishment.

Serpents, some beasts of prey and savages devour such large quantities
of food at times that they go into a stupor. There is no excuse for our
patterning after them now that a supply of food is easily obtained at
all times.

A bad taste in the mouth is usually a sign of overeating. It comes from
the decomposition following a too liberal food intake. If water has a
bad taste in the morning or at any other time, it indicates overeating.
It may be due to a filthy mouth or the use of alcohol.

Heartburn is also due to overeating, and so is hiccough; both come from
fermentation of food in the alimentary tract.

A heavily coated tongue in the morning indicates excessive food intake.
If the tongue is what is known as a dirty gray color it shows that the
owner has been overeating for years. The normal mucous membrane is clean
and pink. The mucous membrane of the mouth, stomach and the first part
of the bowels should not be compelled to act as an organ of excretion,
for the normal function is secretory and absorptive. However, when so
much food is eaten that the skin, lungs, kidneys and lower bowel can not
throw off all the waste and excess, the mucous membrane in the upper
part of the alimentary tract must assist. The result is a coated tongue,
but the tongue is in no worse condition than the mucous membrane of the
stomach. A coated tongue indicates overcrowded nutrition and is nature's
request to reduce the food intake. How much? Enough to clean the tongue.
If the coating is chronic it may take several months before the tongue
becomes clean.

A muddy skin, perhaps pimply, is another sign of overeating. It shows
that the food intake is so great that the body tries to eliminate too
many of the solids through the skin, which becomes irritated from this
cause and the too acid state of the system and then there is
inflammation. Many forms of eczema and a great many other skin diseases
are caused by stomach disorders and an overcrowded nutrition. There is a
limit to the skin's excretory ability, and when this is exceeded skin
diseases ensue. Some of the so-called incurable skin diseases get well
in a short time on a proper diet without any local treatment.

Dull eyes and a greenish tinge of the whites of the eyes point toward
digestive disturbances due to an oversupply of food. The green color
comes from bile thrown into the blood when the liver is overworked. The
liver is never overtaxed unless the consumption of food is excessive.

Another very common sign of too generous feeding is catarrh, and it does
not matter where the catarrh is located. It is true that there are other
causes of catarrh, in fact, anything that irritates the mucous membrane
any length of time will cause it, but an overcrowded nutrition causes
the ordinary cases. It is the same old story: The mucous membrane is
forced to take on the function of eliminating superfluous matter, which
has been taken into the system in the form of food. Many people dedicate
their lives to the act of turning a superabundance of food into waste,
and as a result they overwork their bodies so that they are never well
physically and seldom efficient mentally.

Many people, especially women, say that if they miss a meal or get it
later than usual, they suffer from headache. This indicates that the
feeding is wrong, generally too generous and often too stimulating. A
normal person can miss a dozen meals without a sign of a headache.

To repeat: No one can tell how much another should eat, but everyone can
learn for himself what the proper amount of food is. Enough is given
above to help solve the problem. The interpretations presented are not
the popular ones, but they are true for they give good results when
acted upon.

If bad results follow a meal there has been overeating, either at the
last meal or previously. Undermasticating usually accompanies overeating
and causes further trouble. Those who masticate thoroughly are generally
quite moderate in their food intake.

Many say that they eat so much because they enjoy their food so. He who
eats too rapidly or in excess does not know what true enjoyment of food
is. Excessive eating causes food poisoning, and food poisoning blunts
all the special senses. To have normal smell, taste, hearing and vision
one must be clean through and through, and those who are surfeited with
food are not clean internally.

The average individual does not know the natural taste of most foods. He
seasons them so highly that the normal taste is hidden or destroyed.
Those who wish to know the exquisite flavor of such common foods as
onions, carrots, cabbage, apples and oranges must eat them without
seasoning or dressing for a while. To get real enjoyment from food it is
necessary to eat slowly and in moderation.

I know both from personal experience and from the experience of others
that seasoning is not necessary. Instead of giving the foods better
flavor, they taste inferior. A little salt will harm no one, but the
constant use of much seasoning leads to irritation of the digestive
organs and to overeating. Salt taken in excess also helps to bring on
premature aging. It is splendid for pickling and preserving, but health
and life in abundance are the only preservatives needed for the body.
Refined sugar should be classed among the condiments. People who live
normally lose the desire for it. Grapefruit, for instance, tastes better
when eaten plain than when sugar is added.

People who sleep seven or eight hours and wake up feeling unrefreshed
are suffering from the ingestion of too much food. A food poisoned
individual can not be properly rested. To get sweet sleep and feel
restored it is necessary to have clean blood and a sweet alimentary
tract.

