Another celebrity who doesn't diet but still sports a super slim physique: Gwyneth Paltrow. She dishes about her ban on all things diet-related on today's Oprah show. Tune in for the whole scoop -- or check out this video for a 40-second snippet.

In a nutshell, here's what the 35-year-old actress says about eating what she wants, when she wants it.

• Paltrow finds it impossible to stick to a diet. It's the idea that you can't have something that makes her want it even more. Ah, deprivation -- a diet derailer for sure.
• Instead of counting calories, this star prefers to work up a sweat. "It's worth it to me to do that extra exercise so I can eat what I want and not think about it," she says.
• To demonstrate her love for food -- and her willingness to eat it -- Paltrow and chef Mario Batali cooked, ate, and drank their way across Spain for their upcoming show, Spain ... On the Road Again. The PBS culinary series debuts September 20 and will go on to follow a tour of 13 cities.

  Gwyneth Paltrow: Slim without diets(click thumbnails to view gallery)

  

While Paltrow may not follow a strict diet, she's obviously eating right -- I'd guess junk foods are not a staple on her daily menu. Combined with her solid exercise routine, she's found a good balance. You can too.

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Derail. You know the word. Let's face it, most of us working toward good health through diet and exercise have an intimate relationship with the word. Diet derailers are everywhere -- in your house, in the grocery store, at work, at play, in your head even. Here, we'll address the very things that throw us off course. Together, we'll learn how to avoid our diet traps -- and how to get back on track when we can't.

I've tried deprivation when it comes to my diet. It doesn't work. You might think eating less helps in the weight loss department. It makes sense. Aren't we told to cut calories when we want to cut the fat from our bodies? Yep. And sometimes, this technique may be in order. Not when it it's too restrictive, however, and never should you go to extremes.

Ever completely cut carbs from your diet? What happens? If you're like me, you crave them constantly and in a moment of weakness, hunt down the cracker aisle at Publix, and begin shoveling down Wheat Thins before exiting the parking lot. Not a good diet technique. Not only does deprivation make us crave our banned food items, it eventually causes our systems to revolt, hanging on to every last calorie and gram of fat it can scrounge up. It can pack on the pounds, strip us of energy, rob us of nutrients, and put us at risk for serious health problems.

My deprivation days -- there really were only a few -- are long gone. As those closest to me can tell you, I simply must eat, because when I'm hungry, I'm cranky. I need a full tummy and a fueled body to operate effectively in this world. Here's how you can join me in ditching deprivation for good.

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Americans are extremely productive people. If there is one thing we are good at doing, it's working. The unfortunate downside of our productivity in the workplace, however, is our consequential lack of sleep.

All work and no play may make Jack a dull boy. But, all work, some play, and no sleep make Jack an extremely unhealthy boy. Getting less than seven to eight hours of sleep each night can cause an increase in ghrelin levels, the hormone responsible for making you crave salty, sugary, and fatty foods.

If you're having trouble squeezing in enough sleep at night, you can still benefit a great deal from a 30-minute power nap during the day. The trick is to not nap past the 30-minute mark, for it is as that point when your body begins entering in the deeper stages of sleep. And, waking up during this portion of the sleep cycle could potentially leave you feeling tired again. So, stick to 30 minutes and under and you should feel plenty refreshed and recharged, in addition to being able to stave off cravings for comfort foods.

Getting an adequate amount of sleep is just as important for your health as eating right and living an active lifestyle. Yet, we skimp on it all the time. Even some people who make certain to exercise and eat well still short themselves by sleeping only a few hours a night. Just how much does sleep affect our health? Men's Health magazine broke it down like this:

8 Hours of Sleep - Improves your problem-solving ability by 300 percent compared to those who burn the midnight oil.

Less Than 6 Hours of Sleep - Can harm cognitive skills as much as two full nights of sleep deprivation.

Less Than 4 Hours of Sleep - Results in a 24 percent increase in appetite, with especially strong cravings for sugar, salt, and starch.

0 Hours of Sleep - Not sleeping for even 17 hours straight impairs driving as much as a blood-alcohol of 0.5 percent (so, you can imagine what not sleeping for a full 24 hours does to you).

And with that, I'm off to bed!!

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"I do believe sleep deprivation has a lot to do with some of the edginess of Washington today," says Bill Clinton in the February 2008 issue of Austin Fit Magazine. Clinton, the man caught on camera nodding off during a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. service on January 21, may have a point.

Grueling schedules, dozens of speeches, endless travel, and up-all-night strategizing comes with a price: Lack of sleep. It's no wonder blank stares, fumbled words, and cranky moods abound for presidential candidates and their crews.

