These crazy products all promise to help you lose weight – but the only thing they prove is that people will try anything except exercise!
Diet glasses with deep blue lenses that are supposed to turn you off your food because it’s the wrong colour, leggings that are infused with anything from caffeine to tiny gold particles that don’t just claim to hide cellulite but eliminate it, ab-belts that give your muscles a workout through electrical stimulation … there is no shortage and no end to the incredible claims made in the name of weight loss.
But perhaps the ultimate promise comes from the Hawaii chair, which is essentially an office chair that spins and vibrates to keep you constantly off balance: ‘if you can sit, you can get fit’!
Leggings infused with anything from caffeine to gold particles claim to eliminate cellulite by boosting circulation.
These diet glasses with blue lenses are supposed to turn off your appetite by making the food look unappealing.
The ab-belt claims that electrical stimulation contracts muscles, causing them to get a workout without exercise.
The Calorie Breath Weight Loss Program says that the more oxygen in your blood the faster your metabolism. So breathe harder!
A Beverly Hills doctor sews prolene mesh patches to tongues, the rationale being that it makes it uncomfortable to chew solid food, so you don’t bother.
This soap made from seaweed claims to have resulted in 20 per cent reductions in body fat by eliminating fat layers.
This device which reduces your bite size and mouth volume, stays in your mouth for a year, and conditions you to eat differently.
The Hawaii Chair’s seat spins and vibrates to keep you constantly off balance.
The oldest and craziest fad of them all – swallow tape worms, they nest in your gut and feed off digesting food.
The neckline slimmer goes under your chin and creates resistance as you imitate a fish – chin sit-ups!
Yes it causes excessive sweating, but you can also pay a lot of money for a wrap that claims to be detoxifying, thus aiding weight loss.
The baby food diet is self-explanatory, with Cheryl Cole and Jennifer Aniston reportedly using it. Photos: Getty Images
Drinking olive oil supposedly cleans blood from fat and curbs an appetite and even increases the metabolism.
Clearly meant only for use in the privacy of your own home, the face trainer makes facial movements harder, thus creating resistance training.
A woman who posted candid images of her post-cancer surgery body online was horrified when more than 100 people “unfriended” her because they deemed the pictures “offensive”.
Beth Whaanga was diagnosed with cancer on her 32nd birthday last year and underwent a double mastectomy and a hysterectomy.
Her various surgeries have left her body scarred but she was determined not to be ashamed so asked her friend Nadia Masot, a photographer, to capture her new figure in a series of portraits.
Beth was thrilled with the images and shared them on Facebook but was horrified when more than 100 people immediately “unfriended” her, saying the pictures were obscene and disgusting.
“These pictures are in no way pornographic,” Beth’s sister Emma Rayner said. “They represent the truth about cancer and what measures some women will need to take to survive.
“I think it’s brave that she can show her scars and I think many more women will hopefully check their own bodies every now and then.”
Beth says she is proud of her body because it has beat cancer. Warning: confronting images featured.
Beth Whaanga enlisted photographer friend Nadia Masot to shoot the images as part of their Under the Red Dress campaign.
Beth wanted to encourage other women to get regular breast checks.
She was horrified when more than 100 “gutless” people unfriended her on Facebook because they were disgusted by the images.
Model Claire made headlines last month when she posed for a series of brave portraits showing off her own post-surgery body.
Claire had both breasts removed in February 2010 and had reconstruction surgery two months later. She chose not to have the extra surgery to rebuild her nipples. Photography by Byron Atienza.
“I feel so positive today. If I’d waited a year to get the mastectomy, I’d probably be dead. Photography by Byron Atienza.
Claire wanted to show she is proud of her new body. Photography by Byron Atienza.
Claire in her modelling heyday.
Claire and her husband Gus have two young daughters.
Claire was one of Britain’s most successful models in the 1980s.
Some of us consider ourselves lucky to be given a love letter on Valentine's Day but Nicole Kidman receives one each night she and Keith Urban are apart.
