Using Orlistat (Xenical) & Meridia for weight loss

By: Ingrid Sure

On May 24, 1999, a new diet drug that reduces fat absorption finally won approval from the Federal Drug Administration. It was only the second diet drug (after sibutramine) to receive FDA approval since 1997, when the administration banned the popular fen-phen combination after it was linked to several heart-related deaths. Orlistat, sold under the brand name Xenical, is the first of a new class of drugs called lipase inhibitors. Xenical decreases absorption of dietary fat in the gastrointestinal tract. This would indicate that unlike the stimulants, it would not be an optimal choice for a ketogenic diet.

Xenical targets the absorption of fat in your body rather than suppressing your appetite. It is useful for long term use and has been shown to be effective for 1-2 years. Dietary fats are inhibited from being absorbed and this allows about 30% of the fat eaten in the meal to pass through the gut undigested. This helps you to reduce and maintain your weight, as well as to minimize any weight regain. I personally use Xenical on occasions where I have overindulged and want to minimize the "damage." One good thing about Xenical, is that it can be taken one hour before or up to two hours after a meal and is still effective.

The drug, trade-named Xenical, was tested over seven years on more than 4,000 patients and on average, 57 percent of patients treated with Xenical and 31 percent of placebo-treated patients lost at least 5 percent of their body weight. All patients in the studies received nutritional counseling as well. In January, the results of a two-year study on the effectiveness of Xenical were released in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study, funded by the drug's manufacturer, found Xenical helped patients lose weight, but only about seven pounds more after two years than the patients who took a dummy pill.

The JAMA study also showed Xenical was associated with a slight reduction in cholesterol, blood pressure and glucose - all beneficial side effects. For those taking the drug, health authorities recommend a nutritionally balanced diet with no more than 30 percent of calories from fat. Xenical reduces absorption of some fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D, E, K and beta-carotene, so users of the drug are advised to take dietary supplements.

Sibutramine hydrochloride monohydrate, brand name Meridia, is an FDA approved oral prescription medication used for the management of obesity and maintenance of weight loss and is known to work best when used in conjunction with a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity. Meridia works by affecting natural chemicals in the brain involved in regulating the appetite and allows them to act longer.

The appetite control center in the brain is what is believed to regulate the amount of food eaten through feelings of hunger and fullness. Unlike many other appetite suppressant drugs, Meridia is not a releasing agent. It does not get inside the cells to boost the release of neurotransmitters, such as serotonin. Instead, as an uptake inhibitor, Meridia works outside the cells to stop these neurotransmitters from being reabsorbed and thereby allowing appetite control to last longer.

In clinical trials of 6,000 individuals, Meridia produced clinically and statistically significant weight loss results. Meridia was studied among men and women, ages 18 to 65, and on average, patients achieved 5-10% reduction of baseline weight. If appetite control is necessary while on a ketogenic diet this drug might be a good addition. Most side effects associated with Meridia are mild and temporary.
For much more information on these and many other diet drugs and supplements, please feel free to use the Internet and its many available resources.

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A Fitness Routine for Six Pak Abs

By: Ti Megan Hazel

The goal of six pack abs mainly depends upon losing weight by completing exercises that focus on the muscles in the abdominal area. There are literally dozens of such exercises including many that are meant for other major muscle groups, but that can be modified to include a workout for your abdominal muscles. Here are just a few of the major abdominal emphasis exercises.

CRUNCHES

Crunches are done by lying on the floor either on a mat or not, with your arms crossed in front of your chest. Many people do crunches with the hands behind the head, but this can create lower back problems because of the pull on the head and neck. A slightly different position has the finger tips placed behind the ears, rather than crossed on the chest. It is important not to pull on the neck or on the ears for assistance in rising off the floor. Instead, suck the abdomen back toward the spine and inhale through the nose at the same time. Raise the shoulders toward the knees using only the muscles in the abdomen. The entire back should not be lifted from the floor, as this is likely to create back strain. No additional benefit to the abdomen is gained by raising the entire torso. The key part of the crunch is the initial flexing of the abdominal muscles as the shoulders are lifted off the floor. As the shoulders clear the floor, exhale through your mouth. Complete the exhalation with a gasp to expel the last of the air from the lungs as your shoulders stay clear of the floor. Lower the shoulders back to the point where the shoulder blade touches the ground while inhaling. It is important to maintain the proper breathing control and muscle flexing to get maximum benefit from crunches.

