Question: I've not been able to lose the extra weight of my last pregnancy, five years ago. I feel unattractive and depressed. My New Year's resolutions for this have failed. What can I do?
S.J.P., New Bern, North Carolina

Answer: If you want to make a New Year's resolution, don't waste time on fad diets and unrealistic exercise goals. Instead, commit yourself to a lifestyle change that has irrefutable scientific proof behind it.

The "Women's Health Initiative Study," conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health, reported in 1999 a dramatic reduction in cardiovascular diseases that was attributed to down-to-earth lifestyle changes enacted by some of the participants. More than 16,000 female nurses participated.

Half of them continued with their typical American lifestyle. The other half kept the study's specific lifestyle changes. All of them attended regular medical checkups.

At the end of five years, the courageous lifestyle-changers were rewarded. Their incidence of heart attack, congestive heart failure, stroke and hypertension was 82 percent lower than that of the junk-food junkies! (Of course, men benefit equally from healthful lifestyle changes.)

The health of these nurses was improved dramatically through very reachable goals. They could not smoke or drink alcohol (except in moderation--one glass of red wine with meals), and they had to stay in shape by eating a Mediterranean-style diet, exercising a half hour a day and maintaining a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 25 percent. A BMI of 25 percent is quite forgiving--only 10-15 pounds over your ideal weight.

You'll look great, feel more energetic, and lower your risk of heart disease and cancer if you will begin to avoid processed and junk foods, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, increase your intake of nuts and olive oil, and eat fish instead of red meat. A Mediterranean-style diet resembles the one God gave the Jews in Leviticus and Deuteronomy.

Still, it can be difficult to maintain a diet varied enough to obtain all the nutrients we need. Even the strictest vegetarians I know believe in supplementation. I recommend a natural-food supplement. Try to verify that the supplement you choose is derived from a plant source and is processed naturally.

I also strongly recommend adding fresh carrot juice to your diet. The anti-oxidizing power of carrots is second to none.

Carrot juice is to free radicals what RoboCop is to criminals--it stops them dead in their tracks!

Remember, your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Don't contaminate it with junk food.