Some of us consider ourselves lucky to be given a love letter on Valentine’s Day, but Nicole Kidman receives one each night she and Keith Urban are apart.
“For every single night he’s away he leaves me a love letter,” Nicole says. “Every single night of our relationship.”
In an interview with InStyle magazine, Nicole opened up about the couple’s seven-year marriage, and how it retains its romance despite their careers taking them all over the world.
“We always say to each other, ‘If you ever need me, I’m there,'” she said.
Nicole Kidman InStyle
The Academy-Award winning actress also discussed juggling family life with film sets and music tours.
“Keith and I are both gypsies at heart,” she said. “We can make our home wherever we are. The girls are like that too now, so we take them everywhere.”
She regularly joins her husband on tour, saying “That’s basically how I’ve seen most of America, on that bus,” and she even admitted to living a true on-the-road lifestyle.
“Keith and I eat at Wendy’s,” she said. “We do drive-throughs!”
Nicole is known for maintaining close ties with her family in Australia despite living in Nashville in the USA, coming back regularly to visit her parents in north Sydney.
Miranda Kerr the centre of attention. Photo: Getty Images
In a candid interview for the ABC’s Family Confidential, the Kerr family revealed an acute deterioration in their relationship with Miranda as the famous model has become more and more distant.
Kerr’s family say they haven’t seen her or her son Flynn in more than a year and that they only learned of the failure of her marriage from her estranged husband Orlando Bloom. Kerr and Bloom split late last year after three years of marriage.
“We have been best friends for most of our life. We used to talk every day,” Miranda’s mother, Therese said. “I would send her text messages during the day.”
Photo: ABC
But the once close family unit broke down after the former Victoria’s Secret Angel moved to New York to pursue her modelling career in 2009.
That decline steepened last year when Miranda told her family “now that I’m 30, I’m going to take control”, her father John said.
She later fired her mother Therese from her role as managing director of her skincare line KORA Organics.
“Miranda’s life is so different now [and] she’s surrounded by ‘yes’ people all the time,” her mother said.
Photo: Getty Images
“It’s so important for me to be real, to be true, to be who she needs me to be.”
Kerr’s brother Matthew said that he wanted to spend some ‘one on one’ time with Kerr without “an entourage of people we don’t know”.
Therese and John Kerr are particularly concerned with not seeing their grandson.
“You have to be in the media to be able to get your message out, but then our little Flynny doesn’t know what it’s like to walk outside without paparazzi,” said Therese.
Photo: Getty Images
Kerr’s grandmother Ann also worries for her great grandson and famous granddaughter, whom she accompanied to photo shoots when she was younger.
“I miss the baby and I think he’s missing out on family, that closeness that we have always had,” she said.
Photo: Instagram
A spokeswoman for the model says she is “grateful to her parents, brother and extended family in Australia for their ongoing support and love”.
Kerr was recently announced as the newly signed face of international brand H&M, and is rumoured to be dating Australian billionaire James Packer.
In a statement diamond necklace loaned from the Queen and a floor-length Jenny Packham gown, the Duchess of Cambridge looked dazzling at her first official engagement of the year.
In a stunning statement diamond necklace on loan from her grandmother-in-law the Queen and a floor-length Jenny Packham gown, the Duchess of Cambridge looked dazzling at her first official engagement of the year.
The dress – a favourite of Kate’s first worn last year – featured a sweetheart neckline, fitted short sleeves and bodice and a flowing skirt with layers of diaphanous voile in a midnight bluey-green, accentuating Kate’s very slim figure.
There were no nerves for the Duchess on this solo event at London’s National Portrait Gallery, possibly because she’s become something of a regular to the art house, of which she’s Patron.
Smiling and laughing, she climbed the Gallery steps which had been decked out in gold glitter runners for the occasion, to meet a line-up of celebrity guests at the black tie gala fundraiser.
