Cosmetic Makeovers - Show and Tell - Weight Loss

Angela Stokes

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 12:15:40 -0500

Angela Stokes has lost 160 pounds and has kept the weight off for over four years. Her raw food weight loss story is featured on CNN today.

Stokes weighed 300 pounds on her 30th birthday. Soon after she decided to go on a raw food diet as a new way of life. She's become a huge fan of the raw food diet and has written several books about it. She knows most people couldn't adhere to it but she recommends that people aim to eat at least 50% of their food this way.

Stokes has made two great YouTube videos about her weight loss and her raw food diet. Check them out.

Green Tea Scams with Oprah "Endorsements"

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 11:20:19 -0500

If you see an ad for green tea touting endorsement of the product by Oprah or Rachel Rae - beware, as it is a false claim.

Oprah and Rachel Ray have both talked about the benefits of green tea on their shows but neither has endorsed or 'featured' a specific product.

See {a one woman's story http://www.wcpo.com/content/news/localshows/dontwasteyourmoney/story.aspx?content_id=7cf62a78-c7eb-4f5b-a4c9-d5a2a3628982}. Denise was skeptical of most weight loss claims. But she remembers hearing Oprah talk about green tea. And when she saw a website for a type of green tea called "Wu Yi", with photos and testimonials from Rachael Ray and Oprah, she was sold.

She ordered a box of the tea with her credit card and has been getting more stuff and more bills in the mail ever since. She finally had to cancel her credit card.

Sounds like it's a much better idea to get your green tea from the store. The photo above is by Kanko.

Fitness Routine for Sarah Palin

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 11:41:32 -0500

Sarah Palin, age 44, is the Governor of Alaska and was just chosen by John McCain as his running mate, making her the second female vice presidential candidate representing a major political party.

She's just given birth to her fifth child yet she stays incredibly fit. She has been into running all her life. Both her parents were marathoners. When she's not pregnant or in recent post-pregnancy mode she typically runs 7 to 10 miles almost every day. She also eats a healthy diet heavy in wild Alaskan seafood, moose, caribou and fresh fruit.

See her fitness routine and recent photos in the debut issue of the WSJ Magazine today.

And then, for comic relief, there is the not so superwoman glowing (in fact somewhat sexist) profile of her on YouTube by Kevin Nalts;

Yoga for Weight Loss

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:17:04 -0500

In this video, yoga instructor Esther shows us a sequence of yoga poses (asanas) that would be especially helpful for people who are trying to lose weight. She recommends repeating the series of moves shown here six times each day.

Britney Spears is Fit Again

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:30:33 -0500

Here's Britney Spears looking very beautiful, healthy and fit again. It's a promo for MTV's video music awards coming up on September 7th, 2008.

Fatburger Expansion

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:08:23 -0500

The news today is that hip hop star Kayne West is opening 10 Fatburger franchises in Chicago. He's set to become a fast food tycoon soon.

The expanding Fatburger franchise already has over 80 locations, mostly in Southern California (with twelve just in Las Vegas).

Their Fatburger has 520 calories and 880 units of sodium and provides you with 35% of your daily recommended amount of iron. Their Veggieburger in contrast, has about 430 calories, a higher sodium content at 1180, and provides 70% of your daily iron needs. Their veggie burgers are made from a soy patty and served on a whole wheat bun.

Veggie burgers have become quite popular these days, especially with females, but they usually taste so much better when they're prepared at home.

If there are any nutritionists reading this, we'd love to know the approximate nutritional details of this lentil burger recipe that is very delicious and easy to make at home. See recipe in video below;

Less Money, More Fat

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:23:02 -0500

There's a story in the New York Post about how many New Yorkers have had to cut down on gym memberships and personal trainers because they are feeling the pinch with smaller bonuses and paychecks.

With the economy in a slump, the unemployment rate jumping from 4.8 percent in May 2008 to 5.3 in June (thanks to major layoffs at places like Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch, New York state had the second-highest number of mass layoff claims nationwide in June), and the cost of everything skyrocketing, New Yorkers are cutting back on lifestyle perks. Says a 38-year-old Upper East Sider who just lost her job at a hedge fund: “I used to have three memberships—one at a gym, one at a spinning studio and one at a yoga studio. I was spending upwards of $600 a month. Now I’ve taken up running, because it’s free.” Still, she’s worried about the future of her waistline, since “many of my friends have lost their jobs too. We used to eat out every night, but now we order in barbecue. Plus, I’m not sure what I’m going to do about working out once the weather changes.”

