Inspired by the latest Government initiatives to cut obesity, exciting new, revolutionary initiative, the Arriba 12 Week Weight Loss Challenge, comes to the cities of Manchester and Salford, and there could be one around you too!

Eating healthily and lowering the risk of obesity related diseases is easier said than done and long term weight loss is only achieved through understanding how our body works and what constitutes a nutritionally balanced diet. It is exactly through applying that knowledge it is possible to make the right changes to our diet to ensure not only long term weight loss, but also healthy digestion, healthy heart, healthy aging, healthy immune system etc.

At the same time, it is exactly that knowledge that the majority of people who need it the most lack making it difficult to make any real, long term progress. Many weight loss programs around do not offer this sort of support and concentrate solely on weight loss ignoring nutritional demands of the body, causing well known yo-yo dieting effect.

The Arriba Weight Loss Challenge is a 12 week workshop conducted by weight loss and wellness coaches, initialised by Herbalife International, world leader in weight loss and nutrition, where participants, regardless of what weight loss program they follow, meet weekly to follow up their weight loss progress, are empowered with advice on nutrition and healthy food choices covering topics like Importance of Protein, Reading Food Labels, Good and Bad Fats, Good and Bad Carbs, Understanding Metabolism, Importance of Exercise, Heart Health, Healthy Breakfast, Importance of Water, etc.

The cost of 12 week Weight Loss Challenge workshop is an equivalent of £3.00 per week, thats is £35 for a 12 week perod making it very affordable. Majority of the registration fee goes back to the participants in terms of Weekly Gift Prizes, Free Healthy Beverages and Snacks and Cash Prizes to the three biggest losers at the end of 12 weeks.

Three biggest losers will have a chance to win up to £600 between them, final winner's pot depending on the number of total participants. Participants are free to use any method of weight loss they wish, but those who best apply the information we give in our weekly training sessions are likely to be the ones who win the competition.

Most of all, it will be FUN and we envisage it to be the place where participants will feel comfortable to come together and compete in a friendly atmosphere with one another, keep track of their progress, share knowledge and experiences, get advice on healthy eating, get necessary recognition and earn some much needed cash in this financial climate!

More details on the Arriba Weight Loss Challenge

Every single day over one million Herbalife Formula 1 shakes are consumed around the world. Losing weight can be a real challenge. Herbalife Formula 1 helps you to manage your calorific intake and feel fuller for longer - all while sustaining your energy levels; so you can focus on achieving the shape and look you want.

Formula 1 is now available as a meal replacement bar. As an addition to the Formula 1 family, the bar provides the essential nutrients needed for a complete healthy meal as an alternative to the Formula 1 shake. So option to have a shake for breakfast and a bar for lunch when away from home. High in fibre and protein for sustained energy and to keep you fuller for longer. Balanced essentail nutrients for a healthy balanced meal replacement.

• Only 207 calories!
• Can be used for meal-replacement, as part of a calorie controlled diet
• Suitable for vegetarians
• Low GI - Provides you with sustained energy.

It's not a snack, it's not a treat, it's an F1 meal in a bar, no more spillages when at work with your shakes!

Herbalife Formula 1 Meal Replacement Bar 

An interesting programme on BBC1 last week about the science of losing weight.

At any one time in Britain, around 10 million people are trying to lose weight. This programme, fronted by doctor-turned-journalist Michael Mosley, investigates the latest scientific breakthroughs in slimming, uncovering 10 of the simplest ways to shed those pounds. The programme was backed up with research and practical demonstrations.

Don't skip meals. A CT scan of the brain showed the brain lighting up when a volunteer who had skipped breakfast was shown pics of high calorie, high fat food and little reaction to low-cal food. The volunteer who had eaten breakfast scan showed no difference between pics of low cal food and High cal food. The area of the brain lighting up was one associated with appetite so the brain was guiding choice towards calorie laden food (think pastries at morning break)

Eating a protein rich breakfast (or any other meal) keeps you satisfied for longer because it triggers the release of more of the chemical that tells the brain you are full. At last someone questioning the value of breakfast cereals.

Eating low-fat dairy products helps the body to excrete more unabsorbed fat than usual. Dairy calcium binds with fat in the small intestine and passes through without being absorbed. So skimmed milk, low-fat yoghurt, cottage cheese, fromage frais etc all help to carry away fat in the gut. To prove it, Blur guitarist-turned-farmer Alex James sportingly agreed to follow a high-dairy diet for one week, while sending off regular poo samples to a lab in Holland. He followed this with a week-long low-dairy diet, which contained exactly the same number of calories. Amazingly, Alex excreted more than double the amount of fat on the high-dairy diet.

