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You may have seen the television commercials for the prescription weight-loss pill Contrave.

Contrave is the combination of two older drugs - bupropion, an antidepressant, and naltrexone, an addiction-treatment drug. Its ads say the drug works on the brain to reduce hunger and control cravings.

The FDA approved Contrave is for obese people or who are overweight with a body mass index of 27 or higher and those who suffer from serious conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol or type 2 diabetes.

The commercial cites studies in which patients who took Contrave along with diet and exercise lost approximately two- to four-times more weight than those who simply dieted and exercised. However, a Consumer Reports analysis of the three clinical trials used to gain FDA approval of Contrive shows the drug works, but the amount of additional weight loss is small and could pose serious health risks.

Contrave can cause anxiety, insomnia and headaches, according to Consumer Reports. Serious health problems such as liver damage, seizures, increased blood pressure and possible heart risks are also possible. People who took it up to 56 weeks lost only five to nine pounds more on average than those who took a placebo.

Consumer Reports advises to speak with your doctor about the risks and different weight-loss options. Consumer Reports health experts say its best to lose weight the safer, proven way, by eating less and exercising.

If you've been unable to lose weight on your own, ask your doctor about intensive behavioral programs that have at least 12 sessions a year and include multiple strategies to help you switch to a healthier diet and increase physical activity.

Published at 5:00 AM CDT on Apr 18, 2017 | Updated 6 hours ago

Excerpt from:
New Ads For Contrave Weight Loss Pill - NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Women's Health

5 Celebs Reveal Their Biggest Weight-Loss Struggles Women's Health Though you may not think it, weight loss is hard for everyoneeven those with money and movie deals. Yes, they have access to the best trainers, nutritionists, and chefs, but at the end of the day the choices you make are your own. And the choice ...

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5 Celebs Reveal Their Biggest Weight-Loss Struggles - Women's Health

What emotion sends you to the refrigerator or the snack cupboard, or both? Angry, elated, confused, sad, bored, anxious, depressed, joyful, lonely or all of these and more?

Emotions can be uncomfortable. Food is used to regulate the discomfort and try to feel something good instead of bad.

Emotional eating is arguably the major reason for obesity. Its not sugary beverages which is where legislators are pointing their fingers and suggesting heavy taxing to save us from ourselves. Whoops, thats the topic of another blog and one that could drive me to emotional eating to soothe my anger.

Emotional eating is the swiftest way to end a successful diet. As a culture we have a habit of stuffing our feelings. We use food for more than fuel; we use food to help us cope. Its plentiful and legal making it a perfect choice to cope with whatever bothers us whenever we need it.

Every action we make is driven by the need to escape pain or to gain pleasure. I mean every action, even self-destructive actions. In other words, there is always a positive intent behind everything we do. I dont eat a bag of chips because I want to make myself fat and unhappy. I eat them because Iam unhappyand Im using the chips to try tofeel better.

A few chips nicely complement a ham sandwich or taste great with a dip. No matter how many chips you eat, they cant take away your emotional pain, but they may make it worse!

Emotional eaters turn to food to try to feel better at least for a little while. Stuffing down feelings with highly palatable food can provide temporary distraction and brief pleasure. It also has a rebound effect. Its both the way people ease pain and the cause of more pain.

Its not unusual for diets to cause people with poor coping skills more pain and its a particularly nasty cycle. The pain causes overeating, the overeating causes guilt and weight gain, the guilt and weight gain cause pain, and the pain causes more overeating. The cycle is established and hard to break.

The cycle needs to be broken. Easier said than done, but possible. If youre an emotional eater whos tried to stop the behavior and was unable, its not because its you cant do it. its because your approach was missing some essential elements necessary for success.

One thing is for sure, emotional eating gets worse when we follow diets that are too restrictive. Diets that keep us from eating enough to feel full and satisfied or restrict us from eating certain foods or food groups, usually end with a full-fledged, out-of-control, emotional eating episode.

Its a mistake to think if I can stop eating (fill in the blank with what you usually choose to eat when under any emotion or stress)cold-turkey when Im feeling overly emotional. I just wont do it.

Stopping an unwanted or negative action requires replacing it with a positive action.Here is a winning strategy to overcome emotional eating step-by-step.

