Yummie Tummie is a company that sells shapewear. They've got an ingenious idea with a tank top that slims your belly (muffin top) if you have one. It's not like a girdle in that it is meant to be worn to be seen. Only the middle part of the tank top has a discreet shaping shapewear component. Check out the video below where the product is reviewed on the Today Show. Also see the Yummie Tummie Shaping Tankas displayed on Amazon.

Losing 10 pounds might take as much as 10 years from your appearance. Dr. Donna Casey says that "weight comes off from the top down. Since weight sheds in the face first, this means that losing even five pounds will make you look younger."

But it's important not to lose more than one to two pounds a week as people who go on crash diets and lose large amounts of weight quickly will actually look older, with loose hanging skin.

Photo by colros

Land's End has a new site called The Island where you can 'virtually' go and submit all your size info and try on various slimming bathing suits. They help you select the best bathing suits based on your body shape.

You can submit all your key measurements (height, weight, bust size, rib cage, waist, hips, thigh, inseam and torso) and then see how the various bathing suits will look on you.

Kirstie Alley has gained 83 pounds since she stopped being spokesperson for Jenny Craig in 2007. At her 5'8" height she now weighs 228 pounds, her highest weight ever.

She says her weaknesses are butter, sugar and carbs. She also stopped exercising after being with Jenny Craig for three years and losing 75 pounds.

But she's ready to lose weight again. She wants to hire a personal trainer and train for a triathlon. She also wants to weigh 140 again. At the age of 58 that's a pretty ambitious goal.

There are a lot of 'flat stomach' and 'whiter teeth' advertising scams proliferating online. The ads lead to testimonials, which lead you to buy the product 'for free' but ask for your credit card. Then your credit card is charged monthly and it is very difficult to cancel the payments.

The best analysis of these scams that we've seen is this excellent article posted today; The Anatomy of a Web Advertising Scam: Investigating the people behind those sketchy flat-stomach ads.

Becky Worley reviews infomercials for ABC. Here's her thoughts on the 'invisible tummy trimmer'. (No, she is not wearing it in the photo above.)

At first, I wasn't very impressed with the Tummy Trimmer. It's a tubular girdle, and as a result it doesn't stay in place very well. It slides up along the bottom, creating some unsightly rolls around the beer-gut area. Also, it promises to work on back fat -- which it does, but it also creates a weird roll at the top of your back where the girdle ends. If you want to be serious about flattening and tightening like this, you need Spanx or a girdle that has a mechanism to stay in place. But keep in mind those cost considerably more than the $20 that the tummy trimmer costs.

The saving grace for the Tummy Trimmer came when I found a pretty cool way to use it: I wore it over the top of my jeans, where it helped to rein in my muffin top by streamlining the transition zone from tight jeans to loose hip flab. For that reason, I kept it in the B range.

Stevie Nicks, the famous singer from Fleetwood Mac is 60 years old but she tells People Magazine she feels very young. She says the secret to her weight loss is a PowerPlate machine which she uses every other day for 13 minutes and she says her skin looks young because she hasn't been tanning since she was 28 years old.

She lost 45 pounds going from 175 to 130.

It's the first time we've ever heard of the PowerPlate a vibrating exercise machine that costs $2,000.

Can reiki help one feel and look better? We asked Myorei, a specialist in Reiki in Vancouver, to tell us a bit about it.

CM: What is Reiki?

Myorei: Reiki uses spiritual energy to return us to wholeness: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. Reiki supports our well-being and healing by encouraging balance.

CM: If I came to you wanting to be healthier and to look younger what would you do?

Myorei: Reiki is one of the most significant factors I have found and experienced in looking and feeling good naturally. And in losing weight naturally also.

CM: Alright, after you told me this, then what would you do?

Myorei: A Reiki session helps the whole body to function more effectively. It regulates the thyroid and improves digestion and the assimilation of nutrients. It also regulates the hypothalamus, which is the body’s hunger regulator. Thus a Reiki session would help you lose weight and keep it off. The deeply relaxing effect of the Reiki session will also have a refreshing and relaxing effect on your skin.

Ongoing Reiki sessions would support you in taking responsibility for your own well-being and to move in the direction of maintaining positive wellness.

After the Reiki session I would also encourage you to move towards a wholesome, vital diet and start an appropriate exercise program.

CM: Thanks so much for this interview. We hope readers will check out your site for more info on Reiki's benefits.

Here's an ad targeted at parents. The tagline is 'Keep obesity away from your child'. It was created by an Austin ad agency on behalf of an organization called Active Life Movement.

via AdFreak

According to OK! Magazine, Jessica Simpson wants to lose twenty pounds in 2 months and is calling her plan 'the revenge diet'.

See more about her recent weight gain here and here.