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Fad Diet
Learn to recognize and avoid fad diets. Fad diets
promise you quick and easy weight loss, which may work for the short
term, but is never a solution for long-term and sustainable weight
loss.
Ten Things to Look For to
Spot a Fad Diet
Fad diets are everywhere. They come and they go.
some simply run their course then disappear forever, while some pop
up, go away for a while, then sort of show up again a year or two
later and continue to repeat this cycle. the fact is, there are a
lot of good, sound ways to lose weight and keep it off for good, but
finding these ways to a more fit and trim body means you'll need to
be able to spot the "fads" out there that simply do not work long
term and can be dangerous to your health in the long run. Here are
some tell tale things to look for to help you see your way past the
fake and phony gimmicks that are out there and remember, if it
sounds too good to be true......
1) A MAGICAL PILL, DRINK, POWDER OR FOOD IS USED: The weight loss
industry is a $30 billion dollar per Year Empire. These companies
are making massive amounts of money marketing new "breakthrough"
potions that make lots of false claims. They know how desperate many
overweight people are to lose weight and so they know how easy it is
to target this market. the FDA has very little jurisdiction over
these kinds of products since the weight loss companies claim that
their products are "natural" or "herbal", and only when these
products cause health problems or even deaths like in the recent
case of ephedrine, the FDA will step in.
2) DIFFERENT FOOD COMBINATIONS SUPPOSEDLY MAKE YOU LOSE WEIGHT:
There is no scientific evidence to support any claims that certain
food combinations will induce weight loss. Simply consuming fewer
calories than you burn each day with a good balance of nutrients
will lead to healthy weight loss.
3) THE PLAN WORKS "WITHOUT EXERCISE": While most people would like
to be able to take the easy way out, a little exercise goes a long
way in any weight loss effort. Sure you can lose weight without
exercise, but if you want to lose mostly fat and not muscle and
water, and look healthy and good once you've achieved your weight
loss goal, you need at least 30 minutes per day, 4-5 days per week
of light to moderate exercise like walking, swimming and even a
little weight training.
4) IT PROMISES MORE THAN ONE OR TWO POUNDS OF WEIGHT LOSS PER WEEK:
In order for any well balanced weight loss plan to be both affective
and healthy, you should not strive to lose more than 1-2 pounds per
week. A plan that proposes that you will lose 30 pounds in 30 days
is not a good, sound, healthy plan. One pound of fat equals about
2500 calories. This means that if a person were to burn up 400-500
more calories per day with, say, a small reduction in food and a
little exercise, they would lose around one to one and a half pounds
of fat per week. This is a healthy and ideal way to lose weight.
5) YOU SEE THE WORDS "FAT BURNER", "FAT TRAPPER" OR ANYTHING ALONG
THOSE LINES: Run like the wind from these types of products. Most of
these products have side effects that would make the most desperate
of dieters cringe. All I can say here is, if your really considering
any of these types of products, do your homework and read everything
you can about them first, or take my advice and avoid them like the
plague.
6) IT SAYS IT WILL "BOOST YOUR METABOLISM": Most of these products
are little more than caffeine products. A pill, powder or drink
cannot speed up your metabolism. There is no logic behind this at
all! These products are usually diuretics that serve only to speed
up you heart rates in turn making your organs work faster thus
flushing water out of your body. The temporary feeling of being
thinner will be short lived, and you will only end up fatter in the
long run.
7) ONE TYPE OF FOOD IS CONSUMED TO EXCESS: Most of you have heard of
the cabbage soup diet. Remember the grapefruit diet? How many people
do you know who have tried one of these diets, lost weight, and kept
it off? Probably none! I personally know people who have tried these
diets, swore by them with complete assurance they would work
(against my advice, mind you) and failed badly. Only a few even lost
any weight at all, sung the praises of the plan, only to end up
fatter in 6 months than when they began the diet. These types of
weight loss programs are meant to be discontinued after a certain
time meaning that when you go back to your normal routine, you can
expect to get a high rate of "return" back for your investment.
8) ITS A LOW CARBOHYDRATE DIET: The long and short of it here is
that you need carbohydrates in your diet, particularly if you are
trying to lose weight. Removing most of the carbs from your diet
means that more fat (at 9 calories per gram) will replace those
carbs (at 4 calories per gram) not to mention the wide variety of
health issues associated with a high fat intake. Also, excess
protein will not help because your body can only use so much protein
within a certain period of time. All of the extra protein will just
store as fat. Carbs are also your body's main source of energy, and
you need that energy to get you through your exercise routines that
you should be doing anyway.
9) DRINKING WATER IS NOT MENTIONED: Water is absolutely essential
for proper weight loss. If you’re not being told to drink at least 8
glasses or two liters of water per day, you are not getting good
advice. Water helps your body to mobilize and get rid of excess fat.
It also helps your liver convert fat into energy, which in turn will
help you to burn more calories.
10) THERE IS NO WARNING FOR PEOPLE WITH MEDICAL CONDITIONS: If a
weight loss product or plan yields no warning for people with
problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disorders and
such, the product or plan should be looked at very suspect. The high
fat content of a low carbohydrate diet can be very dangerous to a
person with high cholesterol or high blood pressure and someone with
diabetes should never tamper with their diets without consulting
with their doctor. Any good, sound weight loss program will always
be concerned first and foremost with the safety and well being of
the people using them. If there are no warnings, then you can rest
assured that your health and well being are not an issue that is
important to the company that is selling their products to you.
While it can be very difficult to see past all the hype and
advertising that gets in the way of the truth behind all of the
"fad" diets on the market today with new ones coming all the time,
at least now you have some basics to help guide you through the maze
of falsehoods out there and lead you on your way to being able to
find a weight loss program that truly will give you the long term
weight loss results you have been searching for.
Jim O'Neill gives you tons of valuable information on the subjects
of weight loss, fitness, and nutrition to make it easy for you to
live a healthy lifestyle. Sign up now for his free newsletter at:
http://www.mrgymhealth.com
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