Trainer: You should try this Fat Burner drink. It's a great supplement to your workout.
Guy: So I can still eat my Whopper at Burger King, drink this and lose weight?
Trainer: Uh...that's not what I said. It's a great supplement to good nutrition and a workout regimen.
Guy: Sweet! Screw this gym membership. I'm just gonna drink this. Better stop and get some Taco Bell on the way home.
Ok, this is dramatized a little bit. But my sister witnessed a very similar exchange between a trainer and customer at the gym yesterday. She was so shocked that the guy couldn't grasp the idea that she had to call and tell me about it. We decided I had better write about this!
So, the trainer was very clear that the supplement was not a replacement for healthy habits like diet and exercise. He repeated himself multiple times and the guy heard what he wanted to hear: "This burns fat and I don't have to do all this working out business."
Well, I have news for the Taco Bell, Fat Burner man - THERE IS NO QUICK FIX. Period. There is nothing that you can do, not do, eat or drink that will help you lose weight and keep it off other than good old fashioned exercise and healthy eating. I feel like I should add one hundred exclamation points after that!
Unfortunately there is so much propaganda out there about new fangled diets or pills that lead you to believe that you don't have to put forth any effort. When in reality they are harmful and/or not maintainable. You are in the minority if you haven't tried some lose weight quick scheme. It's like "get rich quick" ideas, they don't work! I recently read an article about some of the most popular quick weight loss diets and the criticism of those diets.
"Fad diets not only fail to produce long-term weight loss, they can lead to deprivation, weight gain, and discouragement," says Michelle May, MD, author of Am I Hungry? What to Do When Diets Don't Work."In other words, you are often worse off than before you started." She outlines some of the worst offenders (excerpted from her article):
1. Diets that focus on only a few foods or food groups (like the cabbage soup diet, grapefruit diet, strict vegan diets, raw food diets, and many low-carb diets)
Beware of any diet that rules out entire food groups. People need to eat from a variety of food groups to get all the nutrients they need, says ADA spokeswoman Andrea Giancoli, MPH, RD.
Yale University's David Katz, MD, author of The Flavor Point Diet, says that while restrictive diets do work initially, they fail over the long haul. You can lose weight on diets that focus on single foods (like cabbage soup), but how much cabbage soup can a person eat? Before long, you grow weary of eating the same foods every day, and cravings for favorite foods lead you back to your former eating behavior.
2. "Detox" diets (like Master Cleanse, the Hallelujah Diet, and The Martha's Vineyard Diet Detox)
Extreme regimens calling for procedures like liver flushes, bodily cleanses, colonics, hormone injections, and more are highly suspect, experts say.
"All the flushes and cleanses are pure nonsense, unnecessary, and there is no scientific basis for these recommendations," says Pamela Peeke, MD, chief medical correspondent for the Discovery Health channel. "Your body is well equipped with organs, such as the liver and kidneys, and the immune system, to rid itself of potential toxins and does an excellent job of cleansing itself without needing flushes or cleanses."
3. Diets with 'miracle' foods or ingredients (like supplements, fructose water, bitter orange, green tea, apple cider vinegar)
Dieters are always searching for the food, pill, or potion that will help them lose weight, but unfortunately, there are no such miracle ingredients. "No one single food or group of foods eaten together or at a certain time of day has any impact on weight loss," notes May.
4. Fasting and very low-calorie diets (like the "Skinny" vegan diet, Hollywood Diet, and Master Cleanse)
Fasting has been a cultural and religious tradition for centuries, and is fine for a day or so, but fasting for weight loss is counterproductive, Giancoli explains.
"When you ... consume too few calories, your body thinks it is starving and adjusts the metabolism," she says. "But when you go back to eating normally, your metabolism doesn't readjust and therefore you need fewer calories than before -- otherwise known as the yo-yo syndrome."
What's worse, weight loss during a fast is usually a combination of fat, fluid, and muscle, but the pounds regained will probably be all fat.
5. Diets that sound too good to be true (like The Weight Loss Cure 'They' Don't Want You to Know About.)
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Diet plans that claim to have a "secret," that make dramatic statements against respected health authorities, or make recommendations that contradict those of scientific organizations are suspect.
Bottom line, weight loss and maintenance are simple, but not easy. Nothing that is worthwhile is ever "easy." You must burn more calories than you take in. Whether that means you workout at the gym, with a DVD at home or run in the great outdoors - you gotta put forth the effort. So what about supplements? A common misconception about supplements is that they can do the work for you. False. Supplements are just that, a supplement to your workout and nutrition plan. They may help you recover more quickly or get needed vitamins or nutrition that are lacking in your diet, but they do not do the work for you.
As some of you know I sell Beachbody products and I have to say that the supplementation I sell is some of the best out there. Whether it's muscle recovery, a multi-vitamin or a meal replacement I believe in these products. They aren't a quick fix, they must be accompanied with a healthy diet and exercise.
Rant complete!
For more info on fad diets, read this full article: Webmd.com
For more info on Beachbody, visit my website: http://teambeachbody.com/meghanh
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