Are Fad Diets and Weight Loss Pills an Effective and Healthy Way for Weight Loss?

Fad diets and diet pills keep popping up daily on the market. There are so many to choose from, and the majority of them promise that you will lose a large quantity of weight in a short period of time. They are often so extreme that they are hard to stick to. The idea of "going on" a diet implies that a person will also be "going off" another diet.

It seems like this area of health receives the most attention and is more lucrative than weight control. Most people want easy and quick weight loss methods. This helps to explain the multitudes of fad diets and weight loss products being sold today, all guaranteeing you weight loss quickly and effortlessly.

Most people think if they are guaranteed, they must work. Examine the directions accompanying any diet pill or quick weight loss advertisement. They are likely to include a statement about following a diet program of reduced calories. It is the reduction of calorie intake that results in weight loss, not the miracle pill or powder.

2 Successful Weight Loss Tips

How many people do you know who have gone on a diet? How many have successfully lost weight and regain it shortly after they went off the diet? Actually, 5% to 10% of all dieters keep off the weight they lose. Why?

There are two basic methods for losing weight and keeping it off permanently: (1) change your eating habits, and/or (2) change your activity habits. This sounds simple enough, but many people have problems following these methods.

Healthy Eating Habits is Necessary

Exactly what does "change your eating habits" mean? It is different from just going on a diet. Dieting is usually temporary and involves cutting two important group of foods - carbohydrates and fats. When you change your eating habits, you are permanently making a change in behavior. This means you are planning and choosing proper amounts of variety of foods. You will find weight maintenance is a daily routine instead of a short, crash course of quick weight loss.

One pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories. This means that when you consume 3500 calories above what your body uses, you gain one pound. For example if you body requires 1500 calories for all of its activities during a day, you would need to eat 1500 calories for you weight to stay the same. But if you eat 1600 calories a day, you gain one pound in a little more than a month. If you continued this pattern, in a year you would be carrying an extra 10 to 12 pounds. So, if it took a year to add those pounds, it is unlikely that they will come off and stay off in a three week diet period.

Exercise is Important

You can increase the effectiveness of your weight loss efforts by increasing your daily activity. Exercise does more than just help you lose weight - it helps to tone your body. It replaces fat with an increase of lean body tissue. When you diet without exercising, you lose lean body tissue as well as fat. When you diet and exercise, you lose more fat and less muscle tissue which helps keep your metabolism high.

So, I hope you learned that fad diets and weight loss pills are not as effective and healthy as losing weight by eating healthy variety of foods and exercising daily. It may not be a quick fix, but you will be proud of yourself once you lose the weight and keep it off permanently.