Here’s hope for all those who feel that they need to lose a lot of weight for their diet to be successful. According to a new report, this does not have to be true. Even if a moderately obese person loses around two to five kg, he can consider it a successful experiment in weight loss. So if you are on a diet such as the low-fat, low-carbohydrate or Mediterranean and lose a few kg, consider your efforts successful. Apart from the amount of pounds lost, you should consider factor such as the drop in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. This helps you lower the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

Weight loss should be seen as one of the many benefits of adopting a healthy lifestyle that also enables one to cut out the risks of diabetes, stroke, cancer and many other ailments. Don’t fall for fad diets that want you to eat food of a particular color and eschew a lot many other food types. Do not take weight loss pills as these can damage the cardiovascular system. If you really wish to lose weight fast then the safest and simplest way is to eat less and burn more calories. Done within limits this is guaranteed to make you shed a few pounds. Of course, this cannot be done for a long period. It’s a short term exercise. So, focus on improving overall health instead of focusing totally on a slimmer waist and don’t get taken in by so-called weight loss experts who advise you to stop cardiovascular exercises as these can make you eat more.

The Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Band Is Growing In Popularity

by Donald Saunders

When it comes to New Year’s resolutions it will probably come as no surprise that losing weight is top of the list, followed closely by improving general fitness and overall health. Indeed, in January of each year more than a quarter of us resolved to lose weight.

For a growing number of people who are classed as being clinically obese the answer to their weight loss problem lies in gastric bypass surgery. One quite recent FDA approved weight-loss option, the laparoscopic adjustable gastric band procedure (LAP-BAND®), is proving particularly popular and recent statistics show that out of nearly 170,000 weight-loss procedures performed in 2005 getting on for one-third were lap band procedures.

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Eating Slowly Inhibits Appetite

By: Lanny Schaffer, Ph.D

For decades dieters have been told to eat slowly to help them lose weight and it seemed to work. Until now, however, there has been no scientific evidence to explain why eating slowly seemed to help individuals eat less and reduce fat.

In a recent study, 30 women were given a large plate of pasta and told to eat as much as they wanted. In the first trial, they were told to eat quickly and consumed over 640 calories in only nine minutes.

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Sleepless Nights May Be A Culprit for Making you Obese

By: Javier Fuller

Having sleepless nights? Well! It is a big reason to worry about.

Not because you have become less productive and feel sleepy the whole day in your office, but because it may not be the only disorder that you may be suffering from.

There are several studies that show that insufficient sleeps reduce the production of certain hormones like leptin and ghrelin, to name a few. These hormones are very important as they are the ones which are responsible for your stomach’s hunger messages to be delivered to your brain. (more…)

10 Important Risk Factors for Gaining Weight

By: Roxanne Manning

Just as common diseases have documented risk factors, so does weight gain and obesity. Take a close look at the following list of 10 risk factors that might have made your previous weight loss attempts more difficult.

1. Bearing 3 or more children

2. Being overweight as a child or adolescent: It has been noted that the three critical periods of the development of obesity are the prenatal period, between the ages of 5 and 7 and adolescence.

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Your Metabolism Slows Down with Age

By: Andrew Bicknell

It’s a basic fact of life. As we get older our metabolism begins to slow down and the older we get the slower it gets. That’s just how nature works.

A slowing metabolism isn’t always noticeable either, it’s something that sneaks up on us and before we know it there’s 10 or 15 extra pounds hanging off our bodies.

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