Tips for Your Weight-Loss Wardrobe

by Daniela Schimmel

Look fabulous while you lose pounds.

Looking good in your clothes while dieting is one of life's great fashion dilemmas. The best approach, says Cyndie Washburn-Nester, the senior fashion director for Casual Corner and August Max Woman, is to purchase a few select items that will flatter your figure until you hit that magic number.

In terms of tops, you might believe baggy is better, but think again. Formfitting knits or cotton-Lycra-blend T-shirts accent your silhouette and present a polished look. "Sweater sets are a smart choice because they offer a body-hugging shell and the camouflaging comfort of a cardigan," says Washburn-Nester. She recommends finding a pair with darts, to ensure a more tailored fit. Another way to get the same effect is with a collared men's-style shirt over a sleeveless shell or T-shirt.

Elastic waistbands are a simple way to avoid getting stuck with pants that look two sizes too big. "A pair of black wide-legged pants with a drawstring or elastic waist is an essential for every woman on a diet," she says. And, of course, dark colors do make you look thinner.

Finally, pick up a chain belt. Slung loosely around your waist, the belt can be adjusted to fit your slimming waistline. A geometric patterned scarf or pair of sexy high heels can also help jazz up your look until you're ready to ditch it all for a bikini.

What Is Healthy People?

Healthy People 2010 is a set of health objectives for the Nation to achieve over the first decade of the new century. It can be used by many different people, States, communities, professional organizations, and others to help them develop programs to improve health.

Healthy People 2010 builds on initiatives pursued over the past two decades. The 1979 Surgeon General's Report, Healthy People, and Healthy People 2000: National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives both established national health objectives and served as the basis for the development of State and community plans. Like its predecessors, Healthy People 2010 was developed through a broad consultation process, built on the best scientific knowledge and designed to measure programs over time.

Stress Reduction for Relief of Fibroids & Endometriosis

Stress Reduction for Relief of Fibroids & Endometriosis

© Susan M. Lark M.D.
(Excerpted from The Fibroid Tumors & Endometriosis Self Help Book
Published by Celestial Arts)

---

Many of the fibroid and endometriosis patients I see in my medical practice complain of major stress along with their physical symptoms. My personal impression as a physician who has worked with women patients for close to 20 years is that stress is a significant component of many recurrent and chronic health problems, including fibroids and endometriosis. To discount the effects of lifestyle stress on illness is a grave mistake. If the physician ignores stress as a contributing factor, the patient never receives the tools or insight necessary to modify her habits and behavior to better support good health and well-being.

Research studies have confirmed the negative effects of stress on many different diseases. On the physiological level, stress increases the cortisone output from the adrenal glands, impairs immune function, elevates blood pressure and heart rate, and affects hormonal balance. In women with fibroids and endometriosis, stress may negatively affect hormonal balance and muscle tone, upsetting the estrogen and progesterone balance and triggering excessive output of adrenal stress hormones. This can impair the body's ability to limit the scarring and inflammation caused by the endometrial implants. Growth in the size of fibroid tumors is also seen during times of stress.

Stress in fibroid and endometriosis patients can arise over such issues as job security and performance, money worries, relationship problems with family and friends, overwork, and a host of other common problems. In addition, women with fibroids and endometriosis have specific stress due to the diseases themselves, including concerns about their health and about the painful symptoms that are disrupting their lives and well-being. The infertility that can result from fibroids and endometriosis is a particularly upsetting problem for women who are trying to start a family. The pain during intercourse that is also common in women with endometriosis can disrupt a healthy sexual relationship, causing anguish and discord.

A variety of stress management techniques can help women suffering from fibroids and endometriosis. Some women find counseling or psychotherapy to be effective, while others depend heavily on the support of family and friends. Many women find it helpful to rethink their way of handling stressful situations and to implement lifestyle changes. Practicing stress reduction techniques like meditation and deep breathing exercises on a regular basis also helps them handle stress more effectively, as does a program of physical exercise. Whatever methods you decide to practice, I urge you to look at your stress level carefully and make every effort to handle emotionally charged issues as calmly as possible.

