Weight Reduction

No matter which diet Iris Golden tried, success was short-lived. Soon after shedding pounds, the 5-foot-2 owner of a Chicago executive search firm would return to her pre-diet weight of 250 pounds. Michael Heald, 41, of West Hollywood, understands. At 30, his weight began to increase, topping out at 258 pounds and sticking like glue to his 5-foot-7 frame. Today, Heald and Golden are both trimmer and, they say, happier.

For much of his storied sports career, two-time Olympic medalist Rulon Gardner was a slave to the scale. He used rigorous, hours-long workouts to keep his weight in check and relied upon old-school wrestling tricks -- like exercising in a sauna -- to drop unwanted pounds before a competition. And when he retired from Greco-Roman wrestling -- and keeping his weight at roughly 270 pounds -- Gardner recalls thinking "I'll never have to look at a scale again. " Wrong. The 6-foot, 1-inch wrestling legend is back on the scale each week, only now he's doing it in front of millions of viewers as part of the cast of NBC's reality weight-loss show, "The Biggest Loser.

Eating few grains, fruits or vegetables but plenty of fat-laden meat -- the hallmarks of the controversial diet championed by weight-loss guru Dr. Robert Atkins -- helps dieters shed twice as much weight over the short term and leads to healthier blood-fat levels, according to two studies published today. The findings, appearing in the New England Journal of Medicine, surprised many researchers who had expected the fatty diet to worsen dieters' risk factors for heart disease.

Fifty-six-year-old Lynn Kaufman of Los Angeles has maintained a healthful weight on Weight Watchers for 10 years. But she was snacking way too much on the wrong kind of stuff, she says ? like 100-calorie cookie packs and hot chocolate. Today she jokes that Weight Watchers must have been spying on her. "I think there was a video camera in my house and they said, 'We don't like the quality of the food you are eating.'" In November, Weight Watchers unveiled its new point system, PointsPlus, to its 1.3 million members worldwide.

When the rich and famous want to go organic, get in the Zone or visit South Beach at dinnertime, they can count on their personal chefs to bring together a strict diet and fine dining on one plate. For the rest of us, there's a growing number of meal delivery services that promise to keep us (and our hips) on the straight and narrow. They'll do the planning, the cooking and the portioning. They'll deliver daily meals in an insulated bag, each dish in its own plastic container.

Weight loss surgery works, but is so invasive and has such unpleasant long-term side effects that it's recommended for only a fraction of the obese population, and even many in that group are reluctant to undergo the surgery. In hunting for a simpler and safer alternative, researchers have zeroed in on a nerve that carries much of the communication between brain and gut.

If every "miracle" weight-loss product really did the job, people everywhere would be cinching up their belts, gyms would become eerily quiet and TV stations would soon run out of B-roll footage of big bellies at the mall. Clearly, some weight-loss products fall short of their claims. But how can you spot the scams? The Federal Trade Commission has some basic guidelines: Don't trust any product that claims to work for everyone or anything that supposedly helps you lose more than 2 pounds in a week.

In the land where the car is king, Acquanetta Warren has learned a thing or two about body fat and upward mobility. A transplant from South-Central Los Angeles to Fontana, one of the Inland Empire's fastest-growing cities, Warren has achieved the dream of suburbia -- a big house with a three-car garage and a sweeping plot of green. But for several years, moving up meant barely moving under her own power.

I'm searching for body fat in Hollywood. It's the 2007 MTV Movie Awards, and judging by the standards of the youth-obsessed network's magenta carpet, blubber, let alone curves, or even softness is out of fashion. Girls -- and I mean girls, given their lack of womanly heft, glide by. Jessica Biel, in a loose black mini-dress. Jessica Alba, with sylph-like arms rising above her red puffy mini-dress.

Casting doubt on the benefit of low-calorie sweeteners, research released Sunday reported that rats on diets containing saccharin gained more weight than rats given sugary food. The study in the journal Behavioral Neuroscience found that the calorie-free artificial sweetener appeared to break the physiological connection between sweet tastes and calories, driving the rats to overeat. Lyn M. Steffen, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Minnesota, who was not involved in the latest report, said the study offered a possible explanation for the unexpected association between obesity and diet soda found in recent human studies.

