Weight-loss tip: First, make sure you're ready

Ask yourself these questions to see if you're ready to start a weight-loss program.

Your weight-loss success depends on your readiness to take on the challenge. These questions can help you judge whether now is the best time to start your weight-loss program

1. Are you motivated to make long-term lifestyle changes that require eating healthy foods and exercising more?

Be honest. Knowing you need to make changes in your life and feeling up to the challenge are two different things.

2. Do you currently have distractions in your life that could affect your commitment to a weight-loss program?

You may set yourself up for failure if you're distracted by other major events in your life, such as marital problems, job stress, illness or financial worries. Give your life a chance to calm down before you start.

3. Do you truly believe that slower is better?

Losing weight at a relatively slow pace has proved safe, healthy and effective over the long term. You should aim for a weight loss of 1 to 2 pounds (0.5 to 1 kilogram) a week.

4. Are you realistic about your weight-loss goal?

Remember, losing as little as 5 to 10 percent of your weight can improve your health if you're overweight or obese. This means, for example, losing 10 to 20 pounds (4.5 to 9 kilograms) if you weigh 200 pounds (91 kilograms). Ask your doctor how much weight you can safely lose.
5. Do you have family and friends to support your weight-loss efforts?

It certainly helps to have someone in your corner. If you don't have someone you can rely on, consider joining a weight-loss support group.
6. Do you believe that you can change your eating habits?

Sounds easy to do in theory, but in practice, it's often difficult. It's hard to cast aside established behaviors and develop new lifestyle habits, but it can be done.
Are you willing to become more physically active? Increasing your level of physical activity is essential to losing weight and keeping it off.

7. Do you have time to keep records of your food intake and physical activity?

Keeping records increases your chance of success. You'll be pleasantly surprised by how helpful it is to track your progress.

8. Are you willing to look at past successes and failures in weight loss and other areas of your life?

Learn from the past about what motivates you. Keep working to resolve barriers that might prevent success.

9. Do you view a healthy-weight program as a positive experience? Losing weight doesn't have to be a bad experience. Many people find they feel better when they're more active and weigh less.

10. Have you resolved any eating disorders or other emotional issues that make it difficult for you to achieve a healthy weight? If you have a tendency to binge, purge, starve or overexert when you exercise, or if you're depressed or anxious, you may need professional help.

11. Do you believe that a healthy weight is a lifelong commitment? Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is a lifelong process. There's no going back to your old behaviors. Are you ready to make a permanent change?

If you answered yes to all of these questions, you're ready to make the lifestyle changes necessary for permanent weight loss.

If you answered no to one or more of these questions, you may not be ready. And that's OK. Explore what's holding you back and face those obstacles. In some cases it may be a simple matter of timing. For instance, you may need to resolve other problems in your life. In other cases, you may need to work on related issues — such as your feelings toward weight loss or your willingness to commit to permanent changes.

You may be able to make these changes alone, or you may feel you need additional help. Educating yourself about the process of successful weight loss and maintenance is a start. For example, learn more about the dietary changes necessary for losing weight. See a dietitian or enroll in a behavioral-based program — a program that can help you change the behaviors that can interfere with weight loss, such as eating when you're stressed or bored.

If you're ready for weight loss but fear you'll become discouraged quickly, think toward the future. As you become more physically active and make dietary changes, you'll feel better and have more energy. And rather than thinking of weight loss as a short-term drudgery, view it as an enjoyable, permanent lifestyle change.

How to calculate BMI? If you wish to calculate BMI yourself, below are the BMI formulas for both English units and metric units:

Metric Units: BMI = Weight (kg) / (Height (m) x Height (m))

English Units: BMI = Weight (lb) / (Height (in) x Height (in)) x 703

The BMI scale:

BODY TYPE BMI INDEX
Underweight <= 18.5

Normal weight 18.5 - 24.9

Overweight 25 - 29.9

Obese >= 30

From the chart above, we see that healthy BMI falls in the range between 18.5 and 24.9. People whose BMI falls in this range are considered healthy based on their weight and height. A healthy BMI actually covers a wide range of weights. For example, if you are 5'8", you can weigh anywhere between 122 pounds and 164 pounds and be considered healthy.