1. Follow a healthy and satisfying lower-calorie food plan.Your food plan should provide all the essential nutrients, enough calories to provide satisfaction but slightly fewer than your body uses for its energy needs. It must have room to include a few treats. Its important that you can fit in and eat your emotional go-to foods as part of your overall food plan.

2. Have a list of non food strategies ready.What activities do you enjoy? What relaxes you? How can you blow off steam without eating? What might be soothing? Typical solutions include:

Im going to close my eyes and see me sitting on a dock in the bay. Im going to imagine I can smell the saltwater and feel the sun on my face and hear the cry of the gulls.

A cuddle or a pic (if the object of your affection isnt close enough to cuddle) works a lot better to comfort than high-fat/high-calorie food eaten hastily and chased with a giant helping of guilt.

3.Allow yourself to feel to identify the emotion.Turning to food in response to emotion happens so fast you may not even realize thats what youre doing until you are halfway into an emotional eating episode. When you have an urge to eat and its not connected to physical hunger, take a deep and ask yourself, whats really behind my need to eat?

4.Pick one or more coping solution from your list.Find what works to ease the discomfort of the emotion. You might also find that experiencing and working through the feelings brought on by the emotion is healing.

5. Practice the steps for managing emotional eating with visualization.When youre in a calm, stable state of mind think of the steps you are going to take next time you feel like stuffing down an emotion with food. Think about a recent upsetting incident that lead to your using food to cope. Now insert the different ending! See yourself engaged in a solution from your list.

Use all of your imagination to make it feel as real as possible. Feel the power of being in control and the good feelings you get from that. The more you practice in your mind the easier you will find it to change your behavior when faced with a real situation. Its the same technique professional athletes use to stay at the top of their games.

Its not bad or wrong to continue to use food to cope. If thats your choice, own it. In other words change your self-talk from I cant help it to this is what I want right now! Changing your self-talk puts you back in control and with control comes the power to manage your eating.

Managing your eating means you dont grab a container of ice cream and a spoon and go to town. It means you serve yourself 1/2 cup serving and count it on your food plan. Instead of shoveling the ice cream (and guilt) into your mouth, you take time to savor the flavor and creaminess so that the experience is enjoyable rather than creating guilt (more unpleasant feelings.)

As with many weight management actions, handling emotional eating is a skill. Its an especially difficult skill to learn and master. Dont expect to be a pro the first time you try. Its okay to be a beginner. Stay positive and keep practicing until it becomes as easy as tying your shoe or riding a bike.

Read more:
How to keep emotional eating from ruining your weight loss - Bangor Daily News

Asa English, 26, from Sheffield reached 11st after following an unhealthy diet of processed meals and booze

A STUNNING fitness model has shared her amazing transformation from couch potato to super-fit.

Asa English, 26, from Sheffield reached 11st after following an unhealthy diet of processed meals and booze.

Caters News Agency

But, when her grandmother gave her a few home truths combined with the shock of an unflattering bikini photo, Asa decided to ditch the junk food and join a gym.

Impressively, the blonde bombshell lost four stoneand gained a huge fan base on Instagram account of over 400,000 followers, who can ogle her washboard abs and lean glutes on her account, jellydevote.

Asa, originally from Vaxjo Sweden said: I saw a photo of myself in a bikini and that triggered me to start transforming my body.

Caters News Agency

I hated myself and thought I looked horrible.

I almost didnt recognise myself and realised then I needed to change. I felt like the outside didnt match my inside.

Then as well, my grandma just said, you have gained a lot of weight and when your grandma that always wants to feed you with loads of food, thinks youve got big that hurts.

I wasnt happy thats why I chose to start working out.

Caters News Agency

Caters News Agency

Asa says her battle with the bulge began in her early twenties.

She said: When I was young, I was always considered normal not big, not small just normal.

But all of the sudden, when I hit my twenties I started to put on lots of weight.

I was eating and drinking a lot of alcohol and soda and a lot of processed food.

I would never cook and would only get ready meals or fast food.

I have no idea how much I ate and I never went to the gym what so ever.

Caters News Agency

Caters News Agency

Caters News Agency

I ended up weighing in about 70kgs and was very unhealthy. I had an unhealthy life in general.

