This doctor wanted my niece also to be put on his special metabolic injections and appetite suppressants etc etc but my sister completely disallowed this, believing it unhealthy for a young teenager. He has said that she should be weighed at his clinic once a week for a cost of R2000 a month and that on reaching her goal weight, she should continue to be weighed weekly for a period of 6 months (and a cost of R2000 per month).
Any advice you could offer would be greatly appreciated. I am very concerned that this "diet" is going to do permanent damage to my niece.
It sounds like this diet is going to do serious damage to your bank balance! Here at Calorie Counter we would definitely advise against spending lots of money on slimming products. I think the best thing the whole family can do for your niece is to be supportive, encourage her, and buy lots of healthy foods that you can all enjoy. It is important that your niece is a healthy weight, but without becoming obsessive about dieting, which could have long terms effects on her happiness. I would suggest you all look at making some changes to your lifestyle to eat a healthy balanced diet that you can stick to for life, have a look round the rest of the site for some ideas.

How many calories would/do you burn on a full 1 hour "CardioKick" class?
It depends a bit on how hard you were working, but on average this type of exercise burns 400 calories per hour - the equivalent of... a quarter pound burger... two cherry bakewells... four chocolate chip cookies... a chicken kiev... four bottles of lager... well worth the effort!

I am trying to lose weight at the moment, and I have found that fresh fruit is a great substitute for snacks if I find myself hungry between meals. If I am counting calories, do I need to count the calories in fruit, or can I eat as much as I like?
You are right that fresh fruit, and vegetables are the best choice of snack for anyone who is watching their weight. An apple for example only contains around 50 calories, where a bar of chocolate around 250, a banana has 100 calories and a cake 300, a peach has only 40 calories and a bag of crisps between 130 and 250! Fruit also has much less fat than other snacks, but if you are on a calorie counted diet you still need to include them.

Our web site is visited by people all over the world, and sometimes our British measurements can cause confusion. The values below will help you simply convert pounds to kilos and vice versa.
One pound equals 0.4536kg (multiply by 0.4536 to convert pounds to kgs)
1kg equals 2.205 pounds (multiply by 2.205 to convert kgs to pounds)
There are 14 pounds in one stone (multiply stones by 14 to find out weight in pounds)
There are 6.350kg in one stone (multiply by 6.350 to convert stones to kg)