Health Center | About Weight Loss

People searching for weight loss programs and diets today seem to be searching more for rapid weight loss than permanent, healthy weight loss. Unfortunately, it is a fact that quick diet weight loss programs are seldom without their dangers, and their results usually range from erratic to nonexistent.

I would advise anyone seeking to lose weight to substitute the term ‘healthy weight loss program’ for ‘rapid weight loss program’. I hope, the following short discussion will explain my position to some extent.

You, like so many others in today’s society, are concerned about losing weight. Like so many others, you are looking for some sort of rapid weight loss program or plan. Rapid weight loss, also often referred to as quick weight loss or fast weight loss, involves, as its name implies, losing weight in a short period of time. Claims of such programs often cite fantastic results in anywhere from two to seven days.

In the United States, approximately two-thirds of the adult population is overweight or obese, and hundreds of thousands of these Americans are understandably interested in rapidly losing that unwanted weight. Many simply wish to lose weight before an important event, like an upcoming vacation or a wedding, while others are willing to accept the fact that permanent, healthy weight loss is a lifetime commitment.

While it is certainly simple to understand how you can want to lose weight as fast as possible, to tell the truth, you really need to proceed with caution. Although it is possible to lose weight, or at least a small part of it, in a relatively short period of time, you should realize that there are dangers and problems associated with doing so.

One of the many dangers of rapid weight loss is simply that which is inherent in some of the many measures that some people take. For instance, it is common to hear of individuals who have decided to fast, i.e. not to eat, while trying to achieve a rapid weight loss goal. Going without food, for even a short period of time, can be dangerous to your health. It deprives you of many nutrients necessary to health and will shortly cause your metabolism to slow down. At that point, initial weight loss will cease if it hasn’t already. At some future time, when you return to your normal consumption of calories, as most dieters do, your body will burn fewer of the calories you take in, and the excess will be stored as fat…more fat than would have been accumulated before the rapid weight loss program.

This results in a condition in which the person now weighs more than they did before the weight loss program or diet. They attempt to lose the weight by going back on the same diet or a similar program. This time, the weight loss is harder to accomplish, the basic metabolic rate may diminish more, and the person will eventually go off the diet and gain more weight! This is a cycle often referred to as yo-yo dieting, and, as you can see, it is a self-defeating situation.

During an extreme diet, one in which as little as two to three pounds a week are lost, the dieter can experience the loss of lean muscle mass. Lean muscle mass is the ‘incinerator’ which burns excess calories, and its loss can only make healthy weight loss even more difficult. Additionally, with less lean muscle, the person is less likely to feel like engaging in activity which could help burn fat.

While an actual rapid weight loss ‘danger’ is relatively small though quite genuine, the results, or lack of same, when combined with the loss of needed nutrients do not really seem worth the effort or risk. However, be aware that in the presence of some clinical conditions or while attempting to achieve rapid weight loss through extreme measures, the danger to health, and even life itself, can be quite real.

A WEIGHT LOSS SOLUTION

A better alternative to simply ‘going on a diet’ is to cut back on the food that you do eat, particularly empty foods such as those sweetened with sugar, or heavily processed foods, or to just make sure that it is healthy foods which you are eating. Through limiting of your calories, you ought to be able to accomplish some sort of weight loss in the time that you were wanting to. However, it is very important that you do stick to a healthy eating and living plan.

EXERCISE AND HEALTHY EATING AND LIVING

Along with healthy eating and living practices, another important component of weight loss should always be exercise. Unfortunately, many individuals do not realize that it can take up to one week or more to notice any signs of results from exercise, and very obvious results will possibly take weeks or even months. However, in the long run, exercise, combined with sensible diet, proper hydration (plenty of water), and rest will result in a more permanent and more healthy weight loss experience.

Note, by the way, that those beginning an exercise program, particularly one which includes a strength training component…as it should…might actually notice a small weight gain at first. This is perfectly normal and is merely the result of adding lean muscle mass, which is healthier for the body, and this will help burn fat and calories. The scary part for the individual is that lean muscle mass often increases faster than they are losing fat, hence the temporary weight gain.

With all that having been said, the good news is that the more weight you need to lose, the sooner it is that you may actually start seeing results from a combined program of regular exercise and healthy eating and living.

