Is that your metabolism picking up?

I've read several articles that say women tend to burn more calories when they are PMSing. This is due to the increases in both estrogen and progesterone simultaneously that works to bump up the metabolism. This in turn bumps up your ability to burn fat, which means you can burn up to 30% more fat during that special time of month. It also raises energy levels which means you'll have more motivation to get off the couch and pump it up. It could be the perfect storm of hormones that makes you happy, sad, hungry, angry and then really really full that makes you burn more fat. OR it could be the pure PMS rage that makes you want to take out all that pent up pissed off-ness in a kickboxing class or on the elliptical. My guess is that it's the latter.

Fat Zapping Laser

In the world's never ending quest to find a way to be skinny and beautiful without having to put in an hour at the gym, or cut those jalapeno bacon cheese fries out of their diet, a major new player may have just entered stage left.

Alli was a major step in this game, offering substantial weight loss without gym time, with only the minor side effects of anal leakage, abdominal cramping, and tossing the potato chips for baked lays. Then there's gastric bypass for those who aren't faint at heart, offering permanent portion control by literally shrinking your stomach to a fraction of its normal size; but once again food takes a major back seat. Liposuction is the old faithful, so if you can't lose the fat that plagues you, you can always suction it out of your midsection, thighs or hips with a super-powered vacuum and only the minimal risk of bumpy, lumpy botched jobs.

Now there is an even more pain free, low commitment solution to losing weight that requires no major lifestyle changes except parting with some major coin. Showcased in Harper's Bazaar this month, this new fat remedy is truly bizarre, and has serious potential to revolutionize the weight loss industry.

It is nearing FDA approval, slated to be ready for use later this summer: a fat zapping laser treatment. Put forth by Erchonia Medical, this laser treatment, named Zerona, has the potential to allow patients to lose 4-5 inches from body parts of their choice. The laser works by targeting cells holding onto fat, and stimulating them to release the fatty tissue, which is then naturally absorbed by the lymphatic system. There is no heat, no invasive surgery, and no diet or exercise requirements. Poof, four to six pricey treatments over two short weeks, and fat's gone. The magic cure that everyone has been looking for all these years is just around the corner.

Although is fat gone for good? No one knows. Could it pop up again in a more unsightly location? Possible. The long term effects are totally unknown, as with most burgeoning medical miracles. The only difference is that instead of trying out a possibly harmful treatment to cure an otherwise untreatable ailment such as, say, cancer, people will be undergoing this laser treatment merely to shrink the size of their tubby bodies, which last time I checked can be remedied with a little hard work and perseverance. I guess we'll just have to wait and see, if that's a chance you are willing to take. Personally, I'll take my running sneaks and a salad any day.