<![CDATA[Gizmodo: dieting]]> http://tags.gizmodo.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/gizmodo.com.png <![CDATA[Gizmodo: dieting]]> http://gizmodo.com/tag/dieting http://gizmodo.com/tag/dieting <![CDATA[Asimov's Law Weighing Machines: Scales That Lie]]> No one likes learning their weight from a set of scales, so Alice Wang's new concept devices take inspiration from Asimov's First Law of Robotics to protect you from the cruel truth. Her three scales are designed to not "harm a human being " (i.e. you) by either requiring another person to read them or just flat-out lying to you. Dieting would never feel the same again.

AsLawScales2.jpgFeel like trusting someone else to be kind about your porkiness? The Half Truth design has a display on the front where you can't see it, leaving it up to someone else to read it and decide what to tell you. Not sure about the "harming a human" rule: this one may be a relationship-strainer.
AsLawScales3.jpgOpen Secrets doesn't have a display at all, instead transmitting data on your current fatness to someone else's mobile phone. You'd never even have to know the exact figure, which may be quite liberating.
AsLawScales4.jpgAnd White Lies is the most devious. The further back on the scales you stand, the lighter you appear, so you can choose how much to let the scales lie to you.

Its nice to see a designer tackling a mundane object like bathroom scales, but I can advocate another weighing tactic to avoid upset: ban scales from your house altogether. Much simpler and cheaper all round. [Alice Wang via Dezeen]

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<![CDATA[Enviga Fat Burning Tea: Snake Oil Scam, Just as You Predicted]]> enviga_lineup.jpgHopefully you didn't get too excited about our recent post about Enviga, the Coca-Cola Company green tea that apparently claims to burn more calories than it contains. Our Consumerist pals are the ones with the whole truth, and they found that the research behind this claim is bogus. Studying the fine print, they discovered the study only had 32 people participating, and all were of normal weight. Plus, the results showed no difference in fat burning between the ones who drank this swill and those who drank up a placebo version of it.

Come to think of it, Coke never did "officially" mention anything about weight loss with this drink, however, when you see the words "the calorie burner" directly above the brand name Enviga, one might be led to believe this could slim you down a bit. Or was that just wishful thinking on our part? But you called it, readers: 62.5% of you said "I call bullshit" in our Gizmodo Enviga poll.

Shocker: Enviga Doesn't Actually Burn Calories [The Consumerist]

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<![CDATA[Design Concept: Cutting Board with Embedded Scale]]> This design concept by Jess Griffin and Jim Termeer is a cutting board with an embedded scale in a circular area on its right half, telling you the exact weight of those ingredients you're about to place into your recipe or on your plate. The 10"x15" cutting board is designed to use electronic ink to display weight, with embedded sensor grids underneath the surface to determine the downward force of objects placed on it.

Don't be getting out that credit card just yet; the designers say the technology to build the thing is between one and five years away. The electronic ink display technology will be possible between one and five years from now, the low-current photovoltaics specified as its power source will be practical in one to three years, and the embedded sensor grids are also one to three years away.

We're thinking this is almost feasible now, but still cost-prohibitive for incorporation into a consumer product. Great idea for chefs and dieters, too, though. Maybe it could be done with more-conventional tech.

Design Page [Gifintermeer, via Sci Fi Tech]

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<![CDATA[Shockulate Vault: Torture Thyselves, Oh Ye of No Will]]> You've done it to your dog, now do it to yourself—threaten yourself against unwanted behavior with an electric shock.

The Shockulate Vault has a timed lock on top, and if you try to get one of those belly-busting candies or deadly suckweeds out of there before the allotted time is up, you'll be in for a shock.

But what happens when the time is up? All bad things come to those who wait.

Shockolate Vault [TRFJ]

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<![CDATA[Skinny Water Slims Down Nothing but Wallets]]> jana_skinny_water.jpgSkinny Water allegedly has some powerful juju inside, Croatian Artesian water fortified with a substance called Super CitraMax, or for you scientists out there, hydroxycitric acid.

What does this stuff do? Well, nothing, but if you believe Jana, the snake-oil salesmen who move this stuff for a big profit, it's supposed to make you feel less hungry, increase metabolism, and block carbohydrate absorption if you drink a bottle four times a day, a half-hour before you eat. Well, believing is probably enough to make this worthless substance useful about half the time. The placebo effect is a powerful thing.

Soon to be available at 7-Eleven stores, retail pricing is an astonishing $1.80 per 16.9-ounce (.5 liter) bottle, a steep price to pay even if the substance did have magical powers. Who would have ever guessed that water salesmen could extract such windfalls from innocent victims?

Diet Drinking Water [Strange New Products]

giz_textad.gif Skinny Water costs $39.99 [Amazon]

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