So says Duke University psychologist Martin Binks, who presented a study Monday at a meeting of the Obesity Society showing that shedding a few pounds can improve bedroom activities by making people feel better about their bodies.

"You reap a lot of benefit from a moderate weight loss of 10 percent," Binks said. "It's a wonderful message. You don't have to reach some ideal weight to be healthy and happy."

It is one of the few studies to examine the mental and emotional problems that obesity can cause for intimacy, not just the physical troubles such as hormone imbalances or impotence.

"There has not been a lot of research in this area," said Dr. Susan Yanovski, director of obesity research at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Improving your sex life "would be another good reason to lose weight if you're obese."

They answered questions about the quality of their sex lives when the study began and every three months thereafter. The most striking improvement in attitudes was seen at three months, when they had lost about 12 percent of their initial weight.

At the outset, 68 percent of women said they felt sexually unattractive. One year into the diet, only 26 percent did. About 63 percent originally did not want to be seen undressed, but only 34 percent felt that way a year later.

"The number of males in the study does limit what we can say about men," but feelings of unattractiveness and unwillingness to be seen naked also applied to them, Binks said.

That certainly was true of Carlene Wellington, 62, and her husband, Gary, 63, of suburban Tacoma, Wash. Both were a healthy weight when they married 42 years ago, until she started to "show love" by cooking massive amounts of food.

"I could get dressed without showing any skin" and had to have the lights off when they had sex, she said. During sex, she often felt pressure in her chest, caused by anxiety and dread.

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