Obesity

I’ll admit, scam may be too harsh of a word for what I’m about to relay to the weight loss wanting public this New Year but many people’s efforts will end in frustration due to misleading information; not lack of commitment or follow through. In fact, people fail to get a fitness or weight loss result for one reason and one reason only: THEY’RE MISLED which eventually leads to lack of commitment, motivation, etc because they WERE’NT GETTING RESULTS!.

Scam would insinuate an attempt to defraud or lie but when companies are chomping at the bit to rake in beaucoup profits this year on “so-called weight loss solutions” millions will waste a good amount of time, energy, hope and yes, money on things that cannot possibly work to deliver long term success. So in essence you may as well be scammed.

This is going to be a four part series because there’s quite a bit of info and needed clarity to cover on each topic. The FTC has been on the hunt for bogus weight loss products since the 1920’s and the amazing thing is that many of these products are regurgitations of what’s been done in the past and you know what? I WANT YOU TO USE THEM! You’ll find out why I said that later.

So here’s Part 1 of the Top Weight Loss Scams of 2006.

1. Any Thing That Has The Word “DIET” In It.
Now how is this a scam you might ask? Diets are always going to be the number one choice for would be pound droppers and whether or not you choose to go weight watching, be like Kirstie Allie and talk to “Jenny,” go with Nutri-System, Atkins, South Beach, Dr. Phil, your own system of just “eating healthy,” etc, etc, etc I’ll bet you the vault at the Belagio in Las Vegas that future frustration will inevitably mount leaving yourself making yet another New Years weight loss resolution. I discussed the “Top 5 Reasons You Should Not Go On A Diet This New Year” in another article “Top-Five-Reasons-You-Should-NOT-Go-On-A-Diet-This-New-Year” so check that out for some much needed clarity on the matter.

So where’s the “scam part” with this whole diet thing? “Lose 9 pounds every eleven days, lose 30 pounds in 30 days, eat like a pig and lose weight, etc.” Those are just a couple blatant false promises that believe it or not many people allow their common sense to be bypassed and fall victim to these bogus claims. In all honestly, anything that has the word DIET in it has about a 98.99% chance of failing. Believing the diet “worked” in the past is the biggest trap diet victims fall into which always has them blame themselves for something that failed them.

That’s just the blatant false promises. Others are much more sneaky and although they are not scams in the literal sense they do in fact mislead people which adds to the frustration so many Americans face with weight loss.

A few people may be ticked off by this but America’s favorite weight loss center (name withheld) that has you counting points maintains the same failure rate as the rest of the diet industry. Sorry, but it’s true. Of course there are a “handful” of long term success stories out of the millions who embark upon the program but for those that have been to the meetings you know that pretty much every body there is a repeat customer. Well if the diet “worked” in the first place then why would you come back to it? If an eating program has you continually cut back on calories to keep that friendly relationship with the almighty progress tool (the scale) then you can be sure it’s a form of calorie deprivation that will inevitably slow metabolism. However, some credit should be given to them for the fact that they do seem to have a genuine concern for helping people lose weight even though the approach is flawed.

Here’s what I want you to do. If you’ve chosen to go on a diet in an effort to lose weight this yearI want you to go on a DIET if that’s what you’ve set out to do! I know this is harsh, but I want you to lose those deceptive 5-7 pounds the first week, I want you to cut way, way back on calories that will eventually slow metabolism, I want you to give up all those foods you love that you think are bad for you, I want you to experience those awful cravings you believe are a lack of willpower that will inevitably have you “blow” the diet and I want you to gain all of the weight back. Harsh, I know but here’s the one thing I DO NOT want you to do: DO NOT BLAME YOURSELF FOR FAILING! So yes, I am sincere when I say I want you to go on one of these commercial diets but I do however realize that there are health implications with certain forms of dieting so as a warning, exercise caution and consult your physician.

Stay tuned for Part 2: The Ephedra Free “Natural” Fat Burners Or Anything In Pill Form That Claims To Be a Solution In And Of Itself.

David Otto is a Personal Trainer in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. To receive David Otto’s e-newsletter “The Otto Report: Getting Real With Fitness,” simply send an email to celebpt@yahoo.com and request your copy.

Tags: weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, lose, diet, carb, carbohydrate, protein, nutrition, women, health, fat

Share This

Clearing the Path for Successful Weight Management

Dieters striving for success in their efforts to manage their weight may have more than just unwanted pounds to lose. First, they have to shed some common myths about dieting.

Myths about dieting instil false hopes in people striving to manage their weight, misleading them to formulate lofty expectations that only serve to frustrate their efforts and stunt their progress.

