There are too many weight loss gimmicks - it’s such a bear trap, and something you really don’t need when you’re on a weight loss journey which is hard enough without extra obstacles. The weight loss industry is undoubtedly one of the biggest in terms of interest and output across the world, and this is great because it shows you that we as a people are always trying to better ourselves and improve our lifestyles! However, something that is unavoidably true is that the bigger the demand for something, the more gimmicks and fakery come along with it. The world of weight loss is no stranger to trend and fads that have little to know positive impact whatsoever, and it is up to you to weed out the good from the pointless. Allow me to point you in the right direction, here are some weight loss gimmicks that you should never fall for.
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1. No Carb Diet
More commonly known as the Atkins diet, this is a protein heavy food plan that many people believe in. However, eliminating carbs leads to your body retaining less water, and though you might think this lost water weight is success, it will lead to feelings of moodiness and lethargy, as well as starving your muscles of their energy reserves.
2. Elimination Diets
Unless you have a specific – and officially diagnosed – allergy to a food or food group, you should not go on an elimination diet. Cutting out a hole food group can mean missing out on vital nutrients. Unsustainable and unhealthy.
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3. Diet Pills
Let’s be real here, the majority of diet pills are essentially speed by another name. They lead to things like irregular heartbeat, loose stools, upset stomach, insomnia and sickness. No wonder you don’t think about eating as much when you have all those other problems to contend with!
4. Diet Creams
No matter how convincing the ad might be, there is no cream out there on the marker that is going to make you thin, either from the inside out or the outside in! There might be creams that can tighten skin to boast a miniscule measurement difference, but that will only ever be an immediately temporary thing. Stay away from cream both in the food sense and the cosmetic sense!
5. Low Calorie Diet
Going on an extreme low-calorie diet won’t do anything good for your metabolism, slowing it down rather than speeding it up. Your body will go in to survival mode you will start burning off muscle rather than burning off fat, because your body wants to keep the fat to ration out!
6. Shakes
Diets using shakes can be successful but only if the shake contains more than 10% protein. Any less than this and your body begins to eat muscle, which is not the right type of weight to lose. A good shake will be low in sugar and carbohydrates, loaded with vitamins and have enough fibre to maintain a healthy digestive tract. You should also enjoy a healthy nutritious routine of snacks and a main meal.
7. Minute Long Workouts
Any exercise is better than no exercise, but how much progress do you really think you are going to make if you are only doing two to five-minute worth of workout every day? It’s a good way to get started, but it is not going to be a sustainable, ‘easy fix’ type model that lots of those minute wonders like to say they are.
8. Balloon Pill
This is literally a pill that contains a deflated balloon which you swallow and the inflate in your stomach, the aim being that the balloon will fill some of your tummy and make you feel less hungry. Don’t even go there girl. There are expert concerns that this pill can burst and press on vital organs, leading to things like blockage and bleeding and infection!
9. Waist Training
No no no no no! This is not a weight loss hack at all. You aren’t losing any weight by routinely corseting your waist, you are just pushing it to other areas of your body, not to mention the risk of harm to internal organs that such a practise poses.
10. Body Wraps
Honey, no. You can wrap your body in any kind of plastic that you want, but at the end of the day you are only going to lose that same water weight that we talked about with no carb diets. It’s not a true version of weight loss and it won’t be sustainable.