Jonas Brothers spent more than 30mins trapped inside elevator

New York, May 20 (ANI): The Jonas Brothers and one of their bodyguards found themselves trapped in an elevator for almost an hour after their sold-out LA concert at The Grove, it has emerged.

“For the first 15 minutes they thought it was funny, but after 30 they started to worry,” the New York Post quoted an insider, as saying.

The source added: “Security guards finally managed to pry open the doors. The elevator was between floors. The brothers are skinny and easily squeezed out, but it was tougher for their giant bodyguard.”

A rep for the band said the singers got stuck for 30 minutes and added, “Everybody got out fine.” (ANI)

Lindsay”s skinny frame raises health concerns

Washington, April 1 (ANI): Lindsay Lohan”s shockingly gaunt appearance has raised questions about the star”s well being.

Sources believe that the actress is on the verge of a complete breakdown.

Lohan”s frame looked normal at the recent Nokia X6 launch party but just days later at Paris Fashion Week, she showed up looking shockingly thin.

“This is dangerous both physically and psychologically. This behavior mimics the behavior of those people who are experiencing the negative effect of drug and/or alcohol abuse. They lose sight of any accurate form of self-observation. It only takes one bad decision to end up in a disastrous situation,” Fox News quoted LA-based psychologist Dr. James E. Walton as saying. (ANI)

Migrating birds chill at stopovers to save energy

Washington, September 11 (ANI): In a new research, scientists have suggested that migrating birds drop their body temperature at night during stopovers to save energy and build up their reserves faster.

Scientists Michal Wojciechowski and Berry Pinshow carried out the research.

Collecting migrating blackcaps at their stopover site on the Sede Boqer Campus of Ben-Gurion University and near Toron, Poland, Wojciechowski and Pinshow weighed the birds and monitored their body temperatures and metabolic rates as the birds stocked up on fruit supplemented with mealworms.

During the day, the birds’ body temperatures hovered around 42.5 degrees Celsius, but as dusk fell, their temperatures began to drop.

The average normal body temperature at night was about 38.8 degrees C, while one particularly skinny individual’s temperature plummeted to 33 degrees C.

When the team plotted the birds’ body masses against their nocturnal temperatures, the smaller birds’ temperatures correlated with their body masses.

Finally, the team looked at the relationship between the birds’ temperatures and their metabolic rates and found that the heavier birds dropped their metabolic rates least, while the lightest birds dropped their metabolic rates most.

Some conserved a remarkable 30 percent of their energy by becoming hypothermic.

Knowing that small birds also conserve energy by huddling together for warmth, Wojciechowski and Pinshow suggest that migrating birds may combine both strategies to shorten refuelling stopovers to fatten up fast before hastening on their way. (ANI)

S. African athlete Semenya tries to gloss over gender controversy

Johannesburg, Sep.9 (ANI): South African athlete Caster Semenya has completed her transformation from gender troubled sporting champion into national celebrity with a photo shoot in the country’s leading gossip magazine.

While the controversy rumbles on over whether the teenage runner is really male or female, her handlers have sought to end the debate with the aid of a costume change, make up and some studio lights.

With the front cover headline: “Wow, look at Caster now!” You magazine proudly boasts that it has turned her from “power girl” into “glamour girl” and apparently, “she loves it”.

Inside, the 800 m world champion – whose gender is being tested by the international athletics authorities – says the whole issue is a joke.

“It doesn’t upset me. God made me the way I am and I accept myself. I am who I am and I’m proud of myself,” The Sun quoted Semenya, as saying.

In the magazine, Semenya poses in skinny jeans, stilettos and a black and white evening dress.

News that the athlete would have to undergo testing was leaked before the 800m final at the world championships in Berlin, putting her under enormous pressure.

Following her victory, the ruling African National Congress seized upon her case to score political points, with left-wing firebrands such as Winnie Madikizela Mandela and ANC Youth League president Julius Malema accusing the athletics authorities of racism.

They have also sought to use Semenya to stir up populist feeling against what is seen as the right wing of the ANC, represented by Trevor Manuel, President Jacob Zuma’s planning chief.

Semenya received a heroine’s welcome in her home village in South Africa’s impoverished Limpopo province at the end of August, with VIPs and a 200-strong crowd singing a version of the Communist Party anthem, which included the lyrics: “My mother was a kitchen girl, my father was a garden boy, that’s why I’m a champion, that’s why I’m a champion.”

