They are all touted as "breakthroughs." They all promise to give you a sexy figure, long life, energy, and vitality. They are the popular diet books found in many bookstores today. And most of them are being gobbled up by people who are sick of their bodies and know the dangers of obesity.
For the poor hopeless souls who have tried just about everything to lose weight, it's hard to resist these "miracle" diets with their wild promises. They offer a ray of hope to those who are looking for fast cures to a weighty problem. However, what most people don't know is that there are no instant ways to get rid of unwanted fat.
"Most books which start off by telling you they are breakthroughs are simply misinforming their readers because there are currently no breakthroughs in the weight loss field," according to Dr. Jack Yetiv, a nutrition expert and pharmacologist. Just as it took years to build up that bulge, the same amount of time is needed to los e it.
"Many people are unsuccessful at losing weight because they get discouraged with the results. If you don't have realistic expectations, it is easy to become frustrated. Becoming overweight is not an overnight phenomenon; it takes months, even years, to accumulate that added weight. Reversing the process takes an equal amount of time. You have to be willing to invest the time and effort if the weight you want to lose is body fat," according to Consumer Guide's "Cholesterol: Your Guide for a Healthy Heart."
Diet programs that assure you of constant weight loss of more than two or three pounds a week without exercise or controlling your eating habits are not being completely honest. While it is possible to lose up to 10 or 20 pounds in a few days, what is lost is water not fat. This form of weight loss is not permanent and can easily be regained by drinking water. As such, it adds more insult to injury to a frustrated dieter who has spent a l ot of time and money on a worthless remedy.
But what is even more alarming is the fact that certain diets are nutritionally unsound. That's because they were developed by advertising experts rather than nutritionists. As Paul Insel and Wilton Roth said in "Core Concepts in Health:
"Another factor promoting diet and food faddism is the rapid proliferation of unqualified nutrition consultants. The California Council Against Health Fraud (CCAHF) noted that the number of 'degree mills' offering mail order diplomas in nutrition counseling is rapidly increasing. Graduates advertise themselves as 'nutritional consultants' with academic credentials when they are nothing more than salespeople armed with nutritional misinformation preying on an unsuspecting public."
To protect yourself from nutrition quackery and food faddism, here are some questions you should ask yourself before trying any diet:
Does it have any real advantages over existing or conventional diets? Most fad diets have a gimmick, such as eating grapefruit or using liquid-protein supplements. Do these gimmicks work or are they only a means of attracting attention to the diet?
Is the diet easy to follow? Fasting, for instance, produces a weight loss but it requires a great deal of will power. Most people cannot keep it up for long.
Does the diet provide any long-term modification of eating habits that will allow the weight loss to be maintained after the diet is over? Many diets, such as liquid-protein diets and fasting, and diet aids such as drugs, can produce weight loss. However, because eating behavior is not changed, the person usually regains the weight.
Does the diet present any hazard to health? Very restrictive diets may lead to malnutrition; others, such as liquid-protein diets, have caused injury and even death.
To enhance your diet and exercise program, a good suppleme nt may help. One popular brand is Zylorin that will energize your workouts and speed up your metabolism for maximum fat loss. For details, go to http://www.zylorin.com.