There's no hiding the fact that we all get tired and that fatigue can sideline the best of us. Logging a good amount of slumber then is key. There is just no substitute for sufficient sleep, according to this Science Daily article. Caffeine, other types of stimulants, and brief naps may help in the short-term but to survive for the long haul, sleep is the only answer.

Sadly, many of us don't get enough sleep. Check out these facts: About one in five adults fail to get enough sleep yet on average, most adults need about seven to eight hours each night to feel alert and well rested. An estimated 50 million to 70 million people in the U.S. suffer from a chronic sleep disorder, which can lead to cognitive malfunctioning and even weight gain. And a study published in the journal Sleep in 2007 used a gambling task to show that risky decisions can be more attractive to a sleep-deprived brain.

Good news: In the U.S. there are more than 1,400 sleep disorders centers and labs accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Hunt one down if you're in the market for a good night's sleep.

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Sleep deprivation is unhealthy. Get four hours of sleep or less per night for 12 consecutive nights, and you're more likely to suffer lack of coordination, judgment, and reaction time; experience crummy moods; feel body pain; and even gain weight.

For all you sleepy heads who can't seem to get a wink of slumber, these tips are for you.

• Sip on some chamomile tea. It contains glycine, a chemical that acts as a mild sedative and muscle relaxant. Drink this potion an hour or more before bedtime if nighttime trips to the bathroom are a problem.

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If there's one trend I am very aware of lately, it's the prevelance of snacks in eating plans designed for weight-loss. Snacking used to be frowned upon, a way to over-indulge without knowing it. But it's now thought that snacks are the way to long-term weight-loss, because they can ease that mid-day hunger and keep you from over-eating at dinner. That's the premise behind yet another diet, the Snack Factor Diet, which to me sounds like a combination of the 5-factor Diet (because of the snacking involved) and the South Beach Diet (because fruit and alcohol are banned in the first phase.)

I don't think you need to buy into this diet to understand that snacking is important,as long as it's healthy snacking. Think some fruits and veggies, cottage cheese, low-fat yogurt or a handful of nuts. Deprivation doesn't work, especially if you're ravished by dinner time.

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Although many studies have been done on the negative effects that sleep deprivation has on the performance of athletes, not much has been done on how extra sleep affects athletic performance. But recently a small study was done by taking 6 basketball players from the Stanford University team and measuring how stats like sprint times and free-throw percentages were affected by extra sleep. For the first two weeks the players kept with their normal sleeping habits, and for the second two weeks they were asked to get as much sleep as possible. When their individual athletic statistics were compared they all did better in the second two week period compared to the first.

My only question is this: How do the researchers know the athletes were getting enough sleep in the first place? I don't know many college kids that regularly get enough sleep every night, so maybe this was just another test of sleep deprivation (the first two weeks) versus getting enough sleep (the second two weeks) -- not necessarily getting extra sleep.

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Recognizing that your child is using drugs is sometimes not that easy. Teenagers getting high on cold medicines, cough syrups, and similar items has increased. Also teenagers raid the medicine cabinets of their family and the family members of their friends in search of quick and easy ways to experiment with drugs. Maintaining a healthy open relationship with your child is important in helping them make the right choice not to use drugs.

One drug on the street that is hugely popular and becoming more widespread is Methamphetamine. Methamphetamine is a strong physical and mental stimulant available in both prescription and street forms. It is relatively easy to synthesize which has contributed to its widespread use. Street names for the drug are speed, meth, crystal, crank, tina, and sometimes confusingly called ice. Health risks and problems associated with methamphetamine use are agitation, inability to concentrate, cardiovascular stress, heart attack & hypertensive crisis, stroke, overheating, poor sleep, sleep deprivation, bad driving, poor diet, paranoia, risky sexual behavior, neurotoxicity and death.

Get to know the subtle drug behavior warning signs as well as the obvious signs of drug use.
Changes in friends, declining grades, negative changes in schoolwork, or missing school more frequently, increased secrecy about possessions or activities, use of incense, room deodorant, or perfume to hide smoke or chemical odors, subtle changes in conversations with friends, (examples are more secretive and using "coded" language), change in clothing choices with a new fascination with clothes that highlight drug use, increase in borrowing or asking for money, shoplifting, evidence of drug paraphernalia such as pipes, rolling papers, needles, evidence of use of inhalant products (such as hairspray, nail polish, correction fluid, common household products, and rags and paper bags are sometimes used as accessories), bottles of eye drops, which may be used to mask bloodshot eyes or dilated pupils, new use of mouthwash or breath mints to cover up the smell of alcohol, and missing prescription drugs, especially narcotics and mood stabilizers from your medicine cabinets.

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