Latest news with #JaneAtkinson
Scottish Sun
03-07-2025
- Health
- Scottish Sun
Banishing my belly with £550 fat freeze was so painful I nearly collapsed but was worth it after losing 6cm from waist
In the latest instalment of The Sun's Tweakment Trials series, features editor Jane Atkinson tries a non-surgical fat-freezing treatment - the high-street solution for apple-shaped women who want to blitz belly fat JANE ATKINSON Banishing my belly with £550 fat freeze was so painful I nearly collapsed but was worth it after losing 6cm from waist AS a roll of frozen fat the colour and shape of an extra large hot dog is forcibly massaged back into my stomach area I think, just for a second, that I may actually pass out. My legs kick in the air as aesthetician Sadaf Jaffari massages and tries to defrost the fat cells in my tummy that she has just frozen to an icy four degrees. Advertisement 8 Jane Atkinson tried CoolSculpting, a £550 non-invasive fat-freezing treatment that promises a flatter tummy without surgery Credit: Darren Fletcher 8 Jane Atkinson pictured after ten weeks after the procedure with a flatter stomach Credit: LORNA ROACH 8 Jane pictured before and after the non-surgical, non-invasive fat reduction treatment The aim is that those dead cells will slowly but surely over the following few weeks pass into my bloodstream and be excreted from my body through my lymphatic system. Hey presto, a flat stomach for the first time in over a decade. Advertisement I was having a slimming tweakment called CoolSculpting. It was the same one that stunning, leggy supermodel Linda Evangelista had – but bits of her body actually ended up FATTER. But after a lot of research, I decided this non-surgical, non-invasive fat reduction treatment really was the one for me. I have always been an 'apple'. My legs and arms are decent, but as I've got older the weight – and fat – has piled on around my middle. Advertisement Although I'm far too old for a bikini, I did fancy the idea of having a flatter and even slightly toned stomach again, so I could wear some figure-hugging outfits. I've had Botox with celebrity favourite Sadaf for many years. She's a woman I trust and is so experienced with this treatment that she has been dubbed the 'CoolSculpting Queen'. Inside the horrifying High St beauty firm butchering patients in dirty rooms with dodgy liposuction, fillers and BBLs At her clinic in London's Chelsea, she explained how the body-contouring and fat-reduction treatment has changed since supermodel Linda had it. Three years ago, one of the most photographed women in the world revealed that she had been left 'permanently deformed' and 'brutally disfigured' from the fat freezing procedure. Advertisement She suffered paradoxical adipose hyperplasia (PAH), a rare side effect where fat cells expand instead of shrinking. Linda had 'full-body liposuction' procedures in 2016 and 2017 to try and remove the hardened fat. So you would think I was nuts to even attempt to have this. But Sadaf explained how there was a new newly designed machine which provides better skin contact and more effective cooling. There is still a risk of PAH, but it's minimal. My hour-long session cost £550 and kicked off with a rather embarrassing photo shoot. Advertisement I had to strip to my undies and stand sideways as her assistant snapped pics of my bulging tummy. 8 Jane pictured with aesthetician Sadaf Jaffari during the procedure Credit: Darren Fletcher 8 Half an hour later, she was back to start the 'hideously intense' massage to destroy the fat crystals Credit: Darren Fletcher Instinctively, I wanted to suck it all in, but that would have defeated the whole point. Sadaf then soothingly agreed that I was a great candidate. Which meant, in polite terms, I had plenty of pinchable fat. Advertisement I lay back on a bed in her clinic and she drew around an area of my muffin top before spreading over a heavy gauze with a thick jelly texture. Then she grabbed the CoolSculpting 'head', which was a 30cm long and 10cm wide contraption attached to a large machine by a tube. She laid the head on top of the gauze pad. And that's when the fun really started. The machine began to make sucking and gulping noises as it suctioned my fat up and away into the gadget – and started to freeze it. I sensed an intense cooling sensation for around two minutes, which might not sound very long, but it felt strange. And for the first time I started to wonder what on earth I was actually doing there. 'Just give it a couple of minutes,' Sadaf assured me. 'And then you won't feel a thing.' Advertisement She was right of course, all of a sudden everything went completely numb. If I am honest, it was all quite pleasant. I just lay there, scrolling on my phone. I FaceTimed a friend, did a bit of work and happily daydreamed of my new toned and honed physique. But the relaxed vibes were short-lived. Half an hour later, she was back to start the hideously intense massage. Sadaf is petite – tiny in fact – but she is stronger than she looks and defrosting the crystals is agony. The relaxed vibes were short-lived. Half an hour later, she was back to start the hideously intense massage 'This is the most important bit,' she said. 