I grew up in the restaurant industry with my dad owning three small-town family diners in west Tennessee. Constantly being around food, especially big buffets, was as tempting as it gets. So, you can imagine anyone who has an occupation that puts them around food all the time very likely will have a weight problem to deal with.That's exactly what happened to Gloria.As a professional chef and caterer, the 53-year old Gloria couldn't avoid having food, food, and more food all day everyday. Even worse was the fact that she needed to consume many of the foods she was eating--some of which were decidedly unhealthy for her."It's impossible to avoid tasting foods we cook for clients and even harder to avoid finishing leftovers," Gloria admitted. "My job is even worse because I specialize in wedding cakes--you can't imagine the temptation!"EEEEK! Even the strongest among us would have trouble in that environment.

FDA Approves alli (orlistat 60 mg capsules) Over-The-Counter

PITTSBURGH, February 07, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/-- GlaxoSmithKline [NYSE:GSK] Consumer Healthcare announces today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the weight-loss product orlistat 60 mg capsules for over-the-counter (OTC) use in the United States. GSK Consumer Healthcare will market OTC orlistat under the brand name alli(TM) (pronounced AL-eye). Approved for use by overweight adults in conjunction with a reduced-calorie, low-fat diet, alli helps people lose 50 percent more weight than with diet alone. alli is the only FDA-approved weight-loss product available to consumers without a prescription, and it is the first clinically-proven over- the-counter product to be combined with a comprehensive support program. alli is expected to be available in stores nationwide by summer 2007.

Diet Coke ads debut during Oscars

Diet Coke will unveil three new television ads Sunday during the 79th Academy Awards presentation in Los Angeles, the Coca-Cola Co. announced Wednesday.

The campaign, with the new tagline, "Yours, Diet Coke," portrays how people feel about Diet Coke when they drink it and how they feel when it's not there, the Atlanta soft drink giant said. The ads demonstrate how Diet Coke has become a part of the lives of people who love the brand.

"Diet Coke drinkers told us they don't need us to explain why they should drink the brand, they want great advertising that shows we understand how they feel about their brand," said Katie Bayne, senior vice president, Coca-Cola Brands, Coca-Cola North America.

The ads are part of an integrated marketing campaign woven around Academy Awards activities, the company said.

Give sugar-free sweets to your diabetic sweetheart this ...

I was 16. My first boyfriend, Jim, came over to my house for Valentine's Day and carried not one, but two big heart boxes under his arm. One for me, and one for my mom. Goes to prove that Valentine's Day is not just for sweethearts.

More Americans are eating for their hearts

New York - Over the past 20 years, the diets of American adults have become more consistent with most dietary recommendations for heart disease prevention - but the trend may not be continuing, research suggests. Between 1980 and 2002, Americans ate more fruit and vegetables, total grain and whole grain, and less total fat, saturated fat and trans fats, and cholesterol. They also drank less alcohol, researchers report in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. The improvements in diet paralleled declining rates of heart disease and death, "suggesting that public health efforts to improve the population diet for coronary heart disease prevention may be yielding health benefits", they say. The observations stem from an analysis of dietary data collected as part of the Minnesota Heart Survey, an ongoing study examining trends in risk factors for heart disease among adults living in the Minneapolis-St Paul metropolitan area.