The necklace was a wedding gift to the Queen from the Nizam of Hyderabad and looked dazzling around Kate’s elegant neck.
Despite the blustery weather, crowds gathered outside the Gallery to catch a glimpse of the Duchess and paparazzi set up their ladders eager for that money shot.
Inside, the celebrity guests included David Bailey and his model wife Catherine, actress Juliet Stevenson and Alan Rickman and cross-dressing artist Grayson Perry, who also looked elegant in a black smock-style gown with a cream shawl collar topped off with silver glitter eye make-up.
In a short speech the Duchess praised the gallery’s achievements saying “I simply could not be more proud to be its Patron”.
It was an impressive display from Prince William’s wife who is proving something of a natural as a royal ambassador. Also the perfect warm-up for the couple’s upcoming tour of Australia.
Kate borrowed the Queen’s necklace, which was a wedding gift from Nizam of Hyderabad.
Kate was still sporting a deep tan from her recent Caribbean holiday.
The priceless jewels looked fantastic on Kate’s slender neck.
Kate’s famous tresses were back to their shiny best at the event.
Kate looked stunningly beautiful at the event.
Kate chose a short-sleeved gown despite the chilly London weather.
Fans and paparazzi braved the cold to catch a glimpse of Kate and weren’t disappointed – she looked stunning.
The Duchess was in excellent spirits, smiling throughout the visit.
Kate left George at home with his dad for a night out at her favourite gallery.
Kate’s midnight blue gown is a favourite – she wore it for the first time last year.
Kate wore the same gown at last November’s Women in Hedge Funds gala at Kensington Palace.
Grandmother-to-be Jade Jagger has proudly announced that she is pregnant – at the same time as her 21-year-old daughter.
The 42-year-old jewellery and fashion designer posted a picture revealing her baby bump with the caption: “Happy to announce this granny is going to become a mummy … xx double whammy this year.”
Jade is six months pregnant, meaning she will become a mother and a grandmother in the same year.
The daughter of rocker Sir Mick Jagger and activist Bianca, Jade is married to DJ and festival promoter Adrian Fillary.
Her daughter Assisi, 21, fell pregnant to her chef boyfriend at the end of 2013.
Jade was just 20 years old when she became a mum to Assisi and Assisi told Hello! Magazine young mums run in the family.
“The women in our family just tend to have children young, it runs in the genes,” she said.
“I grew up quite quickly and wouldn’t have considered having a child if I was doing what my friends are doing at this stage, messing around.”
Assisi’s child will be the first great grandchild of rock legend Mick, 70, and Jade’s revelation means he will also become a grandfather for the fifth time.
Adorable curly haired child star Shirley Temple, who sang and danced her way into hearts everywhere, has died. She was 85 years old.
“We salute her for a life of remarkable achievements as an actor, as a diplomat, and most importantly as our beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and adored wife for fifty-five years of the late and much missed Charles Alden Black,” a family statement said.
Temple, who passed away at her home in San Francisco on Monday night, was born on April 23, 1928, and started her film career at the tender age of three. By age six she was a full-blown movie star, made famous by films such as Bright Eyes, The Little Colonel,Poor Little Rich Girl and Heidi.
During her youth Temple avoided the scandals and arrests that plague other child stars but once reflected that her fame may have robbed her of some of her childhood.
She stopped believing in Santa at age six, when “Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph”.
Temple grew up to become a pretty young woman, but audiences lost interest, and she retired from making movies at 21.
In her private life, Temple was only 17 when she wed John Agar, who would eventually star alongside her in two movies. Their five-year marriage produced a daughter, Susan.
In 1950 she wed Charles Black in a marriage that lasted more than 50 years until his death in 2005. She and Black had two children.
Despite her film career and her political activism later in life Temple said her greatest role was that of a wife, mother and grandmother.
“There’s nothing like real love. Nothing,” said Temple upon receiving a lifetime achievement award at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2006.