Fed up with feeling low, Asa decided to turn her life around and now she runs a blog to help others change theirs.

She said: I stopped with alcohol and started to cook my food instead, so I always made sure I ate healthy.

I went to the gym and now I am lighter and happy and healthy.

She added: I now work with my biggest passion, which is fitness.

I get to inspire and help others to be the best version of them self. And thanks to this job I can travel the world and I have experienced and grown so much from this experience.

And, if youre feeling a tad overindulgedpost-Easter, why not check out fitness blogger Courtney Blacks guide to beating the bloat.

Go here to see the original:
Woman shows off her amazing 4st weight loss after transforming from 'couch potato' to super-lean fitness model - The Sun

Prevention.com

7 Grocery Shopping Mistakes That Are Slowing Your Weight Loss Prevention.com Even with the best of intentions, there are plenty of ways your trip to the grocery store can go wrongand end up thwarting your weight loss progress. Here are 7 common mistakes you might be making, plus ways to shop smarter. (Never diet again and ...

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7 Grocery Shopping Mistakes That Are Slowing Your Weight Loss - Prevention.com

Alison has hailed her Strictly Come Dancing pal as phenomenal and revealed shes following in her weight-loss footsteps

ALISON Hammond has lost 2st since taking part in Sugar Free Farm earlier this year but shes not alone in her weight loss journey.

The This Morning presenter has called on the help of her good friend Lisa Riley to help her keep off the excess pounds and credits the Loose Women star as her weight loss inspiration.

PA:Press Association

Instagram

Alison told Closer Magazine: Lisa is an inspiration. I spoke to her recently and she is phenomenal. Shes in a happy place and has managed to cut out everything bad.

Alison, 42, used to weigh over 20st and admitted she would happily eat five chocolate bars every day.

However after a gastric band failed to help her lose weight Alisons body rejected the weight loss aid the Strictly Come Dancing star had to focus on changing up her diet and exercising more.

Getty Images

Splash News

Since losing the weight during Channel 5s Sugar Free Farm, Alison is determined to keep on losing weight and is looking to Lisa for help.

Alison continued: There is nothing bad she puts in her mouth whatsoever. She was a role model for me and I watched her on Strictly Come Dancing before I went on the show.

Mum-of-one Alison was open about her addiction to unhealthy treats on Sugar Free Farm, even admitting that chocolate was like her crack.

She during one of the shows televised therapy sessions: Chocolate is like my crack cocaine. I love it, I cant do without it.

Getty Images

Getty Images

She added: I get a real big buzz when I eat sweet food. I get a physical reaction and just feel happy and then I want another one.

My son sometimes hides my chocolate from me.

I feel theres another Alison inside, dying to come out.

No one wants to be super-obese, I tell you, but what I can say is Im addicted.

Got a story? email digishowbiz@the-sun.co.uk or call us direct on 02077824220

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This Morning's Alison Hammond reveals pal Lisa Riley's incredible weight loss helped inspire her to lose two stone - The Sun

NEWS DOG MEDIA

Personal trainer, Courtney Black, 20, from East London, has become an Instagram sensation for her muscular body and fitness advice.

She showed her 158,000 followers how to extra weight in under two weeks - without any fad diets or detoxes.

After eating over 7500 calories each day in burgers, milkshakes and cakes on a trip in New York in December 2016, she claims she lost weight following just four simple steps.

Her tricks include sweating it out in the sauna, working out your maintenance calories, cutting out rest periods in your workout, and even giving yourself a cheat meal.

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1 of 27

Sarah Stage shows how she works out

Weight loss tips from Instagram fitness model Courtney Black on how you can shrink in two weeks before your holiday

And the results were clear to her army of fans when Courtney showed off her two week post-holiday transformation from bloated to toned.

Courtney explains: I went to New York for five days after Christmas and gorged on calorific treats at every meal.

However when I returned home, I felt awful and bloated. The extra weight I put on made me feel lowsy and slow.

I absolutely hate hearing about juice cleanses or shake diets in order to lose weight. In my opinion, they should be banned, she added.

GETTY

Instead she proposes her four step plan to get you in shape quick.

Your body cannot change that drastically over such a short period of time, Courtney says of sudden weight gain.

