What to Avoid in a Weight Loss Program

Obesity is a serious public health problem in the United States; around 65% of people in the US are overweight, 31% of which fall into the classification of obese. Out of the 50 states, only Colorado’s obesity rate is less than 20%. The public is becoming increasingly alarmed over the epidemic of obesity, with a great demand for products which can help people achieve healthy weights. However, there are far too many products offered which are simply designed to cash in on the demand and provide little if any results.

If you’re trying to achieve and maintain a healthy weights, here are some things you should avoid:

1) Fasting or severely calorie-restricted diets – There is a common misconception that fasting or severely limiting caloric intake will lead to weight loss. However, what really happens with these diets is that the dieter’s metabolism is reduced, causing them to lose weight slower, not faster. A lot of the fad diets (such as the Atkins diet and the grapefruit diet) fall under this classification.

2) Diet pills – whether or not they’ve been prescribed by physicians, diet pills are not necessarily safe. There can be side effects with any medication and even some of the medications which were originally considered to be safe have turned out to have some serious risks; Phen-Fen for one.

3) Exercise machines – Late night television is filled with infomercials for these machines. Many people buy these machines only to quickly discard them after a couple of days. Not only are these machines often ineffective, they can cause muscle strain by encouraging people to overwork specific muscle groups. Abdominal workout machines are a particularly glaring example of this.

4) Nutritional supplements which claim to assist in weight loss – There are a lot of poorly designed nutritional supplements out there, many of which do nothing at all or can even produce harmful side effects. Approach these products with caution if at all, as there is generally little or no reliable evidence behind the claims made by their manufacturers.

How can you find a weight loss program which is genuinely effective?

Safety is the first thing you should consider. Is the product natural? Has it been thoroughly tested for safety?
The next thing to look at is the goal of the product. Does it address one specific (usually cosmetic) issue, or does it aim at improving the body as a whole? A holistic approach to health and weight loss is the best (and healthiest) way to go.

Weight loss doesn’t have to be difficult. If it is, it’s all too easy to become discouraged and abandon your efforts. A weight loss system which works for you is one which can easily fit into your lifestyle without having to completely upend your life. It needs to provide you with consistent results over the long term without being something you’ll dislike and come to be resistant to. It should be backed up by verifiable data and work towards a gradual restoration of a healthy body weight along with a metabolism which is able to maintain this weight on its own without the use of pills, fad diets or gizmos.