New diet pill promises 10% weight loss

[This article first published as New Diet Pill Promises 10 Percent Weight Loss on Technorati.]

According to a recent article, there's a new diet pill on the horizon--the first to receive tentative approval in more than a decade--that promises a 10 percent weight loss.

Still, there is concern about the drug's side effects. Apparently, the problem is not in creating weight loss drugs, but in creating weight loss drugs without side effects.

According to another news story, the "biggest problem in creating a weight-loss drug is that there appears to be no safe way to turn off one of the human body's most fundamental functions."

Tell me about it. They're talking about that thing that makes our bodies store fat the nano-second we cut back on food. You know, that thing that screams, "I'm starving! Save the fat, save the fat, save the fat!"

Yeah, that thing. Oh, how I hate that thing.

I sure wish losing weight were as simple as popping a pill, but there ain't no easy road to weight loss. No siree, Missy. I struggled like the rest of the fatsos this week increasing my workout intensity and watching my food intake, but not so much as to make that thing scream, "Save the fat, save the fat, save the fat!"

Apparently, I successfully outsmarted that darn tootin' thing as I am proud to report that my scale showed me 1.6 pounds lighter this week.

I suppose if losing weight were easy, 35 percent of the population wouldn't be fat, and we all would be running around looking like Heidi Klum or Brad Pitt.

If only.

Maybe one day someone will find a magic pill that will easily transform us back to that better, smaller version of ourselves. In the meantime, can't you just hear the Project Runway host saying, "One minute your thin and the next minute your fat!"

Thanks, Heidi.

In Search of Team Skinny

[This article was first published as In Search of Team Skinny on Technorati.]

Usually I am not fond of the word "contagious," but according to a new study, losing weight can be contagious.

"This is the first study to show that in these team-based campaigns, who's on your team really matters," lead author Tricia Leahey, Ph.D., of The Miriam Hospital and Alpert Medical School said in news reports. "Being surrounded by others with similar health goals all working to achieve the same thing may have really helped people with their weight loss efforts."

Apparently, weight loss outcomes "were clearly determined by which team an individual was on." 

Clearly, I need to sign up with Team Skinny because this week I was on Team Failure.

Despite my high hopes from the previous weeks, this week found me eating left over Valentine's Day chocolate… and brownies… and extra servings of this and that.

I even went to the movies (a rare treat for me) and got some of that movie popcorn… yep, with the butter… and the salt… and, oh yeah, a hefty portion of guilt. And if my little Fitness Pal calorie counter is correct, I just discovered that small bag of movie popcorn contained 420 calories which is more than I eat for lunch.

So because I'm on Team Failure, I opted not to weigh myself for this update. I figured it would just depress me and send me further into my Emergency Chocolate drawer.

Instead, I've decided to start anew this week with a better resolve and attitude… and if you find Team Skinny, tell them I'm ready for a change.

Fitness Challenge Update: Losing Weight the American Way

[This article was  first published as Continuing Weight Loss the American Way on Technorati.]

Last week found me taking care of some stuff in Colorado, so I opted to give myself a pass for losing weight as long as I didn’t gain any weight.

Still, I managed to lose about a half pound and gain a new found admiration for people who travel all the time. The traveling road is brutal and fraught with too much sugar, fat and salt.  

While I sat in my aisle seat waiting for take off, I was once again reminded the importance of sticking with this frying in your own fat weight loss challenge. A rather hefty woman made her way to the back of the plan with a seat belt extension in hand. I don’t want to ever become one of those people who make the news because they get booted off a plane for being too fat or made to pay for another ticket because they can’t squish their behinds into their assigned seat. No siree, Missy.

Things like that mortify me and make me pray--a prayer of thanks that I never reached that size. A prayer of thanks for God’s blessings and strength to keep this weight loss challenge thing going. A prayer for the hefty woman and whatever baggage she hauls around her.

Traveling also gave me a chance to reflect. Here are a few things I learned on this trip:
#1… Gaining A New Perspective…I flew American Airlines and despite its bankruptcy woes,  everyone with American was very, very pleasant. Not a sour, dour person even when faced with some really, really stupid passengers.
You’re probably wondering what all of that has to do with this weight loss challenge. Well, when I start feeling grumpy (which I do from time to time with this dieting thing), I think of others who are having tougher times than me like those American Airline folks. While I'm worrying about what food to put on the table, they're worrying about how to put food on the table. See what I mean?

#2…Finding Healthy…Although I miss the little snacks we use to get for free on flights (pretzels, nuts, blah, blah, blah) such things aren’t good for my weight loss thing and certainly not good for the seatbelt extender in the back of the plane. I don’t even drink the free sodas on airplanes. (Sodas are bad, remember?) Instead, I drank my overpriced $3.50 Fiji water. For a snack, I even managed to purchase a 130 calorie healthy snack at the airport (some hummus and cucumber slices.) Of course, I had to look past all the fattening stuff, but it can be done, and for once, I finally did it.

#3… Missing Fitness Routines… Being gone made me miss my exercise/yoga regiment. I really did miss it. For the first time, I realized I don't have to talk myself into going anymore. I just don't need to go; I want to go.
So maybe some more pounds will want to go, too, and take a little trip far, far away from my behind.

Seat belt extender? No danger here.

Challenge Update: Start Looking For A Sugar Daddy

[This article was first published as Start Looking For A Sugar Daddy on Technorati.]

Sometimes I think it's just best to ignore some of the stuff that seeps out of California especially San Francisco.

This is probably one of those times, but the buzz coming from over there about this sugar business (The Toxic Truth About Sugar) made more noise across the globe than a roomful of 6 year olds on a sugar rush after a Halloween party.

From the UK to France to Canada to Pakistan, news reports talked about the recommendation by three California researchers that sugar should be regulated. The three advocate controlling sugar sales to anyone under 17 years old and taxing the rest of us for our sugar habit.

If the sugar police had their way, having a Sugar Daddy would take on an entirely new meaning.

Understandably the Sugar Association found this latest report "non-scientific and irresponsible. Others just called the report "idiotic."

If I completely gave up sugar, I'd probably shed my extra poundage pretty speedy quick for my "Frying In My Own Fat" Weight Loss Challenge, but that will never happen. No siree, Missy.

Why? Because I enjoy sugar. I must have milk and sugar in my morning coffee. So that probably makes me a sugar addict and a diary addict and, oh yeah, a coffee addict…and a…

"Hi, my name is Carol and I'm addicted to sugar and milk and coffee… and chocolate and food… and …"

Jeepers creepers, my list is endless… Still, despite my apparent sugar addiction, I'm down almost another pound this week.

Like I said, we probably should just ignore most of that stuff that seeps across the border from California. I do have one thing left to say, though:

I'll give up my sugar packets when you can pry them from my cold, dead fingers.