People who are in the overweight (25 - 29.9) and obese (>= 30) scales are considered to have too much body fat. According to the CDC, 63% of U.S. adults are either overweight or obese based on BMI in 2007. People who are in the underweight (<= 18.5) scale, on the other hand, are considered to have too little body fat.

Keep in mind that BMI index is only one measure of your health. Many other factors also play an important role in your health. As such, having a healthy BMI does not mean that your body is in perfect health.

Weight loss: 6 strategies for success

Make your weight-loss goals a reality. Follow these proven strategies.

You probably know that hundreds of different fad diets, weight-loss programs and outright scams promise quick and easy weight loss. But the foundation of every successful weight-loss program still remains a healthy, low-calorie diet combined with exercise. You must make permanent changes in your lifestyle and health habits to lose significant weight and keep it off.

How do you make those permanent changes? Follow these six strategies.

1. Make a commitment

Permanent weight loss takes time and effort. It requires focus and a lifelong commitment. Make sure that you're ready to make permanent changes and that you do so for the right reasons.

No one else can make you lose weight. In fact, external pressure — often from people closest to you — may make matters worse. You must undertake diet and exercise changes to please yourself.

As you're planning new weight-related lifestyle changes, try to resolve any other problems in your life. It takes a lot of mental and physical energy to change your habits. So make sure you aren't distracted by other major life issues, such as marital or financial problems. Timing is key to success. Ask yourself if you're ready to take on the challenges of serious weight loss.

2. Get emotional support

Only you can help yourself lose weight by taking responsibility for your own behavior. But that doesn't mean that you have to do everything alone. Seek support when needed from your partner, family and friends.

Pick people who you know want only the best for you and who will encourage you. Ideally, find people who will listen to your concerns and feelings, spend time exercising with you, and share the priority you've placed on developing a healthier lifestyle.

3. Set a realistic goal

When you're considering what to expect from your new eating and exercise plan, be realistic. Healthy weight loss occurs slowly and steadily. Aim to lose 1 to 2 pounds (0.5 to 1 kilogram) a week. To do this, you need to burn 500 to 1,000 calories more than you consume each day, through a low-calorie diet and regular exercise.

Make your goals "process goals," such as exercising regularly, rather than "outcome goals," such as losing 50 pounds (23 kilograms). Changing your process — your habits — is the key to weight loss. Make sure that your process goals are realistic, specific and measurable, for example, you'll walk for 30 minutes a day, five days a week.

4. Enjoy healthier foods

Adopting a new eating style that promotes weight loss must include lowering your total calorie intake. But decreasing calories need not mean giving up taste, satisfaction or even ease of meal preparation. One way you can lower your calorie intake is by eating more plant-based foods — fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Strive for variety to help you achieve your goals without giving up taste or nutrition.

5. Get active, stay active

Dieting alone can help you lose weight. Cutting 500 calories from your daily diet can help you lose about a pound a week: 3,500 calories equals 1 pound (0.5 kilogram) of fat. But add a 45- to 60-minute brisk walk four days a week, and you can double your rate of weight loss.

The goal of exercise for weight loss is to burn more calories, although exercise offers many other benefits as well. How many calories you burn depends on the frequency, duration and intensity of your activities. One of the best ways to lose body fat is through steady aerobic exercise — such as walking — for more than 30 minutes most days of the week.

Even though regularly scheduled aerobic exercise is best for losing fat, any extra movement helps burn calories. Lifestyle activities may be easier to fit into your day. Think about ways you can increase your physical activity throughout the day. For example, make several trips up and down stairs instead of using the elevator, or park at the far end of the lot.

6. Change your lifestyle

It's not enough to eat healthy foods and exercise for only a few weeks or even several months. You have to include these behaviors in your lifestyle. To do that, you have to change the behaviors that helped make you overweight in the first place. Lifestyle changes start with taking an honest look at your eating habits and daily routine.

