You exercise. You lower your food portions. You eat healthy. You do everything you know you're supposed to do in order to shed some pounds. And yet, you step on the scale and, to your dismay, your weight doesn't go down; in some cases, it even goes up! Doesn't make any sense, does it? I have found myself in a similar conundrum over the years. Eventually, it dawned on me that my near-obsessive habit of drinking Diet Coke was probably working against me. When I probed even deeper, I realized that depriving my body of water was likely making it more difficult to lose weight. I mistakenly assumed that drinking more water would make your body retain more of it. But the exact opposite is true: The less water you drink, the more your body hoards whatever water you have in your system, thereby making you heavier.  I learned years ago that my dark yellow urine likely meant I was dehydrated. (A pale color with a tinge of yellow, on the other hand, suggests the bod...

Can you guess where people buy most of their junk food? Chances are that fast-food restaurants like McDonald's and Burger King come to mind. A new study described in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition , however, reveals that U.S. adults buy the bulk of their empty-calorie foods and sugar-sweetened beverages at grocery stores and supermarkets. The new findings challenge the "food desert" hypothesis, which states that a lack of access to supermarkets and grocery stores in some underserved communities worsens the obesity crisis by restricting people's access to healthy foods. In other words, contrary to popular belief, access to healthy foods in a supermarket does not hinder Americans' consumption of empty calories. The study looked at data from 4,204 adults who reported their daily food intake in two nonconsecutive 24-hour periods in 2011 and 2012. The analysis determined that nearly half (46.3 percent) of U.S. adults consume sugar-sweetened b...

According to new research from the University at Buffalo School of Management published in the  Journal of Retailing , even health-conscious consumers continue to buy some less-healthy foods. The study found that despite the fact that consumers are concerned about healthy eating, junk food still winds up in their shopping carts. What people say they want to eat and what they actually buy aren't always in agreement. As the researchers point out, consumers make tradeoffs on healthy and unhealthy food to varying degrees. The researchers analyzed two years' worth of scanner data across more than 70 stores of a U.S. retailer as well as survey responses from 400 of the chain's shoppers to determine if consumers consciously balanced their health concerns with their actual food purchases. The study divided consumers into three groups using a mathematical model based on their concerns and attitudes: the first group consisted of health-driven shoppers, the second took a mor...

...none other than retired English soccer star and heartthrob David Beckham. With an estimated net worth of $350 million in 2013, Beckham has endorsement deals with a slew of companies ranging from Armani and Samsung to Burger King and Diet Coke. He's also married to and has four children with Victoria Beckham, who rose to fame in the 1990s as a member of the pop group Spice Girls. Per PEOPLE magazine, Beckham modestly claims he's not sure he's even deserving of the honor. I know little about Beckham, as I've never been interested in soccer. In fact, I only recall seeing him in a couple of TV commercials and magazine ads. While there's no doubt he's an attractive lad, I'm sure there were several other celebrities who were as worthy of the mantle, like Ryan Reynolds and Bradley Cooper. I suppose Beckham edged them out because he's a global sex symbol. Do you think PEOPLE Magazine made a good choice? Who else do you feel was deserving of the honor?

Who do you think tops the list of highest-earning musicians in the world? Katy Perry? Beyonce? Rihanna? Think again. It's Taylor Swift. The "Shake It Off" singer has raked in an astounding $317 million this year, thanks to her best-selling album "1989," world tour, and several endorsement deals with mega-brands like Diet Coke and Sony. To put her earnings in perspective, she makes $1 million per day! Earlier this year, she and her DJ boyfriend Calvin Harris were named the world's highest-paid celebrity couple of 2015. And the country-turned-pop star shows no signs of slowing down. She received six American Music Award nominations, including Artist of the Year. The awards show is scheduled for November. Swift is undoubtedly dominating the music industry right now -- and she's only 25 years old. I can only imagine how much money she has left to make and awards to win in her lifetime. Though, I wonder if it's a good thing that she...