Body Weight

Foodstagramming Is Apparently a Problem

We are all guilty of whipping out our phones to snap a photo of our food at dinner, then making it look artsy and hipster before uploading it to Instagram for all our friends to see, secretly hoping they will be jealous of the delicious meal we are about to consume. While many restaurants are banni ... More >>

A Place at the Table: A Heart-Hitting Documentary About Hunger in America

"My dream is to be an honor roll student. My other dream is to be on Home Makeover: Home Edition. I just wish they would come and rescue us from our house ... I want my kids to have a better life than I do: have more food, a bigger house with no mold. Get to do what they want to do, and need to do, ... More >>

Study Says Chewing Gum Does Not Aid Weight Loss

People across the nation have used chewing gum to help them lose weight. It's a sort of a logical theory if you think about it: Chew gum instead of food so you won't overindulge and gain weight. However, according to a recent study published in the journal Eating Behaviors, chewing minty gum has th ... More >>

What's Cooking on Pinterest? Fat-Burning Chickpea Muffins

When I came across this recipe on Pinterest for chickpea muffins that apparently have super powers to burn fat, I thought this would be a great recipe to share with everyone for the New Year. The number one resolution for each New Year is to lose weight, so why not help the cause by giving people a ... More >>

New Calorie-Displaying Soda Vending Machines: 5 Reasons Why they Won't Significantly Aid America's Obesity

There's just no getting around it: Americans have a love affair with soft drinks. Dr Pepper, Sprite, Coke, Pepsi, Fanta - you name it, we love it. It's a soft drink love fest -- until we remember all the calories that soft drinks contain, and the fact that those sugar- and calorie-filled beverages p ... More >>

The Mediterranean Diet: Listen to Mom

It has long been common knowledge that a diet of healthy fats and lots of complex carbs, fiber and protein is sensible, but more recent nutritional findings have pointed specifically to the Mediterranean diet's advantages in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. A Mediterranean diet consists of fish a ... More >>

The Paleo Diet: So Easy a Caveman Can Do It?

If I had a dollar for every fad diet, I'd be rich. The main reason people grab hold of these diets is because the ads are glamorous and make everyone believe they can lose weight in a snap. It's interesting that one of the newest diet sensations goes back to the time when cavemen roamed the land -- ... More >>

What To Eat After You Pump Some Iron: Best Post-Workout Foods

Summertime means swimsuits, which means many of us are realizing it is now time to dust off that gym membership and get ready to show a little more of ourselves than we usually do. Granted, in Houston, this season lasts about six months. But if anything, that is merely impetus to get into better s ... More >>

Augusten Burroughs

I'm Not Drinking Through My Nose; It's Just the Feeding Tube Diet

Those of you who don't watch at least two hours of morning shows and celebrity news per day may not be aware of the latest trend in weight-loss: the feeding tube diet. Yes, that's right. In an effort to shed pounds, some women (sorry, but I have yet to read about a man on this diet) are eschewing r ... More >>

Below the Belt

Google Auto-Complete Answers: Why Are Fat People...

​Randomly typing the start to questions into Google launches a whole host of weirdness that changes depending upon the searches people type into the search engine giant. Not only are they often interesting, but downright strange. I type in the requests and then answer the questions. You're welcome ... More >>

Chubster: Losing Weight the Hipster Way

I was prepared to dislike Chubster the moment it landed on my desk. A hipster's guide to losing weight? While staying cool? Oh, fer Christ's sake. Hipsters -- like bacon -- are everywhere these days. Diet books are everywhere these days, too. 'Tis the season for New Year's resolutions and fatties e ... More >>

Lean1 Vanilla Smoothie from Smoothie King

In early fall, Smoothie King released Lean1 Smoothies with this description: Burn body fat up to 68 percent faster with Lean1! This great-tasting, high-protein smoothie is known for fighting hunger cravings, plus it helps tone and define muscles. With 27 vitamins and minerals, it also aids in speed ... More >>

When McDonald's Kept Us Thin

Photo by John Kiely​I recently found myself on the quiet side of the glass partition from the McDonald's Playland at the new Ella location, in what I like to call the Old-Timers section, the place in just about every small-town McDonald's where retirees congregate. Oak Forest is like a small ... More >>

Eight Businesses We Expect Will Be Getting Custom Texas License Plates Soon

​We recently wrote about a new crop of Texas license plates with a variety of themes, most of them sports related. One of the designs, however, was for the Texas Roadhouse restaurant chain that isn't even based in the Lone Star State. We certainly understand the passion of a sports fan, but ... More >>

Texas Is 12th Most Obese State: Five Excuses For Why We're Fat

The red parts need to lose weight​If every state in America was a schoolchild on a playground, Texas would be the fat kid playing by himself, dreaming of a day when he can float away and form his own playground, damn it. Basically, that's what this year's "F As In Fat" study found, which studi ... More >>

Doctor Challenges Mayor Parker to Become Vegan, As If She's Not Busy With Anything Else

