When I saw the title for this article, I was a bit skeptical. (Then again, aren’t I always?) Still, anything that can flatten the belly (while I’m eating?) is something to look into!

Not surprisingly, the suggestions offered (such as eat more Vitamin C and take a walk) were just plain common sense. But one suggestion really surprised me: taking a photo of your plate of food. The article says, ” People who took pictures of everything they ate for five days reported consuming fewer snacks and being less likely to go back for seconds.”

Well no kidding. Can you imagine taking the time to hunt for the camera before every meal? I’m lucky I can get everyone to drink a glass of milk and use a napkin. Besides this, even if you are a “serious dieter,” is this something you are really going have time to do?

What do you think?

Image: sxc.hu.

For getting (and staying) in shape there is no better exercise than walking. It’s easy on the joints, you don’t need special equipment, and you can do it anywhere. You can even do it in the comfort of your home with some of the walking DVDs that are on the market. (Like the one we’re giving away here at Blisstree.)

To show you just how easy it is to walk for your health, the American Heart Association has started a National Start! Walking Day. The day is April 8th, and you are encouraged to participate!

The movement has a website with loads of great information on getting your coworkers involved as well. Wouldn’t it be great to go for a walk at lunch instead of sit and complain about your job? You don’t need a lot of time to do this, either. The site says that ” just 10 minutes three times a day to walk will help you live longer. In fact, studies show that just one hour of vigorous exercise will increase your life expectancy by two hours.”

Why not commit to a healthier lifestyle and join others who want to do the same? Mark your calendar for April 8th, and encourage everyone you know to do the same.

Image from www.sxc.hu.

If you caught Oprah’s “weight loss challenge” show, the one based on Bob Greene’s “Total Body Makeover”, you would have seen that in addition to the tactics of the program, there are essentially 4 “rules” to this very difficult 12-week plan:

1. Vigorous exercise workouts 8 times a week.
2. Self-control when it comes to eating, be conscious of what, when and why you eat — which includes NO WHITE FOOD (refined carbs)
3. No alchoholic beverages (except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve)
4. No food after 7:30pm

This is a serious self-improvement program. There is even an “Oprah’s Boot Camp Contract” on Oprah.com that can be printed out, signed and used as incentive.

On the show, Oprah proclaimed that for those across the country who decided to take the challenge to “not be fat for another summer” — a collective 1 million lbs. were lost.

The point of the challenge is to really change the way you think about losing weight and about how you live your life.

Which means, I have a lot of inner work to do before I can get serious about this program. Today’s lunch started out innocently enough: Salad, I thought.

But a salad of beautiful Jersey tomatoes, turned into a traditional Panzanella (bread) salad. To make matters worse, I piled this on top of a left-over slice of pizza…basically a big ‘ol triangle of white food, with a little red sauce.

If I have one more transgression, which could easily be wine with dinner…I can kick myself out of my own boot camp.

I hope you do better.