Daily HealthBeat Tip

Real-world weight loss

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

How do you look? Bathing suit season is coming, so that question is on a lot of folks’ minds – along with how to lose weight.

At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nutrition expert Beth Tohill advises: Easy does it.

Tohill says it’s realistic to lose a pound or two a week by eating less or exercising more. She suggests substituting fruits and vegetables for higher-calorie foods.

But if we look like an apple or a pear now, and we eat apples and pears, can we look like a carrot by June?

"Eating fruits and vegetables in place of higher-calorie foods can help one lose weight. But we can’t change our body shape. You could be a thinner apple or pear." (eight seconds)

Tohill reminds us that fruits and vegetables can help reduce risks of some cancers and other diseases.

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: March 13, 2006

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