Looking for a last minute culinary adventure tonight? Head over to the American Museum of Natural History at 6:30 p.m. for an event titled: Historic Remedies For Your Expanding Waistline. For 30 bucks you'll learn straight from historic gastronomist Sarah Lohman (author of the blog Four Pounds Flour) about how Americans traditionally tried to shed a unwanted weight—"from William Banting’s “Letter on Corpulence” to “Fletcherizing” with John Harvey Kellogg, explore and taste some of the best (and worst) historic diet trends in America." more ›

While keeping resolutions may be a losing battle for us weak humans, it may be easier for you to keep them when they relate to your pet's health. Studies say that about half of dogs and cats are overweight or obese, which can result diabetes, respiratory disease, kidney disease, and other ailments including hip dysplasia. more ›

Over the years, science has told many wonderful things about booze—a little tipple can help with everything from sunburns to aging—and now, a Brooklyn woman swears she shaped up with champagne. more ›

New York City has been waging a war on salt for a while, offering up statistics showing that we're mostly depraved saltaholics. Reiterating this point for the United Nations, Department of Health Commissioner Thomas Farley says, "Having a high-salt diet really does substantially increase your risk of heart disease and stroke," noting that 1,000 New Yorkers die every year from a high-salt diet. However, 500 of those deaths could be prevented if people just ate more fruits and vegetables. more ›

New Jersey woman Donna Simpson, who dreamed of hitting 1,000 pounds (and came close, too), is going on a diet, she announced this week. more ›

Whoa, maybe don't jump all over that new Cheesecake Factory diet just yet: a new study says that dieting can force the brain to eat its own cells. more ›

Intrepid Fox 5 reporter Arnold Diaz has given us SO MUCH great television with his "Hall of Shame" investigative reports, and what does he get in return for all his dedication to shame? Legal troubles... which we suppose is only to be expected. Last month Diaz confronted Magda Abt, an operator of three D'Lites Emporium ice cream stores on Long Island. With cameras rolling, Diaz attempted to present her with lab results suggesting her "low calorie" frozen dessert contained far more calories and carbs than advertised. Thankfully, Abt's brother soon arrived on the premises to entertain us all, the Strong Island way: more ›

Women across America "are streaming into doctors’ offices and weight-loss clinics" and paying upward of $1,000 a month for syringes and a supply of the pregnancy hormone hCG, the NY Times reports in a fascinating article about the diet trend. The hormone, which is derived from the urine of pregnant women, is highly controversial—the FDA has warned that hCG has not been shown to help weight loss or to “decrease hunger and discomfort” from low-calorie diets. But hCG seems to be popular once again, and some doctors are happy to prescribe it. more ›

According to numerous independent studies, the posted calorie counts now required at the city's chain restaurants have little impact on the eating habits of most adults and teenagers, with some adults ordering more calories than they would before the rule went into effect. But according to unreleased data from the city's Health Department, the calorie counts sort of help sometimes. The Department tells us, "The two main points are that our new research shows that the 15% of fast-food patrons in the city who use the information eat an average of 106 fewer calories than those who don't see or ignore the calorie content." The other 85% just want their Shamrock Shakes. more ›

Well, this isn't going to be good for America's obesity problem (or is it?): Mark Haub, a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, put himself on what some are calling the Twinkie Diet or the Convenience Store Diet... and lost 27 pounds in two months. While he did include some vegetables in his diet, every three hours Haub would treat himself to a snack of sugary cereals, Oreos, Hostess products, Doritos, or some other junk food item (Meat Munchkins?)—all to prove that in losing weight, it's counting calories that really matters. more ›

In a new profile in Vogue, Kirsten Gillibrand is painted as an everywoman, equally comfortable talking about finance as she is about farming. Jonathan Van Meter compares the Senator to Hillary Clinton, who ten years ago won the same Senate seat with a similar "listening tour" of New York and spent her early days in the Senate "charming many of her Senate colleagues on the other side of the aisle with her intelligence, her tirelessness, and her deft ability to work the center of American politics." But none of that matters because did you see that slideshow? Gillibrand is pretty hot. more ›

Perhaps that "Healthy Foods Financing Initiative" was more of a personal move for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, now that she's trying to lose her baby weight. After giving birth 20 months ago, Gillibrand has been dieting her weight off. And, like any good celebrity, she's posted her diet tricks online. more ›

The media has spent so much time analyzing and criticizing Mayor Bloomberg, perhaps we've forgotten about the complicated soul within the Bermuda trunks; although he generally seems unassailable, maybe we're finally getting to him. At a private meeting yesterday with college journalism students, the Mayor was quoted as revealing some details about his personal relationship with the press: “My life is fundamentally boring to the press. I live with a woman who is age appropriate. We don’t do drugs, we don’t do flashy stuff. The press fundamentally leaves my private life alone. At one point, one guy wrote a story that said I was gaining weight and so I went on a diet.” Perhaps this explains a few things... more ›

