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Local physician develops new weight-loss product
By LESTER R. DAILEY
| Article published on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2005 |
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| BodyTogs, anatomically-weighted arm and leg weights, fit underneath clothing to help wearers lose weight. |
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LARGO – Want to lose weight? How about putting more weight on. Dr. Ayaz Virji, the medical director of the Morton Plant Mease Primary Care Weight Management Clinic in Clearwater, has come up with what he thinks is a unique way to shed extra pounds.
While studying for his bariatric certification exam, Virji, who is board-certified in both family medicine and bariatrics, thought up the idea for Body Togs.
“It’s a medically sophisticated fitness device, but not a medical device,” said Virji, whose specialty focuses on weight loss. “It’s a first in its class weight loss product that is scientifically proven.”
It’s not the weight that is unhealthy, Virji said; it’s the fat, which causes inflammation and cholesterol. As people lose weight, their metabolism slows down. If obese people could replace the internal fat with external weight as they slim down, Virji reasoned, their metabolism would remain elevated and burn up more calories.
“It’s almost like fooling the body to enhance caloric burn,” he said. “You get the exercise without the inflammation and cholesterol of fat.”
He designed anatomically-weighted arm and leg weights made of laser-cut, rustproof galvanized steel plates encased in seamless Lycra-blend sleeves. The leg weights weigh about four pounds, and cost $49.95, per pair. The arm weights weigh about three pounds, and cost $44.95, per pair.
“It was very difficult to engineer,” Virji said. “It took about 100 prototypes to get it right.”
Virji’s brother, an investment adviser, arranged the financing, and they set up a factory in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Currently, worldwide distribution is handled from Virji’s office in the Belcher Fountains office complex at 1000 South Belcher Road, but he is building a new 3,000-square-foot facility nearby. Customers include individuals, health clubs and physicians’ practices.
“They’re meant for nonexercise activity,” Virji said of the weights, which come in small, medium, large and extra large and are virtually undetectable under ordinary clothing. “They’re more natural and easier to use than standard weights. Wearing them for 10 hours is like running for 90 minutes.”
The average American gains one kilogram (2.2 pounds) a year, according to a University of Alabama study of 3,000 patients. But by using his weights alone, with no other weight-loss measures, Virji claims, the average American would lose one pound per month. But he doesn’t advocate using the weights alone.
“We recommend using them in conjunction with a sensible weight management program,” Virji said. “They’re intended to enhance what you’re doing, not replace what you’re doing.”
In addition to weight loss, Virji believes that Body Togs would help with diabetes. But that has not yet been scientifically proven.
Virji, who specializes in weight loss and wrote “The Skinny Book,” also developed and sells 6-Step Methodology, a vitamin supplement that fills nutritional gaps and helps burn fat. In addition, he sees private weight-loss patients by appointment in his office. Visit www.BodyTogs.com or call 507-7100.
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Article published on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2005
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