Obesity Surgery has High Risks

A new study has found that four out of every ten people who undergo weight loss surgery experience complications within half a year. Many of these complications are so serious they have to go to emergency rooms. The average cost of the surgery and six months of follow-up is $29,921. But for patients with complications that require re-admission to hospital, the average cost is $65,031. Past studies...

Waist to Hip Ratio Versus BMI

Studies are increasingly finding that the waist to hip ratio may be more relevant to determining if you are relatively healthy even if overweight than the BMI (body mass index) ratio. Someone who is extremely fit will have much more muscle on their bodies than someone who is very sedentary. And muscles weigh four times as much as the equivalent space taken up by fat. So a very fit person who lifts...

Trans Fat: the Key Food to Avoid

How much plastic are you eating today?Have you recently eaten chips that said "Zero Trans Fat"? If so, you may have just eaten a lot more plastic than is good for you.Trans fat is making headlines these days. It's been banned in restaurants in several countries. Is the FDA going to take some more action about it soon?You've probably heard that trans fat is a very bad thing. It's linked to obesity,...

Getting Rid of Sagging Skin after Weight Loss

There's an interesting discussion going on over at Livin' La Vida Low-Carb about how to get rid of the excess skin on your body after a dramatic weight loss. People who lose many dozens of pounds are often left with a great deal of sagging skin. Surgery is increasingly being touted as the solution to the excess flabby skin, but a lot of people believe this is not optimal and necessary. Here are some...

Kate Bosworth Losing Excessive Weight

Kate Bosworth is getting scary skinny. Here's a recent photo (June 2006) of her promoting the world premiere of 'Superman Returns' in Los Angeles. She really is way too skinny here to be optimally attractive.Last year in February 2005 Bosworth was quoted as saying she would like to add more weight to her frame. At that point she said she weighed 115 pounds. What's her height? She is 5'7" tall. And...

Vince Vaughn Motivated to Lose Weight?

Vince Vaughn says he reached a body mass index of thirty in preparing for his role in "The Break-Up. The role called for him to pack on an extra 50 pounds. Vaugh is a big guy. Although I haven't been able to find his weight anywhere, his height is recorded as 6'5''. If his BMI reached 30 (which is the borderline between overweight and obese), he must have weighed somewhere in the range of 255 pounds.Vaugn...

Is it a Fat Belly or a Cyst?

Here's an incredible story of one woman who went to her doctor repeatedly, complaining of a huge and swollen stomach. He told her she was overweight and prescribed weight-loss pills (Duramine) to her. Finally, after many months, and in huge pain, she was taken by ambulance to the hospital where they found an ovarian cyst that weighed more than 30 pounds; more than four newborn babies! The cyst was...

Getting Rid of Excess Years

Doctor Roizen has created a quiz that determines how old you really are. He says your 'real age' depends on your lifestyle rather than on the year you were born. And if you can change your lifestyle habits, you can look and feel a lot younger.Many of the questions relate directly to our daily diet and exercise habits. For example, in the past three years, how many minutes did you exercise per week...

Brandy Norwood's Eating Disorder

It looks like Brandy Norwood, 27, will need to get used to vast media attention again soon. She is scheduled to replace Star Jones on The View beginning this Wednesday. If she does well, she'll be offered the contract to co-host the View.Brandy has had a serious eating disorder in the past. She was most likely anorexic for a couple of years when she was in her teens. At one point while on the set...