How to Lose Those Extra Pounds – Step 7

7 Easy Steps For Achieving Fast and Lasting Weight Loss (cont'd)Here's step number 7:Exercise for Weight Loss MaintenanceOnce you reach a desirable body weight, you can switch your exercise routine to weight loss maintenance mode. That means you can reduce the frequency of your workouts to 3-4 times a week. The duration and the intensity should remain the same - 60 minutes at a comfortably

Mechanics of WLS: A Quick Refresher Course

I have found that occasionally re-visiting the mechanics of surgery helps me to remember to respect my new body. I don't want to take for granted the surgical changes to my body. These two quick videos, explain the mechanics of gastric bypass and banding. Watching them was a great reminder for me that I'll never go back to "normal". Take a look:Understanding Gastric Bypass Surgery and Adjustable

How to Lose Those Extra Pounds – Step 6

7 Easy Steps For Achieving Fast and Lasting Weight Loss (cont'd)Here's step number 6:Exercise (I know... most of us hate this part)As you know, exercise participation is an important factor in weight loss and weight loss maintenance. In addition to weight reduction here are 20 important health benefits of physical activity.Increases thermogenesis (increase in body temperature to burn calories).

How to Lose Those Extra Pounds – Step 5

7 Easy Steps For Achieving Fast and Lasting Weight Loss (cont'd)Here's step number 5:WaterIt was thought that drinking plenty of water throughout the day was a crucial part of a good weight loss strategy; the theory was that an adequate amount of water – 8 eight-ounce glasses per day – gives you a feeling of fullness which reduces periods of hunger; and the less you feel hungry the less you are

How to Lose Those Extra Pounds – Step 3

7 Easy Steps For Achieving Fast and Lasting Weight Loss (cont'd)Here's step number 4:Don’t Skip Meals Ever heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day? Well it’s true. The one meal you should never skip is breakfast. It is the meal that sets the tone for your metabolism.When you miss breakfast your metabolism responds by slowing down. Your body receives signals of famine from the

Why LivingAfterWLS Neighborhood is Different

Earlier this year LivingAfterWLS added a community forum to the web-suite. It's called The Neighborhood: A safe haven circle of friends who are LivingAfterWLS. In a short time the forum has become an active support community of which I am personally quite proud.I've watched several topics and posts the last few days that have truly made me appreciate how different the LAWLS Neighborhood is from

Obesity Surgery has High Risks

A new study has found that four out of every ten people who undergo weight loss surgery experience complications within half a year. Many of these complications are so serious they have to go to emergency rooms.

The average cost of the surgery and six months of follow-up is $29,921. But for patients with complications that require re-admission to hospital, the average cost is $65,031.

Past studies found that ten to twenty percent of people had problems after the surgery. But this study done by federal researchers found that forty percent had complications within 180 days of surgery. The most common ailments include vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal hernias, infections, pneumonia, respiratory failure and leaking of gastric juices.

How to Lose Those Extra Pounds – Step 3

7 Easy Steps For Achieving Fast and Lasting Weight Loss (cont'd)Here's step 3:Quantity and Frequency of MealsDoes the size and quantity of your meals really matter? You’ve probably heard many times over that it’s best to have smaller more frequent meals throughout the day. In other words snacking is preferable to gorging. Is this fact or fiction?Well, the fact of the matter is that scientific

Informational Videos

Are you in the "considering surgery" phase in your fight against morbid obesity? Are you wondering if you are to blame for your weight problem or is Morbid Obesity a disease over which you have little control? To answer these questions watch this video provided to the Neighborhood by Healthology, a leading producer and distributor of physician-generated health and medical information on the

How to Lose Those Extra Pounds – Step 2

7 Easy Steps For Achieving Fast and Lasting Weight Loss - Step 2 (cont'd)Diet CompositionYour diet must consist of foods from all food groups (e.g. meat, dairy, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts/seeds, legumes). If you’re a vegetarian, you can still get sufficient amounts of protein from legumes, soy bean products and whole grains.In a French study, evidence suggested that diet variety was

7 Easy Steps For Achieving Fast and Lasting Weight Loss

Okay, I am going to give you 7 crucial steps you need to take to achieve weight loss. I will post one every day for the next seven days. Here’s step number one.Food Intake – How much do you need?First of all, you need to understand that in order to begin losing weight you must consume fewer calories than your body burns in a period of a day. The bottom line is, regardless of the confusion brought

Waist to Hip Ratio Versus BMI

Studies are increasingly finding that the waist to hip ratio may be more relevant to determining if you are relatively healthy even if overweight than the BMI (body mass index) ratio.