SIT UPS

Once again start in a position on the floor with your feet flat and your knees bent. The fingers should be placed behind the ears, or you can cross your arms on your chest. Slowly raise the entire back off the floor while inhaling deeply and exhale as you reverse the move. This exercise can be made more challenging in several ways. For instance, you can do sit ups from an incline with your head lower than your lower body. You can then add weights on the chest to lift while you are sitting up. Weights can become heavier on an incline bench. The next difficult step can be attained by holding the feet off the ground while doing sit ups or making a bicycle peddling motion while doing sit ups with your legs. These exercises may not be easy, but are very beneficial to the abdominal area.

LEG LIFTS

Leg lifts begin with the legs straight and the hands at your sides while lying on the floor. Lift both legs up at the same time without bending the knees until the legs are at a ninety degree angle or a close as possible. Not everyone is flexible enough to reach the ninety degree angle. Lower the legs as close as possible to the floor without actually touching and repeat several times. Increase the challenge of this exercise by adding weights to the legs while lifting them. Another challenging exercise for improving definition and musculature in the abdomen is to hang from a pull up bar while lifting both legs to a ninety-degree position. As with most other exercises, try to stay conscious of breathing while slowly doing the routines.

JACKKNIFE SIT UPS

This exercise begins by lying flat on the floor with the hands at your sides in order to provide better balance. At the same time you raise your knees, bring your torso up slowly till the face and knees meet. Return slowly to the original position while in full control of the movement. The jackknife name comes from the natural tendency of the legs to bend at the knee with the feet dropping to the hips presenting the shape of a jackknife. The difficulty level of this position can be increased by holding a weight between the feet while performing the sit ups.

V UPS

This exercise begins with you on your back on the floor with the arms extended over your head. Bring both legs and torso up at the same time without bending the knees or the arms. Keep the pace slow and steady and reach for your feet with your extended hands at the top of the arc. If possible, try to touch your feet, but this move can be tricky until your level of flexibility increases. As with other exercises, adding weight between the feet increases the difficulty level.

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Megan Hazel is a freelance writer who writes about health and fitness topics, similar to what consumers read in Fitness Magazine

Finally! The Weight Loss Solution That Works!

By: Karen Dimmick CHt, PhD(c)

Stress has been shown to be a major cause of weight gain and strategies to control stress may just be one of the best tools for long term weight reduction out there!

Hypnosis and meditation are among the best ways to reduce stress and therefore help you get rid of that excess weight for good.

Researchers from UCSF have discovered that 24 hours after activating the stress-response system, the hormone cortisol that is produced causes pleasure-seeking behavior, including indulging in high-calorie foods, which ultimately results in abdominal obesity.

If you can keep your stress related events to once in a blue moon, there is no problem with this, because your body naturally deals with the cortisol over time. However, if you keep experiencing stressful events, the system becomes chronically over excited and ceases to cope.

Since most of us live in cities where we have to commute to work, or we’re at home with the kids throwing tantrums, or we’ve got school exams just round the corner, we experience stress on a very regular basis.

So How To You Manage Stress And Lose That Excess Weight For Good?
Well exercise, relaxation techniques and baths are all great ways to manage your stress, however, hypnosis and meditation can help you mange the stress, as well as get to the root cause of the stress and help you lose weight.

Diets are the most well known way to lose weight, however they if they don’t help you change your eating habits permanently, then they can only possibly have short term effects. And everyone knows that yo-yo dieting can seriously mess up your metabolism and make it even harder to lose weight.

The Dateline Weight Loss Challenge
Dateline did a weight loss challenge, where they demonstrated that hypnosis was the most effective way to lose weight without side effects and keep it off for good.

6 people on 6 different weight loss systems (Hypnosis, Weight Watchers, Slim Fast, Atkins, extreme exercise and weight loss coach Jorge Cruise) had a variety of results as well as side effects to some of the diets.

The participant with the most impressive record was Marc, who used hypnosis to lose 13 pounds in a single week without any suffering and actually found doing exercise not only easy but enjoyable. He developed a greater love for healthy, nutritious food which helps him keep the weight off.

Other results included Lynne, who limited herself to 1300 calories a day, while training for a marathon. She lost 6 pounds in the first month, 8 pounds the month after when she increased her daily calorie intake to 1600, and then injured her knee.

Mark used the Slim Fast diet with light exercise, gained 3 pounds in the first week, finally lost 5 pounds in the first month, but was so hungry all the time he was ready to give up.

Kathy followed the Weight Watchers plan limiting herself to 20 points a day and starving herself most days to allow for some wine in the evening. She lost 10 pounds in the first month, then went on holiday, forgot the diet and was in for the usual dieter’s frustration.

