Latest news
Lorraine Kelly Drops a Dress Size
Posted: Wednesday, 16 June, 2010 | Categories: Lorraine Kelly, weight loss plan, weight loss
Everyone’s favourite TV mum Lorraine Kelly has been parading her new slim-line body, saying that she’s only really been happy with her body since she turned 50 last year.
The star, famed for her cosy chats on GMTV’s sofa, slimmed down from a size 14 to a size 12 as part of her training for the 2010 London Marathon. She told Closer magazine, “I feel much better when I’m this size, its lovely to be able to go to a shop and buy a size 12.”
Lorraine has put her new shape down to a sensible weight loss plan, describing how she’s been making a real effort to plan her meals properly. She said she always carried a banana in her bag and makes sure that there is always fruit around, so that though she has not banned sweets she is less tempted to snack on them.
She revealed that her own push to get healthy has also had an impact on her daughter, explaining, “I make sure that Rosie, has a plate of fruit to snack on instead of crisps and chocolate."
Despite her new figure, which she showed off in the magazine in a series of pretty dresses, Kelly has vowed not to start hankering after unobtainable goals, admitting, “I’m never going to be uber-thin, it’s not how I’m meant to be.”
We think she looks fabulous, and its really refreshing to see a women in the national press advocating such as a healthy and realistic approach to weight loss!
Biggest Loser Winner Crowned
Posted: Wednesday, 26 May, 2010 | Categories: Lorraine Kelly, weight loss plan, weight loss, obesity, TV
The American version of The Biggest Loser has come to a close, with Michael Ventrella winning the champion’s crown.
He is the ninth winner of the program and has walked away with $250,000. The 30-year-old DJ, from Chicago, was the program’s heaviest ever contestant at the start, weighing in at 526lb. By the end pf the series, he had gone down to 262 lb.
The total weight loss of 264lb, or 50.19%, was a spectacular drop. Michael says that when he entered the ranch where the contestants live for the duration of the program, he knew he needed to save his life.
He said, “The only way to do that was to bare all. I left everything I loved, everything I hated – I had to get over it. I dedicated myself so much. I had to reach a place inside me I didn’t think existed. Even to this day, I don’t feel like I’m done yet. I’m going to keep going.”
The show has faced a fair amount of criticism for the extreme methods they used, with past contestants saying that they would routinely starve themselves or not drink in order to meet their targets at the weigh in.
Past winner Ryan C Benson said that he became so dehydrated that at one point he was urinated blood, while medical professionals have expressed grave concerns, with one, Dr. Charles Burant of the University of Michigan, saying that he was ‘waiting for the first person to have a heart attack’.
However the producers say that they take health very seriously and that the wellbeing of contestants is carefully monitored.
Either way, it seems America loves watching the obese lose weight and the show has routinely been a ratings winner for station NBC.
More UK Cancers Due to Obesity and Alcohol
Posted: Tuesday, 6 April, 2010 | Categories: Lorraine Kelly, weight loss plan, weight loss, obesity, TV, cancer, alcohol
The UK’s obesity crisis means that we have nearly caught up with the US in terms of the number of preventable cancers being reported.
Figures have shown that were Britons to be more careful about their weight, take regular exercise and consume a diet heavy on fruit and vegetables, about 80,000 cases of cancer each year could be prevented. That’s nearly a third of all cases of cancer annually in the UK.
Analysis of the figures has shown that the U.S has a similar rate of preventable cancers, though the rate of obesity is far higher there.
It is thought that the figures are comparable because Britons, as well as having high levels of obesity, also drink more than the average American.
Scientists have said that rates of breast cancer linked to excessive alcohol consumption, which stand at 20% of all breast cancers annually, is double that of the U.S.
A representative from the World Cancer Research Fund, Professor Martin Wiseman, said that the organisation estimates that for the 7 types of cancer that are linked to obesity, just under 20% could be prevented by dieting and maintaining a healthy weight. In the UK, the figure stands at 17%.
He added that overall, preventable cancers in the UK were almost as common as in the US due to the levels of alcohol consumption. He recommended that awareness-raising was necessary to educate the public about the fact that excessive drinking increases someone’s chances of developing cancer.
FDA Investigates Reductil Concerns
Posted: Monday, 23 November, 2009 | Categories: Lorraine Kelly, weight loss plan, weight loss, obesity, TV, cancer, alcohol, Reductil, FDA
The Federal Food and Drug Administration has flagged up a report warning that the slimming pill Reductil could increase the risk of someone experiencing a heart attach or stroke.
