It’s not a surprise to find so many advertisements claiming to have a secret path to a perfect body. But think twice… if any of that was true, would you still find overweight and obese people around? Or would all of us be slim and perfect as their result claims?
Truth being said, obesity is becoming an epidemic. It has been proposed as a new disease for relevant medical authorities in 2016, and in spite of a constant scientific effort to reach solutions, it’s currently growing faster than ever. So, would you still trust advertisements for magical slim plans and weight loss miracles? They are fad diets, that’s what they are.
Fad diets are those who promise fast results and a perfect, miraculous plan to lose weight without any scientific backup. They are usually consisting of mindblowing recommendations, specially made for you to say “Oh, I haven’t tried that”. Psychological strategies you shouldn’t fall for, because it’s not only money you could be wasting.
Some self-proclaimed weight loss miracles have been publicly notified as a fraud. Magic Slim, for instance, was identified by the FDA as a miracle diet pill containing products known to increase cancer and stroke risk. That’s why we have gathered a few facts you need to know before deciding on a new weight loss plan.
Be careful of miracle claims
We can’t possibly stress this more. Fast weight loss, miracle plans, magic pills… fad, fad, fad diet. Whenever you see any TV commercial, blog post, website or comment claiming impossibly fast results, if they sound too good to be true they are probably too good to be true. We wouldn’t find overweight people if there was a miracle weight loss plan, and after so much researching and public policy updating on the scientific level, nothing has proven to be the perfect solution.
Think about it. How much time does it take to go from slim to overweight? Not one week or one month. Fad diets and miracle products claim to have a shortcut to the perfect body, but most times overweight results from a lifetime of sedentary and unhealthy eating habits. So, real countermeasures would not promise miracle weight loss from thin air, and even less when addressing a wide public consisting of different people with different reasons and situations that led them into overweight.
Natural is not always good
All natural, all good. Sounds like a pretty convincing statement, but truth is natural does not necessarily mean good, healthy or harmless. Some natural supplements, especially those claiming to have miracle weight loss results, have no scientific backup, and there’s no way to be certain about their safety and dosage.
And it’s not only about untested products. Some of these miracle pills have been linked to harmful effects. For instance, a component in a popular weight loss supplement consisting of green coffee extract has been linked to fat buildup in the liver. And when taking Garcinia Cambogia extract to trial in humans, results found that placebo control lost more weight than those taking the supplement. There’s no miracle there!
Diet has a complement
Diet and exercise are lovers, that’s the best way to describe it. If you want them to work, it should be together. Not just diet, not just supplements, not just exercise. They just can’t live without one another and will only perform well enough when you join them together, remember that. And no, there’s no way to magically lose weight and grow abs sitting on a couch and putting on electrodes.
On the other hand, there’s always this concern among women refusing to undertake strength training. “I don’t want to look like a man”. Getting bulky is really hard, even for males. And a woman doesn’t have enough testosterone to look big and bulky like a man just because she is lifting some weights.
Did you know muscle is a major calorie consumer? Yes, it is. So, building a healthy muscle mass will help you obtain, and most importantly, keep your desired weight. And it’s not a miracle, it’s pure hardworking, day-to-day training.
Calorie restriction “miracles”
Please, be careful choosing miracle diets with extensive carbohydrate prohibition. They usually consist of very tight eating programs with ridiculous food portions and absolute prohibitions for many food sources. But keep in mind your body has something called Basal Metabolic Rate, and it’s a minimum amount of calories you should consume for your normal body process. You do need calories!
There is no miracle in losing weight by forcing your body to starvation. Muscle loss, fainting, low energy and psychiatric eating disorders in the long-term are linked to this kind of programs. And after giving it up, you would experience a rebound effect resulting sometimes in gaining more weight than you lost. Plus, they are monotonous and boring. So, where’s the magic?
Keep the balance
Remember the old “balanced meal” practice? There are some diets out there claiming some nutrients can’t be taken alongside with others without any real back up to say that. Others would cut completely one or more types of nutrients and replace them with pure protein. But old “balanced meal” saying is still true, and there’s more than enough solid reasons to believe it. So, don’t waste your money on expensive protein overloads which in time can affect your kidneys.
Trust your physician
A true miracle diet would be one in which you eat what you need in the right proportions, taking into account your body measures, your real needs, background, motivation, goals, and even income. There’s no point in following a simple copy and paste, mass distributed dietary program claiming to be the perfect solution to make everybody lose weight.
So, trust your physician, get appropriate nutritional counseling from someone who’s trained to understand what’s happening to you and how to fix it. And be patient, every slow and steady step you take, every pound you lose is a huge improvement in overall health.
Maybe you are desperate to see results. But you would hate if someone wakes you up violently, right? Well then, let your body open his eyes, stretch confortably. Maybe he would want to have a snooze, you also like them so, let him. When he finally wakes up refreshed and ready, your body will respond in ways you can’t possibly imagine and you will see the real miracle, the real magic.
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