Do fads diets and pills work for successful weight loss? This is often a question asked by many fighting the constant battle of trying to lose weight. Finding quick fix solutions like taking pills or turning to the next faddy diet is not the answer if your looking for successful weight loss solutions. You will only end up disappointed and heavier than when you started out.
Dr Jacinda Nicklas lead researcher at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre and Harvard Medical School in Boston publish the results of 4,021 obese adults taking part in the Government’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
As publish in the TIME Healthland by Alexandra Sifferlin
The Proof: Fad Diets And Pills Do Not Work For Successful Weight Loss
Between 2001 and 2006, about 63% of those participants were trying to lose weight and 40% slimmed down — losing at least 5% of their body weight. Twenty percent of survey participants lost 10% of their body weight or more.
“I was surprised by how many people in our study had success,” says lead researcher Dr. Jacinda Nicklas, a clinical research fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. “We have this impression that it is really difficult for obese people to lose weight, but no, they are losing weight. Even if it’s a modest amount, you don’t have to be thin to have a nice health effect.”
Clinical guidelines recommend a loss of 10% of body weight for obese adults to improve their health, but according to Nicklas, studies have shown that even a 5% loss of body weight has measurable health perks.
How did the successful losers do it? Here’s what didn’t work: using fad dieting techniques like 30-day liquid cleanses, taking nonprescription diet pills and eating “diet” foods. Obese Americans who reported weight loss were more likely to steer clear of the “latest and greatest” in dieting and to adopt classic eat-less-and-exercise-more techniques instead, reporting that they “drank lots of water” and “ate less fat,” for example.
The most popular strategies were eating less, exercising more, eating less fat and switching to lower-calorie foods. People who used commercial weight loss programs and prescription weight loss pills also saw success, but only a small portion of the study participants used them. Meanwhile, liquid diets, nonprescription diet pills and popular diets showed no association with weight loss.
“It’s reassuring that patients are using the less costly strategies that have been shown to be effective and the more ‘tried and true’ strategies,” says study author Dr. Christina Wee, co-director of research at the Division of General Medicine and Primary Care at the Beth Israel Medical Center. “I think what is also reassuring is that when they try, in general they lose weight.”
It’s all about taking that first step and admitting to ourselves that we have a weight problem, and that we want to do something about it. If we don’t commit to changing our eating habits then how is it ever possible to lose weight? Read the original story here.
Turning to fad diets and pills for successful weight loss will only leave you with a hole in your pocket and ending up heavier than when you started, which in turn will make you depress and you will then eat more and get yourself into a vicious cycle.
If you are certain that you want to lose weight and have got yourself motivated, take the next step and start with eating sensible healthy foods. Slowly incorporate some gentle exercise and visualise your goals. Losing weight is not going to happen over night, a couple of pounds a week is the best way forward, slowly does it.
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