The ugly truth about weight loss miracles.

Lose weight fast! Never diet again (except for this diet)! You’ll have more energy and won’t be hungry! Lose weight, not muscle just by slurping our drink!  You don’t even have to work out! Take 6 pills a day and watch the fat melt away! It’s a miracle! Drink a shake for breakfast and lunch and eat a sensible dinner!

Fad diets.

Pills.

Shakes.

Supplements.

There’s an old adage that says, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

I know that losing weight is hard. I’ve done it. It isn’t easy! The way to lose weight is easy to understand, but so difficult to implement: Expend more energy than you take in. Most of the time we just lack know-how, motivation and willpower to stick with it long term. Sometimes when I think about it, losing extra weight and the day to day challenges of exercising and eating right seem like a huge mountain to climb and I feel like giving up. It seems extremely hard to conquer. I feel so hopeless.

Then I see an ad for an OTC pill that will give me more energy and reduce my cravings!  I hear from a friend about a supplemental shake they are taking that costs $70 a month (or more!).  It’s hope in a bottle! HOPE that FINALLY I have found something that will help me to get where I want to be!  It is that hope that has helped the American weight loss industry rake in more than $30 billion per year.

The ugly truth? In the long term, weight loss requires a lifestyle change. If you are overweight, your lifestyle gotten you to where you are: overweight. I can preach against taking pills and fad diets all day long, but I know most people won’t listen. You have to put forth some effort and make different choices to change your lifestyle. You may not want to face this fact, but there is no way around it. 

Here it is in a nutshell:

• There is no miracle fix.
• There is no fast and easy way to lose weight that doesn’t require you to change your habits.
• If you want to lose weight, the best way to do that is to limit your processed foods and high caloric drinks, eat REAL food, drink plenty of water, watch your portions and MOVE. 

Do THAT for two weeks and tell me you don’t lose just the same amount of weight you would have with your pills or $85/month shakes.

Here are some tools that I have found helpful to support a healthy, lasting lifestyle change:

Supplement-Geek.com – Want to get some information on a supplement you may have seen or are thinking of taking? This guy gives a no-nonsense approach to reviewing and examining the ingredients of many different supplements.

www.sparkpeople.com – a great site to track your food intake and workouts. Includes a huge recipe and workout resources. Also has a very supportive community of people in the same place you are: trying to live a healthy lifestyle. Best of all, it’s free!

www.walkjogrun.net “Ever wonder how far you just ran? Looking for new places to run? Traveling and not sure what the safest routes are?” Log your walks!

50 Ideas for a Healthy Lifestyle that take 10 Minutes or Less

The Couch-to-5K ® Running Plan – Want to start running? This is the best plan to get you started off in a way that won’t cause injury and will have you running a 5k in under 10 weeks!

Also – I am not even going to go into a whole other topic that is related but could turn into another blog: So-called ‘natural’ supplements that can be dangerous and/or interfere with medications or disease processes.  Most supplements are not regulated by the FDA, have not had unbiased clinical trials, or any clinical trials at all! Please just be SAFE with what you put into your mouth.