Indeed, there is little evidence - if any at all - to support three common myths about dieting, as reviewed in a recent edition of Healthy Weight Journal. Demystifying the myths about dieting and learning the trust about the effects of calorie restriction are important steps in beginning to give up dieting and start eating normally as part of a healthy lifestyle that supports success at weight management.

Myth #1: Dieting makes you thin

Most people who lose weight by dieting eventually regain the pounds, and most gain back even more than they lost. A review by the National Institutes of health of all published studies on the efficacy of weight loss treatments indicates that people, regardless of their weight, lost an average of only 10 pounds over many weeks and months of dieting (and for many of these people, 10 pounds was a trivial amount of weight). Further, most of the weight lost was regained within one year, and almost all of the weight, for all of the people, was regained within five years.

What’s the reason for the lack of success? The authors of the article speculate that one reason may be the body’s natural reaction against weight loss. That’s not to say that we can’t optimize our natural tendencies in the weight arena, but the fact remains that genes predispose some people to obesity, particularly when they are in an environment that promotes overfeeding.

And that leads us to the second reason for the lack of success most people see with dieting. The inability to lose significant amounts of weight, or maintain weight loss, through dieting likely has a lot to do with the overeating that occurs when people go off the diet. You’ve heard it here before: If dieters think they’ve eaten foods they shouldn’t (which usually means beloved, high-calorie foods), they usually abandon their diets and splurge on large quantities of “forbidden” foods.

Myth #2: Dieters eat less than non-dieters

Not so. Studies show that restrained eaters (or dieters) often consume more snacks and eat more frequently than unrestrained eaters (normal eaters). Overeating and increased hunger occur after periods of physical and psychological deprivation induced by periods of food restriction. The consequence? Very often, it’s a binge.

Myth #3: Dieting makes you happier

Wrong again. Instead, the outcome of dieting seems to be the opposite - feelings of depression, anxiety and frustration. The fluid loss and empty stomach in the early stages of dieting are, in effect, come-ons. They offer encouragement to the dieter, but within a short period of time, the “baggage” attached to dieting begins to produce negative effects. The dieter can’t eat when, where or what she wants. Socializing becomes unappealing if the dieter is determined to stick with her diet. Some dieters become irritable and energy-depleted due to hunger. And obsession with food and eating begin to cloud the dieter’s ability to think about other things.

It’s not hard to see why Americans are struggling with an obesity epidemic, given that for several decades, most of the American population seemed to be permanently “on a diet.” Fortunately, more and more of us - and the health professionals who work with us - are getting the message that diets don’t work. As we have long promoted at Green Mountain, if we change our focus to health, we will take care of our weight. As important is the fact that achieving and maintain a state of health can be an enjoyable process. The keys are normal eating that includes the foods you love in amounts that leave you satisfied without feeling stuffed, regular physical activity that you enjoy, effective stress management, and feeling good about ourselves and our bodies, no matter what our weight. It helps to remember, as one speaker noted at a recent conference we attended, “Life is too short for self-hate and celery sticks!”

©2006 Green Mountain at Fox Run, Ludlow, Vermont. Alan H. Wayler, PhD is director of health communications and senior nutritionist at Green Mountain at Fox Run For over 34 years, Green Mountain at Fox Run has developed a healthy weight loss program http://www.fitwoman.com/weightloss program.htm, exclusively for women. The non-diet focus on lifestyle change helpls to foster long-term success. Learn more about this all-women’s weight loss retreat http://www.fitwoman.com and begin to understand why this is not just another fat farm http://www.fitwoman.com/fat-farm.htm or health spa.

Tags: healthy weight loss, weight loss retreat, fat farm, binge eating, dieting, obesity, fat farms, diabetes

Share This

It is well known that about two-thirds of the U.S. population is either overweight or obese. The U.S. Surgeon General has stated that approximately 75% of Western diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, gout, arthritis, excess weight gain, hypertension, diabetes, some cancers, impotence, biventricular disease, constipation, heartburn, and gallbladder disease, are “lifestyle-related.” They are directly correlated with our high fat diet, inadequate amounts of exercise, smoking, high intake of caffeine, and high amounts of stress coupled with insufficient support.

Hoping to address this alarming situation, more than 20 years ago, cardiovascular epidemiologist Hans A. Diehl, DrHSc, MPH, created the Coronary Health Improvement Project (CHIP). Since then, this 40-hour community-based lifestyle intervention program has helped more than 40,000 people rediscover their health by preventing, arresting and reversing their diseases. It has been conducted in more than 150 North American cities as well as in Bangalore, India, Australia and Switzerland. Depending upon the needs of the group, the meetings are held either “live” with Dr. Diehl delivering the program personally (usually meeting four times per week for four weeks) or as a “video-based” program with certified CHIP facilitators (normally two times per week for eight weeks). In addition, Dr. Diehl is a best-selling author - To Your Health, Dynamic Living, and Health Power (co-authored with Aileen Ludington, M.D.) — as well as the executive editor of a 24-page quarterly Lifeline Health Letter; he has produced scores of health videos. CHIP empowers people through its scientifically-documented, educational and inspirational program that addresses common western diseases — those that used to be seen primarily later in life.