While exercise should certainly be a major part of any plan for losing weight in a healthy and permanent manner, it is very important that you not overdo it. This is especially important if you haven’t previously had a regular exercise plan. Running on the treadmill for two hours, instead of twenty minutes, may burn fat faster, but, at the same time, it may also land you in the hospital. It is much better to begin at an extremely safe level and gradually work your way up to more difficult workouts than to start at some higher point just because you can and either give up because maintaining that pace is just too difficult, or because of some exercise injury.

DIET PLANS AND WEIGHT LOSS PRODUCTS

Another problem that should be considered when discussing rapid weight loss, is the taking of medications or weight loss products…particularly those sold off the supermarket shelf or through some magazine ad or an Internet website. The good news is that while some of these products do work a little, and some are even safe, you may not be able to tell what you are getting for your money or what it will do to your health in the long run. These products, such as the Alli diet pill, work best, if at all, when used in combination with a regular program of exercise and proper nutritional practices anyway. If, however, you are already doing that, it is fairly certain that you are losing a safe amount of weight at a healthy rate without having to pay for an additional helper which has no permanent health benefit and stops working as soon as you stop using it.

If you think you are interested in using a weight loss product, like a diet pill or a cleanse, to help you lose weight, it is important that you do the research first. This should, at the very least, involve reading reviews of the product to learn about its effectiveness, and discusing it with a qualified healthcare professional.

It is extremely important that you proceed with the utmost caution if trying to achieve rapid weight loss still appeals to you. Although unexpected events or appearances will occur without much notice, most individuals have at least a month’s worth of time before attending a large event such as a wedding or even going on a vacation to someplace where they wear bikinis all day. As soon as you become aware of your upcoming event, you are advised to start trying to lose weight then in a healthy and sensible manner, if you are interested in doing so.

An even better tactic might simply to be to adopt a healthy lifestyle of proper nutrition combined with exercise. Then you won’t ever have to worry about such events, and you won’t have to ‘diet’ or try some other means of achieving rapid weight loss.

Most diet and weight loss programs have a depressingly high failure rate, with people either never reaching their weight goals or reaching them and regaining all the weight they lost (and sometimes more) in about one year.

Getting the weight off fast is so desirable that many of us are willing to sacrifice health and ignore common sense in the hope that some new weight loss program or scheme will work. This pipe dream can unfortunately outweigh the negative consequences. So let’s examine the downside of dieting.

What Is An Unhealthy Weight Loss Program?

* Any weight loss program that is not nutritionally sound;

* One that works against what the body naturally needs like vitamins, minerals, and a minimum number of calories a day;

* One that requires you to go without eating (for example, fasting or meal replacement drinks);

* One that puts your body into an unnatural state, such as starvation or ketosis.

Your body can only lose a few pounds a week on a consistent basis. If you lose more than that initially, it’s likely just water loss. So any weight loss program that promises you will lose five pounds a week, or 25 pounds in 3 weeks, is guaranteeing you will be losing water and muscle mass not fat.

Almost every popular weight loss program out there falls into one of the following diet categories: low calorie diets, meal replacement drinks, packaged foods, unbalanced nutrients, and ketosis diets. Let’s see how they stack up.

LOW CALORIE DIETS

Whenever you drastically reduce your calories, the body enters an unnatural state and its defenses kick in. So when calories drop below, say, 1000 calories a day, your metabolism will shut down in an effort to conserve energy. And weight loss with a sluggish metabolism is very difficult.

Your body will start using muscle tissue to provide energy, which again leads to a decrease in the metabolism. Taken to an extreme, the body will break down its vital parts (such as the heart muscle) trying to meet its energy needs.

In addition to these drawbacks, trying to maintain the weight loss over time is nearly impossible because your body is now used to making do with very few calories. Going back to “normal” eating causes the weight to pile back on.

For this reason, low cal weight loss programs rarely work over the long haul.

MEAL REPLACEMENT DRINKS

One of the most unnatural things for your body is to go without solid food, which is what meal replacement plans ask it to do. Some people think that dieting will be easier if they aren’t confronted with daily food choices and the pounds will just fall off. This may be true while they are on the liquid diet. But what about afterwards?

Where will the good eating habits come from after you’ve lost the weight? This is something that takes time, practice and knowledge. Dieters need to establish a healthy attitude towards a life-long eating plan. And no “fad” weight loss program or liquid lunch can help you with that.

