The Ideal BMI Varies Each Decade

The Diet Blog has an interesting post about how BMI (body mass index measurements) have varied over the last century. They note that the mean BMI for U.S. females keeps going up. It was 28.1 in the 1990's and 24.9 in the 1960's. Yet in the modeling and celebrity world, the average BMI just keeps going down. Here's Kate Moss, who is said to have a BMI of 16. See their other examples of famous stars in each decade and their body types.

Losing 20 Pounds by Getting Off the Couch

Sally has lost 20 pounds by starting a modest running program and watching her diet. When she started jogging ten weeks ago, she could only run for about 90 seconds at a stretch. She's now surprised she can do half an hour. Her abs are starting to show, just based on the the regular jogging exercise.

She's been following the Couch to 5k (or 'couch to three miles') program. This shows you how to ease into running gradually. It recommends walking and jogging at first for 20 to 30 minutes three times a week. The objective of the program is to enable you to run three miles at a stretch in just two months.

As far as her food intake goes, she's made no strict rules, she is just trying to eat lots of vegetables and to deal with the cravings.


The above poster is a woman running through the desert landscape by Dugald Bremner.

The Natural Cure for Type 2 Diabetes

There's a good article today at NPR about the causes and cures for Type 2 diabetes. A large study has found that exercise and diet are more effective than drugs in preventing and reversing diabetes. The people in the study exercised for 2.5 hours a week.

They say that the high incidence of younger people getting diabetes is very alarming. It used to be only older people who were at risk.

See more about the benefits of exercise and diet in reversing diabetes here.

Janet Jackson Keeps the Fat Off

Janet Jackson lost 60 pounds a year ago. At that time she was on the cover of US Weekly and that magazine cover sold more copies than any other issue in the magazine's history.

So now, one year later, US Weekly has Jackson on the cover again. This time the feat is no less newsworthy. Jackson has managed to keep the weight off for the year and she looks even fitter than last year. Jackson, age 41 says she now weighs 120 pounds.

Jackson's weight loss in 2006 was probably the most dramatic celebrity makeover of the year.

Janet credits Fresh Dining with helping her lose the weight.

Losing 125 Pounds with Weight Watchers

Karen Ebbesmeyer weighed 275 pounds two years ago. That's when she got started on the Weight Watchers program as well as walking on a treadmill at least three miles a day.

She says she eats a lot more vegetables now. Before starting the diet, she says that if she opened one can of vegetables a week she was doing good.

Karen now weighs just under 150 pounds. She's gone from a size 24 to a size 6 and is flying to New York this week to do a photoshoot for Good Housekeeping magazine. She'll be featured in their August issue.

See the full story here.

The Detox Diet: Swiss Style

Epicurious recently interviewed Susan Wyler. Wyler has helped Dr. Rau write The Swiss Secret to Optimal Health: Dr. Rau's Diet for Whole Body Healing. Before she agreed to help this famous Swiss doctor to write the book, she tried out the diet for herself. She tells Epicurious;

SW: I went on [the detox diet] in preparation for meeting with Dr. Rau. Beforehand, I had the usual allergies and common problems associated with postmenopausal women. I was the queen of "eat as much as you can get away with of everything that tastes good." I wanted to see if, as a "foodie," I could recommend anyone eat like a chipmunk for three weeks and not get depressed. The difference I felt on the diet was dramatic — it had to be for me to become convinced.

Epi: What sort of changes have you seen in your body?
SW: I was never able to get out of bed in the morning. Morning was excruciating. No more. I wake up bright and energetic. I've lost 12 pounds, a lot for a woman of my small height. Bouts of depression, which occasionally visited me on and off for years, have disappeared. What thrilled me the most was the improvement in my thyroid condition. I had been on Synthroid for an unsightly neck goiter, but after eight months on the diet, it just melted away. When tested, my thyroid function had improved 25 percent.

See the full story here.

A Healthy Heart Lifestyle

Most people don't see themselves as potential heart attack or stroke victims. But it happens to many of us after age 40 and especially after age 55.

If one of the following risk factors applies to you, then it could be very helpful to look into heart health tips sooner rather than later;

* High blood pressure
* High blood cholesterol
* Diabetes
* Smoking
* Being overweight
* Being physically inactive
* Having a family history of early heart disease
* Age (55 or older for women)


The National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute has a 122 page handbook about heart health that you can download for free, or get a copy sent to you for $3.75. It's The Healthy Heart Handbook for Women '07.