Weight Loss Facts

Smelling bananas and green apples may help reduce appetite and food cravings, according to research on how scents affect hunger signals.

Dieters who sleep more take off more fat that those who sleep less.

In 1965, a 27-year-old Scotsman named Angus Barbieri walked into a hospital and told doctors he wanted to stop eating until he reached a healthy weight. He didn't eat for 382 days, living entirely off his body fat. He went from 456 pounds to 180 with no adverse effects — and kept the weight off for the rest of his life.

Dolly Dimples, a circus sideshow performer who weighed over 500 lbs, lost more than 400 lbs by eating nothing but baby food, becoming a weight-loss celebrity in the 1950s.