The percentage of American children who are overweight or obese appears to have leveled off after a 25-year increase, according to new figures that seem to offer a glimmer of hope in an otherwise dismal battle.

“That is a first encouraging finding in what has been unremittingly bad news,” said Dr. David Ludwig, director of an obesity clinic at Children’s Hospital Boston. “But it’s too soon to know if this really means we’re beginning to make meaningful inroads into this epidemic. It may simply be a statistical fluke.”

The study, conducted by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, found that roughly 32 percent of children were overweight but not obese, 16 percent were obese and 11 percent were extremely obese.

Health officials are investigating more than 180 reports of illness in people who took dietary supplements containing toxic levels of the mineral selenium.

Last month, federal officials warned consumers about harmful doses of selenium, a mineral considered healthful in small amounts — in plastic bottles of liquid Total Body Formula and Total Body Mega Formula.

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Craving – crav·ing (krā’vĭng) n. A consuming desire; a yearning.

It’s day 3, and Karlie and I have been experiencing some weird cravings. Sometimes things that we would never eat. We were walking down the street in Manhattan’s Chelsea area and to our surprise, a group of French tourists were eating what smelled like the best pizza in the world. We tried to get close to simply inhale the beautiful aroma of tomatoes, basil and cheese… oh wonderful cheese.

I found that smell became my worst enemy. Getting into the subway, a girl eating McDonald’s… walking through the Manhattan Mall, the sweet scents of Cinnabon… who is eating French Fries? Co-workers tried their hardest not to tempt us, but the delicious smells of Italian leftovers warmed up for lunch were tough to ignore. Maybe day 4 will be easier?

Day 3 – Menu

Fruit and Vegetable Day!

Eat all the soup, fruits and vegetables you want. No Baked Potato. Drink plenty of water and take a multivitamin.

Creative Creations: Try a green salad with fruits like berries, apples, and pears on top. Missing salad dressing? Squeeze fresh lemon on top instead. And if you are craving meat, try grilling some Portobello mushrooms with non-fat olive oil spray over a bed of spinach!

Click here to see all 5 days of the Cabbage Soup Diet

Cabbage Soup Day 2

Just in case you were wondering, Karlie and I did have a plan when we started the cabbage soup diet. First we thought seven days wasn’t so bad. For Karlie, well she felt she was eating kind of “bad.” She was going out to lunch and dinner a lot and wanted to do a sort of detox to get back on track. For me, I wanted to kick start a healthy eating plan and try to drop a few pounds. We thought we would try this out and see what happened.

Day 2 – Menu:

Vegetable Day!

Eat all the vegetables you want – fresh, raw, or cooked vegetables of your choice. Stay away from dry beans, peas and sweet corn. Reward yourself with a big baked potato with butter for dinner. Eat as much soup as you like but no fruit for today. Drink plenty of water and take a multivitamin.

Creative Creations: Be creative with your veggies! Think it might be hard eating vegetables for breakfast? Try baking butternut squash pieces with a sprinkle of cinnamon. For lunch, try sautéing a combination of vegetables together with a diced tomato sauce.

For dinner, add some steamed broccoli on top of your baked potato.

Click here to see all 5 days of the Cabbage Soup Diet