Woman goes to the gym for 100 days and makes this timelapse video.

Lakeisha Shurn recorded a video diary every day for 100 days on her efforts to lose weight and boost her self-esteem. In this timelapse video, she explains why she decided to take on this challenge and shows off her inspirational progress.

http://giveit100.com/@LoveThyself 

http://www.wimp.com/womangym/

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3 Reasons Why You're Not Losing Weight at the Gym

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Source: 3 Reasons Why You're Not Losing Weight at the Gym

You go to the gym, work out, but you still aren't losing any weight. What gives? It's a frustrating scenario but not an impossible one to change. Here are three reasons why you aren't losing weight at the gym and what to do about them. 

• You're Not Doing Enough (Intense) Cardio Aerobic activity is the most efficient way to burn calories, so make sure you are consistent with cardio workouts. We recommend doing at least 30-45 minutes of cardio, three to four times a week. It's also important to pick the right kind of cardio workout. Studies show that faster-paced workouts help release fat-burning hormones in the body and that interval training is key to losing unwanted belly fat. Still not convinced that you should step up your gym workouts? A recent study said that a 45-minute vigorous workout gets three times the net calories burned compared to the same 45 minutes spent walking; it also increases metabolic rate for up to 14 hours post-workout. To melt away unwanted pounds, choose high-intensity workouts like intervals, running, boot camp, or spin.
• You Aren't Really Committed You showed up to the gym, which is awesome. But what's not awesome is how you might be spending your time there — weight loss is as much a mental game as a physical one. Mindlessly walking on the treadmill while flicking through a copy of Us Magazine isn't the best way to go about weight loss, and neither is talking yourself out of a workout once you're there. (You can lose a calorie burn of over 50 calories from just shaving five minutes off of a workout!) Commit yourself by finding a specific goal or personal reason that inspires you to lose the weight and use that as motivation to maintain your fitness routine. Along the way, set smaller goals for yourself and celebrate in some small way when you meet them. This will help you stay focused the entire way through.
• You Don't Strength Train Even though cardio is key to weight loss, a good fitness program should incorporate one to two strength training sessions per week. Strength training can reduce overall body fat by three percent in just 10 weeks since muscle burns more calories than fat. And don't forget the after-burn: after an hour-long strength training session, the average woman burns an extra 100 calories over the next 24 hours. Maximize your time by rolling cardio and strength workouts into one. Circuit training intervals and bootcamp-style workouts focus on mixing bursts of cardio with serious strength training moves, but if you don't have time for a long session, perform supersets of compound moves instead.

Blast off fat faster

Blast off fat (way) faster www.BeHealthConscious.Org

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By Myatt Murphy
Tired of plugging away at the gym without seeing the pounds disappear? We found simple tricks that will transform your usual regimen into the ultimate fat-blasting routine. Whether you use just two of these strategies or all seven, our insider tips will help you get the calorie-burn you deserve.

1. Know this: “You’ll be able to comfortably work out longer and harder if you’re cool,” says Len Kravitz, PhD, coordinator of exercise science at the University of New Mexico. “Being too hot stresses your body out, so you don’t perform as well.” Translation: You burn less fat.
Do this: When exercising at home, put a fan in front of your workout area. Hitting the gym? Wait to use the treadmill that has a fan built into the console.

Health.com: Fastest fat burners ever

2. Know this: “Wearing a heart-rate monitor makes it easier to burn more body fat by showing just how hard you’re really working,” Kravitz says. “Keeping your heart rate in the right zone prevents you from slacking off, so you make the most of every minute.”
Do this: Invest in a heart-rate monitor and wear it every time you exercise. We love Life Fitness’s new Dual Watch and Heart Rate Monitor ($60; at CVS stores nationwide). It’s simple to program and use. It doesn’t require an uncomfortable chest strap—just touch the face with your fingertips. And it comes in a variety of sizes too.

3. Know this: “Warming up for five minutes before each workout helps you lose more weight,” says Heather Dillinger, an IDEA Health and Fitness Association elite-level personal-fitness trainer. “It not only makes your muscles more pliable but also increases their range of motion, so you end up using more muscle fibers as you exercise.”
Do this: Choose a warm-up routine that hits all of your muscles, not just your legs. The easiest option: Do three to five minutes of low-intensity walking while pumping your arms back and forth.