The cover shoot has reignited the debate in South Africa over the athlete’s appearance, with radio talk shows inundated with callers.

The 18-year-old has refused to be drawn on what she is going through at present, telling the magazine: “I don’t want to talk about the tests – I’m not even thinking about them.” (ANI)

Kids as young as 10 under constant pressure to have perfect bod

Washington, Aug 27 (ANI): Kids as young as 10 are living under constant pressure to have the perfect body, say researchers.

The study, led by researchers from Harvard University and the University of Alberta, Canada, showed a linear response for girls, who were happiest when thinnest, and a U-shaped response for boys, who were unhappy when they were too skinny or too fat.

To reach the conclusion, the researchers looked at the relationship between size and body satisfaction, as well as the effects of rural/urban residence, parental education and income, and neighborhood household income on kids.

“There is a well-established relationship between poor body satisfaction and increased risk of disordered weight control behaviors, including vomiting, fasting, and use of laxatives and diet pills for weight control. Importantly, body satisfaction appears to be responsive to school-based interventions,” said Bryn Austin, the lead researcher.

“To increase our understanding of body satisfaction and its links with BMI in childhood, we studied the prevalence of poor body satisfaction in prepubescent girls and boys, and its association with body weight and socioeconomic factors,” she added.

The findings revealed that overall, 7.3pct of girls and 7.8pct of boys reported poor body satisfaction.

For normal weight, overweight and obese girls the prevalence of poor body satisfaction was 5.7pct, 10.4pct and 13.1pct, respectively.

For boys this was 7.6pct, 8.4pct, and 8.1pct, respectively. Girls from parents with low educational attainment and residing in rural areas were more likely to report poor body satisfaction.

“Poor body satisfaction among males with a low BMI may reflect the cultural ideal for males to attain both muscularity and leanness; whereas, among females, thinness remains the culturally defined ideal body shape,” said Austin.

The research is published in the open access journal BMC Public Health. (ANI)

‘Skinny’ Courtney Love advised by doctor to ‘start eating’

New York, July 02(ANI): Courtney Love, who has been spotted looking skinny in recent months, has been advised by a doctor to take proper meals to avoid her health from deteriorating.

The former Hole lead singer told U.K.’s Daily Mirror that a doctor has prescribed her a shot of vitamins and told her to “start eating.”

“I know I’ve got too skinny. I know I need to sort it out,” the New York Daily News quoted Love as saying.

Love is also in a financial crisis.

It began from March 2008 when she reported to the police that identity thieves had posed as the late Cobain in order to buy a 3 million dollars New Jersey mansion and loot as much as 72 million dollars from his estate.

It has gone from bad to worse for Love as it was reportedly estimated that she was suffering losses as high as 750 million dollars, or basically the entire fortune Cobain left to Love and their daughter, Frances Bean, earlier this year. (ANI)

Dinosaurs were actually “thin-osaurs”

London, June 26(ANI): Tyrannosaurus rex, the best-known predatory species, may have been far more lithe than previously thought, researchers have discovered.

In a new study, boffins have claimed that dinosaurs may have been much lighter and sleeker than earlier believed because of potential flaws in the equations used to calculate their weight, reports The Times.

“Palaeontologists have for 25 years used a statistical model to estimate the body weight of giant dinosaurs and other extraordinarily large extinct animals,” said Gary Packard, from Colorado State University, whose research will appear in the Zoological Society of London’s Journal of Zoology this week.

“We have found that the statistical model is seriously flawed and the giant dinosaurs probably were only about half as heavy as is generally believed,” the expert added.

Up till now, dinosaurs have been shown as well-rounded, powerful animals, when they are more likely to have been skinny and muscular.

The new findings would suggest that these animals were leaner and faster, needed less food and had significant differences in lifestyle from what was previously thought. (ANI)

Dinosaurs were actually “thin-osaurs”!

London, June 21 (ANI): Tyrannosaurus rex, the best-known predatory species, may have been far more lithe than previously thought, researchers have discovered.

In a new study, boffins have claimed that dinosaurs may have been much lighter and sleeker than earlier believed because of potential flaws in the equations used to calculate their weight, reports The Times.

“Palaeontologists have for 25 years used a statistical model to estimate the body weight of giant dinosaurs and other extraordinarily large extinct animals,” said Gary Packard, from Colorado State University, whose research will appear in the Zoological Society of London’s Journal of Zoology this week.

“We have found that the statistical model is seriously flawed and the giant dinosaurs probably were only about half as heavy as is generally believed,” the expert added.