Much has been said about overeating. Once in a while a person will
habitually undereat, but such cases are exceedingly rare. To undereat is
foolish. At all times we must use good sense. It is a subject upon which
no fixed rules can be promulgated. Be guided by the feelings, for
perfect health is impossible to those who lack balance.

Those who think they need scientific direction may take one of the
orthodox diet tables. If it contains alcoholics, remove them from the
list. Then partake of about one-third of the starch recommended, and
about one-third of the protein. Use more fresh fruit and fresh
vegetables than listed. Instead of eating bread made from white flour,
use whole wheat bread. Do not try to eat everything given on the
scientific diet list each day. For instance, rice, potatoes and bread
are given in many of these tables. Select one of these starches one day,
another the next day, etc. If one-third of the amount recommended is too
much, and it sometimes is, reduce still further.

Please bear in mind that the orthodox way, the so-called scientific way,
has been tried over a long period of time and it has given very poor
results. Moderation has always given good results and always will.

Exerpts from The Project Gutenberg EBook of Maintaining Health, by R. L. Alsaker

Body Shapers: The Seamless Body Slimmer

On Oprah's show last week there was a program on how to make your butt look smaller in clothes.

This is an example of the new generation of body shapers. They are made from microfiber and really help to make your butt and thighs look slimmer. They're called the 'seamless body slimmer' and the one shown here is part of the Donna Karan Body Perfect Collection. This was the 'new age girdle' recommended on the Oprah show for an overall shaping and slimming effect.

I have a friend who has a perfect barbie doll shape but she says that wearing these new body shapers is her secret and the only way she can fit into the same skirts she wore ten years ago.

Extreme Makeovers Without Weight Loss

For people who are looking to appear more physically attractive there are some good alternatives to losing excess weight. One increasingly popular method is to invest in cosmetic dentistry. This can sometimes bring about a dramatic improvement in physical attractiveness.

The before and after cosmetic dentistry smiles shown here are from The Fine Art of Dentistry and Dr. Siles websites. Cosmetic dentistry is a booming business these days. New technologies that weren't available even a few years ago, aging baby boomers and the gorgeous white smiles we see on the tube all the time are all contributing to the rapid growth in cosmetic dental procedures.

Almost every dentist will do some sort of cosmetic dentistry these days. But there are many dentists who actively specialize in this area of dental work. These practioneers are kept very busy with the increasing demand for tooth whitening, veneers, oral laser surgery and implants. Tooth whitening has been the fastest growing segment of the cosmetic dentistry market.

Cosmetic dentistry could set you back financially as it's not covered by most dental insurance plans. But a lot of people are choosing this type of 'extreme makeover' over an expensive vacation, a new car purchase or even a high-end weight loss retreat program.

Flattering Clothes for Overweight People

Tomorrow's Ophrah show will feature tips on how to select flattering clothes to hide excess pounds. One question a lot of people have is how to hide a big butt.

According to a recent article in Marie Claire, here are the three things you should look for in jeans to give you a slimmer look.

1. Don't pick jeans that have horizontal seams on the rear.

2. Flared leg bottoms will balance bigger bottoms.

3. Trouser styles give extra room for your bottom without looking baggy.

If anyone here is watching Oprah's show tomorrow can you pass on the top tips for us?

Plus Size Sports Bras

While we're on the subject of plus sized bras, I should add that there is probably no better investment or accessory to a comfortable weight loss workout program than a good-fitting and comfortable sports bra.

The popular plus sized sports bras shown above are from the ENELL line of sports bras. They are made from NATUREXX, which consists of 90% nylon and 10% Lycra fabric.

If you are more than a few pounds overweight, these bras will make your exercise routine so much more enjoyable. For me personally, my exercise usually consists only of regular brisk walking, but a sports bra still makes a big comfort difference even if this type of exercise is not the highly bouncy kind.

Personally I prefer sports bras made of at least 90% cotton. The one shown here is a full support cotton sports bra made by Grenier. But maybe that's because I haven't tried the high-tech new material bras yet. These materials promise to wick away moisture and keep you dry during workouts. They also supply significantly more support than cotton bras can.

Jessica Alba: Her Diet and Exercise Program

Jessica Alba is one of the most interesting celebrities of 2006. What's her method of keeping fit?

She says she doesn't have a particular diet or food plan but she eats relatively lightly. Dinner is usually vegetables and chicken or fish. Lunch is a salad. Snacks are dried fruits. Breakfast can be cottage cheese and a peach or an omelet and fruit. She tries not to eat breads or sweets (other than chocolate). She tries to exercise every day for 45 minutes to one hour. She works out on either a treadmill or an elliptical machine and she also does lunges and crunches and works on her shoulders, biceps and triceps.