The preliminary data from the SCOUT study indicated that when two control groups were compared, those taking the pills rather than the placebo were at a higher risk of experiencing an adverse event related to the heart. The study was designed to investigate the long-term effects of the drug on people with high cardiovascular risk.
Reductil already is not recommended for patients with a history of cardiovascular disease. 90% of patients who took part in the SCOUT study were not eligible to be prescribed the medication and though Abbott Laboratories are reviewing the data they do not believe they is any need to change the safety profile of the drug. They emphasised that they already highlighted that the medication was not suitable for patients with a history of heart disease, congestive heart failure and stroke and made this information clear on the packaging.
The FDA insisted that at the moment they have drawn no conclusions about the safety of the drug. The European Medicines Agency has also instructed their Committe for Medicinal Products for Humans to conduct a safety review into sibutramine, the medical name for Reductil.
Obesity Can Stop Women Getting Pregnant
Posted: Thursday, 5 November, 2009 | Categories: Lorraine Kelly, weight loss plan, weight loss, obesity, TV, cancer, alcohol, Reductil, FDA, Obesity
Research has indicated that obesity can severely damage a woman’s chances of having a successful pregnancy.
The researchers at Michigan State University, lead by Barbara Luke, believe that if a women is dangerously overweight it can cause her chances of conceiving and having a successful pregnancy to fall by 28%.
By analysing date from nearly 50,000 women using assisted reproductive technology but the researchers believe the results also apply to women trying to conceive naturally. It was shown that merely being overweight reduced the likelihood of carrying a baby to term by 14%.Obese women who did conceive were more likely to have a pre-term delivery or stillbirth.
Ms. Luke said she was not taken aback by the results. She commented, “The results are not surprising; obesity is a state of inflammation and is not a good environment for conception or foetal development.”
She added that before trying for a baby, women should prepare their bodies before, losing weight if necessary and giving up alcohol and smoking. She said, “The key message is to lose weight, prior to conception, and focus on pre-conception health issues.Once you become pregnant, the baby is developing in that environment.”
Last month she and her team received national recognition for her research, including one of two Scientific Program Prize Paper awards from the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. The society described her work as an important step in informing patients about their chances of getting pregnant.
New Slimming Pill in the Pipeline
Posted: Wednesday, 7 October, 2009 | Categories: Lorraine Kelly, weight loss plan, weight loss, obesity, TV, cancer, alcohol, Reductil, FDA, Obesity, diet pill, slimming pill, Qnexa
Pharmaceutical experts and doctors are getting excited about promising new results released by the pharmaceutical firm Vivus into clinical trials of their new diet pill Qnexa.
The trials have indicated that the pill could be more effective than any pill currently on the market, with patients taking the high dose losing almost 15% of their body weight and those on the lower dose losing 8% of their body weight. The users of the diet pill also saw their blood pressure drop, the health of their heart improve and their chances of developing type 2 diabetes fall.
The pill combines two medications that have already been separately trialled. The first, phentermine, was a popular weight loss drug until 10 years ago when it fell out of favour with doctors due to safety concerns. The other is an epilepsy medication called Topiramate which has been shown to promote weight loss.
3,750 obese people took part in the trials and over the 53-week trial period the average amount lost was 14.7% of each patient’s body fat. The results have been described by the lead scientist on the trial, Dr Louis Aronne of the New York Presbytarian Hospital, as “spectacular.”
He went on to say that the results were as good as those experienced by patients who have had gastric bands fitted . He then added that those battling the obesity crisis were “in desperate need of more options and effective drugs to treat obesity and the results of this trial were extremely encouraging.”
Kathy Griffiths Confesses to Using Diet Pills and Speed
Posted: Friday, 4 September, 2009 | Categories: Lorraine Kelly, weight loss plan, weight loss, obesity, TV, cancer, alcohol, Reductil, FDA, Obesity, diet pill, slimming pill, Qnexa, Diet Pills, Weight Loss
The comedian Kathy Griffiths has revealed that she struggled for years with body image issues and was so desperate to lose weight she went on crash diets and used diet pills.
She said that after years of being told by Hollywood that she didn’t look right, she became obsessed with her weight. As well as exercising excessively, taking back to back aerobics classes, she said she would starve herself during the day and binge at night. She also said that as well as trying slimming pills, she even spent two weeks taking speed, known to be a dangerous and drastic way to lose weight.
She said if the period that it was “full on, illegal speed” and added that she “took it to lose weight, which is not very smart.” However, when she stopped she said she just “felt three times as hungry afterwards.”
