MASSENA -- Massena Memorial Hospital is offering a community education program luncheon and lecture on Weight Loss Wednesday, Jan. 11, at noon in the community education room.

Kathleen Lauzon, registered nurse and nurse practitioner, will present information on starting the year with a healthy weight.

This luncheon and lecture is free and open to the public; however, pre-registration is required. Call 769-4262 to reserve your spot.

You've decided that it's time to lose those extra pounds that have been accumulating over the past several years. You've tried "cutting back," but that never seems to work. Eventually, you come to accept that weight loss requires a plan. But what plan?

There is no shortage of plans on the market. Walk into any bookstore, and the diet books will shout out at you before you've taken 10 steps. And there are the numerous plans to be found on the Internet or TV ads.

Orange juice for 10 days? Get serious. Anyone will lose weight if they quit eating food for 10 days.

Nutritionists know that lasting weight reduction is simple: 1) eat less, 2) exercise more and 3) make long-term changes in your behavior and lifestyle.

Crash diets are rarely successful because whatever weight comes off goes right back on once you get sick of following the overly stringent diet.

Long-term weight loss is best achieved at a rate of a pound or two a week, and one proven way of doing that is by monitoring intake of calories, fat or carbohydrates.