Hip and knee replacement surgery is supposed to alleviate pain and allow people to move better and lead a more active lifestyle. A new study published recently in the journal Orthopedics shows that could be the case, because weight loss may be one side effect of getting new knees and hips. Researchers looked at pre- and post-surgery weight in 196 randomly selected patients who had hip or knee replacement surgery from 2005 to 2007 due to osteoarthritis. Their body mass index was noted before surgery, and patients were followed for an average 20 months.

After spending the majority of her 48 years trying, and failing, to slim down, Veronica Mahaffey was still 50 pounds overweight -- not morbidly obese by a long shot, but still far from the size she wanted. Worried about her health, she called a San Diego weight-loss surgery clinic last spring and asked for help. She was told no. At 185 pounds and with a body mass index of 28, the Ramona mother of four was not heavy enough to meet medical guidelines or insurance company qualifications for weight-loss surgery.

If every "miracle" weight-loss product really did the job, people everywhere would be cinching up their belts, gyms would become eerily quiet and TV stations would soon run out of B-roll footage of big bellies at the mall. Clearly, some weight-loss products fall short of their claims. But how can you spot the scams? The Federal Trade Commission has some basic guidelines: Don't trust any product that claims to work for everyone or anything that supposedly helps you lose more than 2 pounds in a week.

A high-fat, high-sugar diet does more than pump calories into your body. It also alters the composition of bacteria in your intestines, making it easier to gain weight and harder to lose it, research in mice suggests. And the changeover can happen in as little as 24 hours, according to a report Wednesday in the new journal Science Translational Medicine. Many factors play a role in the propensity to gain weight, including genetics, physical activity and the environment, as well as food choices.

Diahanne McKinley stepped off the scale and shook her head in disbelief. She tried again, this time removing a head wrap -- every ounce counts, she said. But again, the number was not good. So she shifted her weight from side to side and stepped on the scale one more time, observing the digital numbers aglow below her. "I'm not happy," said the 53-year-old, fanning her eyes to stop the tears. "I'm working out four to five times a day -- morning, noon and night. I only lost one pound."

For a country in which roughly 200 million people are overweight or obese, scientists today have discouraging news: Even those who maintain a healthy weight probably should be eating less. Evidence has been mounting for years that the practice of caloric restriction -- essentially, going on a permanent diet -- greatly reduces the risk of age-related diseases and even postpones death. It has been shown to significantly extend the lives of yeast, worms, flies, spiders, fish, mice and rats.

A high-fat, high-sugar diet does more than pump calories into your body. It also alters the composition of bacteria in your intestines, making it easier to gain weight and harder to lose it, research in mice suggests. And the changeover can happen in as little as 24 hours, according to a report Wednesday in the new journal Science Translational Medicine. Many factors play a role in the propensity to gain weight, including genetics, physical activity and the environment, as well as food choices.

At the core of horse racing lies a self-imposed misery that racing's owners and trainers do not want to see, fans are largely unaware of and most jockeys cannot escape. It is represented by a sound better suited to back alleys and washrooms than to a sport known for its riches, beauty and power. It is the sound of someone vomiting.

Coca-Cola Co. and joint-venture partner Nestle agreed to pay $650,000 in a settlement with 27 states over claims that Enviga green tea burns calories, resulting in weight loss. Connecticut Atty. Gen. Richard Blumenthal began an inquiry in 2007 seeking evidence that consumers who drink Enviga burn more calories than they take in. Blumenthal, who had said the claim might be "voodoo nutrition," led the coalition of states and the District of Columbia in the settlement.

"Sometimes people don't understand it," said Ruby Gettinger by telephone from Savannah, Ga., where she lives. "I'm a very happy person. They ask me, 'Ruby, if you had to do it all over again, would you be big or small?' I always say I'd rather be big. Because I feel like I'm a better person because of it because I don't judge people. And I'm not mean. I like the person I am.