“Easy, Effortless and Miraculous Weight Loss – Guaranteed!” – Yeah Right!

According the FDA, approximately 50 billion Americans will go on a diet this year, spending an estimated $30 billion dollars on weight loss programs and products. I don’t need to break out my trusty, dusty calculator to know that I have contributed significantly to that staggering figure. Diet centers, gym memberships, pills, teas, workout DVD’s, exercise equipment….my monthly budget for “100 Calorie Packs” alone could rival the gross national product of a small island nation.

If you’re reading this, I think it is safe to say that at some point on your weight loss journey, you too have gone out in search of a “magic bullet”. Heck, I’ve gone as far as to consider buying a pair of “appetite suppressing eyeglasses” and a “pair of magic-weight loss earrings”. I’m sure the two combined would have made quite the stunning ensemble. Lose weight while looking stylishly fabulous….I’m in!

So what works, and what doesn’t? Well, unfortunately for all of us, there really isn’t a universal answer to that question. One person’s success story could be another person’s disaster. One thing I do know is that when it comes to weight loss, slow and steady always wins the race, and if you aren’t safe and rational about trying to shed the pounds, they will ALWAYS come back. And they will bring friends.

Come on, just admit it already. You have fallen for these supposed miracle products also. How many times, while reading this article, did you glance over at the AB ROLLER gathering dust in the corner or your living room? You can deny it, but I know all about the stash of Hydroxycut in your medicine cabinet. Right now, in my kitchen cabinet I have a 3 month supply of some diet tea product promising “Magical weight loss results from ancient, secret and exotic ingredients from the Orient.” Why did I buy it? Why did I give this bogus company ANY of my hard earned income on something I knew was not going to do what it promised? I’ll tell you why. It’s because trying to lose weight is a long, painfully slow, and at times demoralizing process that takes the utmost patience, positivity and self-control. And I’m sorry folks, but I don’t always have the utmost patience and positivity when it comes to dieting. Self-control? If I had any of that, I wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with.

Like an athlete who starts using steroids to gain that extra edge in competition, dieters resort to these miracle products to shed the fat. Anything that will give us a boost, some extra energy, a slight advantage over the scale. Anything that will make it just a little bit easier to stay focused and on track. There is no worse feeling in the world than knowing you ate right and worked out vigorously all week long, only to see little, or no change at all on the scale. Those plateau moments, those roadblocks have derailed many diets….and I definitely speak from experience.

So how do we avoid the temptation and lure of these fake, and sometimes dangerous, weight loss products? All I can say is that being realistic and logical is the only thing that is going to keep this items out of your home, and your money in your wallet. First, the pounds didn’t appear overnight, and they aren’t going to disappear that way either. Second, those “before” and “after” pictures on the box were probably done with Photoshop (except for mine…those are real, I swear!). Third, if there was a REAL miracle cure for weight loss out there, you probably wouldn’t be hearing about on a late-night infomercial, or reading it in a pop-up ad on the Internet.

For those of you still living in fear that you will be drawn in by the hype surrounding the next “hot” weight loss product, the FDA website has posted a list of words that consumers should be wary of when purchasing such items:

easy
effortless
guaranteed
miraculous
magical
breakthrough
new discovery
mysterious
exotic
secret
exclusive
ancient

Seems like common sense, but for that struggling dieter who just wants to see some difference at their next weigh-in, it’s easy to fall for the quick-fix option. In these times of economic crisis, however, we all need to be more savvy consumers. So put your money back in your pocket and go for a walk instead. Trust me…if you really want those Tae Bo DVD’s, you can have mine.