Someone who is extremely fit will have much more muscle on their bodies than someone who is very sedentary. And muscles weigh four times as much as the equivalent space taken up by fat. So a very fit person who lifts weights may be considered obese by BMI standards though they are in fact not even overweight let alone obese. BMI is not the best indicator of knowing if your fat ratio is compromising your health.

The waist-to-hip ratio on the other hand has been shown to be a very good indicator of a person's risk of developing heart disease and getting a heart attack.

See more about this at The Fanatic Cook

Hoodia for Weight Loss – Does it Work?

The High Cost Of Losing WeightHave you ever noticed how expensive it is to eat healthy in anattempt to lose weight? Is there a cost-effective way to dropthose excess pounds? With gas costs at an all time high, and prices on every type ofmerchandise rising, it’s not surprising to find that many peoplelive paycheck to paycheck. Between house mortgages, bills thatrange from medical to grocery, and

Losing Thigh Cellulite Just Got Easier

Losing Thigh Cellulite Just Got EasierBy Robin DerryIf you can stand 10 feet away from your mirror and still see thigh cellulite "dimpling" on your skin, then you need to shatter the same-o same-o complacence and look into the emerging high tech cellulite reduction treatment options now available. Your body contouring solutions may finally be at hand. Exploiting "Light Energy". Computers, cell

What Are Trans Fats and Are They Dangerous to Our Health?

Regulation Of Trans FatsShould we regulate the amount of trans fats contained in thefood we eat? A Canadian government task force on trans fats isrecommending that all vegetable oils and spreadable margarineshave the trans fat content limited to 2% of the total fatcontent and all other foods be limited to a maximum of 5% oftotal fat content. These new regulations would decrease theaverage trans

Weight loss Tips for a Swimsuit Body

Swimsuit weather is here and if you’re like many of us, you start panicking about all the weight you need to lose to fit into your favorite swimwear. Some need to lose 5 to 10 pounds of extra fat while others require 20 to 30 pounds, or more. Most of us know that to stay trim all year round would require an improvement in lifestyle - easier said than done. “Yes but what do I do now?” you ask. Do

Trans Fat: the Key Food to Avoid

How much plastic are you eating today?

Have you recently eaten chips that said "Zero Trans Fat"? If so, you may have just eaten a lot more plastic than is good for you.

Trans fat is making headlines these days. It's been banned in restaurants in several countries. Is the FDA going to take some more action about it soon?

You've probably heard that trans fat is a very bad thing. It's linked to obesity, heart problems and high cholesterol. It's even worse than saturated fat, because though it raises the bad cholesterol levels just like saturated fat, it also lowers the amount of good cholesterol levels in your body - which even saturated fat is not guilty of doing.

Right now the Federal Dietary Guidelines recommends people eat less than two grams of trans fat per day. That would be equivalent to about one small glazed donut or one small handful of french fries cooked with trans fat.

The Institute of Medicine disagrees however, and says the only safe level of trans fat is zero.

The big food companies are allowed to put "Zero Trans Fat" in big letters on their food packages even if the food inside contains trans fat. They can do this if the food contains less than half a gram per serving. This is a bit of a joke as 'one serving' is usually defined as a tiny amount, maybe just a few chips, whereas we all know what happens to a bag of chips in one sitting once it's been opened. So quite conceivably, you could eat a bag of chips that said 'zero trans fat' and have actually consumed several grams of trans fat!

There is a very good interview on NPR this week with Kim Severson. She is the author of The Trans Fat Solution: Cooking and Shopping to Eliminate the Deadliest Fat from Your Diet.

She says trans fat is the one food we shouldn't be eating at all. It is a completely artificial substance that our bodies don't know how to process.

It's like putting plastic fat into our body.