Getting hooked on meal replacements can become a destructive way to view food. It often leads dieters to fear food or binge to “feed” their cravings after a long period of deprivation. And that’s just the psychological side of the equation.

The lack of fiber in such weight loss programs can be a threat to good physical health. And when the body is denied enough solid food, the intestines go into overdrive absorbing calories and nutrients. This helps you during the diet period, but later it makes it much easier to regain the weight.

Another yo-yo weight loss program that hurts you in the end.

UNBALANCED NUTRIENT PLAN

Be cautious about any weight loss program that has strict rules about good foods and bad foods. Sure, high fat and high sugar foods might be considered bad for the waistline, but moderation not abstinence is key to success.

Why? Because eating the same foods every day (say, grapefruit or high protein meals) is going to result in two things: nutritional imbalance and boredom.

All foods are made up of the same nutrients in different amounts: fat, carbohydrates, and protein. It is the right proportion of these nutrients that will bring about weight loss – not the avoidance of “bad” foods and the consumption of only “good” or magical foods.

In the world of dieting, no one food or nutrient group is magical. Variety and moderation are the keys to a healthy diet and a successful weight loss program.

PACKAGED FOODS

To stay at your ideal body weight, you have to learn how to make proper food choices. By following a packaged food weight loss program you are postponing the inevitable, and spending plenty of $$$ in the process.

Another problem with this kind of weight loss program is that the foods provided are not always healthy. Read the package label and you will see chemicals, preservatives, sodium, sugar and saturated fats. And when all you can eat is packaged food, how do you plan meals with other people? Going out to restaurants and parties and enjoying family meals becomes a big hassle.

Your weight loss program then becomes a burden, not only to you, but to those around you.

KETOSIS DIETS

Ketosis has been defined as:

“An abnormal condition marked by excessive production of ketone bodies. Often caused by high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets such as the Atkins diet.”

Atkins and certain other weight loss programs are based on the principle of restricting carbohydrates to the point that the body enters into ketosis. On the surface, a ketogenic diet seems to work for two reasons: First, you’ll lose large amounts of weight, which is very pleasing to the dieter. Secondly, you don’t experience hunger.

But there are serious drawbacks. Your weight goes down due to water loss (which occurs when you restrict carbohydrates) and a loss of lean muscle tissue. This is NOT true, lasting weight loss.

The loss of appetite comes from having ketones building up in the body, which can harm your health. Side effects of a ketosis weight loss program can include fatigue, kidney stones, gout, and muscle loss. The longer you follow such a diet, the greater the risk to your health.

Clearly not a wise choice of weight loss program, not for the short term or the long.

WEIGHT LOSS PROGRAM QUESTIONNAIRE

There are always new weight loss programs coming onto the market and going in and out of style. To evaluate if a weight loss program is healthy and sensible for you, ask yourself the following questions:

* Is the plan nutritionally sound?

* Will it help improve my weight, metabolism, cholesterol level, blood pressure, energy level, and general health?

* Will I be eating real food and not have to buy special formulas, drinks, etc?

* Will I be eating a wide variety of foods rather than just a few “diet” foods?

* Am I allowed to have some treats and eat my favorite foods?

* Can I eat out in restaurants, have a glass of wine with dinner, or some dessert?

* Can I follow this weight loss program without it interfering with my lifestyle?

* Can I lose weight without feeling hungry?

* Will l develop eating habits for life-long weight control with this weight loss program?

* Is this the last diet I will ever need to finally reach and maintain my ideal weight?

Weight loss pills have become popular in the past several years. There are two basic types of diet pills or weight loss pills – â??prescriptionâ?? and â??non-prescriptionâ?? pills.
Prescription Pills :

Prescription weight loss pills are treated like drugs. They require FDA approval and are closely regulated. Some examples of this type of weight loss pills are Xenical (Orlistat), Meridia (Sibutramine) and Phentermine/ Fentermine. To prove their effectiveness in weight reduction, these pills are subjected to a range of clinical tests typically for monitoring health risks and side effects.
Non Prescription Pills

The Non-prescription weight loss pills are also called as weight loss supplements. These drugs can be purchased over the counter as they are subjected to minimal FDA regulation only. Some examples of this type of weight loss pills include pills from Metabolifeâ?¢ and Herbalifeâ?¢ as well as fat-burners, herbal weight loss pills, stackers, other sports or diet supplements.