Up till now, dinosaurs have been shown as well-rounded, powerful animals, when they are more likely to have been skinny and muscular.

The new findings would suggest that these animals were leaner and faster, needed less food and had significant differences in lifestyle from what was previously thought. (ANI)

Suddenly super-skinny looking Sharon Stone leaves onlookers wondering

Washington, May 8 (ANI): American actress Sharon Stone, 51, appeared super-skinny when she stepped out at the L.A Gay and Lesbian Center’s “Evening With Women” soiree in Beverly Hills over the weekend.

Her protruding collar and hip bones beneath her figure-hugging coral Herve Leger dress caused onlookers to whisper and wonder how she had shed so many pounds so quickly.

Stone looked significantly larger when she was snapped strutting through LAX just a few months ago.

According to Fox News, her sudden skinny looks have sparked speculation about her falling prey to the Tinseltown regime. (ANI)

Lindsay Lohan defends her recent weight loss

Washington, May 6 (ANI): ‘Mean Girls’ star Lindsay Lohan has defended her recent weight loss, following critics’ remarks that she has gotten very thin.

Lohan, 22, who debuted her startlingly skinny figure while in Hawaii last week, says that she has been eating.

“I’ve been eating enough,” US magazine quoted her as telling E! News.

A source revealed that the 5’5″ actress showcased a skin-and-bones physique while on the island.

“I’ve never seen hipbones that stick out so much,” the source stated.

It was also revealed that Lohan has been taking Adderall, a prescription drug usually given to people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, to lose weight.

“She takes Adderall all the time,” another source said.

“She gets jittery because of the way the pills affect her. It’s a major reason why she’s losing weight,” the source added. (ANI)

Elle Macpherson’s secret to looking 20 at 45 revealed

London, May 4 (ANI): Aussie supermodel Elle Macpherson’s secret to looking like a twenty something at the age of 45 has been revealed by her personal trainer James Duigan.

Macpherson has attracted a lot of interest with her killer figure and Duigan was contacted to find out the reason for her great shape.

The trainer first revealed that Macpherson is a person who swears by fish oil, and it is one of the reasons she is so trim.

“They’re great for helping your body burn fat, especially around your stomach and waist,” the Mirror quoted him as saying.

In fact, the latest study, from the Mayo clinic in Minnesota in the US, reveals that the omega-3 fatty acid contained in these oils helps suppress appetite and encourages the body to burn fat around the mid-section.

Secondly the model moves around a lot, whether she’s cycling her kids to school in West London, or surfing in her native Australia, is always on the move.

“She makes exercise a part of her day,” Duigan said.

“When she was in Sydney recently, she was cycling and surfing all the time. It’s important to stay active at weekends and holidays but, like Elle, you can make it fun,” he explained.

Thirdly Macpherson does not want to be skinny, she is happy to have a few extra pounds on her body.

“A few pounds show a lot on my body but it’s OK. I believe women look good with a bit of softness to them,” the model once said.

Although she’s very slim, Macpherson always kept her curves during her modelling career, which is probably why she’s so fit now.

“If you yo-yo diet or starve yourself, your metabolism suffers greatly,” says nutritionist Carina Norris.

“It catches up with you in later life and you’ll find it harder to keep a steady weight. It’s far better to eat well and move around a bit instead of messing with your metabolism,” she added.

Fourthly, Macpherson believes in her organic diet, and even says so.

“I would encourage everyone to give it a go,” she said.

Studies show that organic food contains more nutrients – and the more nutrients your body absorbs, the less hungry it feels, however, it can be pricey, so just add the odd organic item to your basket when you can.

Fifthly, she likes to meditate, as it allows her to take time out to focus on her mind.

“Keeping stress at bay is one of the best things you can do for your body and waistline,” Duigan said.

Stress is closely linked with stomach fat – studies show that when we’re stressed, our bodies release cortisol, a hormone that encourages our body to store fat around our waist and tummies. (ANI)

Super skinny Lindsay has reached 95 pounds: Expert

Washington, Apr 24 (ANI): Lindsay Lohan, who recently flaunted her super-skinny body, weighs around 95 pounds, says an expert.

The ‘Mean Girls’ actress showed her painfully skinny look just days after her traumatic split from lesbian lover DJ Samantha Ronson.

Now, according to Dr. Kent Holtorf, Director of the Holtorf Medical Group in L.A, the 5’5″ starlet weighs around 95-100lbs with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of less than 16.

