Recently, I had to strap duct tape around my noggin to prevent it from exploding when I heard an ad about a diet discovery you mix with water and drop 10 pounds in a week with the added benefits of hunger pains and dizziness because your calories come from sugar.

Many of the over-600 programs are healthy and legitimate ways to shrink your waistline, improve your health, and prolong your life. But the only thing that will shrink after using several of these diets is your bank account.

What’s different with the Citizens Medical Center refusal to hire obese people is that the policy doesn’t indicate costs or side effects; nor does it suggest that obese employees are incapable of performing their tasks. Mostly, it refers to physical form, placing overweight applicants in the same category as those with visible tattoos or facial piercings.

Therefore, based entirely on math, if one only consumes 500 calories a day – with or without supplements — she’s got no choice but to get thinner. The question is, “At what price?” After all, if you lose your weight and damage your health, was it worth it? Personally, I’d rather be pudgy and relatively healthy than “at my correct weight” while on the verge of keeling over.

Audio diet podcast from year 7, episode 11 of Scott “Q” Marcus’s column. It’s 7:05 in length. It’s about the number of fake “dietary aids” available.

If one is unhappy on the inside, no high-tech electronic, fancy outfit, or latest doo-dad will fill that void. No amount of “retail therapy” will make you whole if there is a hole within.

Although the story is untrue, it is not made up out of whole cloth. What essentially happened is the U.S. Department of Agriculture wanted to increase standards so a half-cup of tomato paste would count as a vegetable serving, instead of the current one-eighth cup. Therefore, two tablespoons of tomato paste remain the virtual nutritional equivalent of one half-cup of broccoli, green beans or any other vegetable in a school lunch. Really? Is this what we need to be doing?

Time for a chill pill; on the grand scale of life, most of what rankles us is not even a blip on the radar screen of “real” problems; it’s microscopic. Half the time, we don’t even remember it long enough for it to survive the ride home, let alone why we got so upset in the first place; yet we’re singing “ain’t it awful” with the volume on full.

If all you do is send me ads, oops, I mean “invitations,” and you don’t care if I fit, you don’t know me, to be honest, I won’t particularly like you, I certainly won’t trust you – and I can assure you that I will not buy from you. Stop already!

Should I weigh too much, and should I then choose to “follow a healthy diet and exercise regularly,” I will have no choice but to “lose weight, lower my cholesterol, shed inches, and improve digestion.” It has nothing to do with powders, pills, or potions. Moreover, I can take the money saved to purchase new clothing to better adorn my now-healthier, happier body.

When we can turn down the magical thinking long enough to strap on our adult brain thinking caps, we know that losing weight is not rocket science; it’s a simple premise; keep your mouth shut longer and your feet moving further and you’ll end up at your correct weight. The bottom line is quite simply “calories in versus calories out.” Period; end of story; mystery over. Spend more than you take in and — voila! — a new skinny you.

Diet researchers have discovered that we actually tend to eat more (sic) when food has been altered to have a bad smell instead of a pleasant smell. Scientists provided test subjects meals that were sprinkled with “tastants.” What they discovered was that when the aroma was enhanced with a combination of green apples and peppermint, people ate less than when the smell reminded diners of dirty socks. So, enter a new diet product claiming to take advantage of our subconscious triggers.

In addition to this blog, I post on a diet-oriented blog I call “Forever Fighting Fat.” Today, my post started out as a rant about Acai Berry and Colon Cleanse, but ended up with me doing research about the marketing campaign behind it. It’s humorous. It’s also worth a quick look. If you like that [...]