Trans fat (also known as 'partially hydrogenated oils') really started to get into our diets in a big way in the 1970's, along with the growth of the fast food industry. Trans fat is much cheaper than the more traditional oils. It can be reheated over and over without spoiling, and this is why it's so popular in the restaurant and fast food industry. It's also become a key ingredient in many packaged foods because it doesn't spoil as quickly as natural oils.

It looks like there is a movement starting to get underway to ban trans fat use in restaurants. Chicago may be the first city to do this in the United States thanks to the efforts of Alderman Edward Burke. And last month a consumer group sued KFC to try to stop the chicken chain from cooking with trans fat. A KFC meal of three pieces of extra-crispy chicken contains 15 grams of trans fat, and a single pot pie contains 14 grams.

What are other foods that are high in trans fats? Here's an excerpt from Consumer Reports from a couple of years ago:

WHERE'S THE TRANS?

We tested mainly the top-selling foods that we knew or suspected would contain at least some partially hydrogenated oil. We found trans fat--up to 4 grams per serving--in many of those foods. But since it's the combined total of trans and saturated fat that matters most, the table in Bad fats in common foods lists the foods in decreasing order of total bad-fat content. There's little benefit in choosing a food that's low in trans fat if it's high in saturated fat, and vice versa. Banquet Chicken Pot Pie, for example, contained just a trace of trans fat. But its 7.5 grams of saturated fat made it the top artery-clogging product on our list. The surprising runner-up for top artery clogger: Mrs. Smith's Apple Pie, with 4 grams of trans and 3 grams of saturated fat per slice. Other foods that you might not suspect of harboring bad fats: Nabisco Wheat Thins, Kellogg's Cracklin'’ Oat Bran Cereal, Kellogg's Eggo Buttermilk Frozen Waffles, and Pillsbury Buttermilk Frozen Waffles. While the amount of trans and saturated fat in many of the other tested foods may seem low, keep in mind that serving sizes are often quite small. Orville Redenbacher's Popping Corn Movie Theater Butter, for example, contains about 1.5 grams of bad fat--but that's in a mere 6.5-gram serving, or 1 cup, not the big bowlful that many people eat.
Note that our table doesn't list any fast-food french fries; McDonald's is reformulating the one such product we tested. But manufacturers'’ data provide some illuminating comparisons. Burger King's medium fries apparently supply more trans fat and more bad fat overall than any product in our table: 4.5 grams of trans plus 5 grams of saturated fat. Wendy's medium fries--a significantly larger serving--supply roughly the same total amount of bad fat: 6 grams of trans and 3 grams of saturated fat. McDonald's reformulated medium fries--about the same size as Wendy's--have less trans fat and less bad fat overall than either of those competitors. We plan to test french fries and other reformulated products in the near future to assess their bad-fat content.

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The above photos of donuts and fries are by pinkpucca and klynslis.

Getting Rid of Sagging Skin after Weight Loss

There's an interesting discussion going on over at Livin' La Vida Low-Carb about how to get rid of the excess skin on your body after a dramatic weight loss. People who lose many dozens of pounds are often left with a great deal of sagging skin. Surgery is increasingly being touted as the solution to the excess flabby skin, but a lot of people believe this is not optimal and necessary. Here are some comments people have made there:

"I thought for sure I'd have to get plastic surgery. But the more weight I lost, the more what I thought was loose skin tightened up and the better it looked. Based on my experience, I don't think you have loose skin; instead there's more fat under there to lose."

"I myself have the excess skin after losing 100 lbs. I am 37 years old. The biggest area where I had it was around my tummy, so I purchased an Ab Lounge and over the last several months, I have noticed a major improvement in my stomach area. I'm also doing a combination of aerobic type activity (belly dancing and hula-hooping), pilates, and other weight-bearing exercises for toning. I think "toning" is the key. Lifting weights is also key. I might always have the underarm waggle and the extra skin on the bottoms of my thighs, but I look MUCH better than I did before. I look better at 37 than I did @ 27."

"I do believe that it takes time to tighten up the loose skin. I lost half of my body weight from 220 to 110 when I was in my 50's (I am now 72). It took about 7 years but I did lose most of the loose skin. I tried going down further in weight to lose it faster and to lose the little belly pouch but it didn't work, just made my arms and legs look like sticks. I still have the belly. Unfortunately the low fat crowed convinced me that low carb was ruining my health and I gained most of it back before I regained my senses and went back to low carb. I now weigh 130 which is healthy for my 5'3". In short give it time, it takes about 7 years I have heard for the body to completely replace itself cell by cell."

