Contraptions...
TV shopping networks, e-stores, print advertisements peddle these gadgets as low-cost, high-effect slimming solutions. Some samples: Foldable Treadmill that "allows you to jog in the privacy of your home," tekto vibration belt to trim stomach while at "home or in office, while you relax or work, stand or sit", Gymtronix Advanced for "chiseled & toned abs", Fitness U designed for "shaping arms, chest, thighs, buns, abdomen and shoulders".
Gyms...
No more the preserve of muscle-flexing men, gyms now attract grandpas, home-makers, teenagers with an eye on the weighing scale. The range is between high-end fitness centres with personal trainers who customise workouts to local gyms that cost aboutRs 300 a month. On offer: treadmills, cross-trainers, steppers, rowing machines, aerobics, sauna.
Surgery...
Surgical fat removal is no longer a Bollywood-patronised whim. Liposuction is tucking in tummies more democratically than ever before. Also, for people more than double their ideal weight, bariatric surgery reduces stomach and, if necessary, intestine size to help people eat less without feeling the pinch. The reduced stomach and intestine reduce hunger, thereby cutting down calorie consumption.
Ayurveda...
Its age-old credibility has been dragged into the slimming bazaar. The result is a range of herbal remedies that attempt weight loss through regimens that include pills and capsules (laxatives, appetite-suppressants, fat-burners), food substitutes,massage oils and body wraps. Miracle cures sold by chemists, ayurvedic doctors, slimming clinics, gyms.
Medicines...
The friendly chemist rarely asks for a prescription while supplying pills to thin. Available over the counter are all sorts of capsules promising dramatic reorganisation of your metabolism. Plus, foreign slimming medicines available online. Weight-loss medicines mostly include diethylpropion, mazindol, phentermine, phendimetrazine, benzphetamine and sibutramine. A new one, Orlistat, keeps the body from digesting some of the fat eaten.
Food & Diets...
Low-fat oil sprays, sugar-free yoghurts, low-cal mayonnaise, baked potato wafers, slimmers’ tea, organic food...all departmental stores worth their salt now have food sections for weight-watchers. Diets too are a rage: the General Motors Diet says no cereals for a week, D’Adamo’s Diet relies on blood type to tell us what to eat, Dr Atkin’s Plans eliminate sugar and refined carbohydrates, Harvey Diamond preaches against certain food types.
