Losing weight has become a favorite pastime in the West, and more and more of a preoccupation in the East also. The effects of the western diet and lifestyle have been devastating for the weight management and healthy living of almost all people touched by it. The ever increasing availability of instant, often over processed and nutrient deficient food, to the daily commutes we make from one location of idleness to another, all while sitting down in the comfort of a car have had huge impact on obesity and general lowered the amount of physical activity that a person is faced with.
Losing weight and being thin, in contrast to these norms, is still seen as the only way to be, and the pressure society places on this ideal is immense. Everywhere you look, in the media, and even in interpersonal expectation, thin is in. In a society that places heavy emphasis on weight control while at the same time places every obstacle possible in your way at the same time can be very frustrating, and is probably one of the main reasons diets fail.
There are many options out there for the person trying to lose weight. There are the usual options of a good diet and exercise, and then there are the extra provided options of binge diets, herbal supplements, drugs, and even surgery. The sad fact is that while many people opt for the instant options such as binging, drugs, or surgery, the duration of weight loss is usually short lived, though dramatic. The risks to health are much higher than if pursuing to lose weight with a healthy diet and exercise and the end effect is a diminished health, relapse into weight gain, loss of energy and resources put into the attempt, and a further shattered self esteem, making coming back from setback even harder than before on many different levels.
The best way to lose weight is to start a healthy and active lifestyle, not just go on a diet. If you make consistent, health improving changes to your life and stick with them, no matter how small, the accumulated effect will be healthy weight loss that sticks, instead of yo yo diet failure or added health risks with few positive results. Knowing what you put into your body is the first step to controlling your diet, and the first step in exercise is to find simple activities to replace inactivity, such as walking to the market instead of driving. Simple changes in lifestyle are more effective in weight loss than inconsistent workouts and dieting attempts of any level.
Western society has a never-ending obsession with weight, while at the same time producing the most obese populations on the face of the planet with no side of subsiding the trend.
One of the most common mistake that people make that leads to weight loss failure is to chase fast weight loss solutions.
Often the loss of hair can be controlled, or even stopped in its tracks and reversed, if it is caught early enough. With recent technological advances in hair care, especially in the area of male pattern baldness, the ability to slow down the rate of hair loss, stop it, and even re-grow hair is a medical fact. Feeling that your only options are hair pieces, spray products or surgery are a thing of the past. Hormonal and medicated creams and lotions, as well as ingested medication are now available on the market that can bring back a healthy head of hair with early detection.
Women aren’t the only ones that want to look their best; men are becoming more and more conscious of their looks as far as their skin, hair, and other cosmetic issues.
In the push to get Americans vaccinated against both the seasonal flu and the swine flu, infectious disease experts and public health officials are also sounding the alarm about continuing low rates of adult vaccination for a host of other preventable diseases, as I write in my latest column.
We live in a fast paced world where food is often consumed while driving down the highway over the speed limit and watching for police vehicles. Fast food restaurants have figured this out and are stepping up to the challenge of providing healthier food to all of the patrons that go whizzing by their drive up service windows.
Many of us believe that eating salad at a restaurant is good for us. Sometimes we may be right but in most cases it is far from the truth. Most coffee shops serve a salad made from iceberg lettuce. This lettuce has no nutritional value, it is very basically fiber held together by water. In the digestive system iceberg lettuce has the nasty habit of turning into a slime that your body then has to break down.
Most of us have suffered from some sort of anxiety during our lifetime; many of us suffer from it much more often. Anxiety produces a large number of different symptoms. Some people become obsessive compulsive, washing their hands over and over again, even though they know they are already clean. Maybe they feel uneasy about something, don’t know why, and see that other people are not affected. Maybe the anxiety is about a certain thing like riding an elevator or crossing a bridge or even going to a social event. 
Many people suffering from OCD will not seek help even if they have known for a long period of time that they have a problem. Since therapy is a crucial part of treating OCD, this is detrimental to the person’s healthy life.