Griffiths said that even after she got her big break in the acting industry, landing a major role in the Brooke Shields sitcom Suddenly Susan she still felt that she wasn’t slim enough. American celebrity gossip magazine People reported how the actress lost 15lbs very fast during the first season but still felt that she was overweight. She described how realising that the clothes didn’t come in anything larger than a size 4 (UK size 6) really got to her.
She then had liposuction, but nearly died after there were complications with the operation. She is now at her thinnest weight, but confessed that staying thin was a struggle, forcing her to watch what she eats and work out a lot.
Ironically enough, after trying some dangerous and extreme ways to lose weight, Griffiths said that getting her perfect bikini body fairly late in life was due to the age-old weight loss methods of dieting and exercise.
FDA Review Alli's Safety
Posted: Tuesday, 25 August, 2009 | Categories: Lorraine Kelly, weight loss plan, weight loss, obesity, TV, cancer, alcohol, Reductil, FDA, Obesity, diet pill, slimming pill, Qnexa, Diet Pills, Weight Loss, Alli, Xenical
After various reports came though that the FDA was monitoring the possible side effects of the slimming pill Xenical carefully, they have now announced that they are launching an official review into the medication.
They are particularly concerned that orlistat, the medical name for the slimming pills Xenical and alli, may be linked to liver damage. Since Xenical went on sale in 1999 in America, the Federal Food and Drugs Administration say that they have received 32 reports of serious liver complains, all but two of which occurred outside of the U.S.
They added that 27 patients were admitted to hospital while 6 cases resulted in liver failure.
However the FDA have made it clear that the case is still only in the investigative stage and hace asked patients taking the medication to continue using it as directed. They said that the analysis of the data concerning the drug is ongoing and that no definite association between orlistat and liver damage had been established.
GlaxoSmithKline, who sell Alli, said that there was no medication that the treatment caused liver damage, adding that people who are overweight are particularly predisposed to liver problems. Roche, who sell Xenical, have so far made no comment on the situation.
Debt Can Make You Fat
Posted: Monday, 10 August, 2009 | Categories: Lorraine Kelly, weight loss plan, weight loss, obesity, TV, cancer, alcohol, Reductil, FDA, Obesity, diet pill, slimming pill, Qnexa, Diet Pills, Weight Loss, Alli, Xenical
The credit crunch has been linked to everything from increasing depression to the increasing the amount of sex people are having. Now a new study has suggested that debt levels are associated with a higher risk of being fat.
Writing in the journal BMC public health, researchers discovered that people who were worried by debt were more likely to comfort eat, while healthy food was more expensive. The scientists were from the University of Mainz in Germany and studied more than 9000 people. They found that 25% of the people in debt – 949 respondents - were medically obese, compared to 11% of those remaining who were not.
They said that debt had a number of risk factors for obesity and other chronic diseases, as people’s leisure time was limited and they could not participate as much in social activities.
They also said that energy-rich foods like sweets or fatty snacks tended to be cheaper. As financial constraints limit someone’s ability to choose food, they would be more likely to go for the unhealthy option.
Lead researcher Eva Munster said that the recent economic problems would impact on the health of private households. She said that while income, education and occupational status were frequently used to define social-economic status, itself an indicator of health, the study was the first to consider levels of debt. She concluded that debt increased the likelihood of obesity regardless of those other socio-economic factors.
Crackdown on Counterfeiting Criminals
Posted: Tuesday, 4 August, 2009 | Categories: Lorraine Kelly, weight loss plan, weight loss, obesity, TV, cancer, alcohol, Reductil, FDA, Obesity, diet pill, slimming pill, Qnexa, Diet Pills, Weight Loss, Alli, Xenical, Slimming Pills, Counterfeit Medications
A upsurge in the activities of criminal gangs based in Britain has lead police chiefs to promise a crackdown, after fears were raised that they would push up the rate of illegal sales of counterfeit medications, particularly slimming pills
Law enforces plan to use “Al Capone” style tactics to get the country’s 30,000 organised criminals behind bars. They have said that if they can’t arrest them for drugs or people trafficking offences, then they will get them for tax evasion.
In a report released by the government, it became clear that the recession was only boosting their activities, particularly in the field of producing counterfeit goods. They warned that the slimming pill market was especially vulnerable to this, as well as other lifestyle medications like Viagra.
Counterfeiting medications, especially diet pills and erectile dysfunction medications, has become a very lucrative option for criminal gangs. However while the majority of criminal activity in this field was generally restricted to places like South East Asia, it has become apparent that home-grown crooks are seeking to get in on the action.
Home Secretary Alan Johnson said, “We are sending a clear message to these networks that we are doing everything in our power to stop them threatening our safety, damaging our communities and subverting our economy."