Eleanor used the weight loss coach Jorge Cruise, doing 8 minutes of exercise a day and lost 13 pounds in the first month.

Rick followed the Atkins diet and while he managed to drop 13 pounds in the first two weeks, he ended up with a painful case of gout and had to tone back on the diet.

Dateline’s objective look at a variety of diets and weight loss systems showed that hypnosis is a painless and effective weight loss program that helps people program their minds to feel good, desire healthy food and exercise and lose weight naturally without any side effects.

Hypnosis
If you want to lose weight, even if you’ve not managed it before, stress relief and hypnosis have been proven to be the way to go!

Fad diets, goals and determination just aren’t enough. I’m sure you remember the hunger pangs of various diets and wondered if it was worth it.

With hypnosis, stress relief and a holistic system where you eat whenever you’re hungry it is possible to lose all your excess weight and keep it off forever!

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Copyright 2008 Karen Dimmick CHt, PhD(c) Karen Dimmick CHt, PhD(c) is a master certified hypnotherapist. She teaches people to lose weight without all the struggle and hunger pangs. If you’ve lost any weight before, then you can do it again, and this time keep it off for good! Visit www.BeautifulYouWeightLoss.com for a Special Report and e-Course that could change your weight loss success right now – for free!

Is the diet pill enough to achieve weight loss?

By: Ingrid Sure

Recent studies have demonstrated that obesity is the number one risk factor for a wide variety of diseases, particularly those related to the heart, brain and liver. The truth is that excess weight hurts our body no matter what we do and it is highly important to have and maintain proper eating habits. There are countless successful diet tips that can found online but let’s face it, how many of us actually go ahead and follow them? Motivation is the key to weight loss. The desire and the will must also be present.

Weight loss is a global problem but it specially affects the United States where more than 50% of the entire population is obese and hope for the miraculous diet pill that will save the day. There are lots of diet pills out there, all promising the fastest weight loss you have ever seen but none are as efficient as keeping a healthy diet and exercising on a daily basis. Every doctor we contact for weight loss, every nutritionist and other medical specialists will give the same diet tips: eat healthy, reduce the calories and exercise. They might recommend a weight loss pill to help speed up the metabolism and help in burning the excessive fat but they cannot lose weight for you. That is actually your job and it is a known fact that a healthy mind can help with weight loss problems.

No matter how much you want to lose weight, you will never succeed if you don’t find a diet that suits your particular metabolism and learn how to change your lifestyle. Never skip breakfast as it is the most important meal of the day and never eat on the rush. Don’t go for fast food, which is high in calories and increases your craving for such types of food. Do you want successful diet tips? Eat healthy, consume fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Allow your body to digest the food and consume foods that are particularly rich in fibers. Learn to control your appetite, drink lots of water and sleep regular hours. The right amount of water allows your body to be hydrated and not confused hunger with thirst and sleeping allows neural connections to develop.

If you want to fight obesity the right way, then make sure that you learn about cardio and fat burning exercises. Discuss with a personal trainer about the kind of exercises you are allowed to perform and set up your own routine. Don’t go back to your old eating habits and keep yourself motivated on the path for weight loss. The diet pill is a wonderful supplement, stimulating your metabolism and reducing your appetite. The active ingredients contained in the diet ephedra pill relate to burning fatty deposits providing antioxidants to keep your body sharp and stabilize the hormonal balance. More studies are currently being made in order to determine the other positive effects the diet pill might have on weight loss. Scientists are working tirelessly to find the right ingredients that will tackle obesity. Some new ingredients recently discovered are very promising. The Acacia Rigidula Extract is especially used to promote weight loss as well as fat loss, and suppress the appetite. Acacia Rigidula has been well researched and experts have identified and isolated several key phenylethylamine alkaloids as well as 40 or so other alkaloids. The newest of which is Methylsynephrine and is said to be the answer the weight loss industry has been waiting for!

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Weight Loss Plan

By: Katrin Rogers

The voluptuous, round women and sweaty, husky men stood in rows, shoulder to shoulder, jammed into what was normally considered the "aerobics" room. The only exit was a small glass door in the back corner so anyone who dared to enter was stuck in a crowded room to jump-start their new years resolutions. Sweat poured as my mother shouted commands at the crowd of the throng of men and women in colorful spandex.

