"Doonesbury" author Gary Trudeau got it right: "Becoming the new feminine ideal requires just the right combination of insecurity, exercise, bulimia, and surgery." Ironically, the more that pressure increases on girls and women to look rail-thin and "Photoshopped" of all flaws, the more they struggle with obesity. (Seventy percent of adults in the U.S. are overweight or obese, and it's estimated 30 percent of kids are too!) No one — not even women 50 plus — is exempt from the "I should be thin" or "I'm fat" emotional roller coaster. A new report reveals that 62 percent of older women believe their weight or shape is a major bummer. Many have eating disorders, and a significant number use diet pills, take laxatives, and vomit to lose weight.

We want you to stop, take a deep breath, and consider this: You can boost your self-image, make your RealAge younger, lose weight, get stronger, and be happier without adopting extreme (and extremely harmful) habits.

No. 1: Get a walking buddy (a dog, a friend, or headphones). Start slow. Your long-term goal? 10,000 steps a day.

No. 2: Eliminate the five food felons from your life: 1) Avoid most saturated fats; 2) Avoid all trans fats; 3) Eat only 100 percent whole grains; 4) Eliminate added sugar; and 5) Never eat sugar syrups. (High fructose corn syrup is part of this felonious grouping).

Remember: Be patient and persistent. And the next time you see that 80-pound waif on a magazine cover, think "I am so much smarter and so much healthier!" Because you are!


© 2012 Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D.
Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.