1. Use the largest plate.
2. Eat while facing the buffet.
3. Shovel and inhale food.
4. Clean their plates.
5. Chew fast, and less number of times.
6. Dive right in instead of being more selective.
7. Skip breakfast.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/checkup/2009/08/the_seven_secrets_of_highly_ob.html

It is a bit ironic to conduct an obesity study at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Fighting obesity shouldn’t be a science as the article can be summarized in two points.

• Don’t stack your plates with food.
• Don’t skip breakfast.

The truth is that no one is perfect. Otherwise magazine wouldn’t have to retouch photos to make celebrities on covers thinner and healthier looking.

Be realistic, don’t go back to the old destructive self because you don’t see yourself as perfect. It takes a lot of hard work to lose even a few pounds, your heart, body and mind appreciates all that you have achieved.

Continue with your weight loss goals, and throw out the distorted body image you have of yourself.

http://www.examiner.com/x-9566-Milwaukee-Wellness-Examiner~y2009m8d20-The-weight-loss-let-down

Did you know that you were drinking 2-3 sodas a day of empty calories? How could you know or even cared if you did not keep track of it. This is similar to a company operating without keeping good records of revenue streams and expenses before ending up in bankruptcy.

The key is to keep the food diary very simple and accessible. Try using Google Docs to maintain the food diary spreadsheet; also enable Google Docs gadget for Gmail, now you have no excuse because you can now access your food diary anytime anywhere that has an internet connection.

Seeing a quick summary of what you eat each day (without even counting any calories) will provide you a complete picture of what’s healthy and what’s not. For example, was it really necessary to snack on 4 pieces of chocolate on Thursday evening for 300 calories? Now if you did not have access to the food diary, how would you know that the 4 pieces of chocolate was a bit excessive especially if you are trying to eat healthy. Reviewing your food diary will eventually help you make the better decisions like switching in fresh fruit for junk food during snack time.

Don’t believe the success of food diaries?

In a clinical study involving 1685 participants, the average weight loss was 9 to 18.7 pounds over the course of 6 months. It is as easy as using pen and paper to write down what you eat each day, and you will be losing weight before you even know it.

Yes, you do have to make a effort to eat good food verses bad food. The food diary will be your coach to eating healthy for the rest of your life. (If you finished reading the article and did not take action to create a food diary, then you are doomed to remain overweight, and obese. If you don’t take action for yourself, who will?)

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/114298.php

It is certainly a vicious cycle because people who don’t sleep normally have a tendency to gain weight. Now with the weight gain, sleep apnea is harder to fix.

Bottom line is that losing a bit weight by becoming more active, and eating right is good for the body and your overall health. (Adding on sleep apnea that can be cured by losing weight is not going to motive any one.) Do it for yourself because everyone deserves to live a normal life.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/weightloss/2009-09-28-obesity-apnea_N.htm

Also, when your refrigerator is not stocked with food, you are more likely to overeat every chance you get because you have no idea when the next full meal will come. Having full access to food allows you to take care of more important things than worrying about going hungry.

Countries with high levels of job and income security have much lower overweight population.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110122112459.htm

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_420410.html

It is always important to consider all the available options before selecting gastric bypass. If you don’t change your eating habits and sedentary lifestyle, no surgery or weight loss plan can stop you from slowly killing yourself with an extra helping of food.

While being obese already has a negative stigma of getting sick at any given moment, health officials have found that obesity also increases the risks of swine flu.

Could it be that over weight individuals tend to eat more pork? Or their immune systems are more susceptible to swine flu virus?

http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1053043&lang=eng_news

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/09/04/ST2009090400697.html

What the study fails to note is that immigrant kids are often left unsupervised at home to eat whatever they can find, and junk food is easily edible, while their parents are working till ten at night. Also being transitioned from one country to another, creates a prison environment in the home where they have nowhere to go after school.

To say that “extra weight is a sign of prosperity” is irresponsible and sheer ignorance. No one ever wants to be an overweight kid who are often the butt of jokes, and teasing. This is true for every culture.

This could be the breakthrough that scientist have been looking for to create anti-obesity drugs that can regulate and minimize the production of the I kappa B  kinase epsilon gene. Can we expect a wonder drug that can rev up metabolism, and literally burn away the fat from our bodies in the near future?

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2009/09/rodent-of-the-week-runnerup-lost-gene-blocks-obesity.html

Imagine a world of skinny people all sitting on couches drinking beer, snacking on junk food with the body of supermodels all thanks to the new wonder drug that will eventually be derived from the IKKE gene discovery. These food industries would gladly fund the IKKE gene research in order to sell more of their food and drinks to a bunch of forever skinny consumers if they were ever given the opportunity to do so.

http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/09/04/waist-hip-ratio-good-gauge-of-obesity-in-elderly.html

This would certainly be applicable to younger individuals also. When you waist is growing at an alarmingly higher rate than your hips, you have a problem. You don’t need a rocket scientist to tell you what’s black and white.

Learn to regulate your body to adhere to the law of averages instead of being the exception. If your tummy is bulging, eat less and exercise more. If you are all sticks and bones, then put some food into that body of yours.

A better indicator: If all of a sudden you don’t fit into your clothes due to some extreme weight gain, then you are more likely to face a premature death.