How much does Jessica Alba weigh? Apparently she is 5'7" and her weight is 127 pounds. She will be 25 years old this week. She was born on April 28th 1981.

She started her acting career when she was only 13 years old. Her parents didn't have much money and she says everyone in her family was severely overweight so she started cooking her own meals when she was only twelve. Jessica Alba suffered from eating disorders, obsessive compulsive disorders and panic attacks when she was a teenager. At one point she was so seriously malnourished she weighed just over 100 pounds.

Update May 2006: It looks like Jessica's eating disorder may be coming back to haunt her. Since she's appeared on the Playboy cover a couple of months ago and received the huge extra publicity for suing the magazine, she has lost a great deal of weight. Probably at least ten or fifteen pounds from her already slim 127 pound frame. She looks emancipated now; frighteningly so.

Plus Size Bras are a Big Seller

Women who wear plus sizes buy twice as many bras as their smaller sisters. The plus-size component of the bra market is the fastest growing segment.
It grew over 10 percent last year for total plus size bra sales of $1.9 billion. See more about this at Advertising Age.

Anyone who wears a larger size bra will be glad to know the bra makers are making a special effort these days to create bras that provide real comfort, moisture resistance, great fit and even fashion for bra sizes up to DDD.

Here's some interesting info from a comment at the Fashion-Incubator:

In 1966, the average bra size was 34B. In 1996, just 30 years later, that average has increased to 36C. This corresponds to a woman with an underbust measurement of 32" (give or take an inch either side), a high bust of 36" and a full bust of 39"....The average "mature" woman's bra size is now 38D! It is not at all unusual at all to see junior high and high school students with D, DD and F cups. And yes, they are natural, not augmented. Some of them feel cursed with their breasts, and no wonder. The "teen" bra boutiques are still under the illsuion that fashion bras stop at C cup. I see young women all the time that are wearing bras at least two sizes too small (i.e. a 38C when they should be wearing a 40D) and enduring major discomfort because they are not seeing anything youthful, pretty and supportive, in the places they like to shop.

The photo above is part of the new advertising campaign for the Olga "Christina" plus sized bra. This here is the 'Hollywood extreme cleavage bra' for plus sizes.

Celcius Drink as a Fat Burner?

There's a new cola vying for the attention of people who want to lose weight. It's called Celcius and it comes in three different flavors; cola, ginger-ale and lemon-lime. A bottle of Celcius is less than 10 calories.

The drink was developed by Elite Fx and they claim that Celsius helps people burn fat because it contains a 'thermogenic blend' which will increase your metabolism.

The packaging on the bottle has a catchy slogan "Enjoy the great taste of burning calories". The ingredients include taurine, guarana extract, green tea leaf extract, caffeine and ginger extract.

The promotional stuff from the company says that if you replaced a habit of one regular soft drink per day with a Celsius drink you could lose up to 17 pounds in one year with no change in exercise habits.

There is a good review about this new product at FoodProcessing.com but they do not comment on the weight loss claims.

Celcius is not yet widely available. You can buy it in many places in the Southern Eastern States or online at EliteFxbev.

For me personally, I'll stick to my water (with a splash of juice) as a substitute for any type of soda or pop. But I think people who are very accustomed to at least one pop drink per day would find this a refreshing and possibly relatively healthy alternative.

Update October: Celsius now has some very serious competition as Coca Cola is about to launch their own negative calorie drink; Enviga.

Tofu Noodles in your Diet?

A package of tofu noodles has shot up to the top of Amazon (gourmet food) rankings after the Hungry Girl wrote a review about this product.

This eight ounce bag of Tofu Shirataki Fettucini is a great weight loss helper. It has only 40 calories and is high in protein. The noodles are highly nutritious, have no sugar added and are easy to cook. They make an excellent pasta substitute for anyone who is diabetic.

They can be used in stir-fries, salads, soups and sauces. The food is made from the Konnyaku root and mixed together with tofu. Konnyaku is part of the very healthy yam family.

This package of noodles costs $1.99 on Amazon.

What is the Healthiest Vegetable?

The healthiest prize for all vegetables goes to swiss chard. Chard is the 'king' of all vegetables. It is also widely available, cheap and very easy to cook.

One cup of cooked chard is only 35 calories. But the wealth of nutrition you can get from this one cup is quite incredible.

Vitamin A
Typically we think of carrots when we think of foods high in Vitamin A. But one cup of cooked chard will give you 109 percent of the daily recommended intake of Vitamin A.