The stress management exercises described in this chapter are a very important part of the fibroid and endometriosis self help program I recommend to my patients. For many women, the intensity of menstrual pain and cramps varies from month to month, depending on many lifestyle factors. My patients frequently tell me their bleeding and cramps are worse when they are more upset. As you begin to anticipate the onset of your menstrual period, I recommend using stress reduction techniques on a daily basis. They can really make a difference. If you break up the tasks of the day with a few minutes of stress reducing exercises, you will feel much more relaxed. With the use of these stress reduction techniques, you can accomplish tasks on time but in a much more relaxed, enjoyable, and health enhancing manner.

Can Medicine Make You Fat?

In a word, yes. Here’s what to do when the drugs you need also put on the pounds.

by Jennifer Acosta Scott

When you start putting on weight, you look to the usual suspects: the dusty treadmill or that stash of chocolate in your desk drawer.

But for 30-year-old Chelley Thelen, the culprit sat in her medicine cabinet. In six years, Thelen gained 60 pounds from taking prednisone, a steroid used to treat her arthritis.

Thelen is just one of a growing number of women who can blame their excess pounds on the drugs they’re taking for everything from allergies to migraines. The chances of finding yourself on a drug that can lead to weight gain have more than doubled in the last 20 years.

In fact, the number has increased from one in ten to one in four, says George Blackburn, MD, associate director of the Harvard Medical School Division of Nutrition. The problem is so critical that Blackburn teaches a course for physicians on the weight-gain side effects of medications.

“The drugs we’re most concerned about are drugs for chronic diseases, like diabetes and psychiatric problems, because you have to be medicated for life,” Blackburn says. But even innocuous-sounding meds like over-the-counter sleep aids can cause snug-jeans syndrome—some by slowing your metabolism, others by altering the hormones in your body that control your appetite.

And the problem isn’t just affecting women’s waistlines: Some are even choosing not to take drugs critical to their health for weight-control reasons. If you suspect that meds are making you gain weight, check our list below for the most common culprits and expert advice on what to do about it.

Drugs that can pile on pounds

Antihistamines
The fat effect: Allergy drugs containing diphenhydramine (such as Benadryl) have a sedating effect that saps your energy if you take them regularly. You’re not as active, so you’re burning fewer calories, Blackburn says.

What to do: Ask about another antihistamine like Claritin or Zyrtec that doesn’t include sedating ingredients.

Antidepressants
The fat effect: Some antidepressants affect neurotransmitters in your brain that control appetite and mood, both of which can make you eat more.

What to do: See a psychiatrist instead of a family physician or internist and ask about antidepressants that don’t typically cause weight gain, such as Wellbutrin or Zyban.

Birth control pills
The fat effect: Birth control pills may add up to five pounds because the estrogen in them can cause you to retain water.

What to do: Ask about a low-estrogen pill like Yasmin, or the progestin-only minipill. Or consider trying the NuvaRing, which releases lower doses of hormones than the birth control pill, or try an intrauterine device.

Sleep aids
The fat effect: You’ll find the same culprit, diphen-hydramine, in over-the-counter sleep aids, such as Tylenol Simply Sleep, Sominex, or Nytol, or “nighttime” versions of cold and pain medicines, like Sudafed PE Nighttime Cold or Excedrin PM.

What to do: What to do: Your doctor may prescribe an option like Ambien that’s designed to cut carryover sedating effects.

Migraine meds
The fat effect: Depakote and Depakene, medicines which are sometimes used to prevent recurring migraines, can make you want to eat more, says Harminder Sikand, clinical director of pharm-acy at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego.

What to do: Ask your doctor about Imitrex or other migraine drugs that are less likely to increase your appetite.

Steroids
The fat effect: Prednisone, often used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and chronic inflammation, can make you feel ravenously hungry.

What to do: Your doctor may be able to give you prescription-strength NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen) to help. If you need to stay on steroids, work with a trainer to increase the calories you’re burning.