Today’s question of the week is for people of both genders although women may be more likely to answer it than men will be. That’s because most of us women have struggled with body image issues at one point or another. We may now be at a point where we feel fairly confident in ourselves and can maintain healthy habits for weight loss but there was probably some point in time when we did unhealthy things to try to shed a few pounds.

So, today’s question of the week is:

What’s the worst thing that you’ve done to lose weight?

Have you tried fad diets, diet pills, starving yourself? Are you willing to admit it so that others can see that many women struggle with (and overcome) this issue? Why do you consider what you did to be so bad?

My answer to this question is that I tried diet pills and caffeine pills briefly in an effort to lose weight during my late teens. The pills made me feel sick so I stopped them pretty quickly. I’m a bit embarassed to admit that I even tried them because I feel like this isn’t something that educated, normal-weight women should be doing. And I think it’s a bad thing (for me anyway) because it reflected a serious lack of concern for my health compared to my interest in my appearance.

Please share your stories in the comments.

Tags: diet pills, health, question of the week, weight loss

I tend to stay in pretty good shape. I walk everywhere. I go to yoga. I recently started pilates. I eat right more or less. But the one thing that I don’t do that I really need to start doing is moe cardio work. Although I get a decent bit of cardio in whenever I climb up one of SF’s hills, I mostly manage to avoid this important part of a regular exercise routine.

Many people make sure that they do cardio for weight loss. I’m not really looking to lose weight so that’s not my motivation. However, I have problems with asthma and I’d really like to build up my lung capacity which seems like a really good reason to start getting active about doing more cardio.

The problem is that I’ve really never done much cardio. Getting started with it isn’t easy, especially since the asthma kicks in right away and I have trouble getting past that first difficult hump. However, I realize that this is not something that’s going to get better with time – at least not until I start making the effort to get that cardio in.

If anyone has tips on how to get in your cardio when you’re just getting started with it – I’d love to hear them!

Tags: asthma, cardio, exercise, fitness, health, hubpages, kathryn vercillo, weight loss

I believe that the key to living a healthy life is to live in moderation. I don’t always stick with this belief. I have some hedonistic tendencies. I like to indulge and imbibe. I like to revel and rejoice. But ultimately, I believe that most things work best when they are done in moderation rather than at the extremes.

I believe that this is true of both work and play. I definitely go through periods of being a workaholic. This is sometimes great since I really do love the work that I do. But ultimately the lack of moderation in my work causes me to dislike what I normally enjoy about it and to seek to regain that balance of work and play yet again. Likewise, when I play too much, I miss my work. When I am too social, I miss my solitude and when I stay home alone too much, I miss my friends. My life is constantly about trying to find balance and that balance comes with learning moderation.

One specific example of moderation that works is in dieting and weight loss. I don’t believe in fad diets. I don’t believe in rapid weight loss. I don’t believe in extreme weight changes. What I believe is that your body has a weight that’s right for it and that if you eat healthy and in moderation then you will naturally balance out at this weight, the right weight for you and the one at which you will feel your best. I don’t believe in over-indulging in treats but I do believe in indulging in what you enjoy on a regular basis. I believe, ultimately, in moderation – in weight loss, yes, but more importantly in life as a whole.

Tags: balance, being healthy, diet, eating right, ehow, happiness, how to, kathryn vercillo, life, moderation, weight loss, wellness