Kg to Pounds Converter

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 12:34:59 -0500

A lot of people watching the Olympics today are looking up how to convert kilograms to pounds, as all the athlete weights are being announced in kilograms.

1 kilogram = 2.20462262 pounds

Just a reminder that we have a nifty {a kilogram/pound converter http://cosmetic-makeovers.com/2006/09/22/weight-calculator-converting-kilos-and-pounds} available right here on the bottom left sidebar. Just enter the number of kilograms, and it will spit out the equivalent pound weights (or from pounds to kilos).

Slimming Clothes Tips

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:06:06 -0500

Xazmin Garza has written a great article about how to choose clothes that will make you look 5 to 20 pounds slimmer depending on your height.

Her main tips include choosing V-necks as the eye starts at the bust and goes upward, choosing vertical lines as they narrow you, going for tailored pieces (if it doesn't fit, you look unfit) and choosing dark colors to minimize and light colors to maximize. She recommends empire waist blouses as the smallest part of the rib cage is accented and wrap dresses where the V-neck frames the face and the wrap defines the waist.

See more of her slimming clothes tips here.

See also the video below where Katie Stiles chooses a few empire waist tops that look much better than the standard t-shirt.

The Perfect Female Figure?

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 09:32:25 -0500

A UK magazine has surveyed thousands of people and found that men preferred a larger size for women than women did. Men thought the ideal body was a UK size 12 (US size 8), while women thought the perfect body was a UK size 8 (US size 4). See more of their survey findings at Fabulous Magazine.

The Fat Princess Video Game

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:50:12 -0500

The Fat Princess video game put out by Sony is creating lots of controversy. See all the comments at Feministing.com.

BTW, one of the comments made an interesting observation about the logo for Feministing.com. For a site focused on flagging the sexist stereotypical images of women, it has a pretty odd logo.

Lane Bryant on Sale

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 15:34:42 -0500

There's a big sale on at Lane Bryant online for the next three days (until July 9th). All their clothes are 40 to 50% off as part of their July 4th Celebration. If you need plus sized clothing from size 14 to 28, check them out for some real bargains.

Heidi Klum Eats McDonald's Chicken Wraps

Thu, 29 May 2008 10:17:24 -0500

Heidi Klum is helping McDonald's sell their new chicken wrap offering. It's an expensive campaign by McDonald's to attempt to alter their image as kings of junk food.

The wrap she is holding here is a grilled chicken breast strip with cheddar jack cheese, shredded lettuce and honey mustard sauce in a flour tortilla. It is about 240 calories. It seems much more nutritious than the typical McDonald's fare in that the calorie count is low and it provides 11% of the daily recommended amount of calcium and iron. However, it also includes 33% of daily recommended amount of sodium, which is alarmingly high given the nutritional value it provides. And the fiber content is low at 4%, you'd have to eat 25 of these (at 6,000 calories) to get your fiber quota for the day.

And remember you are not exactly getting free range chicken here. We don't want to think too deeply about where these chickens come from.

Virtual Fitness with Wii Fit

Mon, 26 May 2008 08:14:28 -0500

Wii Fit is going to be the first really big-selling virtual fitness video game. It includes several different types of exercise options: aerobic exercise, muscle conditioning, yoga and balance games.

Check out Nintendo's Wii Fit video trailer below (if for no other reason than to see some really neat living room furniture and design makeover ideas).

The Yummie Tummie Tank Top

Sun, 18 May 2008 10:01:20 -0500

The Yummie Tummmie company got a big boost by being featured on Oprah recently. Heidi Klum introduced their tank top and said she wished she had known about this when she had her children "because it kind of sucks it all in and keeps it nice".

The Yummie Tummie tank top is made to smooth away lumps and bumps, while looking stylish. It's being promoted as an everyday tank that is perfect for layering and will slim your middle area. It's made of cotton with a spandex tummy panel. It's available in 10 different colors but four of the colors are already sold out online thanks to the Oprah effect. Cost is $62.