Rapid and “fad” weight loss diets and programs are not as good as they seem. Research has shown that while these fad diets have led to weight loss in many people, this weight loss is usually caused by malnutrition from the diet and the weight will be gained back as soon as the person goes back to eating the way he/she used to. In fact, after losing weight rapidly in a fad diet, most people have then experienced rapid weight gain.
Research has shown that when weight is lost extremely fast, usually a large percentage of it is water, and a noticeable amount is muscle. In fact, the body is only capable of losing up to two and a half pounds of fat per week at a maximum. Lost water can be regained quickly, which explains part of the rapid regain in weight after going off a fad diet. Also, when muscle is lost, the metabolism slows down, allowing more weight gain. Weight loss pills and goofy fad diets are not all they’re cracked up to be. For the most part, they are the result of smart people realizing that they can make a lot of money off of overweight people who are desperate to lose weight quickly and easily.
I recently saw on television an advertisement for the “cookie diet.” The diet requires a person to eat 6 -8 cookies per day, and only one actual meal at dinnertime. The total number of calories consumed in this diet should not exceed 1000. People who have tried this diet have indeed lost weight … and most have gained it back when the diet was “over” and went back to eating the way they used to. Eating only 1000 calories per day will cause the metabolism to drop for sure. And there is no way that this diet will allow anybody to get enough of the vitamins and minerals that the body needs. I love cookies and I love being fit, but I’m not going to starve my muscles and malnourish myself in order to get there.
(Diet Pills are also absolutely not worth it. See The Dangers of Diet Pills, January 12).
There are also companies selling weight loss “products” to desperate overweight people. One hilarious weight loss product I read about is “slimming soap.” The soap is supposedly maid from a combination of seaweed and Chinese herbs that cause fat to melt off the body when used in the bath/shower. While the soap has shown to improve skin quality, there has been no scientific research/evidence that this soap has caused anybody to lose any weight. But still, people purchase this soap every day. Another product that people are buying is magical weight loss earrings. It is advertised that placing magnets ear your ears reduces appetite and increases metabolism. Again, there has been no research verifying this claim.
Bottom line: If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you are going to have to change your diet to something healthy but sustainable, and start sweating.
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