How Do You Get Your Fiber? I've always had a real problem getting enough fiber in my diet, and (as you can imagine) that can be problematic...But, I won't bore you with the details of my regularity. Over the years I've been told by many doctors that I should be taking fiber supplements. So, I've tried various supplements. However, no matter how perfected these powdered fiber drinks have become, they are still disgusting to me. In comparison, irregularity doesn't seem so bad.

Happy to report...I am feeling much better, and ready to talk about the ban on trans fats in California. This is a trend I would definitely like to see continue. Nothing good can come from the consumption of trans fats. So, if foods we love to eat, can be prepared, and taste just as good without it, then I say...take it out! Take the trans out of our fats!

Let me just start this post with full disclosure: I suffered from anorexia from age 17 through age 19, and I didn't really make a full recovery until around age 28. I have Issues With Food. I have Issues With Body Image. And pregnancy (and its accompanying forced, out-of-control body changes and weight gain) was extremely difficult for me to take emotionally. I can still remember sitting on my parents' couch when I was about three months' pregnant and seeing my legs beginning to swell in the evenings and realizing it was not going to get any better for a very, very long time.

We've all read about the Okinawa and Mediterranean diets, usually promoted as weight-loss remedies. But in addition to their slim figures, Okinawans have a very low rate of breast and prostate cancer, while Cretans enjoy a low rate of heart disease. What in the diets prevents these diseases? Could we adopt these diets as our own to live healthier lives?

Are you interested in lowering your blood pressure? Reducing your risk of heart disease? If so, you may want to consider the DASH Diet.

There's a new kid on the reality TV show block and it's name is "Bulging Brides."  This pock faced little snot nose is brought to us by the WE Channel and this kid is a bully.  Like most school yard bullies, it makes unreasonable demands and when those demands aren't met, there's punishment. For all you paunchy, plumpish, porcine, blimpy, bulky, broad, butterball brides-to-be, this show brings us personal trainer Tommy Europe---no I'm not making that up---and nutrition coach Nadeen Boman to bully and humiliate you willing charges into those wedding dresses and down the aisle. Each episode starts with an ambush by our Dynamic Dieting Duo at the bride-to-be's dress fitting where she's crying in her beer, for Kim literally, because she ordered the dress two sizes too small hoping to motivate herself into losing weight before the wedding.  Well it's six weeks until the big day and she's running out of options, so Kim agrees to the rigors of the "Bulging Bride" regimen.

Why are so many kids overweight? And, how can we help them?

My family - my parents, sister and her fiance - was gathered around our dining room table on New Year's Day, facing approximately 700 pounds of Chinese takeout, when my father was distracted by several significantly overweight people on the television who were running up a very steep hill in pairs. Actually, some were crawling at various points, others were crying, a soap opera star was involved, and in general the whole scene was fairly disturbing.

A funny thing happened to me on the way to making a living, I went from being someone who had never dieted in her life and hated diets to someone who had never dieted in her life, hated diets and found herself a bit of an expert in diets and dieting. Funny how being good at your job can lead you into fields you never thought you'd explore.

Really, I did. You see, this morning I got on the scale. At first, the number looked not bad, good even, given the way my body feels. Then the figure started to climb, a pound or two at a time. Much to my horror, it kept rising -- and rising and rising! I stepped off, unable to face the final tally. After a moment, I understood that if I didn't get back on the scale, who was I fooling? Surely not myself nor my way-too-tight jeans. After a deep breath, I got back on, prepared for the worst. And sure enough, the same thing happened, the number kept going up and up and UP, far past the point of reason. With a flash, I realized, Wait, the battery is failing, that's what's happening. Sure enough, it was. New batteries solved the problem and instantly, I was 50 pounds lighter.

For many of us, in the next few weeks we will be thinking about one thing, and one thing only. Dieting. The holiday parties will be over, and it will be time to make that inevitable New Year's Resolution, many of us will resolve to lose weight. But why? Why will we be so consumed with dieting and losing weight?

Karen from the St. Louis food blog FamilyStyle Food is thinking about how her food preferences have evolved. She writes: "While there is no denying that I will happily shovel a bowl-full of spaghetti into my pie hole, more often than not these days it'll be the whole wheat kind. My ten-pound bag of white jasmine rice sits aging in the back of the pantry closet because now I make brown rice instead." ~ Learn how Karen lost 35 pounds of 'post baby weight' --without a diet -- and keeps it off now that her younger one is in school, plus get the recipe for Provencal Lentils with Spinach BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg helps weight-conscious readers by organizing recipes by Weight Watchers points and highlighting low-carb vegetable recipes.