“There are signs of muscle wastage, clearly her bones are protruding and she looks quite rigid,” Fox News quoted Dr. Holtorf.

“She looks like skin and bones at this point, Lindsay clearly looks malnourished and unhealthy for her frame,” the expert added.

According to reports, split from Ronson has taken a toll on Lindsay due to which her health has been affected.

“Lindsay texts Samantha non-stop, its crazy,” a source said.

“Lindsay tells everybody she eats and is fine. But her friends and family are pretty worried,” the source added. (ANI)

Single Lindsay spotted looking painfully skinny

New York, Apr 23 (ANI): Lindsay Lohan was spotted looking painfully skinny, just days after her traumatic split from DJ Samantha Ronson.

The ‘Mean Girls’ actress revealed her stick-thin arms and a protruding rib cage while she went shopping with her kid sis Ali in Los Angeles.

Lohan later tried covering up her skinny frame under a baggy shirt while she went for a party.

This is not the first time Lindsay has been spotted looking ultra-thin. Back in 2005 she had acquired the same tiny frame, when she acknowledged to Vanity Fir magazine that her weight had gone out of control.

“I knew I had a problem and I couldn’t admit it. My arms were disgusting. I had no arms,” The New York Daily News quoted Lindsay, as telling Vanity Fair in 2006.

Lohan recently told Us Weekly that she feels “so alone” after her early April split from Ronson, her girlfriend of a year.

“I’m a f–king 22-year-old girl who’s in love,” she said.

“I’m just really hurt. This whole situation is sick,” she added. (ANI)

Michelle Rodriguez turns ‘Bridesmaidzilla’ at best pal’s wedding!

New York, April 22 (ANI): Michelle Rodriguez reportedly turned one wild bridesmaid at the four-day wedding of her best friend and manager.

The “Fast and the Furious” actress was said to have thrust fully clothed guests into the pool at the welcome dinner hosted by pal Giancarlo Chersich at the Casa de Campo Resort in the Dominican Republic.

The next night at the bachelorette party, she allegedly screamed that the stripper was “fat and had a small [bleep],” reports the New York Post.

The 30-year-old had also flipped when “the stripper began gyrating and pushing his crotch into the bride-to-be’s face”.

Rodriguez shouted: “This is the kind of thing that brings out the bisexual in me”.

Then on the wedding day, the star changed her lilac chiffon-and-silk, empire-waist gown to opt for skinny jeans and a tank top at the reception, where she shook a leg with both men and women until wee hours. (ANI)

‘Twiglet’ Jack Tweed ‘takes to weight training’ in jail

London, April 17 (ANI): Jack Tweed has reportedly been pumping iron after his fellow inmates in Chelmsford Prison dubbed him The Twiglet.

The skinny 21-year-old had been found guilty of attacking a taxi driver after losing his drunken temper over the fare and had been subsequently sentenced to 12 weeks in jail.

Jade Goody’s grieving widower had been allegedly targeted by his inmates last time he spent a week in jail in 2008 at the start of a five-month term for attacking a 16-year-old with a golf club.

He was recently reported to have been put in a single cell along with inmates on suicide watch to protect him from being targeted by hardened cons.

And now, Tweed is purportedly lifting weights to toughen up against potential threats.

“Jack’s new nickname is The Twiglet, or Twiglet Tweed,” the Sun quoted a source as saying.

“A lot of the inmates train in case the worst happens and they have to defend themselves, so he has asked one of the bigger guys if he will help him out in the gym,” the source added.

The source continued: “He’s always been skinny but that never bothered him until he went to Chelmsford the first time. Jack was a scared little boy, but now he’s determined to shed his puny image.” (ANI)

Robert Downey Jr. wants Chris Martin for Sherlock Holmes film music

Washington, Apr 7 (ANI): ‘Iron Man’ star Robert Downey Jr. hopes that British alternative rock band Coldplay’s lead vocalist Chris Martin will perform the soundtrack of his new Sherlock Holmes film.

Downey Jr., 44, believes that Martin, 32, will be the right person for the musical score, as the rocker is a huge fan of the super sleuth.

The actor also revealed that the singer has been offering him tips about playing Holmes on the big screen, and that he hopes Martin will be a part of Guy Ritchie’s much-anticipated movie.

“We are hoping Chris Martin of Coldplay will contribute to our score,” Contactmusic quoted him as saying.

