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Women use bizarre tricks to 'reduce' weight

Cheating the machine
Last Updated 22 November 2010, 15:24 IST

A survey that quizzed about 3,000 women of all ages in the UK found that a majority of women resort to a host of bizarre tricks to kid themselves they weigh less than they actually do.

While many admitted to standing on one leg when they hop on the scales in the hope that it will reduce the reading by a few pounds, more than half confessed that they take all their clothes off before getting weighed, found the survey.

Thousands even said that they will only get on the weighing scales before a meal for fear their undigested dinner would add a couple of extra pounds.

It also found that almost four in 10 go to the toilet first in desperation to convince themselves they are lighter, while one in 10 admitted to breathing in as they step on the scales.

But an astonishing three per cent said they wait until a full moon to weigh themselves in the belief that this is their lightest time of the month, according to the survey carried out by diet website Go Lower.

Pressure to be slim

The study also found that nearly 90 per cent of British women want to lose weight, while 85 per cent said they get depressed after a disastrous weigh-in.

“The bulk of the diet industry which pressures women and men with weekly weigh-ins has created the problem, Go Lower’s head Hannah Sutter was quoted as saying by the Daily Express.

She said: “What is worrying is just how many people are depressed or worried after a weigh-in — 85 per cent found their day affected or ruined by the useless information they have just collected.”

“The only thing that really matters from a health — as well as a beauty perspective — is size,” she said, adding that almost half of women who weigh themselves turn out to be heavier than they thought.

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(Published 22 November 2010, 15:22 IST)

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