How does Eva Herzigova Stay Slim?

Eva Herzigova reportedly weighs about 132 pounds. She is 5'10" (179 cm) tall and has been modeling since she was discovered at sixteen. This month, just shy of her 33rd birthday, she is featured on the cover of the Italian GC Magazine.

Herziogova's secret, as far as dieting goes, is that she doesn't like sweets. She doesn't even like chocolate! But she loves fish, cheese and meat. She says she'll eat anything, but only in small quantities if it is a rich food. Before she started modeling she was very athletic and spent her youth playing basketball, cross-country skiing and gymnastics. When she was interviewed about her exercise regiment a few years ago she said she didn't have time for the gym and that she didn't exercise. That's probably changed since then.

Eva has been married once. It was a short marriage lasting less than two years. At that time she said she wanted a couple of kids. She probably won't be single much longer though she's not in a relationship now.

How Many Pounds in a Stone?

The BBC has some good before and after pictures of people who lost weight in Britian recently.

Here's Lisa. She lost six and a half stone in six months. How many pounds are in a stone, you ask? The British have a strange way of stating their weight. There are 14 pounds to a stone. So Lisa lost 90 pounds in six months. Congrats to Lisa and the other eight successful people pictured there.

See about converting kilograms to pounds here.

Weight Lifting to Get in Shape

This little old lady is 86 years old! She started weight-lifting when she was 72. At that time she was upset she couldn't carry her kitty litter shopping bags home. (We're talking about fifty pound bags of kitty litter.) So she joined the gym, started weight-lifting, and has been doing it regularly ever since.

Now she's as spry as a teenager, though she is a great-grandmother. She's gone on to win about forty trophies in weight-lifting competitions.

Cutting Down on Sodium

Reducing our salt intake and trying to keep it significantly below 2,300 mg per day (for adults) is one of the easiest plans for losing weight. The recommended maximum daily sodium intake is 2,300mg but most people consume more than twice as much.

When we consume too much sodium the kidneys retain a lot more water and this increases blood pressure.

It would surprise some people that most of the sodium we eat doesn't come from salt-shakers. There is a very large amount of sodium in most processed foods. All cured meats (such as bacon, ham and sausage) also have very high levels. Even foods you'd never expect as culprits, such as cottage cheese can contain 1,000mg per cup.

The best way to cut down on sodium is to eat fresh whole foods. Eat lots of vegetables, legumes and fruit. These foods are also high in fiber and low in calories.

OceanPark calls the above photo "the schizophrenia of america". She says, "I think this sums up the paradox of two main messages in contemporary American culture: be impossibly skinny; eat superfatty hamburgers."

I would completely agree.

Sara Evans on Dieting Struggles

Sara Evans lost her baby weight quickly after her second pregnancy. She lost 70 pounds in less than nine months. This was back in 2003 and Evans was featured in Women's World magazine for this feat. Here she said her diet secret was very simple and involved only two rules. She didn't eat unless her stomach was growling and she stopped eating when she was full. Evans, 35, is one of the world's country music superstars. Her work-out plan basically consisted of being onstage for 75 minute shows. Here she'd work up a real sweat. She said she was 'motivated every day to get into those stage clothes at night". And that she was able to get down to a size six and stay there.

That year she also mentioned that she had an incredible fear of getting fat. And that if she overeats she hates herself.

But then she gave birth a third time in October 2005. This time it doesn't look like she's been able to lose all her weight quite as successfully as after the second pregnancy. In the photo shown here, taken in May 2006, she doesn't look as though she would fit into size six. Nevertheless, she looks great and may now feel happy about her current weight, even if it is more than she weighed three years ago.

She recently became the official ambassador for the National Eating Disorders Association. She says she decided to do this after watching a friend battle with an eating disorder. Evans will host a fashion show titled "Fashion for Every Body" in Nashville in September.

We are going to be seeing a lot more of her starting in September as she's also one of the celebrity contestants on Dancing with the Stars.

Update October 13th: Sara Evans is quitting Dancing with the Stars. According to Us Magazine Evans has decided to quit effective immediately for personal reasons. They speculate it is due to an impending divorce with her husband.

Carmen Sells the NV Diet Pill

Carmen Electra has signed on to help sell a new diet pill - NV. You'll soon see Electra on TV promoting this pill.

NV is probably the only diet pill that also claims to be a beauty pill. The marketing people at NxCare, are really pushing it. They say NV is 'the supermodel of diet pills'. They say this pill can promote total outer radiance; it can give you a slimmer, sleeker and more sultry body! not to mention thick hair that shines! and skin that glows! and strong glamorous nails!

Carmen Electra has never been overweight and has always been beautiful. What would she know about 'rapid weight loss pills'? (Note: She does on the other hand have some personal experience with breast implants.) I'd love to know how much she is being paid to promote this product. It must be a lot. NxCare has its origins in pills and potions for bodybuilders. This is their first big foray into diet pills aimed at the female market. Below is a before and after NV picture from their website. NV has already received huge publicity as Carmen Electra is on the cover of the current issue of Life & Style magazine with the blaring headline "The New Diet Pill: A new secret ingredient helps stars lose weight fast without feeling hungry!" and she talks about the pill in the featured article.

Ab Lounge 2 Review

Here's a video clip of a guy reviewing the ab lounge 2. He says he does about 180 crunches a day and hasn't noticed any results yet. He thinks if you can find it at a bargain price than go for it, but he doesn't think it's worth paying the full price for. He gives it five stars out of ten.

I'd be very curious about other people's experience with the ab lounge. They are promoting it heavily on TV infomercials and I get the sense that a lot of people are buying it. But is anyone actively using it and is it working for you?

Consumer Reports reported on a problem with the ab lounge in April. Here's an excerpt from their site:

Problem:
Fingers could get caught in hinges, where they could be crushed, cut, or tips amputated.

Products:
460,000 devices, including the Ab Lounge, Ab Lounge 2, and Ab Lounge Ultimate Exercisers, sold since October 2003 through infomercials, online, by catalog, and at discount department and sporting-goods stores for $100 to $210. Wal-Mart and Dicks Sporting Goods were among the larger retail chains selling the units. The hazard arises when the machine is being opened or folded, not when it's being used. There have been 15 reports of injuries, most of which involved crushed fingers, followed by fingertip amputations, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission's Scott Wolfson.

The exercisers have the name "Ab Lounge" or "Ab Lounge 2" printed on the upper front fabric of the seat. Ab Lounge exercise products with straight brackets that do not fold are not subject to the recall.

What to do:
Stop using the machine and call Fitness Quest, the distributor, at 800-321-9236 for a free repair kit that consists of a bracket to eliminate the hazard. You can also go to www.fitnessquest.com to obtain the kit.