LASIK - A now common procedure

One of first things that springs to mind when considering corrective eye surgery is term, "LASIK". An acronym for "laser-assisted in-situ keratomileusis," this rather common procedure is used to correct certain vision problems through refractive surgery.

Since its debut in 1980s, there have been conflicting stories about what LASIK entails and whether or not it's truly successful.

Laser eye surgery is typically used for those who suffer from nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism. Until advent of LASIK, eyeglasses and contacts were used to treat these issues, but only served as aids to vision rather than corrections.

Those who have undergone a successful laser eye surgery procedure should find that their need for such aids are extremely diminished or eliminated altogether.

Reshaping your eyes

Technically speaking, LASIK eye surgery reshapes cornea from within eye itself using laser to accomplish task.

If, for instance, your cornea is not shaped correctly to fit dimensions of your eye, this procedure may be effective. By utilizing laser to extract bits of tissue from cornea in order to reshape it, refractive error can be corrected and visual images will then be focused directly onto retina, which may eliminate need for aids such as eyeglasses and contact lenses.

After a thorough eye examination, you'll be expected to choose a doctor to perform LASIK eye surgery. Once this has been done, you'll be scheduled for a consultation with doctor to discuss process, and you'll have opportunity to voice whatever questions or concerns that you may have prior to procedure.

Don't wear your glasses for up to a month before op'

Do calories matter or do you simply need to eat certain foods and that will guarantee you’ll lose weight? Should you count calories or can you just count “portions?” Is it necessary to keep a food diary? Is it unrealistic to count calories for rest of your life or is that just part of price you pay for a better body?

You’re about to learn answers to these questions and discover a simple solution for keeping track of your food intake without having to crunch numbers every day or become a fanatic about your food.

In many popular diet books, “Calories don’t count” is a frequently repeated theme. Other popular programs, such as Bill Phillip's "Body For Life," allude to importance of energy intake versus energy output, but recommend that you count “portions” rather than calories…

Phillips wrote,

"There aren't many people who can keep track of their calorie intake for an extended period of time. As an alternative, I recommend counting 'portions.' A portion of food is roughly equal to size of your clenched fist or palm of your hand. Each portion of protein or carbohydrate typically contains between 100 and 150 calories. For example, one chicken breast is approximately one portion of protein, and one medium-sized baked potato is approximately one portion of carbohydrate."

Phillips makes a good point that trying to count every single calorie - in literal sense - can drive you crazy and is probably not realistic as a lifestyle for long term. It's one thing to count portions instead of calories – that is at least acknowledging importance of portion control. However, it's another altogether to deny that calories matter.

Yes, calories do count! Any diet program that tells you, "calories don't count" or you can "eat all you want and still lose weight" is a diet you should avoid. The truth is, that line is a bunch of baloney designed to make a diet sound easier to follow. Anything that sounds like work – such as counting calories, eating less or exercising, tends to scare away potential customers! But law of calorie balance is an unbreakable law of physics: Energy in versus energy out dictates whether you will gain, lose or maintain your weight. Period.