"Time and exercise have worked for me. Almost four years after losing the bulk of 95 pounds, I only have a few spots that would qualify as loose skin and they're barely noticeable. The worst spot was my lower stomach, but it only looked a bit wrinkly, not hanging and since I've upped my exercise intensity it's gotten even better. I'm 43 and have birthed two strapping boys, so I don't have the benefit of youthful elasticity."

See the full discussion at Livin' La Vida Low-Carb. Untitled photo by Malingering.

Kate Bosworth Losing Excessive Weight

Kate Bosworth is getting scary skinny. Here's a recent photo (June 2006) of her promoting the world premiere of 'Superman Returns' in Los Angeles. She really is way too skinny here to be optimally attractive.

Last year in February 2005 Bosworth was quoted as saying she would like to add more weight to her frame. At that point she said she weighed 115 pounds. What's her height? She is 5'7" tall.

And what is her weight speculated to be at now? According to US Weekly Bosworth weighs about 105 pounds now. She eats lots of veggies, fruits and protein and exercises by walking with her dog. US Weekly also says she drinks a lot of herbal teas and takes wheat grass shots.

Bosworth, 23, is on her way to becoming a superstar. The Superman movie is her biggest yet, but there will undoubtedly be more huge roles in the near future. Her other movie appearances include Bee Season (2005), Beyond the Sea (2004), Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! (2004), Advantage Hart (2003)' Wonderland (2003),The Rules of Attraction (2002), Blue Crush (2002),Remember the Titans (2000),Young Americans (2000) TV Episode, The Newcomers (2000), and The Horse Whisperer (1998).

Just in the last year or so, there has been a high-profile and dangerous trend with Hollywood celebrities looking increasingly like skinny skeletons. Hopefully one of these A-list young celebrity females will take a stand on this issue soon. Otherwise it could have very serious repercussions for the rise in eating disorders amongst young women.

Weight Loss: Do You Lose More Weight When Exercising On An Empty Stomach?

Today I would like to talk about when is the best time to exercise for maximum weight loss. While the type of exercise, the intensity and duration is important with respect to weight loss, the time of exercise is equally as important – if not more so.Timing your workout can be crucial. There are specific times during the day during which your body burns fat most efficiently. It has to do with

Vince Vaughn Motivated to Lose Weight?

Vince Vaughn says he reached a body mass index of thirty in preparing for his role in "The Break-Up. The role called for him to pack on an extra 50 pounds. Vaugh is a big guy. Although I haven't been able to find his weight anywhere, his height is recorded as 6'5''. If his BMI reached 30 (which is the borderline between overweight and obese), he must have weighed somewhere in the range of 255 pounds.

Vaugn says that it wasn't easy for him to put on the excess weight. But he focused on eating deep fried foods, super size portions and avoiding exercise. Above is a photo of him from the Break-Up movie set. He doesn't look like he's verging on obesity to me here.

We don't know how much weight Vaughn has lost since shooting the movie. But now there are rumors that he wants to lose all his excess weight before he weds Jennifer Aniston. At his height he should weigh somewhere between 165 and 212 to be in the normal weight range according to BMI calculations. Sometimes I wonder about these BMI calculations. I'd think that a 6'5" man weighing 165 pounds would look rather skeletal?

Stay posted here for any news on Vaughn's weight loss efforts.

Tips On Finding The Best Weight Loss Plans

Hello,Looking for a weight loss plan? Here are a couple of tips to consider before you choose one.Obesity is a slow killer that is giving sleepless nights to millions of people around the world. If left unchecked, obesity can lead to cardiovascular problems, diabetes, depression, and sleep apnea. The only way out of this mess is to find some wayto shed those extra pounds around your waist. In

Is it a Fat Belly or a Cyst?

Here's an incredible story of one woman who went to her doctor repeatedly, complaining of a huge and swollen stomach. He told her she was overweight and prescribed weight-loss pills (Duramine) to her.

Finally, after many months, and in huge pain, she was taken by ambulance to the hospital where they found an ovarian cyst that weighed more than 30 pounds; more than four newborn babies! The cyst was safely removed.