'This is how you get the best results.' Advertisement But I was warned to be patient. I had to wait several weeks before I started to notice those eagerly anticipated results. And in the meantime I had to be brave and learn to deal with the strangest of sensations. First off, the area felt entirely numb. 8 Leggy supermodel Linda Evangelista had the same procedure – but actually ended up FATTER due to a rare side effect Credit: Getty 8 Jane had to wait several weeks before she started to notice the results Credit: Darren Fletcher Advertisement Because the device freezes fat, the nerves under the skin also get a chilling blast and it takes a while for them to come back to life. It looked bloated and swollen, but if I touched it, flicked it or squeezed it as hard as I could, I felt nothing. Absolutely no sensation at all. Zilch. And I was fine with that. But then, after about ten days, the itching started to creep in. And boy did it itch. Imagine an army of angry ants crawling slowly but surely all over your torso. After speaking to Sadaf, she suggested taking antihistamines. The itching is often a result of the body's inflammatory response to the fat cell damage. Advertisement As I am prone to an allergy or two, I had plenty of tablets at my disposal. After taking them for a couple of days, the itching subsided. On the upside, at least I knew that the weirdness meant it was working. Unlike the surgical procedure liposuction, that removes fat through a suction technique, the results aren't immediate or dramatic. CoolSculpting is a non-surgical, non-invasive treatment and it can take months for results to show. SMOOTHER STOMACH But now, ten weeks later, I can definitely see some. Advertisement The whole area around my stomach is smoother and less flabby. You can visibly see that there is less fat there. 8 Jane says the whole area around her stomach is smoother and less flabby - and was able to wear a tight dress during a recent holiday Credit: LORNA ROACH I recently went on holiday and could wear a tight dress without having a bulging gut. I even asked The Geordie – my husband, who is a man of few compliments – if it looked any flatter and he agreed it did. Result! And the tape measure even shows results too. Advertisement At a recent health check up I discovered that I've lost 6cm off my waist in the past year. And I know there's zero chance of that being down to sit ups or knocking Sauvignon Blanc on the head! I am planning to have another round of CoolSculpting – when I have saved up for it, because it does cost £550 a go – as there is no limit to the number of treatments you can have. You just need to wait for a couple of months in between them. Obviously the quicker route to achieve fat melting is the surgical one, but the risks and costs are so much higher and CoolSculpting really is something you can have during your lunchtime. So – unless you want to tell the world about it, as I have just done – it can be your own little secret.
The Sun
26-04-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
It's shocking idle young brats won't get out of bed for less than £40k but I know exactly what's to blame
IF I'd told my parents in the 1990s that I couldn't be bothered to get a job unless I was paid the equivalent of £40,000 a year, I can imagine their reaction. And it would not have been pretty. 7 7 Even my friends would have thought I was a jumped-up little madam who had lost her mind, because back then, getting your first job wasn't about the money. It was about getting your foot on that first rung of your career ladder. Now, it isn't. This week, House of Lords peers visibly gasped when an employment adviser told how kids are now 'on the internet 24 hours a day, and don't want to work for anything less than £40,000'. I was horrified when I heard that figure too. What a generation of entitled upstarts. Graham Cowley was giving evidence to a government inquiry into why there are almost a million 16 to 24-year-olds not bothering to work or study. Easy buck There are now so many of them not in employment, education or training that they have been given the acronym Neets. How absolutely gruesome. And it's shocking to me that they don't want to get a job and make something of their lives unless they are earning such an unrealistic salary. But is it any wonder, when they are on the internet 24 hours a day and often getting influenced by influencers who wouldn't get out of bed for less than £40,000 a month, never mind a year? They are seeing how you can make an easy buck with no real work, training or qualifications. Like Tories a decade ago, Labour need to show some steel to turn round number of 'inactive' Brits and they know it They are seeing their peers being chucked money for wearing a thong on a Dubai beach or flashing their new eyelashes. That must make the average kid quite jealous. It's easy money for not much work. But to sit on your backside sulking while hoping to become the next big content creator or get that dream salary to materialise is just madness. My generation lived in the real world when we started out. It is the only one we had. We knew that £40,000 a year didn't happen with a click of an influencer's fingers. Allowing these deluded youngsters to live off the Bank of Mum and Dad only encourages them to wait for that luxury salary Jane Atkinson My first job at 18 had a £6,700 