Today, these diseases increasingly appear at far younger ages. CHIP may make all the difference in one’s life — even the difference between life and death.

In 1999, CHIP launched a “community health transformation template” in Rockford, Illinois, a city with a population of 130,000. The intention was to transform Rockford into the healthiest city in American, thereby enabling it to serve as a model and template for cultural transformation on a community-wide level. Recently, CHIP was recognized as just such a model by HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson and was “approved” under the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a “STEPS to a HealthierUS” applicant. In addition to “live” CHIP, a series of CHIP videos are offered through schools, churches, corporations, and hospitals. In Rockford, CHIP is sponsored by the Swedish American Health System’s Center for Complementary Medicine.

Who is the typical CHIP participant? Generally, CHIP participants are over the age of 40. Most are between the ages of 50 and 59. There are twice as many women as men, and almost 90% are married. Clinical research, published in peer review journals, has found that they have the following lifestyle diseases:

• 10% report having heart disease

• 27% have elevated blood sugar

• 42% are overweight

• 49% show evidence of hypertension

• 60% are obese

• 89% are cholesterol above 160mg%

Over the course of the program, strict adherents are likely to experience significant clinical improvements such as the following:

• Serum cholesterol reduction average 15 - 20%

• Average weight loss of six pounds

• In about half of the participants with type 11 diabetes, a dramatic reduction in need for insulin and hypoglycemic agents

• Lowering of high blood pressure levels

• Diminishing of angina

• Reduced levels of depression and increase in self-esteem

Class & Video Lecture Schedule

Week 1

Modern Medicine: Miracles, Medicines, & Mirages

The limitations of high-tech medical approaches in dealing with lifestyle related diseases

Portrait of a Killer: Onslaught from Within

Atherosclerosis, the culprit in many lifestyle diseases

Stalking the Killer

Reviewing the risk factors for coronary heart disease

Eat More and Weigh Less

Basic guidelines for healthy, sustained weight loss

Week 2

Going Up in Smoke

Smoking - the most controllable risk factor for coronary heart disease

The Magic of Fiber

The role of fiber in preventing and reversing lifestyle diseases

Reversing Hypertension

Changing the major risk factors for high blood pressure

Disarming Diabetes

Lifestyle factors that can arrest or reverse diabetes

Effective Cholesterol Control

Dietary factors that prominently affect blood levels of cholesterol

Fats in the Fire

The role of excessive fat intake in lifestyle diseases

Week 3

Fit at Any Age

Benefits of regular exercise in preventing and arresting disease

Boning Up on Osteoporosis

Cause and prevention of this so-called “disease of aging“

Lifestyle and Health

Clinical studies that demonstrate how lifestyle choices are related to health

The Optimal Diet

Positive dietary guidelines for the prevention and reversal of Western diseases

Week 4

Diet and Cancer

Dietary factors in the development and prevention of common cancers

Atherosclerosis of the Mind

The importance of adaptability in achieving and maintaining optimal health

The Gift of Forgiveness

How a spirit of forgiveness enhances emotional and overall health

Building Self-Worth

The development, preservation and role of self worth in a healthy person

Sidebar

Connie Thebarge’s Story

At the age of 59, Connie Thebarge, a patient at the Ottawa Heart Institute in British Columbia, Canada, was told that her doctors could no longer help her. After all, in addition to suffering from hypertension, she had diabetes and painful diabetic neuropathy. She had two heart attacks followed by a triple coronary bypass surgery and an unsuccessful angioplasty. Every day, she had to take 27 pills. Not surprisingly, she was also depressed.

Yet, today, more than a decade later, Thebarge walks three miles a day, swims twice a week, dances, and travels to Florida and Europe. No longer depressed, she also requires far fewer pills. How was this accomplished? Thebarge participated in CHIP and transformed her life.

Written by the Editors at Weight Loss Buddy Press in collaboration with Hans A. Diehl, DrHSc, MPH, FACN, CNS

About The Author

Copyright © 2004, by Weight Loss Buddy Press

May be reproduced and distributed as is.

Joey Dweck - your Weight Loss Buddy

http://weightlossbuddy.com

PO Box 488 Tenafly NJ 07670

Tel. 877-BuddyUp

Tags: weight loss, losing weight, diets, exercise, obesity, health, fitness

Share This