Even if you are the reigning queen of hip-hop, properly instructing boys to “put a ring on it,” you occasionally need to slim down and shape-up. Life on the road and long strings of late night performances take their toll-too much late-night deliciousness and too little exercise add toxins and pounds to a hip-hop diva’s most precious assets. When you top the charts, requests, and popularity polls, however, you need brook no nastiness; you have earned the right to feel your palette pleased even as you detoxify and regain your fitness.

Wisely reformulating the traditional “Master Cleanse” to make it far more palatable without compromising its effectiveness, “Beyonce’s Diet” has all the same antioxidant circulation- and immunity-building properties of the original detox formula, but Beyonce and friends have made it taste good. In some ingenious variants of Beyonce’s diet, nutritionists have compressed all the vital cleansers and nutrients into tablet form.

Renowned for their extensive range of lifestyle shoes at true value prices, Skechers have launched a new range of fitness footwear, championed by Shape Ups trainers -a unique new shoe which is designed to optimise exercise by simulating the effects of barefoot walking.

As a result of the recession, there has been a fresh focus on traditional British pastimes, causing many to cancel their gym memberships as a means of reducing monthly spending and instead making lifestyle changes such as walking to work instead of taking public transport as a more economical form of exercise.

Guardian Unlimited, a UK newspaper, has reported that the mayor of Varallo Sesia, a small picturesque town in Italy, is offering cash incentives for its residents to shape up.

It seems that “stress”, “eating too fast” and the love for “junk food” has increased obesity in Italy by 9%, and with this bold move announced over the weekend, the response has been overwhelming. Residents armed with a doctor’s certificate stating they are overweight were lined up at city hall waiting to be weighed by the town’s appointed chemist in order to get into the program.

“Dieting needs strong motivation, and I am trying to muster some collective will here,” says Mayor Gianluca Buonanno, who is also planning on losing 6kg.