We're eating less fast food - but not by much

Americans are eating less fast food daily than they used to, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  But it's not much less.

Using data from 2007 to 2010, the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics determined adults eat, on average, 11.3% of their daily calories from fast food. That number was 12.8% in 2006– a one and half point difference.

As you would expect, younger adults tend to eat more fast food than seniors. People older than 60 eat approximately 6% of their daily calories from fast food. Among the younger age groups, non-Hispanic black adults eat the most fast food - using more than one-fifth of their daily calories at fast food establishments.

The CDC did not see a significant difference in fast food consumption based on income, according to the report. Only in the 20-to-39 age group did fast food consumption drop as income increased.

Fast food has been linked to the obesity epidemic in the United States. Not surprisingly, obese adults in each age group ate more of their calories from fast food.

Sorority girl drops 107 pounds

Brittni Garcia's family didn't go out for walks; they went out for dinner. And when they were at home, they enjoyed watching movies, playing board games and eating big Mexican-style home-cooked meals.

This lazy lifestyle led Garcia to weigh more than 200 pounds by the eighth grade.

"My mom always said, 'You are a big girl. You are just big-boned,'" said the 25-year-old information specialist. "So I just accepted it."

Through high school and college, her weight continued to rise. But even at 235 pounds, Garcia didn't think her weight was a problem -- until she couldn't fit into her "fat shorts" anymore.

That was December 2009.

It was a typical night for Garcia. She was studying for finals in her sorority house at Eastern Illinois University and wanted to change into some comfortable clothing. She found her red pajama XXL shorts that she normally wore to bed.

As she struggled to pull them up, she realized they were too tight and uncomfortable -- her "big, comfy shorts" no longer fit.

"Tons of emotions ran through my head," she said. "I was afraid that was the way my life was going to be."

That's when Garcia's mentality changed. Being overweight was no longer normal for her.

Heart disease runs in her family, and she realized it was time to address her weight now before it turned into a bigger health problem.

"I wanted to lose weight to challenge myself and show myself I can change, and not change for the world," Garcia wrote in her iReport. "This time, it was for me."

Getting in shape wasn't going to be easy. Going to the gym had been one of her biggest fears for a long time. She was self-conscious about how she looked and sounded when she ran.

"It was hard for me to breathe," Garcia said. "It was embarrassing."

Team loses 400 pounds for Winter Games

Embarrassment about her weight extended to other areas of her life. Although she was president of her sorority, Garcia always felt like she stood out.

"All the sorority girls had cookie-cutter form, and I looked different," she said. "It was really hard for me to connect."

Garcia's involvement in Greek life perpetuated her unhealthy habits; she often went to bars and restaurants to mingle with her college friends. It was difficult to break the cycle, but she found supportive friends who also hit the gym.

"What I tell people is that you find new friends at the gym," she said. "If you don't have the support, it's really hard to do it on your own."

Garcia found one of her biggest supporters through her sorority. She met Nicholas Monreal at a Greek function, and they began dating when she was at her heaviest. But the days of social functions, bar visits and restaurant outings are long gone for the couple.

"He was there when I realized I wanted to change," she said. "To this day, our dates are to the gym. We see excitement in going on walks and runs."

The couple has been together for four years; he proposed in December. Monreal has noticed a significant difference in Garcia over the past few years -- not just physically.

"She's more energetic ... and she's more willing to try new things," he said "She's just working very hard, and she's a better person for it."

On the right track

Since the beginning of 2010, Garcia has lost 107 pounds.

There were setbacks, the biggest of which came this past August when she was in a car accident. She completed three months of physical therapy and wasn't able to go to the gym and do her daily routines for a month and a half.

She was angry at first -- mad at the person who hit her car and stalled her progress at the gym.

But she got over her initial anger, and Garcia went on a walk. This time, she wasn't alone. Her fiance, her parents, her sisters and her aunt encouraged her to stay active. As a result, Garcia went on walks with them and did yoga at a gym.

Girl loses 65 pounds in fight against childhood obesity

After getting back on track with her daily workouts, Garcia realized she also had to better manage her eating habits.

"For the longest, I would go to the gym and go home to eat whatever I wanted," she said. "That's not how it works. I had to learn to eat differently and to learn to like new foods."

She started doing research on proper nutrition. She read books and online articles, shopped at health foods stores and learned to prepare meals that helped her maintain a healthy diet.

