Many people, if not all of us, have the inherent desire to crave for attention, approval, and affection.?We try to improve our bodies, project a good image and personality, and excel in academics, workplace or peer groups in order to belong.?Acceptance boosts our self-esteem.?

In today's culture, there is a phenomenal increase in the growth of cosmetic surgery industry, as well as in physical fitness, leisure and lifestyle concerns.?People have become conscious of their body image.?We see it everywhere: on television, in print, on billboards and in the movies. Health and fitness articles abound even on the Internet. And since body image is psychological in nature, people who suffer from low self-esteem are most likely to project a poor body image.?They either overeat or starve themselves. And they suffer from anxiety and depression.

Body image is the way we project ourselves and how we perceive and imagine the response of other people toward us.?It is not inborn, therefore, we can do something about it.?

People try to find sensible and sustainable ways to achieve and maintain a healthy weight on a long term basis. Healthy weight is the size which a person achieves based on the goal initially set in accordance with the person's physical condition as determined by a medical professional.

There are a number of fitness centers that offer weight gain, weight loss programs to choose from.?Several medications have flooded the market and the Internet which guarantees fast weight loss and the like. Xenical is a popular brand of weight loss pill used in tandem with a reduced-calorie diet to help significantly overweight persons lose weight. Xenical also helps to prevent regaining weight previously lost.

Most people, particularly women, are more concerned with losing weight as compared to those who want to gain weight.?For those who have active lifestyle, budget and time, there's always a gym to go to and sweat out those unwanted pounds.?This is supplemented by diet programs like south beach, after six, the Ornish Diet, or a new weight loss pill.?

Though going to the gym, taking weight loss pills, and these diet programs work?some people could not afford its cost and high maintenance.?So, the idea of working out less and getting more out of it has been developed.?It's simply spending less time sweating and straining in the gym and having more time doing what you like?and still lose weight!

Indeed, turning the things you like to do or things you normally do everyday into fitness activities is one key to achieving that healthy weight or fitness you've been aiming for.?Such daily chores as walking the dog, working in your garden, or playing catch with your kids are good enough to replace strenuous exercises and still feel physically fit.

According to Barry A. Franklin, PhD, director of cardiac rehabilitation and exercise laboratories at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., ?The goal here is to disguise your exercise. We have, as a nation, overemphasized the value of structured exercise and underemphasized the value of lifestyle physical activity as a way to get more fitness into our lives.?

?Becoming more active in our daily lives can provide the same benefits, including improvements in risk factors for heart disease, as a structured exercise program,? says Franklin, who is also the