Jane Brody used to be a binge eater. Her binging started when she was 23 years old. She could eat 3,000 calories in one sitting and often did. She's written a helpful article in NYT about her experience. 
Daylight Savings Time normally begins the first Sunday in April but this year it will start three weeks early, on March 11th. It will also go one week further in the fall, instead of ending the last Sunday in October it will now be the first Sunday in November.
Belly fat is the most dangerous kind of fat in terms of serious health effects. On the photo here you see what just five pounds of fat would look like on your belly. The excess fat surrounds the organs and forces them to work harder. 
Everybody in the fashion industry is taking notice that one of the biggest department stores in London, John Lewis, has chosen a size 12 model to show off their summer swimwear collections on the catwalk. 
Sarah Ferguson is now 47 years old. She is celebrating ten years as spokesperson for Weight Watchers. When she joined the Weight Watchers program in 1997 she was about '200 pound odd'. Weight Watchers has reportedly paid her millions of dollars per year since then. Ferguson says they saved her life. She first became fat at the age of 12 after her mother left the family. 
There is a good interview with Bob Greene on Bankrate. He tells the story of how he first met Oprah in 1992 when she weighed 237 pounds. At that time he didn't have a TV and he barely knew who she was. They hiked together at a spa resort that day and have been great friends ever since. I think she's typical of a fairly large majority of women and men whose major coping mechanism is food. When they're happy, they want to celebrate with food; when they're sad or feel a void in their life, food really fills it. They don't mistreat people. Everyone has coping mechanisms. You either mistreat people, you abuse alcohol or drugs or you overwork. We all have our thing that gets us past stressful moments, and hers is most definitely food. I think it is for a majority of people. It's the most socially acceptable.
Kris Robinson decided she wanted to lose weight this year. She has a history of diabetes in her family and felt it was time to begin moving her family's diet to healthier foods.
I didn't know that there was a real distinction until I bought my first pair of 'sort of' low rise jeans. They weren't TOO low rise, just enough to sit below my belly button and look stylish. I have to admit, they were much more flattering than my other jeans. Then Payton (my 15 year old) said, "Cool, no more Mom jeans?"
"Huh?" I replied. What do you mean? "You know, those ones that come way up towards your chest, like Erkel? Those are Mom Jeans."
Smart ass.
Holy Crap! Had I become a Mom? Really, like an uncool Mom? Unbeknownst (?) to me, apparently, sadly, I had. I thought I was just resisting the trendiness in favor of a more classic look. How was I to know that the kids actually had something right this time with the low rise style? Like I said, they ARE more flattering. In the next several weeks I got more compliments than ever including "are you loosing weight?" Well, no, I'm just not wearing Mom Jeans anymore!
Here's a treadmill for swimmers. It seems like the ultimate luxury in terms of workout equipment. 
Beth Ostrosky likes to walk her dog to stay in shape. She's a spokesperson for a Long Island animal shelter and they've partnered with Weight Watchers on a campaign called "Adopt a Walking Buddy". 
Jennifer Hudson was asked to gain twenty pounds for her role of Effie in Dreamgirls. She said she gained the weight by "eating ookies, cakes, and pies at all hours of the night. The trouble is, we were dancing so much, it was hard to keep the weight on. I'd lose an inch, and they'd yell 'You've gotta eat more chocolate cake!'"
It's taken me a long time to get myself an iPod. But I finally went ahead and ordered one. The price is down to $79 now
and you get twice the quality as a couple of years ago. They have a special Valentine's promotion where you can get it engraved with something and gift wrapped for your sweetheart. For me, I just opted to engrave it with my phone number in case I lose it.
The beer belly guy decided he was going to lose his beer belly. He started a blog about his progress at the beginning of this year. He's been at it for a few weeks. He is a tall guy, 6'2" and weighs 280 pounds. He wants to weigh 225 and have a toned belly to boot. 
Less chocolates and more flowers would be the Valentine's Day wish for many women. Here's an upscale (and very expensive) floral arrangement via Los Angleles Florists. It's a tiny box of chocolates surrounded by a big box of roses.
How can you burn calories and make money at the same time? There's probably countless ways but here's one idea that will also help slow global warming to boot.
Mushrooms are often overlooked in today's daily diet but they are loaded with nutrition and amazing health benefits. In research presented at the 2005 American Chemical Society meeting in Washington, D.C., an American research team revealed that mushrooms contain higher concentrations L-ergothioneine than either of the two dietary sources previously believed to contain the most: chicken liver and wheat germ.
Testing mushrooms consumed in the U.S., the team found that shiitake, oyster, king oyster and maitake mushrooms contain the highest amounts of ergothioneine, with up to 13 mg in a 3-ounce serving. This equals forty times as much as is found in wheat germ.
Of the most commonly consumed mushrooms, portabellas and criminis have the most L-ergothioneine, followed by white buttons. White buttons, the most popular of all mushrooms consumed in the U.S., contain up to 5 mg per three ounce serving-12 times as much as wheat germ and 4 times more than chicken liver. And more good news, L-ergothioneine is not destroyed when mushrooms are cooked.
While we're on the subject of girdles and shapewear, let's talk extreme girdles for a minute. These are the 'Brazilian waist cinchers'. They are girdles made out of actual rubber; the natural latex from the rubber trees of the Amazon. Contrary to the claims of the company who manufactures them - 'Squeem' - I can't believe they could actually be comfortable. But these Brazilian waist cinchers are selling well. 
It looks like Katie Holmes wears a girdle. For special outings anyway. She's lost all her weight since giving birth to her first child, but maybe she is conscious of her stomach not being as flat as a board as it was pre-pregnancy. These photos are via the Superficial. They say you can tell these are not nylons if you look how they cut into her thighs and because her feet look bare.
Mike Huckabee lost 110 pounds in one year. He is now 51 years old and decided to change his lifestyle a couple of years ago when his doctor told him that his Type II diabetes would cause his entire body to deteriorate. 
Valentine's Day is in two weeks. For many people this conjures up a vision of roses, chocolates and red lacy lingerie. I've never gotten into this habit myself (and it's too late to start now) but for those who are into it, there are so many vendors offering plus size lingerie online these days. Here's a couple of samples.
The second pic is a stretch lace dress for $52.00. The sellers say it is one of their best fitting dress styles and has a sheer stretch mess full skirt with flirtatious rhinestone heart gathering at the decollete. It's available in red or black, has adjustable shoulder straps and comes with a matching G-string. It's available in sizes up to 3X.
For those who who can't see themselves wearing lingerie, but still want something showing skin and cleavage, this sexy top costs only seven dollars, though you need to buy a package of six to get this price. It comes in sizes up to 3X and is made of 90% polyester and 10% spandex.