Shirley Temple Black is survived by her children, Susan, Charlie and Lori, her granddaughter Teresa and her great-granddaughters Lily and Emma.
Shirley Temple received her lifetime achievement award at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2006.
Shirley Temple showing the Jonkers diamond at the South California Fair in Los Angeles in October 1933.
Shirley Temple in 1932 holding American actor, Bill (Bojangles) Robinson’s hand in a farmyard during a scene from Edgar Lewis’s silent film, The Littlest Rebel.
Shirley Temple in a 1936 poster for the film Stowaway, directed by William A Seiter.
Temple was the biggest film star in the world during the depression era bringing joy to the hearts of a struggling nation. Her portrait featured on a 1930s Christmas card.
Shirley stopped believing in Santa at age six, she once said, when “Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph”.
Temple developed into a pretty young woman but as an adult couldn’t maintain her early fame so she retired from films at age 21.
Shirley Temple wed John Agar in September 1945 at age 17. Their union lasted five years and they had one daughter, Susan.
Shirley Temple reads her fan mail at home in 1944 in Los Angeles in 1944.
Shirley Temple and her second husband, Charles Black, pose together at the premiere of director William Wyler’s film, ‘Roman Holiday’. The pair remained married for more than 50 years, until Charles died in 2005.
Shirley Temple with her daughter Susan, son Charles, daughter Lori and husband Charles at home in 1957.
Shirley on the set of The Shirley Temple Show in 1960.
Shirley became very politically active later in life. Here she is in 1968 speaking in front of a poster of Richard Nixon at a Republican Party election press conference at the Cafe Royal in London.
Shirley promoting her bestselling book Child Star in 1988.
Shirley with fellow child star Dakota Fanning in 2006.
Flowers for Shirley Temple are placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to mourn the star.
Is there any truth to the old adage that you should dress for the job you want, not the job you have? We dusted off our sharpest suit and consulted the experts. Here's what they had to say.
You may have a brain the size of a planet and people skills to rival Mother Teresa, but if you turn up to an important meeting looking like something the cat dragged in, don’t expect people to listen to what you have to say.
Image consultant Jon-Michail, the CEO of Image Group International, says your work wardrobe is a key part of your personal branding.
“First impressions speak louder than what comes out of your mouth,” he says.
Appearance is particularly important at the job interview stage. A US study, reported in Forbes, found interviewers decided within the first 10 seconds of meeting job applicants whether they were right for the job.
In another study of 1000 university graduates working in the US within large corporations found woman, in particular, believed dressing the part was a vital factor in attaining success. More than half (53 percent) of the women surveyed said aspiring female executives needed to dress very conservatively to get ahead, avoiding flashy make-up, plunging necklines, too-short or too-tight skirts, and long fingernails.
It’s (almost) impossible to overdress for a job interview
Sure, the company may have casual Fridays, but don’t assume that means you can turn up to the job interview in frayed jeans and a tatty T-shirt.
Nina Mapson Bone, the general manager of recruitment for Chandler Macleod recruiters in NSW and the ACT, says she can think of hundreds of occasions when candidates have missed out on jobs because they have dressed too casually but only one case where someone was overdressed.
“It was for a retail environment where the brand had a certain [funky] image and the person turned up in a suit.”
She says in most cases, a dark suit is pretty much the perfect interview outfit.
Don’t let your accessories let you down
Even the most elegant suit can be brought undone by scuffed shoes and a handbag held together with safety pins.
Mapson Bone says once you’ve landed a job, you can be more flamboyant with your wardrobe choices, but it pays to dress “a level up”.
“[If] everyone wears jeans every day but the boss always makes an effort to wear a smart skirt and blouse … in case she has to see clients without notice, then dress the same way.
“You’ll be the one that gets to go with her if someone is needed, or gets noticed for being professional, or at the very least doesn’t stand out as being inappropriately dressed.”
Think smart, not sexy
There’s a time and place for sexy, and the experts agree it’s generally not at work.
