Getting and staying motivated is a state of mind, an attitude if you will. Being someone who has lost a significant amount of weight and kept it off for almost 3 years, I know a bit about it. First, I can tell you in the past what did NOT keep me motivated. Trying to be as thin as my friends, wanting to lose weight for my boyfriend, losing weight for an event or to fit into an outfit all seem like good ideas but in reality they are desires not necessarily motivators. Most of my teens and 20's I spent longing to be thinner and this, apparently, did NOT keep me motivated.

FRIDAY, Sept. 5 (HealthDay News) -- New research shows that obese people who have asthma are nearly five times more likely to be hospitalized for the problem and to have lower quality of life and worse control of the disease than those with asthma who are normal weight.

Researchers from Kaiser Permanente, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School evaluated 1,113 adults with asthma, all members of Kaiser, in Oregon, Washington or Colorado.

By:The Well Mom/DivineCaroline

When Brianna Grant laces up her sneakers and hits the road, she returns home with a clear head.“

The days I manage to run are my strongest, smoothest days,” she says. The mom of a four-year-old son and sixteen-month-old daughter wasn’t always a runner. The former teacher says she uncovered her inner athlete five years ago when she coached a group of third grade girls in an after school program.

By:Brie Cadman/DivineCaroline

Even if you’re not trying to lose weight, chances are you’ve seen some ideas on how to do so:

“Eat what you want and lose weight!”
“Lose thirty pounds in thirty days!”
“Finally, a diet that really works!”
“Lose one jean size every seven days!”
“Top three fat burners revealed”
“Ten minutes to a tighter tummy!”

By: Brie Cadman/DivineCaroline

Ten Ways to Kick-Start Your Workout

It’s been almost nine months since your New Year’s resolution to start exercising and get fit and perhaps things haven’t gone as planned. Maybe you started out strong only to slack off around tax day; maybe you’ve been diligent only to recently burn out, or—gasp!—what if you never even started your exercise regimen at all?

Have you ever noticed that some "diet" foods contain a large percentage of sodium? Even "healthier" menu choices at the restaurant may be highly salted to enhance the flavor of the foods. Our bodies do need sodium, but we also have limits.

These 20 saltiest foods in American may surprise you.

By Alan Mozes
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Sept. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Younger children from low-income families who pick up the stress of their anxious mothers often respond by developing poor eating habits that raise their risk of becoming overweight, a new study says.

It appears that my healthful eating habits are having an effect upon my boss and a few of my colleagues. We're in an office that isn't within walking distance of any decent restaurants. So, many of us bring our lunches. Now, boss is in his mid-60's, has a beer-fed pot belly and loves his BBQ and burgers.

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Fat cells in obese people are "sick" compared to those in lean people, a new study shows.

Published in the September issue of Diabetes, a group of researchers from the Temple University School of Medicine analyzed fat samples from the upper thighs of six lean and six obese people.

They found significant differences in the fat cells of the obese participants compared with the lean participants.

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 27 (HealthDay News) -- A chemical produced in the brain may play a role in regulating appetite and the likelihood of becoming obese, according to a new study.

For the study, researchers looked at a group of 33 people who had WAGR syndrome, a genetic condition that occurs in one in 500,000 to a million people. WAGR is an acronym for the symptoms that accompany the condition: Wilms' tumor (tumor of the kidneys), aniridia (absence of the iris), genital and urinary tract abnormalties, and mental retardation.