Posts

New Medications on the way for Obesity

I'm not one to promote weight loss medications. Yes, I know they can help you lose weight, but when you stop the medication will you gain it back? Some people are pretty desperate when it comes to weight loss, and your doctor usually will prescribe meds first, of course, if your doctor knows your history then maybe you need to silence and take his advice. About one year ago two new drugs hit the market, Belviq and Qsymia. These two were the first in more then a decade. Qsymia has had mixed reviews with about 60% of users having positive results. Belvig, on the other hand has less side effects but less than 50% have had positive results. These haven't been the game changers that the industry hoped for. A couple of new ones will probably gain FDA approval this year. Contrave reduces appetite and boosts metabolism. Victoza, a drug used to treat type 2 Diabetes, is available right now. It also helps patients lose weight. Dr. Hussain, a professor at the University of Houston, C...

Lose the Weight Naturally

Image
I wrote before about making a lifestyle change as a way to lose weight.  There has been much written about the Mediterranean Diet, it's not a real diet with set rules about your everyday meals. It's a lifestyle of eating the way Mediterranean people have been eating for centuries. On the front page of my website, I write about the Mediterranean lifestyle of eating in the diet section. When I gave up on diet plans you buy in packets at the grocery store. And decided I wasn't going to sweat the pounds off. I read a book on the Mediterranean Diet and it all started to make sense to me. Cutting back on the food I was eating, only made me hungry after an hour or so. I needed to change my eating habits totally. I stopped eating traditional meals, no more 3 meals a day. Now I was going to eat 6 times a day. So you might ask, how do I lose weight that way.? Good question. The Idea is to only eat enough to stop the cravings. Of course, you have to eat real food, not snack food....

Being Healthy

I started this blog to give people with weight problems good information about losing weight, reaching a healthy weight and doing it the right way.  In the Sunday Houston Chronicle, in the Health Zone section, I found a great article “Searching for Solutions”, maybe you can find it on the website, CHRON.COM. I wrote about BMI before, it’s a formula for anyone to calculate a persons body fat. With this formula, which you can find on the internet easily, you can check if your of normal weight or overweight. And when your BMI is over 30 your considered obese.  This word obese use to be reserved for people with extreme weight problems, 400 lbs. or more. But that’s been redefined now. Below you’ll find the dictionary definition. Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have a negative effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems. [1][2] People are considered obese whe...

Weight loss programs and exercise

Image
You can’t maintain your goal weight without exercise. I know I talked about exercise and diet working together to reach your goals. But both exercise and diet will have to be a part of your life forever. I’ll explain before I lose all my readers. At first a person will try too hard to lose weight. Cut out meals, over exercise and then is happy or not that he or she lost 5 pounds that week. If you’re truly going to be a thinner person for the rest of your life, then do things in moderation. Don’t do the 800 calorie diet and 2 hours in the gym every day, you’ll never stay with it. Instead do moderate exercise and a diet of good foods and keep this up every day. This is where your doctor will help. This is why you need a doctor. All of us have our own conditions. We are all a different age and in different stages of fitness. I am thin by most standards but I’d like to lose 2 or 3 inches in my waist. My doctor says not to lose weight, I’m thin enough. But when he says thin, he just do...

The Fast Diet

Image
The Promise “Fast,” in this case, is not about speed. It’s about  fasting . This is a diet I heard about on WebMD and I think It’s worth reading. Check out their website “thefastdiet.co.uk”. They sell books but you can get enough free info at a bookstore to do this diet. This diet, which started in the U.K., slashes your calories so drastically 2 days a week that you’re basically fasting. That’s not safe for everyone, so you should check with your doctor if you’re considering trying it. The Fast Diet  says that you shouldn’t fast if you’re  pregnant  or underweight, or if you have a history of  eating disorders  or  diabetes , and that you should check with your doctor first if you take medication. The diet also isn’t recommended for kids, teens, frail seniors, or anyone who isn’t feeling well or has a fever. The basic concept behind  The Fast Diet  by Michael Mosley, MD, and Mimi Spencer is to eat normally for 5 days per w...

Yo-Yo Dieting

Is Weight Cycling or Yo-Yo Dieting Harmful?   Weight cycling is the repeated loss and regain of body weight. When weight cycling is the result of dieting, it's called "yo-yo" dieting. Weight cycle can range from small weight losses and weight gains (5-10 lbs. per cycle) to large changes in weight (50 lbs. or more per cycle). Some experts believe that weight cycling may be harmful to your health and that staying at one weight is better than weight cycling, even for those people who are obese. However, there is no convincing evidence to support these claims, and most obesity researchers believe that obese individuals should continue trying to control their body weight despite some weight cycling. So far studies have not definitively shown that weight cycling and yo-yo dieting are harmful. However, further research on the effects of weight cycling is needed. In the meantime, a fear of weight cycling should not stop an obese person from achieving a modest weig...

Can't Lose Weight, Don't Beat Yourself Up

Image
You just have to find the best way for you. An earlier post was about heredity and how some weight conditions can be caused from your family genes, but I believe it’s more about your family history. The food you ate the first few years of life. We don’t really know how much a child is affected by his informative years. What if the foods or maybe the sugar or fats that you consumed during those informative years created a pattern and gave you the cravings you have today? The good news is that we can correct those cravings, change them and even ignore them. I don’t think food gets boring. If I think I could lose weight eating 1600 calories a day, then I would surf the INTERNET for foods I liked and foods that would work for me. I don’t eat out much. I use a crock pot to make a meal for that evening but before I eat dinner, I divide the meal so I have enough for lunch the next day. And you might think you don’t have time in the morning but you can prepare the dinner at nigh...