My name is Markesha, I’m 23 yrs old. Last year I lost 37 pounds by giving up beef & pork. This year I’ve gain my weight back by eating crazy again. I’ve tried LA Weightloss, and it helped with the 37 pounds that I’ve lost. But the program closed. Now I’m even more frustrated because I don’t want to spend a lot of money going to Balley Total Fitness nor Nutri-System. I really would love to look like Jennifer Hudson. What should I do ??? Please Help. [via Ask Questions]

How to lose 40 pounds by embracing who you are First of all, forget about comparing the way you look to Jennifer Hudson. Jennifer Hudson is Jennifer Hudson and you is, well, you. Be proud of that! Your body is unique. Trying to emulate somebody’s look is a losing proposition and a waste of your time. (more…)

Please can you advise where I can buy ’skinny tea’ ??? [via Ask Questions section]

Which skinny tea do you have in mind? I have reviewed two different brands: this one and this one. (more…)

Hi, can you tell me how many days you’d need to be on a diet before it would have an effect. E.g If I started a diet on Monday that cut my calorie intake to 1200 from 2000 cals, how quickly would I start to lose weight?? would it be after 1 day or 2 or 3 or more? Hopefully that all makes sense?? –Joanne. [via Ask Questions section]

Nobody can accurately predict an exact number of days you need to be on a diet until you start seeing results. (more…)

I’m 19 years old, trying to lose weight for the past 4 months. My upper abs are starting to show, but my lower abs are not visible. What are the best exercises for my lower abs? Thanks, Bernard. [via Ask Questions]

In my opinion, lower abs exercises are overrated. There does not appear to be a way to isolate a particular part of the abdominal muscle with a specific exercise. The reason for this is that your upper abs and your lower abs are one sheet of muscle. (more…)

Hello,

My name is Nikki and I lost 10 pounds already, but can’t lose the other 10-20 pounds. It won’t come off! I want to know the easiest fastest way to lose weight. How to eat, exercise, and be healthy. I heard that organic food works? Also, how can I speed up my metabolism so that I can eat more, but never gain weight? I want to lose this weight before the end of June.

Thank you for your help. [via Ask Questions]

Since you have not provided any details about your current diet, I cannot really make any specific recommendations, but I have a number of posts on this subject that you may find useful: How to Lose Weight Quickly, Easy Diet Tips, and Why Calorie Shifting Works.

Organic foods are great, but they are not going to help you lose weight. The easiest way to lose weight has to do not so much with what to eat, but with what not to eat. (more…)

I am 5′5″ and currently 146 with a goal weight of 135. I am having such a hard time with this last 11 pounds. I feel stuck at 146 no matter what I do. I am swimming for an hour three days a week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday. I am on a 1200-1300 calorie per day diet, and trying to balance protien and carbs, usally a bit more protein than carbs.

I get approximately 40 grams of fat, 100 grms of protein, and 86 grms of carbs. These are daily totals - I spread all this over 4 meals per day. What is the best way to get this last 11 pounds off. I have been hovering at 146 for 3 weeks now and can’t get the scale to move! What can I do?

Thank you! [via]

The closer you get to your weight-loss goal, the harder it is to lose the remaining weight. It is called a weight-loss plateau and it is quite common to get stack for some time unable to lose the last 10 pounds or so.

The good news is that you seem to be doing everything by the book, so I am sure you will reach your goal weight, but it is going to take some extra work to get there. (more…)

Should I be concerned with high level (700 + ) of dhea?

I am 51 years old.

What does it effect?

Thanks,

Gail [via Ask Questions]

Since DHEA is responsible for many functions of sex hormones in males and females, it can have a wide range of potentially dangerous side effects. (more…)

I am wondering if slim shots will affect cholesterol counts because of the palm oil. Do you have any idea? [via Ask Questions]

Palm oil is similar in structure to the coconut oil, which contains lauric acid and medium-chain fatty acids.

According to some experts, the palm oil as well as the coconut oil are worst than cigarettes, okay, not literally of course, but they think that both oils are not healthy and can dramatically raise your cholesterol levels.

On the other hand, some diet gurus and dietitians disagree. They argue just the opposite and claim that the coconut oil in particular is very healthy and can actually lower bad cholesterol. (more…)