Health.com: 10 ways to walk off fat faster

4. Know this: “Saving your energy for the end of your cardio workout may prevent you from losing as much weight as you can,” says metabolism expert Dixie Stanforth, of the department of kinesiology and health education at the University of Texas at Austin.
Do this: Instead of starting out slow and then finishing up strong, do your high-intensity cardio early in your workout. After doing your warm-up, try exercising at a high intensity for 15 minutes before slowing down to a more moderate pace for the last 15 minutes.

Health.com: 50 fattiest foods in the states

5. Know this: “Two smaller workouts can be more effective than one,” Stanforth reveals. That’s because every time you do high-intensity exercise, your metabolism stays revved for an hour or more afterward. Splitting up your workout boosts your metabolism twice, giving you additional calorie-burning time from the exact same routine.
Do this: Divide your workout into two smaller, high-intensity sessions—preferably, doing one in the morning and one at night.

Health.com: The 7 best fat-blasters

6. Know this: If you’re convinced that you’re melting fat while exercising, you’ll make a mind-body connection that will actually help you lose fat faster, Dillinger explains. In a 2007 Harvard study, participants who believed they were getting a good workout showed greater reductions in body fat than subjects who performed the same activities but didn’t feel like they were really exercising.
Do this: The next time you do anything active, remind yourself every few minutes that you’re giving it your all. This little mental move may motivate you to push yourself harder, leading to even greater fat loss.

Health.com: 5 foods that are more fattening than you think

7. Know this: “The less time you rest between sets when strength training, the more calories you’re likely to burn,” Dillinger notes. “Keeping rest periods short keeps your heart rate at a higher rate, which naturally increases the number of calories you’re using.”
Do this: The best rule of thumb is to take only a 30-second break between sets (meaning you’ll need a watch with a second hand).

8 Best Supermarket Sweets

www.BeHealthConscious.org

By David Zinczenko with Matt Goulding 

A recent University of Minnesota study found that women consumed about 13 percent of their daily calories from added sugars, and for men that number was closer to 15 percent—a 38 percent jump since 1982. Not surprisingly, the researchers also found that increased sugar consumption mirrored the rise in the participants’ BMI, an indicator of obesity.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Great, now I have to cut sugar from mydiet.” Not so fast. The American Heart Association says that women can safely consume up to 100 calories (about 25 grams) of sugar per day, and men can consume up to 150 (37.5 grams). The secret is finding sweet foods that quell your sweet tooth without blowing out your sugar quota—and that's exactly what I've done here. Below you’ll find the results of our latest report on eight sinfully delicious treats that silence sugar cravings without adding inches to your waistline. Focus on these, and you’ll look more like Jennifer Lopez—and less like the world’s largest cabbage.

DID YOU KNOW? It's easy to drop 10, 20, or even 30 pounds without being on that dreaded four-letter word known as a 'diet'. Improve how you look and feel—fast and forever—with the Eat this, Not That! bestselling series of books, and with life-changing lists like this one: 25 Best Nutrition and Weightloss Secrets Ever!

1. BEST DONUT
Krispy Kreme Original Glazed Doughnut 
190 calories 
11 g fat (5 g saturated) 
10 g sugars

Donuts: Everybody loves them. Unfortunately, there is nothing nutritionally redeeming about these circles of dough. That said, having a good go-to doughnut can be a lifesaver if it prevents you from eating something worse. So, when you need a fix of sweet, fried dough, look no further than the Krispy Kreme's original glazed doughnuts, which are now sold in grocery stores. Pop one in the microwave for a few seconds and you’ll have a melt-in-your-mouth treat that’s as good as swinging by the actual store when the hot sign is on. (Krispy Kreme fanatics know what I’m talking about.)

Not That!
Entenmann’s Frosted Devil’s Food Doughnuts
310 calories 
18 g fat (12 g saturated) 
24 g sugars

DID YOU KNOW? Sleepy women eat an extra 328 calories per day, according a new study from the New York Obesity Research Center. Discover moreshocking health, nutrition, and weight loss secrets like this by following me here on Twitter (where I'll give a FREE iPad2 to a lucky follower) or by signing up for our FREE Eat This, Not That! newsletter.