That is a mental picture of what I remember from the late 1980s when my mother was an aerobics instructor. I was left to fend for myself in the children's room and watch Nickelodeon while she would teach the sweating masses how to use a step bench. The classes held right after New Years Eve were not only the most crowded, they were also the most entertaining. I watched in amazement in the 1980s and I am still amazed to this day what people will do to lose weight. What is more shocking is how people who want to lose weight will allow their dreams and resolutions burn out quicker than a cherry bomb on New Years Eve. Days would pass and the classes would dwindle down with only the regulars left over, still maintaining their already svelte physiques and a few men occasionally joining in for a 15-minute abdominal work-out.

No one should let their resolutions die like those huffing and puffing patrons in the back of the aerobics room in the 80s. With all the diet and exercise hype surrounding us as we approach 2008, is it logical to assume that losing weight shouldn't be so complicated? Diet and exercise plans can be impractical and overwhelming, causing people to lose faith and motivation. Houston Weight Loss Centers have finally come to the rescue in Houston, Texas with answers and solutions for a variety of people who want to lose weight and look great in 2008! With its popularity increasing at a rapid rate on the Internet and by word of mouth, many people are flocking to see what Houston Weight Loss Centers have to offer.

Houston Weight Loss Centers have an easy start up plan for $99 in 2008! This includes a consultation, blood work, body composition analysis, appetite suppressant prescription and free Lipo B injection! Of course that's not all, Houston Weight Loss Centers have experienced staff to help and support you on your journey to losing pounds and keeping them off.

Maybe the crowded aerobics room is a familiar picture for you, something you have seen one too many times every year you try to start a new weight loss program. There is a possibility that the crowded aerobics room is only another weight loss clinic that makes cattle calls for it's new patients waiting in line, only leaving them feeling drained and frustrated. It is time to put the visions of colorful spandex and round bodies to rest. Be the healthy, fit person you are on the inside and let Houston Weight Loss Centers show you how to be healthy and fit on the outside. Happy New Year!

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If you would like to get rid of excess fat from the body, visit: weightloss-houston.com/

Why Dietrine really works ?

By: Laura Newman

Only a few short years ago, yet another brand new dieting sensation hit the market and dieting world, in the guise of the “Atkins” diet, which became an instant success for those looking for an easy solution to dieting, and who were not prepared to commit huge amounts of time to gruelling exercise regimes and heavy workouts. The Atkins diet became such a success and enjoyed such coverage that it was known in the media, TV, adverts, and adopted by celebrities, and soon entered in common parlance and psyche. At the very height of the success of the Atkins diet, nearly a third of all American adults were either currently using or had used some form/variation of the Atkins diet. This is very real testimony to the success and staying power of this remarkable dieting strategy.

Things changed dramatically, and the Atkins diet suffered a rather dramatic fall from grace, when the founder and advocate of the diet, Dr. Atkins died in a fall. Despite Dr Atkins dying from the horrific injuries sustained as a result of the fall, there was a rumour that began circulate sometime after his untimely death that his demise was caused in part by the low carb lifestyle. As the saying goes, mud sticks, and with such seemingly petty rumours came rather dramatic consequences as people began to lose faith in the Atkins diet altogether. Market share declined, consumer interest tapered off, and sales slumped. Eventually, the product as a whole became financially unviable, and so was pulled from the market.

Whilst the purpose of this article to more closely examine why Dietrine (a carb blocker that is steadily enjoying an ever increasing market share and dominance) is so effective and how it works, I mention the Atkins diet because the entire ethos of the diet was concerned about the reduction and exclusion of carbs from your diet. Crucially, despite the bad press it received, the Atkins diet produced very real, very tangible results for those who used it.

Dietrine operates on the basis that if the number of carbs in the diet is reduced then it is likely that weight loss will results, this is because Dietrine as a product limits carbs from being absorbed and converted into fat. Whilst those who are opposed to a low-carb diet will begin to recite the various pros and cons of a low-carb diet (most likely giving a particular bias in favour of the negatives of such diets) they forget one crucial element to Dietrine. Dietrine does not exclude all carbs from being digested and absorbed, instead, the product seeks to limit the number and amounts that are actually used by the body.

For the most optimal results with Dietrine make sure to incorporate a workout and exercise program. The reason for this is that Dietrine is used to limit the types of calories ingested and digested, so if you eat fatty/sugary foods then you will still put on weight, so therefore exercise is intended to stop this from happening.

It is crucial that you set reasonable and achievable weight loss goals, so that you don’t lose your confidence and motivation and thus just quit. You are doing this for you, so only you will know your limits and weaknesses, therefore if friends and family express disapproval don’t listen to their trash talk.

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Laura Newman is a health writer. You can read her Dietrine blog or Dietrine review lens.