If you’re reading about ways to lose weight online, then chances are that every other way you’ve tried so far has failed. If you’re just as sick as I am of reading article after article berating you about “eating right” or to hitting the treadmill more often, then you might be interested in newer, more effective ways of exercise. Luckily, technology has done more for us than made our phones smaller and our TVs bigger, and we are now able to enjoy a litany of products that may not necessarily give you a better workout than conventional products, but will at least make exercising entertaining for once.
1. The “Monofin”
If you’ve ever watched “The Little Mermaid” and felt an overwhelming sense of jealousy swell over, you may finally have a solution. The Monofin, made by Lunocet, is a titanium and silicon tail fin that you can strap on to your feet a la a mermaid (or a merman, for those of you who aren’t comfortable with their sexuality). Allowing you to swim up to 8 mph, you can trade in doing monotonous laps for swimming with the dolphins (or at least pretending you are).
If you tell yourself that you’re going to workout today just to find yourself sitting on your computer for the next several hours, there may be a solution (aside from throwing your computer out the window). A recent study followed two groups of women for a period of 12 weeks (all of which were considered obese with a BMI of over 30). The first group spent the test period attending weekly sessions at a fitness club where they learned about what types of foods are healthy, and how to exercise, while the other group participated in online fitness clubs via the computer game “Second Life.” Both groups lost roughly 10 lb over the 12 weeks, but the group that used the video game scored higher on tests that assessed their retention of values that lead to healthier lifestyles. Even if talking with a bunch of strangers on a video game about ways to lose your beer belly may not seem appealing to you, you shouldn’t discount the value of using online resources for your fitness goals.
No, not like sensei, even though karate can be an entertaining way to burn calories. Sensa, the product of 25 years of research at the Smell and Taste Treatment Research Center, is a tasteless and odorless spray that triggers feelings of satiety in the brain, curbing your appetite. The first ever weight loss spray, Sensa has shown to help people lose, on average, 30 pounds over a test period of 6 months. If you’re the type of person whose stomach will absolutely not stand for it if you skip a meal, sensa can be a fun and innovative way to reduce your caloric intake (unless you develop anorexia, that is.)