2. BEST COOKIE
Kashi TLC Oatmeal Dark Chocolate (1 cookie) 
130 calories
5 g fat (1.5 g saturated) 
8 g sugars

What I like about these Kashi cookies is that each one starts with whole grains. What I like even better? They still taste like a decadent treat. Plus, thanks to Kashi's reliance on whole grains, each one packs in 4 grams of belly-filling fiber. That's more than an orange, and it makes this dessert safe to eat as a midday snack. Drop one in your lunch before you head off to work.

Not That!
Chips Ahoy! Big & Soft Oatmeal Chunk Cookie (1 cookie) 
180 calories 
8 g fat (3 g saturated) 
13 g sugars

BONUS TIP: The word 'muffin' was invented to try to trick you into eating cake for breakfast. But when you eat sweets for breakfast you tend not to make up for it over the rest of the day, according to studies. So find great breakfasts with a bit more fiber and a bit less sugar. Check out this Eat This, Not That! Supermarket Survival Guidereport on The 24 Best and Worst Cereals in America. 

3. BEST CANDY
Werther’s Original (3 pieces) 
70 calories 
1.5 g fat (1 g saturated) 
10 g sugars

Hard candies are preferable to chewy candies because, simply, they last longer. Try eating 30 Werther’s Originals in a minute. Not happening. Thirty Skittles, though? No problem. What’s worse, 75 percent of the calories in a pack of Skittles come from sugar. That’s crazy. Next time you go to the movies, take along three of these rich, delicious caramel candies rather than your standard pack of Skittles for a tasty treat with a fraction of the calories.

Not That!
Skittles Original Fruit (1 pack) 
250 calories 
2.5 g fat (2.5 g saturated) 
47 g sugars 

4. BEST CANDY BAR
Hershey’s Take 5 Bar 
200 calories 
11 g fat (5 g saturated) 
18 g sugars 

Here’s the scenario: You’re in the checkout line, annoyed from a long day of working, and you seek comfort in anything within arm's reach—and 90 percent of the time that ends up being a candy bar. Well, you’ve just played into a food marketer’s hands. They don’t want you to think about what you’re picking up; they just want you to grab one more tempting treat before you hit the register. So if you're going to give in, at least do so in the least damaging way possible. The Take 5 bar is your safest bet because it relies on pretzel instead of nougat, creating a bar with far fewer sugars than some of the other options in the impulse lane.

Not That!
Nestle Butter Finger 
270 calories 
11 g fat (6 g saturated) 
29 g sugars

5. BEST CAKE MIX
Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake Mix (30 g mix, prepared) 
170 calories 
0.5 g fat 
12 g sugars

A good cake mix is paramount, since you'll very likely eat more than one slice. Say you eat three slices before it's gone. That makes one good decision in the cake aisle the equivalent of three good decisions elsewhere in the supermarket. So why Bob's Gluten Free? Because it avoids artificial ingredients, and it rings up a couple grams of fiber for each slice by packing this powder with the flours of garbanzo and fava beans, as well as whole grain sorghum. Choose it over Krusteaz and you'll drop 60 calories and 2 grams of trans fat. And because of the fiber, you'll feel fuller longer.

Not That!
Krusteaz Cinnamon Crumb Cake Mix (33 g mix, prepared)
230 calories 
7 g fat (2 g saturated, 2 g trans) 
26 g sugars

BONUS TIP: Some delicious desserts can help fight fat by revving up your metabolism and providing you with nutrients that push the junk out of your diet--and the fat out of your body! Other desserts, however, contain more than an entire day's worth of calories, fat, sugar and salt! Which is why you need this handy (and certainly eye-popping) list of the The 24 Best (and Worst) Desserts in America.

6. BEST PUDDING
Jell-O Sugar Free Double Chocolate (1 container) 
60 calories 
1.5 g fat (1 g saturated) 
0 g sugars

They're modest in size, but pudding cups can easily pack as much sugar as a small candy bar. Thankfully Jell-O makes a sugar free version that cuts the calorie impact in half without sacrificing the rich, chocolate flavor. If your normal nightly dessert is a 200-calorie scoop of ice cream, and you switch to one of these cups, you can expect to lose 12 pounds a year, even if nothing else about your diet changes!

