The Biggest Weight Loss Mistake You Can Make

One of the biggest mistakes people make when on a weight loss journey is in using appetite suppressants to stop hunger. Hunger is essential to losing weight. It is a signal to you that your body needs fuel. When you suppress your appetite and stop eating, your metabolism slows down. When you stop taking the appetite suppressants, your metabolic set point will have lowered, making it more likely that you will gain weight.

It is natural to feel hunger. When you feel hunger, you know that it is time to eat something. Learning what physical hunger feels like is important, because until you actually feel physical hunger, you will eat for other reasons. You will be more likely to eat for emotional reasons. You may choose not to eat at all.

Several years ago the appetite suppressant Ephedra was still on the market and very popular. When I saw that my sister had lost over 100 pounds while taking the drug, I was motivated to give it a try. I began taking the drug as directed. The effects were immediate. Not only did I not feel any physical hunger, I felt no desire for food at all. Food never entered my mind. I was filled with energy and walked several miles a day. At the end of each day, I would have to actually force myself to eat, and this was after reminding myself that I had not eaten all day long. By the time I stopped taking the drug, I had lost 65 pounds. When I stopped taking the drug, the weight began to creep back on faster than ever. My metabolism was totally messed up. It was hard for me to even recognize what real hunger felt like. I mistakenly saw every craving as real hunger. In the end I gained back 85 pounds, 20 pounds more than what I had lost.

Any drug or natural supplement that claims to suppress your hunger is doing nothing but tricking your body into denying what is natural. You are supposed to feel hunger. When you feel hunger, you eat. When your feelings of hunger are sated, you stop eating. Learning to recognize what hunger feels like is essential in learning to lose and maintain a healthy weight. Yes, the supplements may help you lose a lot of weight rather quickly, but the loss is deceptive if you plan on keeping the weight off. Don't be deceived.