Jon-Michail suggests asking yourself: “Is this outfit appropriate for Friday night work drinks or a lap dance?”
“If you’re going to use sexuality to open doors for you, just remember the pros and cons … We know some women will judge you more harshly than a bloke will.”
Forget about the latest fashions
Unless you’re working in a fashion-forward industry, it’s probably best to save the floral onesie for a night out.
Jon-Michail says you can’t go wrong sticking to a palette of black, navy, charcoal, teal and silver. “They work year in, year out.”
Mapson Bone recalls being taken aside by a boss early in her career and advised to tone down her fashion choices.
“She said something like, ‘I see your career progressing fairly rapidly and I don’t want your clothing to hold you back.’
“It made me feel like she’d gone out of her way to help, rather than criticising what I was wearing.”
The domestic goddess tweeted the pasta alla puttanesca – Italian for “spaghetti a la whore” – link as her recipe of the day alongside the words “need I say more?”.
The post was an apparent reference to her former husband Charles Saatchi’s new girlfriend Trinny Woodall, who hours earlier tweeted a tasteless joke seemingly about Saatchi’s abuse of Lawson.
Writing about turning 50, Woodall wrote: “It’s great that, at 50, life can still grab you by the throat and shake you up.”
Saatchi was last year photographed apparently choking Lawson in a Mayfair restaurant – the same establishment now frequented by Saatchi and Woodall.
Lawson’s retaliatory tweet was a huge hit with her followers and was retweeted and favourited hundreds of times, leading her to post a denial that the message had any “agenda” other than promoting a delicious recipe.
But Lawson fans wouldn’t accept this answer, further speculating the tweet could be a reference to Lawson’s former aide Francesca Grillo, who was yesterday revealed to be having an affair with a married former police officer.
Grillo was last year cleared of fraud in a sensational court case that saw Lawson admit to occasional drug use.
The grizzled Welsh fisherman with mischievous eyes and a sing-song voice sounded a little melodramatic when he said, “The royal family, and I mean Her Majesty The Queen, Charles, William and baby George owe their inheritance to the tides of Tenby.”
When I roared with laughter, he looked surprised. “Look, Boyo,” he said, from his lobster pot seat on the quay of Tenby harbour. “When Henry Tudor was being hunted down by soldiers in 1471, he took refuge here, hid in a tunnel that led to the harbour, and when the king tide came in, he fled to France in one of the mayor’s boats. No high tide, no escape, certain death and no Queen Elizabeth the First or Second … for that matter.”
He had a point. Tenby’s harbour empties at low tide just like a bath when you pull the plug, leaving boats sitting at precarious angles on the sand. Henry Tudor did, in fact, narrowly escape death that day in 1471, returning to Wales 14 years later with a victorious army which won him the throne as Henry VII. Henry VII is Elizabeth II’s (15) great uncle. And if Henry hadn’t escaped that day, who knows who would be on the throne today. A bit of Welsh logic, I suppose.
However, I hadn’t come to Tenby for a history lesson, but to walk from its medieval harbour to the estuary at Laugharne, where the celebrated Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas, spent his later years writing verse on that “heron priested shore”, to put it in the poet’s own words.
2014 is the Centenary of Dylan Thomas’ Birth and to mark the event, the Welsh have opened a 16km stretch of footpath that allows hikers to walk between the iconic little port and the charming hamlet. It may be only a short section of the Wales Coast Path which, in its entirety, offers 1400km of uninterrupted hiking around some of Britain’s most beautiful cliffs and beaches, but it stitches together the Pembrokeshire section of pathways with that of its neighbouring county, Carmarthenshire, both voted two of most spectacular stretches of coastline in Europe. Along the entire length of the Wales Coast Path are many inspiring sights, including the four World Heritage castles of Caernarfon, Beaumaris, Conwy and Harlech, where Prince Charles was invested as Prince of Wales in 1969. Then there’s the Italianate fantasy village of Portmeirion; the seemingly endless sandy beaches of the Atlantic coast, where surfers flock from all over Europe; and the country’s smallest city, St Davids, with just 1408 souls who fit snugly into its 12th century cathedral.