Not That! 
Snack Pack, Chocolate 
130 calories 
3 g fat (1.5 g saturated) 
16 g sugars

7. BEST FROZEN TREAT 
Fudgsicle No Sugar Added Fudge Bar (1 bar, 41 g) 
40 calories
1 g fat (0.5 g saturated) 
2.5 g sugars

Look at this and then look at the bar below. You could eat more than seven Fudgsicles before you hit the calorie load of one Haagen-Dazs bar. Fudgesicle's parent company, Popsicle, produces a wide variety of classic frozen treats that can appease any sweet tooth without packing on the pounds. Another bonus: 35 percent of the calories in each Fudgesicle come from protein and fiber, which together keep you fuller longer.

Not That!
Haagen-Dazs Vanilla & Milk Chocolate (1 bar, 83 g) 
290 calories 
21 g fat (14 g saturated) 
21 g sugars

8. BEST ICE CREAM 
Edy’s Slow Churned Chocolate Fudge Chunk (1/2 cup) 
120 calories 
4.5 g fat (3 g saturated) 
13 g sugars

More so than in any other supermarket aisle, nutritional stats vary widely for products that look and taste nearly identical. Edy's—as well as its sister brand Dreyer's—are among the good guys. (Another favorite of mine: Breyers.) They take a light approach to cream and sugar, so you don't have to hit the treadmill every time you serve yourself a bowl. To get the most flavor in the fewest calories, look no further than Edy's Chocolate Fudge Chunk. It has literally one-third as many calories as Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter Cup.

Not That!
Ben & Jerry’s Peanut Butter Cup (1/2 cup) 
360 calories 
26 g fat (14 g saturated) 
24 g sugars

DID YOU KNOW? Smart snacking can work wonders on your waistline, whereas ice cream before bed can work blunders on your waistline. Curb your cravings between meals and before bed with any of these great 50 Best Snack Foods in America—they'll help keep you lean and full all day long!

5 eating styles that can lead to weight gain

www.BeHealthConscious.Org

• by The Editors of Prevention, 

Photo by Thinkstock

The last dish has been washed, and as you sit back and watch Modern Family, what’s in your hand? A pint of Haagen-Dazs or a cup of tea? On weekends, do you watch your calories as carefully as you did Monday through Friday, or do you take a healthy eating vacation and go to town?

Certain ingrained habits—even seemingly minor ones—have a significant effect on your weight. The hard part, too, is that even when you make the decision to, say, eat more fruit or hit the gym one more time a week, past behaviors can sneak in and undermine your best efforts. Those patterns can be grouped into five basic eating types. Chances are, you’ll identify with one or more. Once you recognize your type (or types), you'll be able to develop strategies and solutions tailored specifically to your needs.

5 worst eating habits for your waistline

Type # 1: The Weekender   You live "by the book" all week, only to throw it out the window on Friday night. Or maybe you travel a lot for work or pleasure, and as soon as your surroundings change, so do your eating and daily calorie-counting habits.
Fix It: 
Go (mildly) wild on Wednesday. It's hard to resist going nuts on Saturday and ordering the mac ’n’ cheese when you've been buttoned up for 5 days straight, so consider working one splurge night into your week. If you inject a little food-related fun into the weekdays, you'll be less likely to "reward" yourself with major damage on the weekends.

What to eat to lose weight on the weekend

Type # 2: The Calorie Drinker One of the biggest diet mistakes is thinking that if it's something you sip, the calories won't stick. Unfortunately, liquid calories are stealth fatteners—they go down quickly, making it easy to drink more and rack up the calories—fast.
Fix It: 
Make smarter switches. Whether your weakness is sweet coffee drinks or soda, there's a way to alter your particular poison so it doesn't sabotage your progress. Skip the sweetener (and whipped cream) in coffee and drink seltzer instead of sugar-packed soda. You’ll save hundreds of calories and barely notice the change.

