Counting the calories is a key part of shedding the pounds, especially with holidays arriving if you want to squeeze into those Speedos or flaunt that bikini on some sun kissed beach.Losing weight by calorie counting is flexible enough to fit into the most hectic lifestyle and can take account of your personal likes and dislikes. There are no forbidden foods when you calorie count.

The trick is to eat less calories than you burn up each day and you will lose weight. For men that means eating less than  around 2,500 calories a day while for women it’s closer to 2,000 (add a bit more if you’re overweight already, tall or very muscular.The other aspect of a calorie counting diet is of course to watch the calorie count of what you eat in the first place and try to eat as healthily as possible.  Not many of us would think of the pizza delivery service as a gateway to weight loss, but the perhaps surprising truth is that a pizza or a burger contains fewer calories than the perceived “healthier” option of a milkshake.

Take your favourite pizza dishes delivered to your door like Pepperoni (352 calories per slice), Margherita (238 calories per slice) or the Hawaiian (222 calories per slice).They all pale in comparison with your average chocolate shake for example that comes in at a whopping 950 calories. Even a Starbucks Chocolate Frappuccino packs 410 fattening calories as well as a generous helping of sodium and sugar.

So don’t diss or rule out the humble pizza from your weight conscious menu.  Even if you leave the exercise bit entirely up to pizza delivery bloke and order your take away on line, sharing a pizza and eating as many as three slices will still beat a single milkshake into a cocked hat.And apart from exercising the jaw and being more satisfying to chew, Pizza just tastes better!

Kitchen Kitsch, Fast Food Faddism or just plain Take Away tat?  There seems to be no limit to the ridiculous lengths some people will go to in order to avoid that messy contact with their takeaway food. There’s a bewildering variety of devices out there to assist in storing, handling, and even eating the takeaway of your choice.  Some are genuinely ingenious.It's true that some do seem to have merit, either as useful household items or maybe as amusing gifts.Others are plain insane and still others leave you wondering who actually buys this stuff for anything other than a laugh?

If you’re really into fast food, and you want it fast, so fast you can’t be bothered with the conventional pizza cutter, then  something like the Pizza Boss 3000 is for you!You can show that pizza you mean business with this gadget that looks just like your average circular saw.  It’ll tear through pepperoni, extra cheese and even those hardy anchovies thanks to its tough engineering-grade plastic and laser-etched stainless blade.

Just a moment, I hear you cry!  What if your favourite fast food is Chinese? We’ve all been there:  tucking into the sweet and sour when a killer idea for making a fortune comes (without the aid of the cookie).How to record it for posterity before the allure of the prawn balls wipes all memory of it from your mind?  Pencil Chopsticks!  Obvious really.Square shaped and coloured black for that authentic chopstick look and feel they can make your next writing experience as enjoyable as your last dim sum.

If your notion of the ultimate fast food is the humble burger then what you need to raise the tone is a device called Chompr.  This lavish hamburger holding aid is an ergonomic and stylish eating utensil.Made of two pieces of carved walnut separated by spring-loaded polished aluminium supports, the fastidious fast food fanatic simply places the burger between the grips.With a degree of stylish sophistication never before possible, can then hold and consume the sandwich with an elegant ease, safe in the knowledge that errant sauces or bits of pickle pose no threat to hands or clothing.

Being on an acne diet is a very fascinating idea. Most importantly, who hasn't heard that eating chocolate gives you zits? We almost all have. If you think about it its not so far-fetched that by watching your diet you could prevent acne.

Nevertheless, a good acne diet is not easy to develop. It is highly personal and based on your body’s unique responses to food. Progress, for the most part, will be trial and error. Monitor your skin closely. Make note of any changes. You could keep a photo journal. When your skin clears, continue on the diet you were on at the time.

Here are some simple rules to get you started on an acne diet:

1. Increase your protein intake. Some dermatologists even believe that protein intake is connected to having clear skin. An enzyme in contained in protein limits the creation of oil Oily skin is very vulnerable to breakouts.

2. Carbohydrates are not good. You do not need to cut out carbs completely. But you should try to limit your intake so that they are about 40 percent of your diet. This is because there are compounds in carbohydrates that can stimulate oil production. This is the reason that junk food has the reputation that it causes acne. Actually, though, junk food is just high in carbs.

3. Consume green tea. If at all possible try to drink the real stuff. The best type of green tea is the kind that you brew. However, if you really don't like it, then try the natural green tea drinks. Green tea limits androgen production. Breakouts have been known to be caused by a hormone called androgen.

4. Try to limit the amount of salt you intake. Salt usually contains iodine. This is the reason we usually call table salt “iodized salt.” For some with acne, iodine an cause major inflammation.

It is very important to watch what you eat and put on your face. You should know what ingredients are in your beauty products if you have acne. Natural and organic skin care lines are the best acne prone skin. These are least likely to cause a breakout. Mineral makeups are a good investment, if you wear makeup. By using mineral makeup you may actually ease acne problems and increase the results of your acne diet.

The older we get, the more set in our ways and the less likely we are to enjoy overly spicy food.  However, a report by University of Missouri researchers published in the Menopause Journal suggests that older women in particular should look at eating more curry to reduce their risk of cancer, especially if they are on Hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

Researchers found that curcumin, a component of the spice turmeric commonly used in Indian food can reduce the risk of cancer by inhibiting progestin-induced VEGF secretion from breast cancer cells. Women taking combined oestrogen and progestin HRT therapy run an increased risk of developing breast tumours because the progestin increases the production of the VEGF molecule. VGEF has been cited as the culprit in boosting blood supply to tumours, encouraging their growth.

There is still much disagreement and conflicting evidence about the uses and safety of HRT. Claims that it is a cure-all for every mid-life problem have been common and its benefits have been oversold and problems probably minimised.On the other hand, many women suffering with severe menopausal symptoms have been helped by taking HRT. The experience of the menopause is very individual and the symptoms can be alleviated in a variety of ways, with HRT being just one of the options.    Eating your favourite takeaway now appears to be one of them!

In the Missouri University tests, curcumin actually reduced the multiplication of progestin-accelerated tumours in animal-based studies.It also helped to prevent the appearance of abnormalities in the mammary glands.  Those results should not be too surprising because apart from being a key ingredient in Indian food, turmeric has a long history  of use in Indian medicine  for its healing properties as a salve and an antiseptic on cuts and abrasions. So don’t turn your nose up at dishes that are too hot and spicy.The stuff in that Indian takeaway food is not only delicious, it's positively therapeutic as well!