The difference between prescription and non-prescription weight loss pills is becoming narrower. Since some types of non-prescription pills can be just as powerful or dangerous as weight loss drugs. Exception is that these types of weight loss supplements are not regulated similar to prescription weight loss pills. Hence they can be more dangerous if anything. The FDA has issued warnings recently about weight loss supplements that contain ephedra. Hence, many drug manufacturers are now declaring as â??ephedra-freeâ?? by removing ephedra from their weight loss pills.
Who can benefit from Weight Loss Pills?

Prescription weight loss pills are designed specifically for the treatment of obesity rather than mere weight loss. Despite health risks and side effects, the use of weight loss pills is justified, as obesity is a serious condition associated with serious health risks. Weight loss supplements or Non-prescription weight loss pills should be viewed in similar light.
Do these Weight Loss Pills work?

The answer is both Yes and No. With a proper exercise program and diet in conjunction with medical supervision, weight loss pills or weight loss supplements can be effective in the short term at least. However the benefits may quickly wear off as the body adjusts rather quickly to many weight loss pills.
Weight Loss Trials of Pills clinically:

Clinical weight loss trials demonstrate that by using weight loss pills alone, long term weight control is not possible. A combination of improved diet and physical activity is to be maintained in the long term to maintain weight loss successfully.
Consult your doctor before taking weight loss pills:

You should obtain information from your doctor about the possible dangers and side effects of weight loss pills before taking any weight loss pills.
Side Effects of taking weight loss pills:

Weight loss pills become less effective as time progresses like most drugs and can lead to addiction. If you feel any of the following side effects, taking the pills should be stopped immediately.

Irritability

Anxiety or nervousness

High blood pressure

Insomnia

Heart palpitations and Heart attack

Tightness in the chest

Vomiting, constipation or constant stomach pain

Diarrhea, Fever and Head aches

Dry mouth

Dizziness

Profuse sweating

Blurred vision

Hair loss

Urinary tract problems

Disturbances in sex drive and menstrual cycle.

The long-term effects of these weight loss pills are not known and how they interact with other medications is also not clear.

Copyright (c) 2008 Mark Albertson

The escalation of obesity rates in this country has sparked a flurry of activity among both serious researchers and charlatans to discover the perfect weight loss method. A recent study of four diets revealed that the key to weight loss success isn’t the diet, but how closely you follow it. Investigators from Tufts-New England Medical Center (Journal of the American Medical Association, January 2005) have determined in a study of four popular diets that the key to successful weight loss is not the diet itself, but actually following the diet. In this one-year study of 160 overweight adults, the researchers split people into four diet groups:

· Weight Watchers (low calorie)

· The Zone Diet (low glycemic index)

· The Ornish Diet (low fat)

· The Atkins Diet (low carb)

The conclusion of the investigation was that all of these diets worked when the participants in the study followed them. The problem is that less than one in four were able to stay on their given diet for just this one year.

It should be noted that the hardest diet to follow was Atkins, followed by the Ornish Diet, but according to the authors of the study, “no single diet produced satisfactory adherence rates.” Hypnosis has been recognized as a both a method for helping people to adhere to their diets, and for re-training the mind to “think” like a lean person, in order to be able to give up dieting completely and to develop healthy eating habits that parallel the eating habits of lean people.

That being said, wild and exaggerated claims abound regarding hypnosis as it one of the more appealing methods dangled before the eyes of those who are hungry for a seemingly easy solution to a complex problem.

A careful review of the scientific literatures exposes many of the claims about weight loss through hypnosis on the internet as overly optimistic at best and openly fraudulent at worst.

Considerable controversy swirls around the mechanisms by which hypnosis actually contributes to weight loss. Leon (1976) suggested that hypnosis can help obese people team new healthier eating patterns and retain them. One author remarked that the hypnotic state is characterized by heightened concentration, suggestibility, and relaxation (Mott, 1982). Certain individuals are thought to be capable of achieving this state more readily than others. A so-called hypnotic “induction” whereby a hypnotist using certain procedures to bring an individual into the hypnotic state is not a prerequisite for achieving the state (Mott, 1982). Hypnosis, contrary to the claims of some intemet advertisers cannot magically reprogram people’s minds. In short, methods of hypnosis run the gamut from simple relaxation techniques to formal inductions administered by hypnotists, but should not be considered supernatural in its effects.

