How to Lose Weight, By TAKAKO YAMAZAKI
Ninety percent of women are interested in their diet. Women (and men) want to be beautiful and satisfied with their own body, or look more and more pretty in front of their lover. In fact, many people think the easiest way to diet is to not eat. This is the worst way for dieting, however, because people can rebound. Weight is not so important for maintaining a good diet. The most important thing is to keep in touch with your feelings for your body's shape and to not be nervous about gaining weight. Today, I am recommending three effective dieting skills from my personal experience: have a positive attitude, exercise as part of a daily routine, and eat healthy food. These are important for a healthy life, but difficult to maintain everyday.
First of all, a mental change such as a positive attitude is very important before you start to go on a diet. I recommend you should think of high cholesterol foods (of course, including all sweets), as a kind of poison. Neither a good diet nor good health is sustained by high cholesterol foods. There is a strong saying for dieters, "We eat to live, and not live to eat." We had better change and keep this positive attitude for a successful diet. If you can do this completely, you will do the following things easily.
After that, you should exercise everyday because exercise shapes your body and burns your fat. Do not be lazy. To keep exercising everyday is the key point! I have an exercise video tape by Claudia Shiffer that is very useful for diet. This video is not too hard, but I can notice that may fat is burning. If you watch and do an exercise video like this for two months everyday, your body will be completely different from before. It will be guaranteed from my experience.
The third requirement is healthy food. It is similar to having a positive attitude because you have to think about eating healthier food everyday. For example, if you go to a restaurant that is famous for delicious sandwiches, you should order the healthiest dish. Or if you go to Anna Millers, you had better order salad instead of pie. You should also try substituting foods such as dairy products with healthier alternatives. For example, instead of frying food, steam,boil, or bake vegetables and meat on a rack so the fat drains off. For dairy foods, substitute herbs and spices for butter and margarine; lemon juice for salad dressing; skim milk for whole milk; and plain yogurt for sour cream and mayonnaise. It is difficult the first time, but you will be satisfied with your dieting success. Of course, you can eat some sweets when you want, but be aware of your limit. Neither high calorie nor high sugar food is good for your health.
If you can do these things, your diet will be almost perfect.
After you get started, just keep going. A good diet is not only your body
shape but also good health. You need courage for dieting because eating
is an important and interesting part of life. I always care about my body,
so I will never be overweight. I do not eat any kind of meat and I always
use honey instead of sugar in my house because I have no sugar in my kitchen.
I have done these things for three years and I will keep doing them in the
future. However, I love sweets. I always decide on the limit of eating them.
I think that is why I have been able to keep my weight down so far. I think
eating delicious food is less enjoyable than having a satisfying and healthy
body. If you want real success for you diet, but you cannot agree with these
ideas, you had better change your sense of values.
Meridia: The Obesity Wonder Drug?By HAFSATOU DIOP
Obesity, a widespread, chronic disease that, combined with other risk factors, contributes to the deaths of an estimated 300,000 Americans each year.
Are you interested in having a long life? Do you know how to have a great shape and stay healthy? Meridia, the last born among the medicines against obesity, may be the answer. It is scheduled for release in May 1998.
Until fairly recently, a typical American might sit down to a breakfast of several eggs, bacon, toast with butter, and coffee with cream. For lunch he would, perhaps, have a hamburger, fries, and a glass of whole milk or a milkshake with ice cream. Dinner might include a steak, vegetables with butter, a potato with sour cream, and a salad with a mayonnaise-based dressing; ice cream would follow this for dessert. People had no idea that this way of eating was unhealthy. Recent studies on the cause of heart disease have made Americans suddenly aware of the dangers of the typical American diet.
In fact, one result of this new knowledge about cholesterol is that millions of Americans have changed their eating habits. On the other hand, while following their diet, some people have had problems controlling their weight.
Subitramine, manufactured and distributed by Knoll Pharmaceutical Company in Mount Olive, NJ, under the brand name Meridia, helps reduce food intake and manage weight loss and the maintenance of weight loss when used in conjunction with a reduced calorie diet. It is safe for people whose initial body mass index (BMI) is at least 30, that is, someone who weighs 185 lbs or more. Patients with other risk factors, such as hypertension or diabetes, can be treated with the drug if their BMI is 27 or higher, for example, someone who weighs 167 lbs or more.
Meridia works by suppressing the appetite. In clinical trials, patients treated while on a reduced calorie diet showed a significant weight loss during the first six months and maintained it for one year.
In conclusion, the torment of obesity could end for many sufferers next year with the new Meridia drug. Although there are some common side effects associated with the drug, such as dry mouth, headache, constipation and insomnia, the Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human, Services Public Health Service (5600 Fisher's Lane, Rockville, MD 20857) has approved Meridia for the management of obesity. In addition to the drug, however, obese people should respect a more low calorie diet and do more exercise.
