If you’ve visited a Skechers retail store or flipped through a health magazine in the last six months you may have noticed a funny looking shoe called Shape Ups hitting the weight loss marketplace.

[Nothing makes me feel more comfortable then walking barefoot.]

According to Skechers, Shape Ups were designed to promote weight loss, firm calf and butt muscles, improve posture and strengthen your back with several styles and colors available for men and women.

Now it’s not often weight loss and fashion are combined into one tangible product but during a recent visit to a Skechers retail store I decided to give these bad boys a try because you can never have enough butt muscles, right? (more…)

Another catchy title on the fat loss book circuit has made it’s way across my desk this month with The Denim Diet -16 Simple Habits to Get You into Your Dream Pair of Jeans coming in from wardrobe stylist and set designer Kami Gray. I’m not kidding. Gray is not a dietitian nor does she have an emotional fat-to-skinny story to fall back on. Instead she’s a working woman who has styled for TV shows House, Veronica Mars and Hell’s Kitchen as well as commercials for Toyota and Nike.

I try not to judge but sometimes you just want to stop and consider the facts. Her background doesn’t exactly scream expert but I’m an open-minded individual so let’s give Kami a chance and see what she has to offer.

[Love the look of dark blue jeans but not completely sold on the whole let-me-show-you-my-underwear look?]

The Denim Diet claim

Gray dismisses the bathroom scale and fad diets as nothing more then a waste of your time. She claims that a favorite pair of designer jeans – or as she puts it the wow-him date-night jeans or the back-of-the-closet pair waiting for the skinner you – is the only fat loss motivator and guide you need. (more…)

Bookstores are no longer the only places to find books about fat loss and better health. For a couple of years now I’ve enjoyed the wide selection of material available at Costco and during one of my recent trips I was confronted with a familiar title, The South Beach Diet.

[When I see this photo, I can't help but think the girl in the foreground is laughing at the full piece bathing suit in the background? I'm sure there were similar snickers at the Costco checkout with my copy of The South Beach Diet in tow.]

I can still remember all the hype back in 2003 when the South Beach diet first hit book shelves. It was massive! Everyone and their mothers flocked to it including celebrities like Bill Clinton, Nicole Kidman, and our friend Oprah Winfrey.

Besides the overwhelming popularity surrounding the book, it’s message was quite sound as well: choose nutrient rich foods including high fiber carbs (fruits, veggies and whole grains), unsaturated fats, lean proteins, and low fat dairy.

Now, the 10th installment in the “South Beach Diet” series, the “Supercharged” edition highlights ways for people to boost metabolism to break through the fat loss plateau that so many encounter. To hell with it, I’m curious so off to the cash register I go to see what “new” information the celebrity cardiologist from Miami, Dr. Arthur Agatston would share with me six years later. Besides, I could always return it next week (thank you Costco return policy).

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Another week and a dozen more offers sitting in my email inbox for the amazing Acai Berry. I’ve put off the idea of analyzing this highly touted supplement primarily for these two reasons:

1. Anything that sounds to good to be true usually falls flat on it’s face, especially in the world of fat loss;

2. Oprah.

[A friend asked me what Acai supplement she should be using in her diet. This picture captures my reaction quite well.]

Now I enjoy most of Oprah’s segments and features but this particular episode from last year, which also included some hyped-up talk about Resveratrol, was a complete disaster.

OK, it was really Dr. Mehmet Oz who dropped the ball, but unknowingly or not, this episode contributed to a dramatic rise in Acai profit ($15 million last year, up from $500,000 per year in previous years) and junk email offers around the world.

Almost overnight, Oprah and other celebrities became walking endorsements with ad campaigns built entirely around them to be used in every corner of the internet. By filing a lawsuit earlier this month, it looks like Oprah may think twice about doing another episode about this “miracle” fat loss supplement.

With the rise of acai berry products, it’s virtually impossible to get any subjective and unbiased information on the topic because all the junk websites have risen to the top in most search engines.

What I’ll attempt to do here is save you the headache and give you an honest digestible (pardon the pun) version of the facts regarding this heavily publicized piece of fruit.

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