4 health reasons to stop drinking soda

Type # 3: The Low-Hanging "Fruit" Grabber  These days we're confronted with calories everywhere we go, from bagels in the conference room to king-size chocolate bars in the checkout aisle. In an environment with such an abundance of cheap, easy calories, temptation lurks around every corner and chips away at your willpower.
Fix It: 
Track every single bite. It's always important to track your meals, but in this case, it's extra important that you take note of everything that slips between your lips. Until now, you probably haven't been "counting" all those free samples at the supermarket, but they can easily cost you 100 calories or more. Seeing how all those extra bites add up is motivation enough to make you say no to the free muffin sample.

Try this free tool to help you track calories, portions and fat

Type # 4: The Stress Eater  Do you find yourself looking for solace in a red velvet cupcake after a long, stressful day? Do you empty a bag of tortilla chips whenever your mother-in-law is in town? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then stress eating is a part of your life--and probably a major hindrance to your weight loss.
Fix It:  Name that theme.  Are there any common themes among your stress-related binges? Do they generally occur at work? Do they happen mostly in the evenings, when you’re dealing with family, bills, or housework? If you know that a certain situation or person tends to push you over the edge, prepare yourself for the stress that will inevitably come. Just being aware that a binge-inducing situation is on the horizon can help you brace for it and lower the chances that you'll give in.

Never gain stress weight again

Type # 5: The Judger  Do you wonder why you're not losing weight when you seem to be doing everything right? You may be falling for healthy buzzwords on a package of high-calorie processed food. Even actual "healthy" foods--some of which offer many benefits--can be calorie bombs.
Fix It:
Don't buy into marketing gimmicks. Read every food nutrition label and decide for yourself whether or not something makes sense for your calorie budget. Also, stop personalizing your food choices. Try not to categorize them as "good" or "bad"--and definitely don't apply that black-and-white thinking to your character. Eating an apple does not make you a "good" person any more than eating a cookie makes you a "bad" person! If you're an ecoconscious eater, "good" and "bad" have other connotations for you. While your efforts to green our planet are applause-worthy, don't forget that words like organic, sustainable, and grass-fed do not necessarily mean "low in calories." Being good to the Earth doesn't automatically mean you're making good choices for your waistline.
Finally, beware of healthy calories. If eating larger portions of lower-calorie foods is your thing, that's fine, but some foods can throw you off your budget when you indulge with too much abandon. For example, almonds are often touted for their nutritional power--and they do pack lots of protein and a nice dose of vitamin E and monounsaturated fats. But if you eat just 1/2 cup of almonds (easy to do in one sitting), you're taking in 400 calories.

Bananas: The ultimate hunger buster

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By Shaun Chavis

Ever grab a snack but then feel hungry again 20 minutes later? Next time, reach for a banana. It’s loaded with Resistant Starch (RS), a healthy carb that fills you up and helps to boost your metabolism. Slightly underripe medium-sized bananas have 12.5 grams of RS—more than most other foods. Ripe bananas give you 4.7 grams of RS, still enough to keep hunger pangs away. Check out these tasty ways to work in this wonder food.

Health.com: 8 reasons carbs help you lose weight

Banana "Ice Cream"
Peel, slice, and freeze 1 small banana. Place frozen banana pieces in a blender with 3 tablespoons 1% low-fat milk; blend until thick. Top with 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts.

Banana Salsa
Make a quick salsa with 2 diced peeled bananas, 2 tablespoons minced red onion, 1 tablespoon mincedcilantro, 1 teaspoon minced serrano or jalepeno pepper, juice of 1 lime, and brown sugar and salt to taste. Use it to top fish or pork tacos, jerk chicken, or jerk pork.

Health.com: 8 tasty taco recipes

Broiled Bananas
Slice 1 peeled banana in half lengthwise. Put banana pieces, cut sides up, on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle the banana pieces with 1 teaspoon brown sugar, and broil on high until the sugar bubbles and the bananas brown (about 2–3 minutes). After broiling, sprinkle with cinnamon—or drizzle with 1 teaspoon rumfor an extra-special treat.

Health.com: Surprising health benefits of cinnamon

Coffee and Banana Smoothie
Place 1 sliced peeled banana, 1 cup 1% low-fat milk, 1/2 cup cold black coffee, 2 teaspoons sugar, and 1/2 cup ice in a blender. Blend until smooth—and enjoy.

