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I love to eat! I guess thats why I hate dieting so much.

most of those fad diets either totally restrict you from eating the foods you love (and crave), or they make you eat an overabundance of the foods that are well, not my favorite.

after all, how many eggs, peanuts or oranges can you really eat? I guess thats why I was so hesitant to follow my friends on the south Beach diet bandwagon.

They were all trying it, and yes, even losing weight. I watched enviously as their waistlines got smaller and smaller, but couldnt get their groans and complaints out of my head during those first few days and weeks on the program.

Give up all sugar, carbs and fats for two whole weeks! Not me! No way! Not even for a smaller dress size.

Then I went to see my doctor for an unwell feeling I couldnt shake. I wasnt really sick, I just felt tired and icky all of the time. after some tests, he told me my glucose levels were rising, my cholesterol was hitting an all-time high, and even my blood pressure was boiling.

Me? Ms. Healthy? I knew it was time to get serious, so I asked around and did some research and actually found out that, in addition to being a diet, the south Beach plan was being used by people not only as a safe way to lose the weight that affects your health, but it also teaches you how to eat in a more nutritious and satisfying way.

Okay, time to give it a try. And the very first thing I ran up against youre probably heard about it -- was the dreaded Phase I of the south beach Diet plan: the hell of restriction, as my friends like to cal it.

Luckily, I knew so many people whove been on the diet already, I could turn to them for assurance and advice.

By the way, thats Tip #1: Get a Support System in Place.

For me it made all the difference. I honestly dont know if I would have succeeded without the support of my friends. They shared their tips and stories of surviving the first 14 days on the program and made me feel like I could too. Here are some of my favorite survival tips:

Indulge in one last favorite meal and dessert before starting the diet
Get everything thats not allowed to touch your lips in the first 14 days out of the house and threaten anyone who dares to sneak in contraband foods
Keep a daily journal about your feelings during Phase I (its great to read how those cravings and yearnings really affected the way you think and feel after its all just a distant memory
Avoid mall shopping during Phase I (the smells of the food court will kill you)
Dont plan on attending any family gatherings, school functions, parties, etc. for two full weeks (become a hermit)

Ill admit it, during those first few days on south Beach all I wanted was to dive headfirst into a bag of chocolate chip cookies, dipped in whipped cream, with a side a fries and a big slice of pizza.

But when a friend came over and cooked me the most delicious meal of lean chicken and sauted veggies sprinkled with low-fat cheese (yes, I said cheese!), I knew that Id make it.

Thats Tip #2: Presentation.

The plate she set before me could have rivaled one found in any five-star restaurant. I learned that night that a beautifully prepared plate of colorful veggies cooked to perfection out beats a bag of Oreos 10 to 1.

Within a week my grumpiness was subsiding after all, my sugar levels were leveling out and my blood pressure was coming down and I wasnt even craving junky stuff anymore. I was actually looking forward to finding new ways to prepare and serve my new healthier food choices.

Which leads me to Tip #3: Learn to Cook.

Since starting south Beach I have learned how to really enjoy cooking. Watching a variety of cooking shows and incorporating their ideas using my south Beach approved foods was one way I found to survive the first phase of the program, since you can always find new and interesting ways to prepare and enjoy the foods I was permitted.

I couldnt believe when the two weeks were over. It seemed to go by so fast, and then I was allowed to start reintroducing some of my favorites again into my daily eating plan, like fresh fruit and bread (thank God!).

The best part was I no longer craved some of those no-no foods like cake, ice cream and even, yes, those diet buster cookies! And I managed to lose a whopping 12 pounds, a true triumph for someone like me who had never been able to follow any diet for longer than a day or two before!

Was starting the south Beach diet difficult? Yes, in the first few days, but it sure was worth it!

Did you know that most people who dont complete the south Beach diet plan drop out because they cant make it through Phase 1? Want to avoid becoming a part of that statistic? Check out my South Beach Diet Plan Survival Kit over on HubPages, my South Beach Diet Plan Making it Through Phase 1 page on Squidoo, and my South Beach Diet Plan review page on Rate-Diets.com. Arm yourself with the tools you need to succeed!

If you're like me, you know about back pain. All about it! I don't get it often, but when I do ... boy do I know it's there!

The most common cause of back pain in North american adults is sciatic pain. So in this article I want to tell you about sciatica, look at a possible cures for you, and make a personal recommendation.

OK ... sciatica treatment. Let's start with a quick description of the problem.