Her weight dropped from 163 to 126 pounds after the surgery. This woman, 44, had had three children in the past.

Her lawyer said the case was not about failure to diagnose an ovarian cyst.

"It's about a failure to recognise she had an abnormal and undoubtedly a very distended abdomen," he said.

"The woman was visibly upset on the first day of the hearing yesterday as she described her symptoms, including having a "humungous" stomach, bloating and pain."

Expert witness Gerald Young, an Auckland doctor with a special interest in surgery, said Dr S made several moderate to serious departures from accepted professional standards, including his failure to calculate the patient's body mass index and take her waist measurement as a baseline before prescribing Duromine.

The Atkins Diet

Hello,I've been getting a lot of emails on the Atkins diet - how it works - is it safe etc. Here's an explanation of the Atkins diet - although I don't recommend it. Here it is.Atkins Diet - How To Do It The Right Way?Obesity is the main reason for many diseases like cardiovascular problems, diabetes, depression, and sleep apnea. The only way out of this problem is to follow a strict and healthy

Stretch And Tone Those Muscles: Try Pilates!

One of the hottest trends in fitness today is Pilates. Pilates is a combination of different body movements that is designed to strengthen, stretch and balance the body. This body conditioning routine is designed and founded by Joseph H. Pilates. He designed his exercise program by including precision, breathing, concentration, and control. One of Pilates’ benefits is the improvement of lung

Getting Rid of Excess Years

Doctor Roizen has created a quiz that determines how old you really are. He says your 'real age' depends on your lifestyle rather than on the year you were born. And if you can change your lifestyle habits, you can look and feel a lot younger.

Many of the questions relate directly to our daily diet and exercise habits. For example, in the past three years, how many minutes did you exercise per week on average? If you answered more than 90 minutes, you are doing grandly on the exercise scale. Another key determinant is if your weight has fluctuated a lot over the years. With respect to diet, much depends on whether you are getting adequate calcium, folic acid, Vitamin C and E. And do you eat fish regularly?

Check out his RealAge Test here, to see if you are younger than your years.

If you are overweight and depressed, you might be deficient in folic acid. See more on what foods have folic acid here.

His book has been on the bestseller list for months: YOU: The Owner's Manual : An Insider's Guide to the Body that Will Make You Healthier and Younger

Brandy Norwood's Eating Disorder

It looks like Brandy Norwood, 27, will need to get used to vast media attention again soon. She is scheduled to replace Star Jones on The View beginning this Wednesday. If she does well, she'll be offered the contract to co-host the View.

Brandy has had a serious eating disorder in the past. She was most likely anorexic for a couple of years when she was in her teens. At one point while on the set of Moesha, she had to be rushed to the hospital for a three day stay which was described as due to 'dehydration and exhaustion'. There were rumors that she had taken too many diet pills, but this is apparently untrue, Brandy may have been anorexic but she did not take diet pills. Apparently at one point her weight got as low as 105 pounds.

Later Brandy took part in hosting a segment on BodyWise; an initiative to encourage young girls to have better self-esteem about their bodies and to educate young women on the dangers of eating disorders. Here she told young girls that "eating the right foods and staying active are ways to stay fit. It isn't what others say about you, it's what you say and do to yourself".... "Being active, like playing a sport, dancing, or exercising are all ways you can keep fit. I take tae-bo classes to maintain a healthy body and spirit."

See the BodyWise page about eating disorders here.

Brandy became famous at a very young age. The pressure and stress must have been partly responsible for her near breakdown and for her decision to leave the limelight for about three years during her early twenties. But during this time, there was little rest either, as she got married, had a baby and got divorced all before the age of 25.

Hopefully this next phase of her dance in the public limelight will go very well for her. I hope she doesn't succumb to pressures to have more cosmetic surgery (just veneers so far I think) or lose even more weight.

Best wishes to Brandy on The View!

Update January 2007: Brandy Norwood was involved in a horrific car crash three weeks ago. She was driving on the Los Angeles freeway when her Land Rover rear-ended another car. The woman in the other car died from the accident after another car hit her because her car veered into another lane. Now Brandy is being sued for manslaughter and $50 million dollars by the woman's family.