Weight loss product of the Day - Tefal Actifry Low Fat Fryer
21/01/2010 at 07:24am by Rich Leigh, founder of Fat Free Fitness
With weight loss, a healthy diet is 80% of the battle. The Tefal Actifry (£130.39 on Amazon), at the top end of the fryer price range, is great for chip lovers and healthy eaters too.
For people who like nothing more than a few fried potato sticks, the Actifry can provide you with a family sized batch of chips with just one tablespoon of olive oil, doing away with all the messy and hugely unhealthy oil you may have been used to using. You can place up to a kilo of freshly cut chips into the cooking pan, measure your preferred oil with the scoop provided, pour it over and then set the timer.
Simply put, the Actifry looks cooler than a fryer should be allowed to look, with patented technology that circulates hot air around your chips, whilst the paddle evenly disperses the oil. We’ve given it a test run and the chips you end up with are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, with just 3% fat content.
As a weight loss blog, we wouldn’t forget to tell you though, that as great as the Actifry is if you’d like to ease yourself into weight loss by still enjoying the foods you may have enjoyed last year, chips are still a fairly calorie-laden option, even with just 3% fat. Enjoy them responsibly! A recipe book is included for more ideas, though, as with any fryer, the Actifry allows you to cook a range of foods including meat, fish, stir fried vegetables and more.
Click the link below to read more user reviews and more information about the product - it's the 20th most popular homeware item on Amazon, so you'd be in good company if you chose to buy it!
Weight Watchers sues Jenny Craig over 'deceptive' ads
20/01/2010 at 07:27pm by Rich Leigh, founder of Fat Free Fitness
Weight Watchers is suing rival weight-loss company Jenny Craig over ads it says are misleading and deceptive.
According to the lawsuit filed yesterday in Manhattan, Jenny Craig falsely claimed in a television commercial that "a major clinical trial" shows its clients on average lost more than twice as much weight as "those on the largest weight loss program," a reference to Weight Watchers.
Weight Watchers says no such ‘clinical trial’ has been done and the claims in the ads are not supported by fact or science.
New York-based Weight Watchers is seeking to halt the ad campaign and to force Jenny Craig to run corrective advertising, give up improper profits and pay punitive damages, amongst other asks.
Jenny Craig, part of Switzerland's Nestle AG, had no immediate comment on the lawsuit, no doubt racking their brains as to how best handle the public relations disaster this could possibly become.
If no such trial ever took place as is depicted in the ad, which is according to the lawsuit; designed to "capitalise on this crucial consumer dieting season", Jenny Craig could do more harm than good to the brand, and provide reams of unexpected media attention for Weight Watchers – again, no doubt something WW’s PR team have their eye on achieving.
Here's the commercial in question below - notice the hugely stereotypical 'lab geek' behind the irritatingly chirpy Valerie Bertinelli!
Quarter of women have used diet pills
19/01/2010 at 07:58pm by Rich Leigh, founder of Fat Free Fitness
For our daily dose of diet, health and fitness today, we’re going to feature some research we actually commissioned and sent to the British press today, which has already started to get coverage online (including here on NetDoctor!) and attracted interest from the national media.
I decided at the beginning of the year that I wanted to look at the number of people who resort to weight loss tablets in order to lose weight, and called an end to the nationwide study at the weekend, having received responses from nearly 1,400 people (well, 1,392 women, to be exact!).
The Cold Hard Facts
- A quarter of women have used weight-loss tablets
- 7% of men have used weight-loss tablets
- Two thirds of weight-loss tablet users, 67%, said they bought them online
- Women aged 30 or over were most likely to resort to using fat loss aids
- 16-21 year olds were the least likely age group to use them, with 15% admitting to having taken them, whilst 26% of women aged 40-50 had.
- More than two-thirds said they used them because they ‘didn’t have time to exercise’
- 31% said they used them because they felt it was their ‘last resort’
- 62% of people who had used fat loss aids said they’d lost weight using them, although…
- Just 8% said they’d kept the weight off since
Perhaps most positively (if any of the figures can be taken as positive), 86% of women who have used fat loss tablets said they wouldn’t use them again due to the side effects, although 39% of those who hadn’t used the tablets said they wouldn’t rule out using them.
The side effects
Side effects noted by those who had used weight-loss tablets ranged from nausea and diarrhoea to dizziness and fainting. Here are the ten most common symptoms previous users admit to having experienced:
1. Headaches – 92% admitted to having experienced
2. Nausea – 85%
3. Lack of concentration – 83%
4. Dry mouth – 82%
5. Dizziness – 78%
6. Diarrhoea – 75%
7. Vomiting – 69%
8. Anxiety – 41%
9. Fainting –17%
10. Rectal bleeding – 12%
Reaction to the study
Fat burning pills have become a multi-million pound industry within the UK and America due to the obesity epidemic, but I truly believe that as well as the fact that turning to weight loss tablets unadvised and essentially blind is not only potentially dangerous, it also doesn’t address the individual’s association with diet and exercise.
In my mind, when an individual turns to fat burning tablets, they’re subjecting themselves to something they are unlikely to know anything about.
Fat-loss tablet companies, especially those faceless vendors found online, are no more responsible than your typical street-corner drug dealer in my opinion. They’re pushing these products that may or may not be what they claim to be, using false testimonials with unrealistic claims of weight loss and still, somehow, managing to sleep at night.
People looking to lose weight often convince themselves that they’ve tried everything to lose it, but there is, in my experience with clients, always something these people are overlooking, purposely or not.
Although it’s been said millions of times, healthy and lasting weight loss is only attainable through adhering to a healthy lifestyle, including a balanced diet inclusive of treats and regular exercise.