Most of the weight that you have gained is water retention from not drinking enough water, lack of physical activity and eating high-salt and sugary foods.

Although a session in the sauna wont make you lose weight, itll help you sweat out a lot of the water your body is holding onto, which is subsequently making you look bloated.

A bit of time in steam room is also great for relaxation and good for clearing your skin after an unhealthy holiday.

GETTY

Get back in the gym and make every workout count.

In order to really shed that excess holiday weight, you need to make your exercise time more intense by make the rest periods during your workout shorter.

Its no good simply following some general/popular low calorie diet you need to work out the precise maintenance calories your body needs in order to lose weight.

For a female, your maintenance calories could be anything from 1400-2000 calories (depending on your weight, height and how often you workout).

You need to be eating below your maintenance to lose weight but never drop more than 500 calories under that figure.

There are a plenty of online calculators that will help you work this out or get professional advice.

GETTY

Restock your fridge with lots of healthy and nutritious food but give yourself a cheat meal too.

A weekly cheat meal (rather than a whole cheat day!) should be a part of your diet in order to bounce back to your ideal weight as they boost your metabolism and help you shed those pounds.

There are significant weight-loss benefits to a planned cheat meal. It encourages your body to burn calories more rapidly instead of allowing it to adjust to a lower calorie lifestyle.

This is the ONE thing you can do to reverse the diet damage of Easter.

Excerpt from:
Weight loss - Fitness model shows how to lose fat in TWO WEEKS before your holiday - Express.co.uk

PEOPLE.com

Leslie Jones Gets Sweaty in the Gym as She Keeps Up Her 40-Lb. Weight Loss: 'Arms Arms Arms!' PEOPLE.com Leslie Jones' trainer is still pushing her to the limit! The Saturday Night Live star, 47, put in two tough workouts over the weekend with her trainer, Thaddeus Harvey. Jones shared photos and videos on Instagram from her sweaty time in the gym, which ...

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Leslie Jones Gets Sweaty in the Gym as She Keeps Up Her 40-Lb. Weight Loss: 'Arms Arms Arms!' - PEOPLE.com

Tuesday April 18 2017

Migraines are more common in women

"People who are too fat or too thin are 'more likely to suffer from migraines'," reports The Sun.

Researchers reviewed data from 12 studies involving 288,981 people and concluded obese people have a 21% increased risk of migraines, compared to those of healthy weight.

Migrainesare moderate to severe headaches that are more common in women. People who are underweight also have a small increased risk.

Researchers don't know exactly how weight affects migraine risk, but it may be to do with chemicals released by fatty tissue. Researchers found that both age and sex affected people's chances of the condition, as well as their weight.

This type of research can't tell us whether migraine is caused directly by weight. And we don't know whether obese people with migraine can lower their chances of having the painful headaches by losing weight.

Still, trying to achieve a healthy weight should help lower your risk of a range of chronic diseases such asheart disease and type 2 diabetes.

Read more about how to lose weight safely with the NHS Weight Loss Plan.

The study was carried out by researchers from Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the US, the University of L'Aquila in Italy, and the University of Queensland in Australia.

The researchers reported no direct funding. The study was published in thepeer-reviewed journal Neurology.

The Sun gave an accurate overview of the study. The Mail Online's rather odd headline claimed that: "Being a healthy weight is the only way to beat migraine," ignoring the fact that many people of healthy weight get migraines, and there are plenty of migraine treatments around.

The Mail also said that "migraine sufferers could prevent the misery of migraine headaches by staying at a healthy weight," when the research does not show that changing weight affects migraine.

Both newspapers use the researchers' figure that obesity leads to a 27% greater risk of migraine, based on an analysis adjusted for age and sex. However, the fully-adjusted figure, taking into account multiple risk factors for migraine, is 21%.

This is a meta-analysis, which pooled results from previously-published studies looking at links between weight and migraine. Meta-analyses are a good wayof summarising all the existing research about a topic. However, they are only as good as the studies that they report.

All of the studies in this case were observational in nature, and so are not able to show that being over- or underweight causes migraines.

Researchers looked for previously-published observational studies on migraine and weight. They pooled the data to look for links between migraine risk and different categories of weight underweight, healthy weight, overweight or obese. They adjusted their figures to take account ofconfounding factorsknown to affect migraine risk, such as age and sex.