You have nerves running all through your body, which feed huge amounts of information to the brain and are absolutely critical to your functioning. Your biggest nerve is the sciatic nerve. It is attached to your lower spine, runs across your buttocks, then down your legs as far as your ankles.

When that nerve gets irritated or pinched or rubbed up the wrong way you feel pain. Although pain generally is notoriously hard to pinpoint, the pain from an upset sciatic nerve is usually felt in the lower back, or at the back of your leg above or below the knee.

At times it will be excruciating. (Do I sense you nodding in recognition?) often it is dull and troublesome. It can be very, very persistent.

So, what can you do?

Normally, the first reaction is rest. And a couple of days of rest can be helpful. Surprisingly, however, resting for any longer only tends to make the pain worse. And none of us have that much free time anyway. So, rest is not the long-term answer.

There's got to be another way. And there is; do more exercise!

Either do strength-building exercises, that will make your abdomen and back muscles stronger, and give better support to your lower back.

Or do stretching exercises. These will gently push and pull on tight, inflexible muscles that may be the source of the pain, and in a few days the pain will have gone. Keeping up stretching exercises will give you quicker recovery and work to help you get no future flare ups.

Or, equally effective, do light aerobic exercise. Things like walking and swimming. These sort of exercises will move fluids and elements around your body, building a better healing environment for you, and will also release your natural pain killers, the endorphins.

So, for some people, exercise and movement is going to help sometimes.

If that fails, over the long term, however, I recommend you look around for a well qualified doctor who is a sciatica specialist.

Be demanding on yourself as you look. Choose the best specialist you can find. Don't shop around for the cheapest deal. Ask questions until you find a good practitioner. Someone with years of experience treating sciatica, who is a surgeon and, if possible, teaches medicine at a school, would be ideal. Sciatica treatment is hard to get right, and unless you work hard to find a well-qualified specialist your treatments are likely to be short-lived.

Len McGrane writes on health in general and, most recently, on sciatica treatment. For more, helpful treatment information please click now to schwartzneurosurgeon.com.

My friend Elaine Helle in Oregon thought it would be fun to give the whole world something to laugh about.

As a laughter yoga teacher--her personal tagline is "Laugh for the health of it!"--she knows the power of a good belly laugh. And so, she started belly Laugh Day, which will be celebrated around the world on January 24th at 1:24 pm local time.

On this day, people everywhere will pause in the middle of a busy day to smile, throw their hands up into the air and laugh out loud.

This isn't just one of those holidays that somebody made up and nobody honors. This one actually has coordinated silliness scheduled in places all over the globe. people will gather--or stop where they are at work or school or home--and laugh hard and long at the appointed time. Laughers will send in stories, photos and videos of their belly Laugh experience to share with others on Elaine's website.

I've always said that if you're not laughing, you're not learning. Can you get through an entire day without laughing? You shouldn't. You see, there's power--and wisdom--in lightening up. If hours go by without a guffaw or at least a giggle, you're not allowing yourself to see the silliness all around you.

Oh, I know there are days when it doesn't seem possible to laugh. After all, terrible things do happen. But on 99 percent of your days, you've got a dozen reasons to laugh.

And the other 1 percent? Trust me on this: those are the days during which you are most in need of laughter!

I've laughed at the bedside of someone who is dying. I've howled while holding hands with someone who has tried (unsuccessfully) to kill himself. I've giggled even when I felt I couldn't take another day of life in this world.

Thank goodness.

You see, that's the tipping point. When you can laugh while smack in the middle of a crappy day-- or a real tragedy--you know you're going to be okay. You've tapped into the secret of the belly Laugh.

Elaine knows the secret, and she's not whispering it. instead, she's shouting it from the virtual rooftops, engaging gigglers from the North Pole to Antarctica.

Let belly Laugh Day on January 24th remind you of the value of seeing the silliness all around you. Open your eyes and find something to smile about every HOUR.

What, you can't spare five seconds every waking hour? Then you SERIOUSLY need to lighten up-- or, as I like to say, get En*Lightened.

Yes, laugh out loud on belly Laugh Day, but don't stop there. Make it your personal mission to have a laugh every hour.

You'll be happier, healthier, and a whole lot more fun to be around.

Maya Talisman Frost has taught thousands of people how to pay attention. Through her company, real-world Mindfulness training, she offers playful, eyes-wide-open alternatives to meditation. To read her free tips and tricks for practical awareness, visit http://www.Real-WorldMindfulness.com