Health.com: 11 healthy milk shakes and smoothies

Tropical Fruit Salad
Make a fruit salad with 1 sliced peeled banana, 1 sliced peeled kiwi, and 1/2 diced peeled ripe mango. Squirt juice of 1/4 lime over the salad, and serve.

Lose weight, stay active: Six small changes can help keep off pounds

www.behealthconscious.org

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By ConsumerReportsHealth.org

Trying to reverse the 1-to-2-pounds-a-year weight gain that is the fate of the average middle-aged American? Overwhelmed at the thought of changing your lifestyle enough to reach a healthful weight?

Illustration by Tracy Walker

Fortunately, there is an alternative approach to the drastic diet and exercise revisions that Americans find so difficult to embark on and sustain. The idea is to start with smaller, easier changes that will, at the very least, halt the weight-creep and give encouraging results.

"We find that people who make small changes will often lose a few pounds," said James O. Hill, Ph.D., director of the Anschutz Health and Wellness Center at the University of Colorado at Denver. "Those who start with small changes often end up able to make more and bigger changes and lose more weight."

Here are a half-dozen small changes you can make right now:

More from ConsumerReportsHealth.org: Healthy eating quiz Best ellipticals to buy Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers or sponsors on Yahoo!

1. Stop drinking calories

In the late 1970s the average American consumed about 70 calories a day in the form of sugar-sweetened beverages. By 2000 we were guzzling an average of 190 calories. Numerous studies have left little doubt about the connection between increased consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks and the soaring rates of weight gain and obesity that occurred during that same time period.

"When we consume energy in beverage form, we don't get the same fullness as when we consume solids," said Richard D. Mattes, Ph.D., professor of foods and nutrition at Purdue University. "Those calories tend to add to the diet rather than displacing another energy source."

Fruit juice is not a replacement for soda. It might have a few vitamins and minerals, but it's just as damaging to your waistline. "If you drink 300 calories of apple cider, you'll feel less full than if you ate 300 calories of apples," Mattes said. And you'd have a lot to eat: You'd get to chew about three 3-inch apples for 300 calories.

What about replacing your favorite full-sugar drink with an artificially sweetened version? The evidence is mixed. Some studies suggest that though diet sodas don't add calories, they still activate your sweet tooth. But other studies show no such effect. "It's very difficult for my patients to stop drinking soda," said Caroline Apovian, M.D., director of the Nutrition and Weight Management Center at Boston Medical Center. "I always tell them to switch to diet soda."

As for milk, Mattes thinks it fools our internal calorie-counting mechanism the same way soft drinks do. Other experts doubt that, but they all agree that milk provides some useful nutrients in exchange for its calories. Similarly, the health benefits of moderate alcohol consumption might justify the calorie penalty, but that form of liquid calories is unlikely to make you feel full.

2. Eat more protein

Remember when experts thought the high-protein, low-carb Atkins diet didn't work and was dangerous? It's been more than seven years since the first studies started overturning that idea. Low-carb, high-protein diets have proved surprisingly effective, especially in the short term. And it turns out that people who eat a higher proportion of their calories from protein end up consuming fewer calories overall.

"There's currently a fair amount of evidence that protein is a more satiating nutrient than others, at least in a solid food," Mattes said.

But don't expect miracles from that approach. "It's really difficult to manipulate your protein intake markedly while eating normal foods," Mattes said.

In a major clinical trial that looked at high-protein diets, published Feb. 26, 2009, in The New England Journal of Medicine, participants didn't get their protein intake to the target level of 25 percent of total calories. But they did increase it from a baseline of 18 percent to about 21 percent.

The bottom line is that it can't hurt to substitute a bit more lean protein for some of the fat and starches in your diet.

3. Eat more fiber

Fiber is the good guy of food. It may help protect against colon cancer and heart disease, and it is your weight-control friend. It slows digestion, helping you to feel fuller longer, and displaces other caloric foods. Best of all, it comes in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains that are loaded with beneficial vitamins and minerals.

But as with protein, don't set your expectations too high, Mattes cautioned.