The studies included were assessed to be of fairly good quality (all ranking seven or above on a 10-point quality scale).

The researchers conducted sensitivity analyses to ensure the pooled results were not skewed by any individual study. They also asked the original study authors for additional information, meaning they were able to include data not used in previous meta-analyses.

The study found that obese people and underweight people, but not overweight people, were more likely to report having migraines.

Compared to people of healthy weight:

Both the chances of having migraines, and the link between migraines and obesity, were strongest in younger people and lessened with age.

The researchers say their findings show a potential "moderate" increased risk of migraine from being obese. They say this finding "supports the need for research to determine whether interventions to reduce obesity decrease the risk of migraine".

They suggest this will help scientists understand the causes of migraine better, and possibly develop treatments based on people's weight.

The study results are clear: people who are obese have a moderately increased chance of getting migraine headaches, and people who are underweight have a small increased chance. However, the results don't tell us why that is.

There are a few limitations to be aware of:

The link to weight is likely to be only one factor contributing to whether someone gets migraine, including genes inherited from parents. Lots of things have been identified as possible triggers for migraine headaches in those susceptible, including:

While it's always a good idea to keep to a healthy weight (it's not called a healthy weight for nothing), we don't know from this study if losing weight (for obese people) or gaining weight (for underweight people) will affect their chances of getting migraines.

Avoiding the triggers listed above, when possible, should also help.

Read more aboutmigraine prevention.

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Being both under and overweight may increase migraine risk - NHS Choices

Ive just had a baby, an operation too! Will I ever be able to revert to my previous body structure? Can I exercise after a caesarian? These are the woes of a new mother, though gone are the times when a new mother would be disbarred from all other activities other than feeding the baby and allowing the body to recover.

For 40 days she would be told to remain indoors, as the immunity would be at its weakest and both the mother and child would be cocooned till they were ready to face the world. Let me tell you, Ive been there and done that for my firstborn and believe me it did actually help. I was barely 20 and I had absolutely no clue what I was supposed to do or eat or exercise and had nobody to guide me. I blindly followed my mother-in-law. Yes, I did put on weight and the loose fat on my tummy took a lot of hard work to go, but my weak bones, low blood pressure problems and the constant faints were gone forever.

However back then the idea of a perfect figure wasnt a benchmark of 36-24-36 that had to be achieved. The perception of beauty was more realistic than the willowy photo-shopped frames we see in every Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter or FB post. But that apart, personal health and beauty standards werent even defined for individuals to fit any prototype. It was what each thought best for themselves. However the world has changed and women today are equipped for more, or maybe they want it all and can work hard enough to get it too. So lets get down to basic facts that can help a new mother.

Though the scientific technology sped the healing and recovery time post an operation, it still doesnt allow you to be lax or careless. The C-section delivery definitely requires some healing time before you can start putting pressure of a rigorous workout on it. What you can safely begin with is walking. After a 2 week absolute rest, allowing the scar to heal, the internal changes to restore strength to the body and pain to subside, a 20min easy paced walk is what you can start with after a fortnight. As doctors always advice, take 6/8 weeks of total recovery before you begin any full-fledged workout. Urinary incontinence can happen post-delivery due to loosening of the pelvic muscles. The Kegel exercises taught to you during pregnancy are the best to begin with. They will help in strengthening the core and your pelvis. These help in combating that loosening that you are worried about.

These are the exercises you can gradually you can start with

1. Hip raises to strengthen your abdominal without pressurizing your back.

2. The Bird Dog will help tighten the sagging tummy that is a problem with most new mothers. These exercises will also help elongate the spine and ease out the stiffness.

3. Side leg raises done lying down will activate the hamstrings and glutes while increasing mobility in the hip flexors. They also help tighten the core.

4. The plank.you can begin with the regular one and then gradually do the various variations.

The body has undergone lots of changes to prepare you for the birth of your young one, do not rush it or torture it into getting back into its previous shape sooner than its prepared for. Take it slow and easy, build up your strength, endurance and then drive it to do better. There are loads of workouts that can be your playtime with your child, while helping you to lose weight and recover while you enjoy motherhood.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

Original post:
Can I continue exercising after a C-Section? - Times of India (blog)