Studies showing weight loss as a result of hypnosis alone are few in number and suffer from methodological problems. Andersen (1985) reported that following 8 weekly treatment sessions and 12 weeks of practicing self-hypnosis subjects lost an average of 20.2 pounds. Cochrane and Friesen (1986) concluded that moderate weight loss was obtained by subjects using hypnosis. The experimental group, lost more weight than the controls and maintained the weight loss at a six month follow-up.

Mott (1982) stated that “although hypnosis is sometimes referred to as a method of treatment, it is more accurate to regard hypnosis as a facilitator of a number of different treatment methods.” The study concludes that the use of hypnosis for a moderate weight loss is effective using hypnotherapy. Hypnosis Plus Behavioral Weight Management A number of studies indicate that hypnosis combined with a behavioral weight management program contributes significantly to weight loss. Bolocofsky, Spinler, and Coulthard-Morris (1985) revealed that the addition of hypnosis to a behavioral program designed to alter eating patterns increased the amount of weight loss at 8-month and 2year follow-ups. Both the behavioral and hypnosis programs were tailored to each subject individually in the study. Bolocofsky et al. (1984) acknowledged that “the less a person weighed at the start of the program the more likely he was to lose weight and maintain the reduction”. Hypnosis combined with behavioral weight management seems to be more effective for small amounts of weight loss. Another study of 45 females found that supplementing a basic self-management program with hypnosis resulted in a slightly greater amount of weight loss at a 3-month follow-up (Barabasz and Spiegel, 1989). The group for which individualized hypnotic suggestions were developed lost more weight than those exposed only to a group procedure. Kirsch (1996) noted a weight loss of 6.00 pounds without hypnosis and 11.83 pounds with hypnosis based on a meta-analysis of six studies. Allison and Faith (1996), however, disagreed and maintained that hypnosis only enhances cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy slightly if at all. Long-term individualized hypnosis combined with a behavioral weight management program appears to contribute to modest weight loss and helps maintain it.

Hypnosis operates mainly as a way to increase participants’ attention to suggestions of behavioral programs as well as to reinforce their weight loss. Studies using behavioral treatments successfully “typically have developed incentive systems to bridge the gap between the short-term -reinforcers provided during treatment and long-term goal of weight reduction” (Bolocofsky et al., 1985). Hypnosis can fulfill this role by stepping in as a psychological reinforcer. Hypnosis may assist subjects in learning positive eating behaviors and creating healthy long-term patterns of food intake. Subjects are then more likely to incorporate the rules of a particular program into their behavioral regimes (Bolocofsky, 1985). Kroger (1970) points out the similarities between hypnosis and behavioral treatments which share an emphasis on visualization and imagination. The literature suggests that hypnosis is an ideal addition to behavioral weight management programs which tend to need supplementation to achieve long-term results.

The Hodgepodge Problem in Weight Loss Studies The use of subjects of varying ages and backgrounds represents one challenge that plagues studies of hypnosis as a useful treatment for weight loss. Andersen (1985) utilized subjects ranging in age from 21-56 years, a considerable spread. Subjects in another study ranged in age from 17 to 67 resulting in considerable potential differences between the control group and the hypnosis group (Bolocofsky et al., 1985). The fact that subjects were not matched with regard to age could exaggerate results of weight loss as a result of hypnosis that may more accurately be attributed to age differences. McCabe, Jupp, and Collins (I985) suggested a tendency for younger women to drop out of weight loss programs relative to older women leading to a possible masking of potential effects of age. Bolocofsky et al. (1984) indicated that successful hypnotic weight loss participants were higher in self-control, weighed less at the start of the study, married, and more expressive. A wide variety of factors influence whether a given subject will lose weight through a hypnotic weight loss program. Anderson (1985) cites the absence of matched subjects as a weakness in her experiment. More studies with subjects closely matched on various characteristics should be conducted to substantiate claims about the effectiveness of hypnosis for weight loss when combined with a behavioral program.

