Fitness PR Division

I tried Xenical back in the day when it first came on the market. I have to say that watching my food pass through me was not appealing. So if your way of dieting is by getting grossed out by how you churn food this pill might be for you.

But a new study reveals that a low dose of the diet drug orlistat, coupled with a reduced-calorie diet, leads to significant weight loss and improved lipid and blood pressure profiles and is well tolerated, according to results of three studies reported at the International Congress of Obesity in Sydney, Australia.

Orlistat 60 milligrams, which will be marketed as Alli (pronounced AL-eye) is a low-dose version of GlaxoSmithKline's prescription drug Xenical (orlistat 120 mg capsules). It is currently under review at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Orlistat blocks absorption of approximately 25 percent of fat consumed and would be indicated for use in people "18 years of age and older who are overweight and committed to losing weight and making the dietary changes that will be needed to be successful," said Bansal.

Eating red meat may raise a woman's risk of a common type of breast cancer, and vitamin supplements will do little if anything to protect her heart, two new studies suggest.

Women who ate more than 1 1/2 servings of red meat per day were almost twice as likely to develop hormone-related breast cancer as those who ate fewer than three portions per week, one study found.

The other - one of the longest and largest tests of whether supplements of various vitamins can prevent heart problems and strokes in high-risk women - found that the popular pills do no good, although there were hints that women with the highest risk might get some benefit from vitamin C.

We all lead busy lives and time going to a weight loss meeting could easily be time spent at the gym. Convenience is a hot commodity and with obesity on the rise, more people looking to lose weight and implement a fitness program around their lifestyle are turning to the internet for support and inspiration, and these online programs are capturing the attention of a determined market.

Many states are beginning their own diet and fitness programs and featuring them online for residents to participate in such as INShape Indiana’s 10 in 10 Challenge. Where I live, Blue Cross of Northeastern PA has collaborated with local television affiliates WBRE (NBC) and WYOU (CBS) to create a program called, “The Million Pound Meltdown.” Residents sign up online and follow tips for better eating and fitness habits. By committing to the program, you feel you are part of a collaborative effort to reach the goal of one million pounds lost in the region. The goal is to make you feel like a team player and keep you on track with a diet and fitness plan that is right for you.

Other online programs include Weight Watchers online, e-diets, Changing Shape, Fitness Online and even The Biggest Loser based on the television series. My girlfriend and her husband chose to commit to Weight Watchers online and implemented a fitness routine that included jogging and swimming laps. In 10 months time her husband lost 110 pounds and she lost her goal of 30 pounds. Now that she feels healthy and physically fit, she is training to run a Triathalon this June in Philadelphia through the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training.

Many people not only struggle to lose weight but also have trouble when trying to quit smoking. Fortunately, a single drug called Acomplia could solve both problems.

There’s a long list of foods that bodybuilders and other athletes try to avoid. Among these are fast foods, fattening snacks, and sugary drinks as long-term or excessive consumption of these kinds of foods can leave a person overweight and forced to deal with multiple health problems. But eating stuff like this is often a nasty habit that some athletes just can’t seem to shake no matter how hard they try.

An even nastier habit that athletes can fall into is smoking which might be even more detrimental to one’s physical goals. Smoking leads to increased blood pressure and heart rate as well as various lung diseases and none of this adds up to bettering one’s body. Obviously, the combination of fatty foods and smoking equals a decrease in one’s athletic performance.

So athletes and people alike often need to turn to various drugs to curb the disastrous effects that such habits can create. Unfortunately, this usually means that they have to take both a dieting drug and a smoking cessation drug separately in order to fulfill both needs. But imagine if there was a drug that could satisfy the two demands. No longer would people be required to take multiple medications in order to keep their weight down and their nicotine cravings in check.

Dieting is something all of us have done at one point or another in our lives, or at least something we have thought about doing. However, many diets fail and for a variety of reasons. Many times it is the human factor, which includes eating to satiate a need, a love and overabundance of certain foods, or the inability to understand portion control. Other times it is the diet program we choose, which might alienate a specific food group, have super strict guidelines or just don’t fit into our lifestyle.

Some of the top reasons that diets, especially “trend” diets fail are:

* Diets deprive us creating a battle of “will power.” Many diets involve eliminating certain foods or even whole food groups. This is not only unhealthy but also unrealistic for the long term.
* Diets often don't fit into our day-to-day lives. Weighing, measuring food and counting points may help you lose weight, but aren't practical as long-term strategies for most people.
* Diets can be costly. Buying special foods or into special diet programs can rack up a big bill quickly. When the money runs out, it may lead you to quitting the program.
* Diets can actually lower your metabolism. When you drastically cut back on calories, your metabolism tends to slow down and goes into “starvation mode.” If your body feels it is at risk for starving, it will burn calories slower and store fat as a way to protect itself.
* Diet only plays a small part in weight loss. Long term weight loss and management is not just about what you eat, it requires incorporating exercise into your daily life, as well. Experts recommend 60-90 minutes a day most days of the week.

Many times we gain weight for one reason or another and feel that dieting is a quick fix. Many times we do lose the weight, but often gain back the pounds within the next few years because we did not utilize dieting as a lifestyle change or even look deeper into why we were overeating in the first place. If you eat when you are depressed, stressed or for comfort, those issues will still arise—dieting or not. It’s best to deal with those issues head on so that you use different healthy coping skills when the need to fill a void arises, otherwise you will continue to fall back on what is most comfortable and easy for you.

Creating a lifestyle modification that leads to permanent changes in eating habits and exercise are what will make your ability to lose weight and keep it off a success. Diets are simply a temporary fix to a long-term problem. Some of the ways you can be successful at losing weight are:

If there are things we all complain about when trying to lose weight, it's that diets are restrictive, we run out of creative ideas on how to prepare low fat meals that actually taste good or honestly, we are just plain lazy trying to figure out how to work a diet plan into our lifestyle. ediets new Deliciously Yours is trying to change the way you diet and it sounds very enticing to me!

The new Deliciously Yours diet plan involves freshly prepared meals that are not powdered, dried or canned, have no added preservatives, yet can stay fresh in your refrigerator for up to 14 days. It's a well balanced meal suited for your weight loss needs, calories counted and all. The ediets Deliciously Yours Meal menu contains 50 meals you can choose from for your weekly 4 meal a day plan. And that 4th meal? Dessert! I love that you don't have to give up eating dessert because certainly if you deprived yourself of a sweet each day you may just find yourself gorging yourself when the temptation cracks.

Being part of the plan you are given free access to ediets.com where you can work with a nutritionist and personal trainer to develop a plan that will fit your lifestyle. The Deliciously Yours plan allows you to choose two ways in which you want to tackle the program to lose weight--either utilizing the freshly prepared food menu 7 days a week or by doing the "weekends free" plan. If you are just beginning your weight loss, you'll want to go with 7 days until you feel confident enough with portion control and getting into the habit of healthy eating. That way when you switch to the weekends free version, you'll be able to confidently cook weekend meals that won't sabotage your weight loss goal.

Have you seen or tried Deliciously Yours? I'd love to hear your opinion on it.