Vitamin C
Normally we think of citrus fruits to get our vitamin C quota. But one cup of chard will supply us with 52% of our daily needs for Vitamin C.

Dietary Fiber
Bran comes to mind when we think of meeting our daily dietary needs for fiber. But one cup of chard provides us with 15 percent of our daily needs for dietary fiber. That's about the same amount as in one heavy-duty bran muffin.

Potassium
Potassium is very important for the nerves. You'd have to eat two bananas (the highest concentrated fruit for potassium) to equal one cup of cooked chard and get 27 percent of your daily requirement for potassium.

Vitamin E
Vitamin E is very important for a healthy sex drive and anti-aging benefits. Chard is one of the few vegetables with significant Vitamin E. It provides 16 percent of our daily requirement.

Calcium
We usually think of milk when we're concerned about getting adequate calcium. But swiss chard makes a good substitute. One cup of chard has about 35% of the calcium (and only one quarter of the calories) as one cup of 2% milk.

To see more about the outstanding health benefits of chard, check out the best source of non-profit nutritional information online; the WHFoods site. They provide an impressive wealth of information about the world's healthiest foods.

The photos shown here are by rappy and Mom the Barbarian at Flickr.

Chard is part of a group of vegetables known as 'greens'. Greens include chard, kale and collard greens and these three vegetables are almost equal in their tremendous health benefits.

Forget about counting calories and see more about how eating vegetables is a great way to lose weight by actually eating more food instead of less.

Chard is also really easy to cook. See a quick recipe here.

Personal Stories about Weight Loss

There are at least a couple of hundred people who are writing about their personal weight loss efforts online. Here are some of the most authentic and interesting examples (in alphabetical order). Please let me know if you know of other sites that should be included here;

Adventures of a Born Again Gym Bunny

Does This Font Make Me Look Fat?

Half of Me

Hello, I am Fat

Hopeful Loser

iDiet

Fatty McBlog

The Fatslayer Chronicles

FAT-ISH

The Fat Girl

Someday is Now

The Fat Party is O-V-E-R

Weight Watchers eh?

________________________

The above art print is "The Queen Was In The Parlour Eating Bread and Honey" by Valentine Cameron Pinsep

Constipation and Weight Loss

If you are overweight there is a good chance you may also be constipated.

The best natural remedies for constipation also happen to be the most natural ways to lose weight. They involve drinking more water, substituting more high-fiber foods into your diet and getting some exercise (walking is great!).

Constipation can make you feel depressed, lethargic and irritable. If you think you may be constipated, see more on the natural cures for constipation.

_____
The above fine art print is 'Dog Tired (Yellow Lab)' by Barbara Shipman.

Magazines about Weight Loss Surgery

I was surprised to find out there is a magazine market devoted just to weight loss surgery. I didn't think there would be enough readers interested in this drastic option for weight loss.

There are at least two magazines that I've seen on Amazon. One is WLS Lifestyles (short for Weight Loss Surgery Lifestyles) and the other is called ObesityHelp. They claim to give unbiased facts about surgery for losing weight. For example, the publisher blurb about WLS says;

Dedicated to the pre- & post-operative bariatric surgery community. Our goal is to provide unbiased, medial-fact based information to those who are considering and/or have decided to change their lives with gastric bypass, lap band, duedonal switch or any other form of weight loss surgery.

I personally can't see how these magazines could portray an objective view of the risks associated with this surgery. They make their money from advertisements in the magazine, and I would assume it is mostly surgeons and weight loss surgery clinics that advertise there. How could they write detailed articles about the dangers involved and still maintain their advertising client base? Would you ever see a bad-news story about surgery gone wrong in one of these issues?

I haven't read either of these magazines but would appreciate any feedback people have about this.

How Does Adriana Lima Stay in Shape?

Adriana Lima is possibly the world's hottest model at the moment. What is her secret to staying slim and fit?

Her favorite form of exercise is Capoeira. This is a Brazilian martial art combining dance, music acrobatics and choreographed play-fighting. Her favorite food is Brazilian food. She also says the secret to her beautiful complexion is to drink a lot of water and get lots of rest.

Adriana Lima was born June 12, 1982. She was discovered at the age of 13 by a model scout in a shopping mall in her hometown in Brazil. She moved to New York at 15. She grew up without any siblings as an only child and she's helped a lot of orphaned children in Brazil since becoming a super model.

Adriana Lima is featured in the April 2006 issue of GQ.

In the other picture here, she is second from the left, together with four other supermodels (including Heidi Klum, Tyra Banks and Gisele Bundchen).