Now for two hours every Sunday, Garcia grills chicken, cooks vegetables and packs fresh fruit in preparation for the upcoming week.

"(I) make eating as simple as possible," she said. "If there are a lot of ingredients, I don't want it."

The next step

Down to 128 pounds, Garcia has been left with a lot of loose skin -- particularly around her stomach. She is doing CrossFit exercises and weight training to tighten up the area.

She's also checking off some other goals.

One of the most rewarding moments in Garcia's weight loss journey was completing her first 5K run in 27 minutes.

When she first started training, running three miles took her 48 minutes. Today, she can complete it in less than 25.

"I hadn't been able to walk a lap, let alone run it," she said. "And now when I finish a workout, I really get emotional and I can't believe that I could do it."

She isn't stopping there. Garcia wants to complete a half marathon as well as the Warrior Dash in June. As a result, she might take a pool break in between.

"I really want to fit in my bikini comfortably this summer," she said.

Today, Garcia doesn't shop at plus size clothing stores anymore. She was able to drop from a size 22 to a size 6.

And what happened to her XXL "fat shorts?" She ditched them for a pair of small exercise shorts.

To those just starting their weight-loss journey, she offers this advice:

"Once you start, don't give up. The hardest thing to do is to continue. If you have a bad day, don't make it a bad week.

Overheard: Whose fault is obesity?

This post is part of the Overheard on CNN.com series, a regular feature that examines interesting comments and thought-provoking conversations posted by the community.

Obesity is a huge problem in the United States, and it’s linked to serious illnesses such as diabetes, stroke, heart disease and certain cancers.

A new report suggests that by 2030 nearly half of all Americans will be obese, and these expanding waistlines will translate into billions of dollars of health care costs. The study authors advocate for nationwide interventions to get children and adults to be more physically active and eat healthier.

More than 400 readers commented on the story. The most popular reader comment came from Joe Skinner, who says:

This is something I've been saying forever, the problem isn't "Romneycare" or "Obamacare," it's fat Americans who are the problem and they are more willing to blame politicians for health care cost problems than to say the 300-pound reading on the scale might have something to do with it.

Bruce Force responded that weight loss alone won’t solve the problem:

I agree that we are responsible for our own health but I think this obsession with losing weight is the wrong way to go about it. When we talk about fitness, we never talk about skills and that's unfortunate because that what being fit is about: developing skills in order to survive.

Chichetr proposed the radical measure of taxing overweight people per pound, a comment that got 59 “likes” :

I'm sick and tired of seeing my fellow Americans waddling around from fast food restaurant to fast food restaurant, their giant bellies swaying and bulging out under their shirts. It's absolutely shameful.

I propose that we start charging health care costs by the pound. How many of these people do you think are going to keel over from 1, 2 or 3 heart attacks, strokes, cardiovascular disorders of every kind? The list goes on and on. How many of these people can actually PAY for the tremendous health care costs associated with their weight? Not many.
I as a taxpayer, I refuse to pay for these people. Tax the overweight and obese NOW!

But pgauthi responded with a more pragmatic approach:

Those of us living in the real world realize we can't just let people "take responsibility," because we have decided that everyone has the right to emergency treatment. So as much as it pains me to pay for the lazy obese I would rather pay for their preventive care than for their emergencies.
I would love it though if medicare tax and/or health premiums were based on BMI and cardiovascular fitness.

Delishus Cake represented the point of view that the high cost of healthy foods compared to fattening foods is part of the problem:

If fresh fruit was affordable year round and a salad didn't cost the same as 4 double cheeseburgers people might not be so fat. Low income people typically choose whichever option looks to be the most bang for your buck. If you've got $4 and you want to eat are you going to buy a salad or 2 double cheeseburgers, a large coke, and a fry?

But halfthestory argues the opposite viewpoint:

So tired of hearing the "it costs too much to eat healthy" argument. Plan your budget and buy healthier foods ... fast food is not much cheaper and is much less healthier. It's a lifestyle change and not a financial issue in most cases. It's just easier to justify when you say "it costs too much".

Chemical BPA linked to children's obesity

Finally, the usage of body mass index as a measure of obesity is imperfect, as readers such as CatMagnet noted. Height and weight are the factors that go into calculating BMI, but for some people that is not an accurate assessment of whether they are healthy.

