The Top Three Reasons You Should Never Go on a Quick Fix Diet

Quick Fix Diets = Deprivation

Diets, especially quick fixes and fads, make you think about what you can't have. Instead, focus on what you can have--think about everything you really like to eat, and find a way to slim down the recipes. Love pasta? Try the whole grain variety--it has more fiber, and it tastes just as good. Got a favorite food that's not good or you? Incorporate it in small amounts as a once-a-week treat. Bored? Try something new from the produce section--you might find a new healthy favorite. Most importantly, know yourself--if you're someone who has a food addiction, and you can't handle having ice cream in the fridge, then it's a good idea not to buy the stuff in the first place.

Quick Fix Diets are Short-Term Instead of
Long-Term

A Quick fix diet is a short-term plan, not the long-term strategy you really need. When you focus on a depravation diet and forget about the follow-up, you leave yourself open to failure. When the diet is over and there's no back-up plan, most people tend to bounce back into their previous eating habits, gaining back all the weight they lost, plus a few. There are several programs available that include strategies for life-long weight control, and a healthy lifestyle. If you're not sure about a particular plan, take a close look at the website to see if it offers a maintenance strategy. Stop thinking quick fix shakes, and frozen entrees and learn to cook for yourself. You can't always rely on the pre-packaged meals most plans offer. If you learn to fix a few things for yourself, you probably won't need so many of those quick fix concoctions. Try www.cookinglight.com, or click on the healthy eating tab at www.foodnetwork.com for recipe ideas.

A Quick Fix Diet Might Make You Skinny, But it Won't Make You Healthy

Of course you want to look better, but what about feeling better? Quick fix diets tempt you with promises of making you skinny, not healthy. If you're a woman who's 5'8 in your stocking feet you probably shouldn't be setting your sights on that size 2 dress--unless you want to resemble the hanger it's on. There's a lot of help out there. Take a look at the different programs available and pick one that makes sense to you--one that actually teaches you something. Weight Watchers, (www.weightwatchers.com) for example, teaches a strategy for making healthy choices which not only leads to weight loss, it helps you to maintain it. Need more help? Go to www.eatright.org for information on making healthy choices, and then make those choices work for you.