Fat-loss aids don’t address psychological issues people may have with food, and like any addiction, reversion is extremely likely to happen if the changes made aren’t more long-term. Quick fixes such as crash dieting and fat-loss tablets are akin to deprivation, and deprivation can only ever be a short-term answer.
I have a whole blog here talking about whether or not diet pills are the answer. Check it out, there’s some great information in it - it opens in a new tab.
Over to you
So, what do you think about the figures? What you expected? It nearly pains me to say it, but to be honest, I wasn’t that surprised to see the usage so high, especially amongst age groups who you would think would be a bit wiser.
Has the commercialisation of Alli diet pills within the UK made it 'OK' to take weight loss aids?
Fitness Product of the Day - Salter MaxView Analyser scale
19/01/2010 at 08:07am by Weight loss expert and founder Rich Leigh
For Product of the Day today, we’ve decided to look at something no weight loser (odd adjective there) should be without: weighing scales.
I’ve never seen a set of scales, this side of the zoo at least, with a readout as big as that of this version of the popular Salter brand scales.
At nearly 20cm by 11cm, the display is intended for anyone short sighted, or for anyone who wants to see their results clearly, whether you want to see your weight in lbs, stone or kilograms. The scales look great and will fit into most bathrooms in terms of style, with its stainless steel fascia.
The MaxView has a 26cm squared platform and features every estimate function you would expect given the £49.50 price tag, including body fat & water percentage, muscle mass, BMI & BMR, athlete mode and memory storage for 10 separate users, which makes it perfect for even the largest of families. Although some of these function measurements are never perfect (except BMI, where you have to feed it your height), they’re a great indicator. In order to measure body fat and consequently muscle mass accurately, bathroom scales will never quite cut it when compared to body fat callipers or other methods, such as water weighing, so don’t totally rely on them as being 100%.
You’ll want to keep the scales off of carpet, as like with pretty much every set of scales I’ve ever used, the readings are especially inconsistent on anything other than a flat surface, such as tiles or wood.
The scale functions are fantastically easy to use, with initially well design- hidden buttons, and of course, full instructions in the box.
In summary, these scales are a great looking, easy to use set that will compliment most households. With so many products out there which do exactly the same thing in terms of primary function, what make the Salter MaxView scales different is the great estimate functions and separate user accounts, which will regularly update your BMI as you go along – a nice, but by no means foolproof way to see whether or not you’re within a healthy weight range.
Click on the scales below to see more about them on Amazon!
Doctors urge government to ban man-made fat
18/01/2010 at 08:30pm by Rich Leigh, founder of Fat Free Fitness
A group of more than 3000 doctors and health specialists in the UK are urging the Government to ban the production of artificial trans-fats, which are used to increase a food’s shelf life, in a bid to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
What is trans-fat?
Trans-fat is essentially chemically altered vegetable oil. These oils are ‘hydrogenated’ in order to turn the liquid into solid fat – and it features in more of your weekly food choices than you may realise.
Trans-fats are used because they are cheap, add bulk to products, have a neutral flavour and give products a longer shelf life, and the worst part? In the UK at present, there is no specific requirement for food labels to even tell you that it contains trans-fat. The way to tell is to avoid products that list hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated or shortenings on the label.
What foods should I avoid?
Fast food, frozen pies, doughnuts, sweets, biscuits and ready meals are all regularly made with trans-fat.
The World Health Organisation also believes artificial trans-fats, which have already been banned in Denmark, New York, California, Switzerland and Austria, are harmful to health and is calling for further restrictions on their use.
What did they say?
Prof Alan Maryon-Davis, the group behind the call to politicians, The UK Faculty of Public Health president, said: "Trans-fats are much less well-known than saturated fats but are much more damaging. They are very bad for the heart, play a key role in the UK's very high levels of heart disease and contribute to a large number of the excess coronary deaths we have in this country."
"Foods can be made perfectly well without trans fats. The government should move to ban them as soon as possible because eliminating them completely would help save many lives."
Prof Steve Field, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said: "The evidence is indisputable that trans-fats raise your risk of having heart disease and so they can ultimately kill you."
Further fat reading!
For a comprehensive guide of why you need to get fat in order to lose weight, please read this fantastic article on good fats and bad fats here by Melissa Wall (opens in another tab).
Fast food is packed with trans-fat
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Fat Free Fitness Weight Loss
Launched in 2009, fatfreefitness.co.uk is the UK's only weight loss specific personal training agency. Fat Free Fitness helps you stop dieting and counting calories, by teaching you how to improve your nutrition, increase your activity and exercise levels and lose weight. Fatfreefitness.co.uk is a great way to lose weight and save money. fatfreefitness provides you with expert diet, fitness, exercise, gym and personal training advice and support, similar to ivillage.co.uk, weightlossforall.com, thecolumn.org, weightlossforgood.co.uk, tescodiets.co.uk and weightlossresources.co.uk. Win diet, exercise and fitness products by entering fatfreefitness.co.uk competitions. Fatfreefitness.co.uk is not a weight loss support group like Weight Watchers weightwatchers.co.uk or Slimming World slimmingworld.com. Fat Free Fitness is updated regularly with new information. Fatfreefitness.co.uk and weight loss expert, personal trainer and fatfreefitness.co.uk founder Rich Leigh disagree with and discourage fat loss tablets, diet tablets and weight loss aid tablets, fad dieting and crash diets such as the Atkins diet, the Cambridge diet, the cabbage soup diet, the Beverley Hills diet, the baby food diet and all other carbohydrate and calorie restricting diets.