On Twitter, science writer @miriamgordon responded to the story by citing this New York Times article from Tuesday, which notes that obesity as we know it may not be the whole story: “In study after study, overweight and moderately obese patients with certain chronic diseases often live longer and fare better than normal-weight patients with the same ailments.”

Part of the problem is that if you measure obesity with body mass index, you are ignoring other potentially critical measurements of health, including metabolic abnormalities, lean muscle mass and body fat, the article said.

Another science writer, @daviddespain, responded with an article he had written on his blog suggesting that young Asian-American women may be improperly categorized as healthy using the traditional BMI scale; they may have low BMI but high body fat percentage.

The state-by-state obesity data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention do not take these deviations from the traditional BMI picture into account, nor do the 2030 predictions.

Man refuses surgery, drops 270 pounds

Bryan Ganey slowly climbed out of his parents' car. Michael and Martha Ganey had driven their son to work because he wasn't feeling well -- for the past couple of days, simple tasks had left him short of breath and exhausted.

At 577 pounds, being out of shape was normal for Bryan, so he ignored it. But as he headed toward the door of his office on June 20, 2010, the ground suddenly shifted.

The Ganeys were pulling away when Martha's cell phone rang. All she heard on the other end was gasping.

The couple stopped the car and sprinted back to the building, where they found their son lying in the bushes, struggling to breathe. The ride to the hospital took only five minutes, but to Martha, it seemed like hours. Bryan didn't care how long it took -- he knew he was going to die.

"I was absolutely convinced that I was having a heart attack. I had been told by doctors before that at my size, if I ever had heart problems, they weren't going to be able to operate on me. So there was a very good chance that this was the end -- that I would get there and there wouldn't be anything they could do," he said.

Out of control

For years, Bryan worked the night shift at a Verizon call center in Charleston, South Carolina, 20 miles from his home in Moncks Corner.

He skipped breakfast, ate fast food for lunch and dinner, then picked up a pizza or some convenience store snacks on his way home. He often drank more than a gallon of soda a day. By the age of 37, he had a body mass index around 87. A BMI over 30 is considered obese.

"He was very aware that he had a problem," Martha said. "It was out of control."

June 20 was possibly the best thing that could have happened to Bryan, although it certainly didn't seem like it at the time. His "heart attack" was actually a pulmonary embolism, or a blood clot that had traveled to his lungs, blocking his oxygen flow. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "sudden death is the first symptom" in about a quarter of patients who have a pulmonary embolism.

For six days, Bryan lay in a hospital bed, covered in bruises caused by the blood thinners being pumped into his body. The blood thinners slowly cleared the blockage in his lungs, giving him plenty of time to think.

"At first, I felt like a victim, like somebody or something had done this to me," Bryan said in a YouTube video about his experience. "But then reality set in and the pain turned to anger. My condition was unacceptable."

Several doctors tried to broach the subject of weight-loss surgery while he was in the hospital, but Bryan refused. Both he and his mother had friends who had gone through the surgery and were suffering from complications.

If I can make it out of here alive, he thought, I'm not coming back.

Small steps

Today, Bryan, 39, tells his story from the driver's seat of a car that he wouldn't have fit in two years ago . He shops for clothes at department stores, buys one seat on an airplane instead of two and sleeps through the night.

"The absolute best thing about all the weight that I've lost is just waking up every day and realizing that I don't weigh 577 pounds anymore," he said with a laugh. "The biggest rewards are the smallest ones."

Small steps are what began Bryan's weight loss journey. After leaving the hospital, he began to move -- at first pushing a shopping cart around the grocery store like a toddler learning to walk. Then he ventured to the mailbox at the end of his driveway. Soon, he was conquering several miles at a time.

He lost 130 pounds in the first six months, then dropped another 140 pounds over the course of the next year. At 5-foot-8, Bryan now weighs just under 300 pounds.

"It turns out it really is true," Bryan wrote in his iReport submission. "If you use more energy than you take in, you will lose weight."

Bryan switched to a day shift at work to conquer his bad eating habits. He's very particular about what he puts in his mouth, refusing to stray from self-prepared lean meats, vegetables and fruits. He eats five to six meals a day, every two to three hours. He measures his portions so that his total calorie count for the day hits 2,500.