salary, which is about £18,000 in today's cash, at a news agency in Darlington. Not very glamorous or lucrative, but I remember the exact figure because I was proud of that wage, that I was able to pay for my own flat and car. Kids now don't seem to realise that a proper job can give self-worth, pride, achievement and respect — regardless of the salary. It can be good for your mental health. With youngsters turning their noses up at starter salaries it is unsurprising that so many are suffering from depression. We also had the stumbling block of our parents' expectations to deal with. Mr Cowley told the inquiry he believes kids should be taught again that 'you need to put a shift in to get what you want in life'. I agree. And that is their parents' job. I find it baffling they are not getting this life lesson. Deluded youngsters The Lords responded to Mr Cowley's statement, with one saying young people 'are not stupid' and have actually decided 'it's more comfortable to stay in the house than it is to go and try and find your way through life' on low pay. Unless they are on benefits 'the house' for this lazy lot is the one belonging to their parents. Which means their parents are letting them down. Allowing these deluded youngsters to live off the Bank of Mum and Dad only encourages them to wait for that luxury salary. And then there is, so importantly, the issue of benefits. The Government says it is fighting to bring the number of Neets down by helping them get jobs, encouraging studying — and cutting benefits for these workshy, greedy layabouts and scroungers. This needs to happen. And fast. When Graham Cowley heard those gasps from the peers on the Lords social mobility policy committee he responded by saying: 'You may laugh, but that is the reality.' And that reality is a tragedy. FRED'S DOC SO BRAVE THE torrent of abuse that Freddie Flintoff has received on social media and forums over his documentary about his Top Gear crash is cruel, nasty and wrong. The former cricketer is being slated for his 'sob story' and slammed for taking a £9million compensation payout, even though the cash came from insurance policies, not licence fee payers' pockets. If anyone deserves criticism here it is the BBC, not him. Freddie says they pushed boundaries with their driving stunts and used him like a 'piece of meat' to boost viewing figures instead of thinking of his safety. Former Top Gear host Steve Berry has since revealed he was told to keep quiet about a crash he suffered while filming the show. Fellow ex-host Richard Hammond once warned about safety issues and weeks before Freddie's crash, presenter Chris Harris said someone could be killed if safety procedures weren't tightened. Freddie nearly was. He now knows he was stupid to get in that car. But many employees fail to do the right thing when they are scared for their job. I wish he had given some of the documentary cash to charity. But he wasn't stupid for doing the film in the first place, he was brave. And if that bravery saves just one boy racer from an accident behind the wheel of a car in the future, that can only be a good thing. PATSY IS JUST RUDE SINCE being booted off Celebrity Big Brother, Patsy Palmer has been a tricky interviewee. Presenters AJ Odudu and Will Best were met with a stony silence when they brought up Mickey Rourke and the broccoli incident in the house. Brave Lorraine Kelly still invited the stony- faced EastEnders star on to her chat show, and managed to cover up the silence with her lovely, trademark giggle. Patsy took to social media afterwards, writing: 'There's nothing awkward about silence. It says it all!' Unless you're doing a live interview, Patsy, and then it just says you're rude. FLO AND BEHOLD 7 FLORENCE PUGH certainly made sure she grabbed our attention at the premiere of her new Marvel film Thunderbolts, squeezed into the tiniest leather bra and skirt number. It was eye-catching for all the wrong reasons – and I'm pretty sure she had her top on back to front. It looked as though she had borrowed the outfit from someone half her size. SEEING Pope Francis's close friend Sister Genevieve Jeanningros quietly sobbing as she said her final goodbye to him on Thursday was a reminder that the late Pontiff was also just a man who had friends, family and loved ones. 7 And it highlighted just how disgusting all those people were who said they had come to mourn him but actually stopped for a tacky selfie as they passed his coffin. Finally, the Vatican asked people to stop taking photos. You would think that some things really shouldn't need to be said. I HATE being told what to do. And despite the boss at the biscuit factory where McVitie's chocolate digestives have been made for the last 100 years saying that we should eat them with the chocolate on the bottom, I won't be turning mine the other way up. I don't think I've ever met anybody who eats them with the chocolate facing down. It makes them look like a boring digestive. And that takes all the fun away. PADDINGTON the musical is coming to the West End. Which could be amazing. But according to its creators, the plan is for this show to be less of the marmalade sandwiches type of fun, and more about exploring 'the politics of Paddington' and honouring the fact he is a refugee. Cheery.