Most studies require weekly consultation with a hypnotist for 8 weeks or more in addition to self-hypnosis (Bolocofsky et al., 1984; Bolocofsky et al., 1985, Andersen, 1985; Cochrane & Friesen, 1986; McCabe et al., 1985). Internet advertisers who claim weight loss will occur following a single hypnotic session, especially a group hypnotic session, are frauds selling dreams to desperate customers. Allison and Faith (1996) underscore that “there is currently no panacea for the treatment of obesity and hypnosis is no exception”. Treatment using hypnosis then is not a quick and easy way out of weight troubles. In order to achieve any benefits from its use, hypnosis must be practiced on a regular basis for a significant period of time.

Conclusions and Limitations

Hypnosis has been shown to be an effective treatment for low to moderate amounts of weight loss. One qualification of this statement is that the hypnotic program should be tailored to each individual. Hypnosis is a process by which an individual enters a state of relaxation and heightened suggestibility, Transformation of the brain through some mysterious process defines only the hypnosis of pseudoscientists. Quick-fix hypnosis is probably much less effective than an 8 week program using both in-session hypnosis, at-home self-hypnosis, and behavioral weight management. The only people who claim hypnosis is easy, simple, and quick are those trying to sell people on their program. The largest obstacle in weight loss is its long-term retention, but follow-ups of hypnosis as a weight loss treatment have been conducted at the longest after two years. Weight loss tapes lack scientific evidence to support their success and should be purchased with this knowledge in mind. Weight loss through hypnosis has been largely ignored by scientists and more studies with control groups and large subject pools are required to understand its action and import.

The greatest problem when it comes to diet and weight loss programs is for many people weight loss is not permanent. It could be a matter of days, weeks or months; the simply fact is that most people during this time put back most or all of their lost weight. This can cause anxiety, anger and frustration at the time and effort put towards following a weight loss program that has not delivered the desired results.

So whose responsibility is this far this lack of permanent weight loss; is it the person doing the diet or the diet plan that is being followed itself?

To answer this question fully; involves firstly looking at the psychology of many dieters, as well as the choice of diets available out there.

Most people think weight loss programs have to be complicated to fit in with age, sex and body type. As I am about to reveal many weight loss programs on the face of it look complicated, however this unnecessary complication is mainly to differentiate it from the competition. It can be very confusing to know which diet plan to follow with so much choice out in the marketplace.

Many weight loss programs out there make themselves different from the competition, by using different daily calorie ratios for the 3 main nutrients found in food. The three main nutrients are proteins, fats and carbohydrates. So for example, what you can have is high, medium, low and zero daily calories of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. There is so many different combinations you can with these 3 main nutrients use to make a weight loss plan. There is little wonder that there is so much competition out there with a vast number of different weight loss plans.

So why do so many diets fail people and why isn’t there one diet out there that has proven to consistently achieve permanent weight loss.

The real answer is to turn the first question around; instead it should read why do so many people fail in their dieting. This leads to answering the second question; there isn’t a diet that guarantees permanent weight loss, because it depends very much on the individual who is carrying out the diet.

So instead of recommending which diet you should follow, you need to understand why people fail diets in the long term, this can lead to stopping the cycle of putting weight back on when lost, thus achieving permanent weight loss.

Generally almost all diets work by using the different combinations of fats, proteins and carbohydrates for your daily calorie intake. In the short term by burning up more calories than you intake you will lose weight.

Recent studies back this up; when the popular commercial diets were compared against other over a 6-12 month period, they mostly showed similar weight loss results. One major study concluded that the person adhering to the diet, rather than the diet itself was the main indicator of whether the weight loss program would work or not.

So what this shows clearly that, the most likely way to succeed in achieving permanent weight loss depends on how well you adhere to a weight loss plan in the long term. So how can this be achieved?

A solution to achieving permanent weight loss lies in looking at making lifestyle changes; developing new positive habits that involve following weight loss programs in the long term. The simply fact changes like this simply do not happen overnight and take weeks, sometimes months to become an integrated part of a persons life.

The sad fact is most people there are looking for a magic wand to end their weight loss problems. Many turn to drugs and surgery for an immediate result. Unfortunately drug use and surgery can have side effects or unknown long term consequences.

So the safer and more effective way to permanent weight loss is to reduce your calories and do your diet program for the long term. By developing these habits over weeks, months and years you ensure that weight loss will become permanent for you.