Shifting post-baby weight is the bane of every new mum's life. But now a mother-of-four says she has come up with the answer: hot knickers!
Farnaz Khan, 33, says she dropped three dress sizes thanks to her heat-emitting underwear – and now she has launched the big pants to help other struggling mums too.
Farnaz, from Bardford, West Yorkkshire, found it nigh on impossible to lose all her baby weight through healthy diet and exercise alone.
But after experimenting with enormous underwear and clingfilm, she discovered a link between heat and weight loss –and dropped from a size 14 to an eight.
She said: "As you can imagine it wasn't very practical. There were strange noises coming from around me - yes, it was the clingfilm - so I started looking at the idea of applying heat into a pair of pants."
Despite having no background in technology, Farnaz continued with her research and came up with Fit Britches, a range of clothing and underwear designed to help slimmers lose inches, reduce signs of cellulite and aid skin elasticity.
She said: "When you think about it, exercising is all about heating your core body temperature which, in layman's terms, increases micro-circulation and metabolism that leads to weight loss.
"Fit Britches work through using an innovative fibre and knitting. The special yarn is the key ingredient. "It emits heat when it comes into contact with the skin - but not enough to be noticed by the wearer - and improves metabolism, blood flow and leads to stimulation of the body's lymphatic draining system to melt away toxins and fat.
"I kept getting approached by family and friends wanting to know what my slimming secret was." Her website has received 200,000 hits since launching in January.
The product was tested on 50 women, aged 20 to 60, all overweight and with sedentary lifestyles, who wore the pants for eight hours a day over 60 days, without a change in diet or lifestyle.
According to the study, the results after 60 days, on an average loss basis, were 5in from the waist, 3in from the hips, 3in from the bottom and 4in from the thighs.
The results also show a 92 per cent higher skin-blood micro circulation, eight per cent more skin elasticity, 11 per cent improved cellulite signs, nine per cent more collagen synthesis, 51 per cent better thermo regulation and 33 per cent lower lactate accumulation.
Farnaz - who recommends wearing Fit Britches as part of a healthy regime, incorporating diet and exercise - said: "I used to hate having my picture taken. Now I'm a lot happier without the excess weight, it has done wonders for my confidence.
"Achieving a good weight and size also takes years off you. I often find myself having to convince people that I'm a 33-year-old mum of four."
The clothing range includes shorts, knickers, leggings and tops and is designed to wear to the gym, the office or at home. The shapewear was featured on ITV's This Morning as the 'top fashion pick' by The Only Way Is Essex star Gemma Collins.
She has since launched corporate brand 8London, specialising in high technology apparel, to support her Fit Britches shapewear. Bradford's business support network Rising Stars is now working with Farnaz on developing a business plan.