"Most of the studies showing beneficial effects are based on very large intakes that just aren't realistic for the general population," he said. "The typical American consumes 10 to 14 grams a day. The recommendation is for 25 or more grams, which is a huge departure from one's customary intake."

You might not make it to that goal, but you can boost your fiber-rich vegetable intake fairly painlessly, said Barbara Rolls, Ph.D., professor of nutritional sciences at Pennsylvania State University.

"Grow the amount of vegetables on your plate and shrink everything else," Rolls said. "Toss them in oil and roast them in the oven. Add your favorite veggies to sandwiches, pizza toppings, stews, wherever you can."

4. Lead yourself not into temptation

Can't eat just one Dorito or chocolate kiss? That is no accident, as former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler, M.D., documented in his book, "The End of Overeating" (Rodale, 2009). The food industry works hard to create high-calorie foods with the most addictive possible combination of intense flavor and "mouthfeel."

"A century ago, to consume 400 calories, you had to go buy the meat, vegetables, and rice, and come home and cook it," Apovian said. "Now you can consume the same amount of calories just by downing a bag of Cheetos."

You obviously can't avoid encountering those foods in your daily life and probably eating them on occasion. But never have them at home, Apovian advised.

5. Add 2,000 steps a day

That's 20 to 25 minutes of walking, covers about a mile, and will burn about 100 calories a day—enough, Hill said, to prevent gradual weight gain in most people.

"It doesn't matter how you get there," Hill said. "It can be all at once or spread out. Once you do get there, do more."

Some of Hill's suggestions for sneaking in extra steps: When you step outside to get your mail, walk around the block before going back inside; do some errands on foot; at work, park at the far end of the office lot and use a distant rest room.

6. Cut your screen time

"When we're sitting, we are burning almost as few calories as we do when we're sleeping," said Marc T. Hamilton, Ph.D., a professor at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La. "Sitting too much is hazardous to your health in a different way than exercising too little."

Hamilton is a researcher in the new field of inactivity physiology, the study of what happens when we're, well, just sitting there. Research shows that the more you sit, the higher your risk of weight gain, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. That seems to be true even for people who get the prescribed 150 minutes a week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.

"Standing upright washing dishes, getting dressed, or filing papers isn't exercise by anybody's standard," Hamilton said. "Yet these activities double your metabolic rate compared to sitting. If you can find 6 or 7 more hours a week to spend standing instead of sitting, you've done something good for yourself."

Sitting in front of a computer or television is one of the least active things most of us do. Research has shown that the more screen time we indulge in, the fatter we tend to be. And when we cut down our screen time, we tend to stand up and move around. A November 2010 Consumer Reports survey of 1,234 Americans found that those who spend 5 or more hours sitting during a typical weekday log less time in everyday activity.

So look for chances to stand up and move around in the course of your day. And see whether you can cut back your daily screen time.

Safe, effective long-term weight-loss pill remains elusive

The Food and Drug Administration turned down two applications for new anti-obesity drugs in recent months, in part because of safety concerns.

But on Dec. 7, 2010, an FDA advisory committee recommended approval of a new weight-loss drug. Called Contrave, it is a combination of two older medications: naltrexone, used to treat alcohol and drug addiction, and bupropion, an antidepressant. In a 56-week clinical trial, obese patients on Contrave lost an average of 5 to 6 percent of their starting weight, compared with a little more than 1 percent for patients on placebo. A significant number reported side effects from Contrave, including nausea, constipation, and dizziness. A final FDA decision on Contrave was expected in January 2011.

With the October 2010 removal of Meridia (sibutramine) from the market because of the risk of major cardiovascular side effects, there's only one prescription weight-loss medication currently approved for long-term use in the U.S. It's Xenical (orlistat), which blocks your body from absorbing 30 percent of the fat you ingest. Also available in a lower over-the-counter dose under the Alli brand name, Xenical has never achieved the widespread popularity once expected.

That might be because of intestinal side effects, caused by the undigested fat, that could result in oily spotting. And in clinical trials of orlistat, severely overweight patients on a reduced-calorie diet lost only about 7 pounds more after a year of treatment than subjects who took placebos.

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