"Food is everywhere," he said, reflecting on his struggles to keep on track at work or in social settings. "I just can't eat it anymore. I can't do it ever again. I don't have the ability to have just a little bit. They think I must be miserable because I ... don't allow myself to have certain things. [But] the benefits I have gained, the prize is worth the struggle."

After dropping his first 70 pounds, Bryan decided to hire a personal trainer. This wasn't the first time he had tried to lose weight by exercising, and in the past he had burned himself out pushing too hard, too fast. His trainer, Martha Peake, started slowly. At first, all they did was sit down and stand up. For the 500-pound Bryan, that was enough.

Last year, Bryan limped across the finish line of the 10K race he entered. This year, he plans to run the whole race. He's still losing six to seven pounds a month and hopes to eventually get down to 200 pounds.

Simple prayers

Every morning, Martha wakes up and asks God to give Bryan one more day. She understands the obstacles placed before her son -- most addicts can give up their abusive substance, but he can't just give up food.

"I guess there's always that little shadow of a doubt," Martha said. "But I know also that he's a very strong person ... if it can be done, he can do it."

When Bryan returned to the doctor, the change in his blood work was almost unbelievable. He's off many of the medications he was on before; his blood pressure medication has been cut four times over the last two years. His LDL cholesterol, the bad kind, is 100 -- an optimal number.

Most importantly, at 577 pounds, Bryan was prediabetic. Now, he's looking forward to a bright, diabetes-free future.

"I think what gets lost in the advertisements and everything that's written about weight loss is that if people would keep it simple, that everyone has that power in them. You can change your life."

Scarred areas Hair Transplant - Hair Transplant Surgery

Scarred areas -
Scars in hairy areas are visible because of lack of hairs in it. Scars can be made practically invisible by hair transplant procedure. It is said that hair growth may not be up to the mark in scars (owing to less blood supply in scarred area) and a sample grafting can be done in a portion of the scar. If the growth is good over the period (usual period is six months), the session can be repeated to cover the full scar.

Eyebrow Hair Transplant - Hair Transplantation Pakistan

Eyebrow- Hair transplantation is done to improve or recreate eyebrows

It is aesthetically essential to follow the direction of eyebrow hairs while creating a new line. Around 150 micro grafts are usually required for an eye brow of one side. The donor site is usually nape of neck or temporal region (finer hairs are preferred).

The rate of growth of transplanted hairs is usually faster and will need training from time to time.

What is better Strip method or Follicular unit extraction?

Studies say that STRIP method is still the number one choice for hair transplant, because of excellent maximum density achieved that too with little compromise of a hair line scar which becomes practically invisible over the time in most of the patients. Weighing the benefits of strip method with almost 100 % success rate, the compromise of this very fine scar (that too becomes invisible due to growth of hairs through this line in most of the patients) is really negligible.

This method requires well equipped center with skilled plastic surgeon; who owing to the nature of plastic/micro surgical specialty can perform it with utmost care. In this method the highest number of follicles can be harvested (according to size of strip as per need, a strip as long as 20 cm and as wide as 3 cm can be harvested) and that too leaving the area adjacent to strip untouched thus maintaining normal density adjacent to the closure line. This uses the elastic/stretchable property of skin, and after strip harvesting the wound is closed primarily giving natural look.

There is no wound or gap visible. The whole process is done under direct vision keeping the roots visible maintaining the highest quality of grafts ensuring complete success of grafts without any damage to the grafts (each and every graft is valuable in bald patient, it is hair bank).

In follicular unit extraction method inserting the punch is little blind technique and there are chances (though very low in experienced hands) of damage to follicles owing to vibration energy of punch and chance of transection of roots due to different angulations of hair roots. Moreover we need larger donor area and to get about 2500 follicles or so we need to span whole of back of head (to maintain sufficient left over density on donor site). In this way the highest number of available follicles is lesser as compared to STRIP method. Moreover second or subsequent stages lead to further decrease in density in the donor site in follicular unit extraction method as multiple punch holes lead to scarring over larger area (In strip method it is localized along a single line and adjacent hair density remains untouched).

But we cannot ignore the utility of follicular unit extraction method.

This is good choice for a certain group like--
For those who need smaller sessions; or need donor sites other than head (like moustaches, beard, chest, thighs, abdomen etc.). Moreover this is a very good supplement to strip method in subsequent stages. There are patients in which combined techniques can be done.