After going through pregnancy, a new mother is caught in a dilemma-- like--how to lose the extra weight she gained during pregnancy, and how long it will take to get back into shape.

One of the first few things that you will learn is that you will still look several months pregnant for sometime even after delivery. Naturally, you may be in a hurry to shed the kilos you have gained. But being a new mom will let you into a new set of problems that will inhibit your plans of losing weight. So it is best to take it slow and easy while you try to lose your weight.

It takes around 6 months for your body to get back to normal. If you are breast feeding, do not be in a hurry to cut calories. The physical exertion of giving birth as well as taking care of your new baby will leave you drained and tired. It will take extra energy, especially in coping with new needs like night-feeds etc. Instead of focusing on weight loss, try and get the required calories and energy for the new demands on your time and effort.

Getting in shape and losing weight are at the top of most people's list of New Year's resolutions each and every year. For us Clevelanders who are about to enter that time of the year when outdoor exercise becomes nearly impossible and access to fitness clubs is limited to those with enough disposable income to afford it, many of us will inevitably slack on working out and instead stay indoors under a pile of blankets and in front of the TV. But this year there is simply no excuse. All residents of Cuyahoga County will now have access to a free 3-month membership at any local YMCA or Curves facility, thanks to a partnership with the Cleveland Clinic.

The go!FIT program is a public health campaign designed to break down barriers and increase access to fitness and weight management facilities, and strives to improve the overall health and well-being of Cuyahoga County residents.

The go!FIT program will provide three free months of access to fitness and nutrition programs to adult residents of Cuyahoga County. This includes free access to fitness facilities, weight management programs and educational events.

If you're looking to lose weight, the best way to do it is to cut out the fat in your diet, right? Wrong! According to a new study, a low-fat diet isn't likely to help you shrink your waistline.

Dr. Nita Forouhi and her collegues from the Institute of Metabolic Science at Addenbrooke's Hopsital in Cambridge, UK found that the percentage of calories a person gets from fat, as opposed to carbs or protein, has no bearing on their ability to lose or maintain weight. The type of fat consumed also doesn't seem to matter.

While we all know that high levels of saturated fat and trans fats can lead to coronary heart disease, but the role that fat plays in weight gain over time is more controversial.

Dr. Forouhi and her team of researchers studied 90,000 men and women from six different countries as a part of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition Study. They followed up with participants for 10 years.

Published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the research shows that although the average intake of fat was on the high end, the average weight gain was low.

According to a new study from the University of Michigan, young women in their 20s consistently exercise less than young men. The results of the study will be published in the October issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

Phillippa Clarke, lead author of the study and a research at the U of M Institute for Social Research, says that the disparities in health behaviors are consistent with disparities in prevalence of obesity, particular among women.

This study is one of the first to look at the long-term patterns in weight related activities, and to assess how these patterns vary by race, gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. It is based on data obtained every two years from 17,314 men and women who were aged 19 to 26 between 1984 and 2006.

Researchers looked at the trends over the 23 year period in six different health behaviors. They measured:

• How often they exercised vigorously (jogging, swimming, or calisthenics)

How often they reported eating breakfast

• How often they ate green vegetables and fruit
• How much television watched on an average weekday
• How often they got at least seven hours of sleep

What they found is:

Women who are trying to lose weight or stick to a diet might be wise to dine in the company of men instead of heading out for a girls night. According to a new study, women eat less when dining with men and more with other women.

Tests conducted by psychologists showed that women eating with a single male companion - whether that is their husband, date, colleague, or a friend - are more likely to order a salad than a steak. However, when eating with another woman, women tend to pig out.

In mixed-gender groups, women chose food choices at the lower end of the caloric scale, but the more men in the group, the fewer the calories. In all-female groups, women are more and consumed more calories.

Researchers believe that the choice may be subconsciously controlled by a desire to signal attractiveness, which apparently small portions do.

We all know that keeping a healthy weight is good for your health but it is good for the wallet as well. A news report from US News and World Report states:

medical spending averages $1,400 more a year for an obese person than for someone at a healthy weight, according to a study published today in the journal Health Affairs. As obesity rates continue to increase, so do many of the chronic conditions that go along with obesity: heart disease, diabetes, cancer. These conditions age us more rapidly and shorten lives.

A joint Australian-Vietnamese study investigating the links between diet and the bone health of humans has found that vegetarians have slightly weaker bones than their meat-eating counterparts. As a part of the study, the studied the diet and bones of more than 2,700 people.

Lead researcher Tuan Nguyen said that vegetarians had 5% less dense bones than meat-eaters. Vegans, who refrain from eating all animal products were found to have 6% weaker bones.

However, researchers found "rapctically no differnece" between the bone density of meat-eaters and ovolactovegarians - people who don't eat meat or seafood but include eggs and dairy in their diets.

The scientists have not yet determined whether the lower bone density, howver, is linked to an increased risk of fracture.

"Given the rising number of vegetarians, roughly 5% (of people) in Western countries, and the widespread incidence of osteoporosis, the issue is worth resolving." Nguyen said.

According to the results of new research by the National Institutes of Health, people who consume a high-fat diet are more likely to develop pancreatic cancer, particularly if their dietary fat comes from animal foods including meat and dairy products.

The Diet and Health study, which was done in conjuction with the AARP, compiled data on more than half a million people who filled in a food questionairre in 1995 and 1996. 308,736 men and 216,737 women participated, and at the time none of them had pancreatic cancer. Participants were then followed for six years on average. During that time, 865 of the men and 472 of the women were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Compared to people with the lowest total fat intake, those with the highest fat intake were 23 percent more likely to be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Saturated fat from animal food sources, especially red meats and dairy products, were found to have the strongest risk factors for cancer, increasing the risk of pancreatic tumors 36 percent.

While health experts have long been warning of the dangers of obesity, a new Japanese study warns that being very skinny is far more dangerous and shows that slightly chubby people actually live longer.

A long-term study of middle-aged and elderly people by the Tohoku University's Graduate School of Medicine showed that people who are a little overweight at age 40 life six to seven years longer than very thing people, whose average life expectancy was a good five years shorter than that of obese people.

Shinichi Kuriyama, an associate professor who worked on the study, said:

"We found skinny people run the highest risk. We had expected thin people would show the shortest life expectancy but didn't expect the difference to be this large."

He continued:

"There had been an argument that thin people's lives are short because many of them are sick or smoke. But the difference was almost unchanged even when we eliminated these factors."

The primary reasons skinny people were believed to have shorter lifespans include heightened vulnerability to diseases such as pneumonia and the fragility of their blood vessels.

Kuriyama was quick to warn, however, that he was not recommending people eat as much as they want:

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration has issued a warning to consumers that use Hydroxycut, a dietary supplement used to aid in weight loss, which has been linked to severe liver damage and has led to at least one death. Health Sciences Inc., the company that makes Hydroxycut, has already begun recalling the product.

According to Linda Katz of the FDA:

"The FDA urges consumers to discontinue use of Hydroxycut products in order to avoid any undue risk. Adverse events are rare, but exist."

Already the Hydroxycut website has been changed to redirect to "Hydroxycut Information", which shows information regarding the recall.

If by chance you wish to continue using the product (which we do not recommend), despite FDA warnings, now's the time to stock up. It looks like this weight loss pill is on its way to a full-out ban, like its predecessor Fen-Phen.