The 'burn' from exercise carries on well into the next day. The volunteer ran at 4mph for 90 minutes and his fat burn measured. It wasn't that impressive but next day showed how it had carried on. The body accesses carbohydrates easily during exercise and has to use stored body fat to run everything over the next hours - impressive

Building small amounts of 'activity' into daily routine significantly increases heart rate and calorie expenditure. The volunteer was Aimee Lamee, US comedienne and broadcaster. She was more active at home, spent less time sitting at lunchtime and more time walking and talking, she did her radio show standing up and moving around. It made a significant difference.

People generally under-report their intake by 40 to 60%. Count and record everything, including every snack and calorie laden sauce.

Change your plate size from 12 inches to 10 inches. And choose low-calorie options of all your favourite foods.

Soup fills you up for longer it's all to do with the particular way the stomach shrinks and expands and was demonstrated using ultrasound scans of Territorial Army recruits. The same food was served to two groups of soldiers. Half ate chicken, rice and veg on a plate with a glass of water. The other half ate the identical food and water liquidized and served as a soup. Stomach scans showed the soup still in the stomach long after the other group's stomachs were empty and calling to be fed

Here are more tips on the science of weight loss from Herbal Vitality. Why protein shakes for breakfast help someone to lose weight.  

Typical deficiencies in the modern diet are fibre, protein and nutrients. Excesses in the diet include carbohydrates, sugars, saturated fats and salt.

Fruit is a good source of fibre and can contribute to the recommended 25-30 grams per day.

Here are some fruits rich in fibre and nutrients:

Apples - 1 medium apple (80 calories, 0 g fat): An apple's 3 g of fibre help you meet your fibre goal of 25 g to 30 g daily. Foods rich in fibre can lower heart disease risk.
Apricots - 3 apricots (51 calories, 0 g fat): A good source of beta-carotene (which is converted to vitamin A by the body), providing the equivalent of 35% of the RDA for vitamin A. Fibre-2.1g.
Bananas - 1 medium (105 calories, 0 g fat): Bananas are a great source of potassium, which plays a key role in heart health and muscle function. Plus each one has 3 g of fibre.
Blackberries - 1 cup (64 calories, 0 g fat): This fruit boasts a whopping 8 g of fibre in a single cup.
Blueberries - 1 cup (81 calories, 0 g fat): Blueberries help prevent and treat bladder infections by making it hard for bacteria to stick to urinary tract walls. Fibre- 3.5.
Cherries - 1 cup (84 calories, 1 g fat): A good source of perillyl alcohol, which helps prevent cancer in animals. Heart-protective anthocyanins give cherries their colour; Fibre- 2.8g.
Grapefruits - 1/2 fruit (39 calories, 0 g fat): A good source of vitamin C and a compound called naringenin, which helps suppress tumours in animals. Fibre-2g.
Kiwi - 1 medium (46 calories, 0 g fat): Just one little fruit packs a mean vitamin-C punch (74 mg) and 2.3 g fibre.
Mangoes - 1 mango (135 calories, 1 g fat): A single mango has enough beta-carotene to cover your RDA for vitamin A while racking up 57 mg of vitamin C; Fibre-3.7g.
Oranges fruits- 1 medium orange (61 calories, 0 g fat): One orange provides an impressive 50 mg to 70 mg of vitamin C, 40 mcg of folic acid and 52 mg of calcium. Fibre-3.1g.
Papayas - 1 cup, cubed (55 calories, 0 g fat): Loaded with vitamin C (86 mg per cup), a healthy dose of fibre (2.5 g) and a sprinkling of beta-carotene and calcium.
Purple grapes - 1 small (113 calories, 9 g fat):Offer three heart-guarding compounds: flavonoids, anthocyanins and resveratrol (green grapes are not rich in them).
Prunes - 1/3 cup, stewed (87 calories, 0 g fat): Prunes' famed laxative effect is no mystery: There are 5 g of fibre (both soluble and insoluble) in just 1/3 cup.
Raspberries - 1 cup (60 calories, 0 g fat): Teeming with 8 g of fibre per cup, they also boast vitamin C, ellagic acid and anthocyanins.
Strawberries - 1 cup, sliced (50 calories, 0 g fat): Strawberries have high levels of ellagic acid and anthocyanins, and are rich in vitamin C (95 mg per cup) and fibre (3.3 g per cup). 

How to get a healthy source of protein and rich source of fibre into the diet