Weight-loss gimmicks to kick to the curb

How many weight-loss solutions have you tried without success? You don't have to be a CSI to detect weight-loss scams. All you need is a little common sense and my basic tips for digging through the false promises. If you have tried everything from all-protein diets to slimming pills, then read on…



All-protein diets


Any diet that promotes a diet based wholly on animal fat and protein and virtually no fruits, and vegetables has literally got to be a recipe for disaster. Yes, you will get rid of the hunger pangs — and yes, you will even lose weight — but the damaged kidneys and potential heart disease in the process wouldn't be worth it.

 

Liquid diets

What you have to ask yourself isn't whether the product works or not — but for how long you can stick with it. Any reduction in solid calories will make you lose weight, and if you can actually stick to any of these products for long enough, the weight will stay off. But as with most methods of weight loss, you will have found these liquid diets difficult to stick to. The money you spend on these "meals in a can" could be spent on good, quality food that would actually make a difference long term.

 

Ab-slimming belts.

For around $50, you too can enjoy the sensation of wearing a goofy looking vibrating belt, supposedly replacing fat with muscle. I guarantee you will feel lighter — $50 lighter.

 

Diet pills

Whether they suppressed your appetite, increased your metabolism or supposedly burned fat from your food, I can bet when you stopped using diet pills the weight piled on more than before. They are a short-term solution with short-term results. Many are even being pulled off the shelves for having potential negative health effects.


Slimming treatments

Slimming wraps, slimming patches, colonics, whichever treatment you tried at the health farm or spa, will have helped you lose a little weight (mostly water) for about a week, or less — and for a small fortune.

Granted, these treatments might make you feel good at the time, but they are not the long-term answer to your weight problem.

 

These are only a few of the many gimmicks that are being promoted every day in the billion dollar weight loss industry. The companies involved  know that there are people out there that will do anything to lose weight. Don't be one of them. Eat clean, move more — and don't waste your money on these "magic cures." There's no such thing.

 

Chad Smith is a Hagerstown personal trainer. Read more tips on his blog at www.hometeamfitnessblog.com.