“He’s a huge Sherlock Holmes fan. He told me you need to be really skinny, which is always the last thing you want to hear,” he added. (ANI)

Miley Cyrus slams critics asking her to get a boob-job done

Washington, Ape 2 (ANI): Miley Cyrus has blasted critics suggesting that she needs a boob-job, insisting that she hasn’t even grown up to have full breasts.

Gracing the cover of Glamour magazine’s May issue, the teen sensation has said in an interview that she doesn’t like people judging her.

“One thing that bugs me is people who say, ‘Miley really needs to lose some weight,’ or, ‘She got her boobs done,’” Fox News quoted her as saying.

She added: “I did start out really skinny, but you’re not going to have boobs when you’re 12 years old. I’m like, ‘What are you talking about-let me grow!’”

The “Hannah Montana” also talked about her dreamy new 20-year-old model boyfriend.

“The best thing that’s happened to me in a long, long time has been meeting Justin (Gaston). He’s the most respectful and selfless person I’ve ever known,” she said. (ANI)

Anorexia drugs on the anvil

London, Mar 29 (ANI): Anorexia treating drugs could be developed following study which found that subtle differences in brain development in the womb can be responsible for the condition.

In a research, scientists have found that 70 per cent of anorexic individuals show signs of problems with neurotransmitters, chemicals which help brain cells communicate, reports The Telegraph.

The report, which will be released at a conference at the Institute of Education in London this week, suggests that these developmental changes meant the patients were particularly vulnerable to eating disorders – a finding which prompted authors to propose screening children at the age of eight and experts to claim it could “pave the way for the first drugs”.
One of the report’s authors, Ian Frampton, an honorary consultant in paediatric psychology at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital, said: “Our research shows that certain kids’ brains develop in such a way that makes them more vulnerable to the more commonly known risk factors for eating disorders, such as the size-zero debate, media representations of very skinny women and bad parents.

“Arguments that social factors such as girls feeling under pressure to lose weight in order to look like high-profile women in the media contain logical flaws because almost everyone is exposed to them, yet only a small percentage of young people get anorexia.”

Susan Ringwood, chief executive of Beat, an eating disorder charity, said the research could “pave the way for the first drugs to be developed to treat eating disorders, similar to the way that anti-depressants help rebalance the brain of people with depression”.

“Parents always blame themselves,” she said, “but what we are learning more and more is that some people are very vulnerable to anorexia and that is down to genetic factors and brain chemistry and not them trying to look like celebrity models or suffering a major traumatic even early in their lives.” (ANI)

Liam Gallagher won’t model his clothes

Washington, Mar 27 (ANI): Putting all speculations to rest, ‘Oasis’ frontman Liam Gallagher has said that he’ll never walk the ramp to model his men’s clothing range.

Last week, the rocker announced that he was preparing to launch his own clothing line-dubbed Pretty Green-because he was sick of men’s shops stocking skinny jeans and pointy-toed shoes.

And although he agrees to have determined to solve his own clothing problems, Gallagher has denied that he will storm the catwalk to debut the line in June.

Writing on his page on social networking site Twitter.com, the musician said that all reports that claim he’ll model his clothes are false.

“Just been reading the (music magazine) NME about me doing a catwalk to premiere Pretty Green. No chance. LG,” Contactmusic quoted him as writing on his Twitter page. (ANI)

Real Housewives of New York star: I can make Oprah Winfrey thin

Washington, Mar 25 (ANI): The Real Housewives of New York star Bethenny Frankel says she can help talk show queen Oprah Winfrey lose those pesky pounds and keep them off.

And the trick is: her new book, Naturally Thin: Unleash Your SkinnyGirl and Free Yourself from a Lifetime of Dieting.

“I never thought about writing a book, but I figured out how to be thin and not obsessed and I was like ‘wow’ so I had to write about it. I know how much my friends and I struggled. All I talked about was what I ate and I worked out all the time, now I don’t even work out that much – maybe two days a week if I can,” Fox news quoted Frankel, as saying.

“Women in America are going to be thinner because of this book, Oprah is going to be thinner, nobody needs to freak out anymore,” she added.

The 38-year-old reality starlet has been very open about her weight struggles and eating disorders since childhood and even admitted it wasn’t so long ago that she was easily 15-20 pounds heavier.

“Being skinny didn’t come easy for me, I was on every single diet and grew up in a life of diet obsession and food noise. But now I’ve freed myself and I can worry about other things,” she said. (ANI)