Currently, there are only two weight loss medications that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for long term use; sibutramine and orlistat.  Sibutramine with the trade name of Meridia® was approved by the FDA in 1987.  Orilstat with the trade name of Xenical® received FDA approval in 1999. The over the counter lower dose of orlistat with the trade name of Alli™ became available on June 15^th of this year.   People that take these medications have been shown to lose more weight, up to 50% more, than by diet and exercise alone.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommend that these weight loss drugs should always be used in combination with diet, physical activity, and behavior counseling and should only be used when a person’s weight goals have been difficult to achieve by diet and exercise alone.  The NIH also has specific guidelines regarding who should use these weight loss medications.   If your body mass index (BMI) is greater or equal to 30,  or greater or equal to 27 and have at least two or more health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, or sleep apnea; weight loss medications may be helpful when used along with diet, exercise, and counseling.

To calculate your BMI, which is a way of relating your body weight to your height, multiple your current weight by 703, divide that number by your height in inches, and that number by your height inches again.

 

Studies show that people who take sibutramine or orlistat for two years keep off almost twice as much weight as those not on these medications. 

If you have been taking either of these weight loss medications we would love to hear how they have been working for you.

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UTEP 48, SMU 45 (OT): The Miners were down by three touchdowns early, but found out they had a power running game and a defense able to bounce back. Meanwhile, on the opposite sideline, the Mustangs had hope before the season started, but it’s just about gone now.

ECU 37, HOUSTON 35: The Cougars have something to kick about. Two missed field goals in the closing moments proved costly. The victory for the Pirates was a close one, but will give them a boost.

TULSA 38, UAB 30: Hurricane QB Paul Smith wouldn’t call it an ugly win, but he admitted it wasn’t pretty either. Part of the loss, UAB coach Neil Callaway said, was confusion. Another part was just getting beat.

LSU 34, TULANE 9: The Green Wave shouldn’t be embarrassed. Indeed, Tulane played well against powerful LSU.

UCF 37, LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 19: Kevin Smith ran wild, but a fourth-quarter injury silenced Knights’ fans for a bit.

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Well, yes, Hannah Montana is not pregnant, which her fans have known for days. The question still remains: How do you get tickets to the Memphis concert? Continue Reading »

As the University of Memphis football fan base continues to lament this season’s progress, it’s apparent its frustration stems, in part, from a lack of success inside Conference USA.

While the Tigers appeared in three straight bowls from 2003 to ‘05, they never won C-USA. Their best finish since the league formed in 1996 has been second place: in 1999 under Rip Scherer (4-2 in league play), in 2004 under Tommy West (5-3) and in 2005 under West (5-3). The 2005 result was as a member of the C-USA East Division, the first year the league split into divisions.

In fact, outside the three straight 5-3 league finishes from 2003 to ‘05 and the 4-2 mark under Scherer, the Tigers haven’t had a winning year in C-USA play.

When C-USA formed in 1996, six charter schools — Cincinnati, Houston, Louisville, Memphis, Southern Miss and Tulane — formed the football league. Each of those schools won at least one C-USA regular-season title in the first six years with the exception of Memphis.

Cincinnati and Louisville departed for the Big East two years ago and were replaced by, among others, Tulsa. Tulsa won the league crown in 2005. UCF, also a league newcomer, won the East Division title in 2005 for the right to meet Tulsa in the title game. TCU won a C-USA title in 2002 shortly before leaving for the Mountain West.

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Thinking about an escape over the holidays? Then you'd better get moving, fast.

It's already too late for much in the way of bargain hunting -- but here are a few tips which may help in planning a Christmas vacation.

• Be flexible. Flexibility is the key to holiday travel planning; have a loose date range rather that must-travel dates in mind.
• Try alternative airports. Southwest Airlines flies out of both Little Rock and Nashville; JetBlue also flies out the Music City. A few hours in the car can mean a big savings when families are flying.
• Fly on Christmas Day. No one else wants to, and fares are usually cheaper.
• Travel the two weeks leading up to Christmas, or immediately after the New Year. Prices for hotels and flights are always less expensive during those time periods.
• Try less popular destinations. Instead of Aspen, think Big Sky. Going for more remote or less popular but still excellent destinations can save some serious cash in terms of lodging, left tickets and the like.

 If you've got some tips for holiday travel, or know of a great destination that's always a delight, share!

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Never in a million years would I have thought plants would encompass so many different cycles and parts! I mean, I remember the basics from high school but this is the basics + 10. Or maybe the basics + 5 because the basics + 10 would be Botany.

After the great (first) Bio II exam of last week and my subsequent "bombing" of this exam (officially I don't know my grade yet, but I can tell you--it stinks to high heaven) I am going to have to eat, breathe and sleep PLANTS!

Even their 'sex lives' are rather complex. Yes, their SEX LIVES! They might not listen to Marvin Gaye like the rest of us, but they are quite interesting in their own right!

So you, my fair reader (both of you) get to endure my new found obsession/respect for our green little friends (not the aliens):

Four Major Changes:
1)protection of a multi cellular embryo
2)evolution of vascular tissue
3)evolution of the seed
4)evolution of the flower

=

Four Major Groups:
1)Non vascular
2)Seedless Vascular
3)Gymnosperms/Vascular Seed bearing
4)Angiosperms Vascular Seed & Flower bearing


And we'll leave it at that for tonight.

~~JContinue Reading »

The Memphis basketball team spent Saturday morning at the Colonial Park United Methodist Church, helping the Angel Food Ministries put together bags of food, as it does on the last Saturday of every month.

In a nutshell, the program (which is nationwide) puts together a month’s worth of frozen and non-perishable food items in a bag that costs just $30. Though anybody can buy the bags, it’s obviously targeted for those with severe restrictions on their income. It takes a lot of labor to make up the bags — from unloading the large boxes of food off a truck to setting up “stations” for each of the 20 items to actually putting one of each item in a bag and then cleaning up the mess afterwards. The players participated in each step of that process and appeared to have a good time doing it. One of the Tigers’ student managers, Paul Sutton, participates in the program every week and initiated the team’s involvement.

“What I’m hoping is, by these players being here, it brings light to a great program,” coach John Calipari said. “For our guys individually, I hope they get the idea. It’s hard for a 19, 20 year old to think about giving and others because he’s still trying to figure out who he is. It’s hard for them. I just hope it touches them a little bit and our program can bring light to great things like this.”

(Side note: Initially, Calipari didn’t want any publicity to come out of this venture. In fact, I didn’t hear about it until early Saturday morning and showed up kind of unannounced. This isn’t unusual. In fact, when Memphis hands out toys to underprivileged kids at Christmas, Calipari doesn’t allow the media to come along.)

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