If the Bodega Diet hasn't been keeping the pounds off, maybe this innovative new weight-loss technique from trainer Melissa Delancey will. She suggests countering the caloric intake of big meals by walking to and from the restaurant. Delancey got her inspiration when she and her husband decided to walk to Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Harlem from their East Village apartment, and are now leading walks to all sorts of places. Exercise: who knew? more ›

We're really sorry that the Taco Bell Drive Thru diet hasn't been working for you like you wanted, but this new-fangled "Bodega Diet" might be just the thing to help you lose that weight while still avoiding actually cooking anything. While most of the time a bodega diet just consists of salty chips, old cans of soup and sandwiches with piles of fatty meat, nutritionist Janine Whiteson says you can live off the corner deli and still stay healthy. more ›

Former President Bill Clinton amused the audience at a fiscal summit in D.C. by revealing daughter Chelsea wants him to lose some weight before her wedding, "She doesn't think I'm in shape to handle it. You know, she told me the other day, she said, ‘Dad the only thing you gotta do is walk me down the aisle and you need to look good’So I said ‘Well, what's your definition?’ And she said: ‘Oh, about 15 pounds.’ So I'm halfway home." (Chelsea is getting married to Marc Mezvinsky.) The former president also weighed in on the Goldman Sachs debacle, saying he was unsure whether the firm broke the law. Coincidence that Mezvinsky works at Goldman? more ›

Yesterday, the Daily News was the first to reveal that Jets coach Rex Ryan had lap band surgery on Saturday. How did the Post react? By sending a reporter to his house in NJ for an "unannounced visit." more ›

The larger-than-life Jets coach Rex Ryan is working on his mid-section with some help from modern medical technology. The Daily News found out that "Ryan underwent weight-loss surgery Saturday at NYU Medical Center... A scheduled lap-band procedure was performed on Ryan, team spokesman Bruce Speight said Saturday night." more ›

A diabetic mafia don who says he has received poor medical treatment as he awaits trial on racketeering and murder charges suffered a stroke last week—one day after a judge refused his bid to be released because of his health. The Daily News reports that suspected Colombo boss Thomas "Tommy Shots" Gioeli suffered partial facial paralysis and remains hospitalized. Gioeli says prison officials haven't filled his prescriptions or given him proper food considering his diabetes, though prosecutors say commissary receipts show he subsists on a junk food diet of doughnut sticks, Hershey bars, potato chips, macaroni and cheese and Spam. Officials are now considering allowing Gioeli to keep a glucometer in his cell so he can monitor his blood sugar levels. more ›

If you're a Whole Foods employee who's been stocking up on the 365 brand quinoa and tofu, then you're in luck. The grocery chain has just introduced a "weigh less, pay less" discount plan that will allow the company's healthiest employees to knock an additional 10 percent off of in store purchases in an attempt to "encourage and reward Team Members for making healthy, positive lifestyle changes and to reduce the costs of our health plan." more ›

With Jets-AFC Championship Game fever spreading, it was only a matter of time before the media would settle in to examine coach Rex Ryan's diet. Yesterday, the Post reported that the inspirational, sometimes emotional rookie coach eats 7,000 calories a day to keep his 350-pound figure: "The coach celebrated Sunday's triumph over the San Diego Chargers by scarfing down a cheesesteak and a beer on the charter flight back home. He was then offered a choice of barbecue chicken, flank steak or a Cobb salad." Of course—a barbecue chaser is required after unlikely victories! more ›

Well, hello there! It looks like disgraced former NYPD Commissioner Bernie Kerik has been prepping for prison by eating plenty of tossed salad. Recent Facebook photos show the convicted felon looking fit and fetching—a lot less Sergeant Schultz and a little more Kevin Spacey. more ›

Princess Chunk's visit with Regis and Kelly was very enlightening: America learned that its favorite 44-pound obese feline was actually a boy! The Camden County Animal Shelter had originally named the cat, found wandering around Voorhees, NJ, "Captain Chunk," but gave it the royal, feminine name after thinking it was actually a girl. What happened to gender-neutral names, like "Whiskers"?! more ›

After 81 years spent fattening us up with their many irresistible cookie varieties, the Girl Scout organization is dropping some not-so-subtle hints that perhaps keeping a dozen boxes of Samoas in our locked desk drawer isn’t the healthiest way to make it through the winter. So for the first time they’ll be peddling sugar-free chocolate chip cookies and another low calorie cookie option: Cinna-Spins™. (Pictured.) more ›