In comparison, the walk between Tenby and Laugharne is a modest stroll, about 16km in all, but before setting off, I took the ferry from Tenby to Caldey Island, home to a monastery since 1084. At low tide, the ferry goes from Castle Beach, 50 metres around the headland in front of the ice-cream cabin that sits on the sand beneath the town’s pastel-coloured terraces that line the cliffs.
The ice-cream cabin and the view of South Beach, Tenby.
The colours of Tenby’s houses are more reminiscent of Portofino, on Italy’s Ligurian Coast, than Wales. So it didn’t come as a surprise when the Cistercian monastery on Caldey Island looked like a turreted castle on the Rhine. Further up the hill towards the lighthouse are the ruins of the original religious community, next to a 6th century cross. The little church of St Illtyd’s looks as if it could have been built in days of King Arthur and Merlin. From a certain angle you can see its moss-covered spire lists like the Leaning Tower of Pisa and to be frank I wouldn’t care to live in the Old Priory next door.
St Illtyd’s Church, Caldey Island, and the Caldey Island ferry.
A colleague once wrote that “the joy of walking a coastal path is the simplicity of its navigation. Keep the sea on your left or keep the sea on your right, and walk.” And the path from Tenby to Laugharne is easy to navigate. It begins with a delightful wooded stretch to Saundersfoot, where three tunnels, once used to transport coal, save the calves the effort of climbing up several steep hills.
Next comes a gentler landscape of undulating fields, neatly divided by hedgerows, that rises above sandstone cliffs. Here, the path heads inland onto the high ground of Gilman Point that overlooks the 11-kilometre expanse of Pendine Sands: pearl grey under cloud; sparkling white, yellow and blue under sun.
Once used for numerous land-speed record attempts between 1924 and 1927, the sands are now deserted and offer step after step of solitude, with only the sound of breaking waves as your constant companion.
On the approach to Laugharne, through bluebell woods with lazy estuary below, the path wends its way past discreet but sturdy stands inscribed with Dylan Thomas’ poetry, “high tide and the heron dived when I took the road”.
The castle at Laugharne, South Wales.
My walk’s end was next to the castle. Yes, it seems there are ancient castles around every other corner in Wales. And further along on a slight rise is one of Dylan Thomas’ former homes, The Boat House. Here, you can savour the estuary view while enjoying tea and traditional Welsh cakes.
The Boat House, Dylan Thomas’ home, on the River Taf estuary, Laugharne.
Up the hill is Browns Hotel, the poet’s local pub that dates back to the 1750s and offers bed & breakfast. Here you can sample the local brew, Brains ale, at Thomas’ favourite table in the corner, where there’s a photograph of the bard and his wife, Caitlin.
Browns Hotel, Laugharne, with a portrait of the poet on the sign. Dylan Thomas’ first home in Laugharne, Seaview ([email protected]), on Market Lane, is now a comfortable Bed & Breakfast, where you can book a night in the poet’s old bedroom.
Dylan Thomas’ first home in Laugharne, Seaview ([email protected]), on Market Lane, is now a comfortable Bed & Breakfast, where you can book a night in the poet’s old bedroom.
Not everyone is a Dylan Thomas fan, but you have to tip your hat to his choice of home. The beaches in Wales are as awe-inspiring as they are in New South Wales and one wonders whether our founding fathers were influenced by this when they named the new colony.
What the two places don’t have in common is the same weather. As Dylan Thomas’ line “the pale rain over the dwindling harbour” suggests, Wales has its fair share of wet weather. And yet my experience was two weeks of glorious blue skies. And if the sun does shine, with 1400 kilometres of the Wales Coast Path to explore, you’ll find adventure at every turn.
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