More, Parker. More.​Hey, Mayor Parker! Drop those bacon-wrapped Cheetos. In fact, drop everything, and become a vegan. You're not doing anything else, are you? So supposes Dr. Neal Barnard, a nutritionist who's coming all the way from D.C. to fix Houston's lardy lifestyle with legumes. As p ... More >>

Biggest Loser, v 1.0 -- Brewer Lawn Ornament Hoarder

It must have made sense at the time.​New feature alert for this space! Every now and then, stories come to my attention that deserve to see the light of day, if for no other reason than to ridicule the subject matter and serve as a de facto "public service announcement" for you, the reader, ... More >>

Eating for Your Workout

gocarts​When you're trying to lose weight, tone up or get ripped, it may seem like food is the enemy. However, not eating before or after your workout can actually sabotage your efforts, which is good news if, like me, you treat any invitation to eat like an invite to the royal wedding. Thoug ... More >>

Get Paid to Lose that Weight, Houston

Thar's gold in them thar spare tires.​Hey, Fatty McFatterson -- how much would you need to be paid to put down that moon pie? Ten bucks? Fifty? A hundred? Well, a company called HealthyWage is sponsoring a weight-loss contest where teams of five can win up to $10,000. Starting April 15, Houst ... More >>

Suits and Sneakers Descend on New Downtown Walking Path

Photo by Mandy OaklanderSuits and sneakers populated National Start Walking Day.​Though it may be an artery-cloggingly delicious way to live, make no mistake. Heart disease is still the number-one killer of Americans. And according to the American Heart Association, almost 67 percent of Texans ... More >>

Gerald Ratinov: Busted for Running Big Pill-Mill Operation

Bye-bye, Abundant Life and Weight Loss Center.​A doctor with the Bond-like sinister name of Gerald Ratinov, along with 18 others, has been arrested in connection with a major prescription painkiller operation, District Attorney Pat Lykos and the local branch of the federal Drug Enforcement Age ... More >>

How Much Are the Obese Costing Texas? Almost $10 Billion, Study Says

This guy is money out of your pocket, Susan Combs says​Hey, Fatty McFatfat -- put down that honey-glazed ham and step away from the buffet table, because you and your kind are costing Texas nearly $10 billion a year.Gravy-stained canklesaurus rexes not only raise healthcare costs but add extr ... More >>

Daniel Johnston

Houston Represents (Of Course) On New Obesity Reality-TV Series

Ticket to early death, or reality-TV stardom​When Tom dropped out of high school and was no longer the football star, his weight increased with his depression. By the time he was 37, he packed 638 pounds onto a 5-foot-nine frame. Jodi, also 37, recently suffered a stroke -- an especially serious ... More >>

Pleasantly Plump: One-Third of Overweight Women in Denial

Oh, the ironyGood news for chubby-chasers in Texas: a new study out of the University of Texas Medical Branch claims that "37 percent of overweight women and 10.5 percent of obese women were of the notion that their weight was normal or too low."Published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, ... More >>

Jersey Village Sinking Into The Abyss, And This Time Not Metaphorically

Jersey Village: Going, going, gone​Jersey Village is sinking like the Titanic, and anyone who continues to live there is sure to be sucked into the Earth's core, according to a recent geological study of Houston. Well, maybe that's a bit of an overstatement -- but parts of JV are indeed sinking ( ... More >>

Three Easy Recipe Swaps

​Dieting is tough. Sometimes, you may think that your favorite recipes are now off limit, that you will have to say bye-bye to making until you reach your goal weight. Not true! Here are some simple swaps for your at home cooking and baking to effortlessly shave off calories. Swap: Eggs for e ... More >>

Glee: Marking Time

​At the outset, it looked like another Sue Sylvester-heavy episode. First, she gave Mercedes (and, less emphatically, Kurt) an ultimatum to lose weight or be dropped from the squad, then she commandeered the McKinley High auditorium for an entire week, forcing New Directions to secure a new l ... More >>

Glee: Marking Time

​At the outset, it looked like another Sue Sylvester-heavy episode. First, she gave Mercedes (and, less emphatically, Kurt) an ultimatum to lose weight or be dropped from the squad, then she commandeered the McKinley High auditorium for an entire week, forcing New Directions to secure a new lo ... More >>

How To Help Your Pudgy Six-Month-Old Kid Drop Those Pounds

​It's never too early to give your children body-image issues. Doctors at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston have just published a study showing how they detected obesity in 6-month-olds."Children who were obese at age 24 months were highly likely to have been obese at age 6 month ... More >>

3rd Annual Chocolate Festival of Texas & Texas Wines

The Mayans and Aztecs were right about one thing - the fruit of the cacao tree is delicious

12th Annual Texas Children's Hospital Kids' Fun Run

Get up all you baby couch potatoes, it's Fun Run time

“Toast 2009”

Anybody got some butter?

Road Less Traveled

Back to "School"

Rock-Hard Abs