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The secret to successful weight loss is a winning combination of efficient exercise, a healthy lifestyle and smart eating. Each one by itself, with total disregard for the other is a sure recipe for disaster and frustration. Going on a starvation diet while spending time on your couch glued to the TV is as fattening as running a few hundred laps round the track and then tucking into a bowl of creamy chocolate mousse.

Moderation and consistency are keys to successful long-term weight loss. Make a doable plan and stick to it. Dont rush out to buy hundreds of pounds worth of fitness equipment in an attempt to look as svelte as the model advertising for it. Youd just end up losing the wrong pounds.

Here then are a few weight loss tips that are simple and easy to keep up with:

Act now: Thinking yourself thin is great for the psyche but that fat will not budge till you actually act

Set realistic goals: Aim to lose weight slowly and healthily. weight loss does not happen in a day. It takes months of consistent exercise and proper eating.

Shake a leg: Make sure you get at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day. Dont start pounding the pavements if the thought horrifies you. Youre more likely to give up an activity that you do not like. Instead could join an aerobics class, go swimming with the kids or join a belly dancing class. Anything that gets your heart-rate up.

Watch what you eat: A moment on the lips; a lifetime on the hips. Every mouthful counts when you are trying to lose weight. Eat smaller meals more frequently. Increase your intake of fruits, vegetables and complex carbohydrates. Refined carbohydrates such as white breads, cookies and cakes have empty calories that you could do without.

Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of good old fashioned water- it helps the muscles stay hydrated and flushes out those unwanted toxins. 8 glasses of water a day is the minimum recommended amount.

Get your zzzs : Unless you are a sleepwalker you are unlikely to be eating while sleeping. So go ahead and sleep your weight off. It will leave you more refreshed the next day and you will have more energy for another round of beach volleyball.

Try CardioMate and CholesteSoy to improve your health.

Football? Sure. Baseball? Yep. Cycling? Definitely. Track & Field? No question. But golf? Thats the question now that the PGA Tour will begin implementation of their own anti-doping plan in 2008 as part of an overall world golf Foundation policy.

The world golf Foundation not only includes the PGA Tour but also the European Tour, LPGA, the USGA, Augusta national and the Royal and Ancient golf Club. With the Asian, canadian, Japanese and Australasian Tours all signing on to support the plan, weve essentially got an anti-doping plan that reaches every corner of the globe.

PGA Commissioner Tim Finchem had long held fast to the belief that there was no need for anti-doping intervention but has changed his position during this past year. Said Finchem earlier this year theres no sport thats inherently immune to doping. Its a sad commentary, but its true.

Is it true? And is it really necessary? golf has always been looked on as a gentlemans game, one equated to honesty, integrity and good sportsmanship where players self-police and in many instances, call penalties on themselves for unseen infractions. But times apparently are a changing!!

Is this merely a sign of the times, a preemptive strike to keep up with the policies of other professional sports or is there some evidence of cheating that the PGA is hiding from us? Is there a potential Barry Bonds-like abuser lurking on the PGAs leader board? The only player as beefy as a steroid popping ball player is Tiger woods yet hes also the most vocal proponent of this anti-doping plan and has publicly volunteered to be first in line for testing.

I cant think of another player out there who looks or golfs the part of a doping violator. The guys that hit it 300 yards seem to have reached this mark via advanced technology (i.e. Hotter club faces & balls) mixed in with a bit of exercise but even assuming there is substance abuse on tour, you still have to hit the ball straight! And once the driver is in the bag, players dont really need muscle, they need technique. They need to hit a wedge 100 yards to a tightly tucked pin location and Im not sure theres a drug out there that can help with this. And just how will any banned substance help a professional read and sink a 15 foot putt with a double break in it?

The illegal substances that generally get all the attention are the muscle pumping, strength inducing drugs so prevalent among the Popeye forearmed baseball players of recent years but what about some of the other prohibited substances on the list for testing? The list includes everything from anabolic steroids and hormones to beta-blockers. Now I can see how beta-blockers may be of help to a PGA Tour professional as they basically block the affect adrenalin has on your body. In other words they make you relax! Additionally they facilitate smooth muscle control which explains their prevalence as being a treatment for various heart ailments including cardiac arrhythmias and heart attacks (prevention post-attack).

woods recently reminded reporters that nick Price once admitted to using beta blockers but said they actually hurt his game rather than help but drugs have varying effects on people so whos to say it wont help the next guy? A few beers usually help calm me down but it certainly doesnt seem to help my game any! Its not farfetched to think that beta-blockers may help someone down the road.

Its better to be proactive rather than reactive so Finchems making the right call here but Im betting on betting on the players and believe golf will not be shamed and dragged into the mud like so many other sports these day.

About the author - golf fanatic Greg Shaw is the VP of Sales for Tattoo golf ( http://www.tattoogolf.com/ ) and has extensive experience in trend marketing. Greg also owns http://www.thegolfshirtfactory.com He can be reached at greg@tattoogolf.com

I am often asked how one goes about choosing the right laptop. Obviously because of the technological understanding required as well as the plethora of brands out there, it can be very confusing and daunting.

So here is some brief advice on how to go about it:

Firstly decide what you are going to use the laptop for. For example, if it is just to be used for internet, email access and documents then your requirements are very different from someone planning to run processor and memory intensive applications such as games, media applications or CAD. An entry level laptop may be more than adequate for your needs! So why pay for more?

Dont buy a laptop just because it has "lots of features". This is because you will most likely end up paying for features that you dont need. A good example of what I mean by "lots of features" and where this happens a lot is with cell phones. Most people just use them for calls and smss, yet end up paying exorbitant prices for fancy phones that have a million-and-one features, they never use.

Rather carefully consider the specifications and features of various models and decide what is important for your needs. I.e. wireless (mostly standard nowadays), bluetooth, harddrive size, processor spec, memory size, built in camera etc.

When comparing models which have similar specifications go for the one with the highest performance processor (dual processor preferable) as well as the maximum amount of ram you can afford (minimum 512Mbytes). The better the processor and the more ram, the faster the laptop will be. While one should not buy IT based on "lots of features", it is worth ensuring that you get the best "value for money" with features that are important.

Weight and battery size can also be a deciding factor. If you travel frequently, then a light laptop with a 12 screen may be preferable to lugging around the world with a dead weight.

Choosing the laptop brand is always a personal thing. Sometimes you just like the look and feel of a particular brand. Other times it's a recommendation from a particular person. The brand you choose can also make a huge difference in price. For example recently, I was comparing a Lenovo Z61p against a Mecer E81 with identical performance specifications and the Lenovo was +- R6000 (South African Rands) more expensive. Also the Mecer had more inbuilt features such as a camera and TV tuner. However despite the price difference and extra features, the customer still went for the Lenovo because he loved the "look and feel" of the Lenovo brand over the Mecer.

My favorites brands in order of preference are: Lenovo, Acer, Mecer and HP.