After assessing your personal challenges to weight loss, try working out a strategy to gradually change habits and attitudes that have sabotaged your past efforts. Simply admitting your own challenges won't get you past them entirely. But it helps in planning how you'll deal with them and whether you're going to succeed in losing weight once and for all.

You likely will have an occasional setback. But instead of giving up entirely, simply start fresh the next day. Remember that you're planning to change your life. It won't happen all at once, but stick to your healthy lifestyle and the results will be worth it

Healthcare and Forums For Women

Healthcare Groups And Forums For Women Will Provide You With Much Needed Comfort

Some women go through issues and healthcare related problems that only other women would understand. And with healthcare being as expensive as it is today, it would help if you had someone there to talk to whenever you had a question that wouldn't cost you money to see them constantly.

That's why many women are joining healthcare groups for women. These support groups are where women with similar issues can bond and talk to each other; and essentially help each other through whatever they're going through. No matter what kind of problem you're having, there's a healthcare group for women out there that's waiting for you to join.

If you have a problem that you're going through such as cervical cancer, or some other women related problem that is terminal, it would help immensely to seek out a healthcare group for women where you can relate with other women going through similar issues.

There's always someone out there who is going through the same thing you are, even if it's a terminal illness, and there's undoubtedly a healthcare group for women just waiting for new members.

If you are looking for a group, contact a national women's health organization and see if they have any information regarding a healthcare group for women with members who are going through the same thing.
as you are. If you don't have one in your area, you may want to start one. Then, you can tell the national women's health organization about your support group in case anyone like you is looking for one to join.

Online forums are also great ways to find healthcare groups for women. Just do a search for whatever problem you're going through and there's likely a forum with other women just like you, ready to answer questions and to help you through what you're going through. Likewise, it would help to get on that forum yourself and answer any questions that you may know the answers to.
Somewhere out there may be a woman just looking for answers with nowhere else to turn. You could help start a healthcare group for women to help other women who think they're all alone in the world; just like you were before you found a group of your own.

Women's health is still somewhat of a hidden issue, but we as a society are seeming to become more and more okay and accepting of it.

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What Is Breast Cancer?

Breast cancer is an uncontrolled growth of breast cells. To better understand breast cancer, it helps to understand how any cancer can develop.

Cancer occurs as a result of mutations, or abnormal changes, in the genes responsible for regulating the growth of cells and keeping them healthy. The genes are in each cell’s nucleus, which acts as the “control room” of each cell. Normally, the cells in our bodies replace themselves through an orderly process of cell growth: healthy new cells take over as old ones die out. But over time, mutations can “turn on” certain genes and “turn off” others in a cell. That changed cell gains the ability to keep dividing without control or order, producing more cells just like it and forming a tumor

A tumor can be benign (not dangerous to health) or malignant (has the potential to be dangerous). Benign tumors are not considered cancerous: their cells are close to normal in appearance, they grow slowly, and they do not invade nearby tissues or spread to other parts of the body. Malignant tumors are cancerous. Left unchecked, malignant cells eventually can spread beyond the original tumor to other parts of the body.



Information Specialists at 1-800-4-CANCER and at LiveHelp (http://www.cancer.gov) can help you locate programs, services, and publications. Also, you may want to read the NCI fact sheet "National Organizations That Offer Services to People With Cancer and Their Families."

Symptoms of Breast Cancer

The first sign of breast cancer is a new lump or mass in the breast that you or your doctor can feel. A lump that is painless, hard, and has uneven edges is more likely to be cancer. But sometimes cancers can be tender, soft, and rounded. So it's important to have anything unusual checked by your doctor.

According to the American Cancer Society, any of the following unusual changes in the breast can be a symptom of breast cancer:

1. swelling of all or part of the breast
2. skin irritation or dimpling
3. breast pain
4. nipple pain or the nipple turning inward
5. redness, scaliness, or thickening of the nipple or breast skin
6. a nipple discharge other than breast milk
7. a lump in the underarm area

These changes also can be signs of less serious conditions that are not cancerous, such as an infection or a cyst. It’s important to get any breast changes checked out promptly by a doctor.