Weight Loss & Obesity News & Features

Are you sabotaging your weight loss program with eating habits you don't even know you have? Three experts tell WebMD how to spot those hefty habits - and change them!

A woman's true story on weight loss success.

Studies show making breakfast a daily habit can help you lose weight - and keep it off.

Blame it on the holidays. Or maybe you just got too darned busy to think about what you were eating. Perhaps you threw caution -- and calorie counts -- to the wind during a fancy-free vacation.

Learn how to get your loved ones to support your diet -- and how to cope when they don't.

How to deflect criticism and accept compliments

Why wait until you reach your goal to start looking great?

There are many foods that seem like they're healthy but are actually loaded with calories and fat.

A woman's true story on weight loss success.

A woman's true story on weight loss success.

A woman's true story on weight loss success.

A woman's true story on weight loss success.

A woman's true story on weight loss success.

A woman's true story on weight loss success.

A woman's true story on weight loss success.

If you're trying not to gain weight during the holiday season, use these tips to keep your food plan on track -- especially if you drink alcohol.

The Biggest Loser is the newest TV survivor show. For nine weeks, a dozen people are vying for the biggest weight loss -- huffing, puffing, starving, sweating, swearing. And yes, they're losing weight.

Get the scoop -- and the truth -- behind 5 common weight loss misconceptions.

Realistic goals can help keep pounds off.

A woman's true story on weight loss success.

Critics and experts challenge the goal of thinness as unrealistic and unnecessary; they say fitness is better for health in the long run.

Get inspired by these dieters' stick-to-it secrets.

Are you driven to eat certain foods? It could be an addiction.

How to get ready for a lifetime of slimness.

There's no magic bullet yet -- but for people with obesity, weight loss drugs can be a helpful part of treatment.

One problem with today's clothing sizes is that as a nation, our basic shape has been gradually changing. Yet much of the clothing industry hasn't yet recognized that fact.

Could a medical problem or medication be to blame?

Dairy products boost metabolism and aid weight loss.

Are you waiting until you've reached your goal weight to "think thin?" Don't, say weight loss experts. The time to start thinking -- and living -- as a thinner, healthier person is right now.

Don't wait to live fit -- start now!

Here's some great advice from people who've been there.

These tips can help you get to your goal.

Have you put your sex life on hold while you wait for those last 10 (or even 100) pounds to disappear? While losing weight and getting healthier can definitely get those urges going again, depriving yourself of romance in the meantime is not a good idea.

Talking to the mirror: "How can I be so fat? This isn't my body! This isn't me." But it was me, feeling miserable about my fat, distorted body through more than five decades of helplessness against the power of my food cravings and emotional eating.

Getting over emotional battles can be the key to losing weight.

Newsflash: "This just in -- Diana Potter wants the world to know the truth about her longstanding on-and-off relationship with food. In a hastily called press conference following the explosive announcement that she's ending her career as a professional overeater, Potter said today:

Do you remember when your out-of-control emotional eating first began? I can, even though it was more than five decades ago. I was 9, a skinny, active child -- and suddenly I was stuffing myself with entire cans of spaghetti for lunch, two or more desserts at dinner, and, throughout the day, all the soda, candy, cupcakes, and potato chips I could buy or find.

In the previous chapter I told you that for long years of my life, emotional eating and food took the place of some very important parts of living. For example, I had few meaningful relationships with other people, and when I moved away from them, I seldom stayed in touch. My most meaningful day-to-day "relationship" was with -- food.

"I can lose 10 ugly pounds anytime I want -- I'll just cut off my head!" Do you use humor to make light of your emotional eating and your weight? Make jokes about overeating and being fat as a way of getting along with other people? I was a Grand Champion at it.

When you're trying to lose weight, often your friends and loved ones become the greatest obstacle. Learn how to turn these diet saboteurs into diet supporters.

More fast food chains and restaurants are jumping on the health food bandwagon. But are these lower-fat choices a whole-hearted effort to fight obesity?

Gastric bypass surgery can definitely change a person's life for the better, but there are also some serious risks and profound life changes that go along with the surgery.

Knowledge is power: You can break habits

Weight loss surgery can change your life -- but it's important to know there's almost as much preparation as there is recuperation for people who undergo the surgery. And once the deal is done, there is often no turning back. Are you ready?

You've heard of retail therapy and cinema therapy? Now comes "culinary therapy," the philosophy of making friends with food in the intimacy of your own kitchen.

Learn the how-tos of psyching yourself into cooking healthy.

There are safe ways to drop extra pounds using diet supplements, but stay away from untested diet pills.

Can't keep off the weight? Maybe you're caught in a diet trap.

If trying to lose those extra pounds is getting you down, don't despair; doctors say even a modest weight loss can net important health benefits.

Overcome emotional eating. There are many ways to cope with the stress of the day that don't include turning to food for comfort.