A WEIGHT LOSS SOLUTION
HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT

I originally wanted to title this article: How to Lose Weight in a Safe and Healthy Way, but I finally decided not to.

My reasoning for this was that most of the people I have met who wanted to lose weight, paid very little attention to, or simply were not aware of, the ultimate effects that most weight loss "solutions" will have on their health. As with so many things in our modern society, most of us are focused on attaining some immediate, simple, or relatively painless solution to our problem, not the long term implications. Just take a look at all the get-rich-quick schemes that people buy into when simply putting their money in some wise investments...or not spending it in the first place...is more likely to actually produce wealth. But that's another topic.

It is this attitude that keeps an entire industry of weight loss supplements, diet pills, and producers of fad diets afloat...not to mention the aforementioned get-rich-quick schemes. One aspect of this which I find very sad is that the majority of these weight loss solutions either have a minimal effect on the problem for most people, or, even worse, have no effect at all! Since most people seeking to lose weight are driven more by hope than by knowledge as they try one product or diet after another, not only do they fail to lose weight, but they begin to lose hope as well.

Sadder still, perhaps, is the fact that, in most instances, not only do the pills and promises fail to deliver, but may actually have a negative effect on health rather than the desired positive one! When you consider that one major reason to lose weight is to acquire better health, to find yourself going in the opposite direction can be devastating. Yet, as hope springs eternal, the individual continues to place trust, and money, in the next fad diet, the next diet pill, the next weight loss supplement.

Perhaps the saddest point of all is the fact that healthy, permanent weight loss is simple to attain, and there is often no need to invest any money at all!

Yet another sad fact is that while permanent, healthy weight loss is simple to attain (please note that I did not say "easy" or "immediate") many people will fail with any weight loss plan simply because of a combination of unrealistic expectations and lack of knowledge of how their body works.

Unrealistic expectations and lack of knowledge are the two main reasons that people turn to diet pills, fad diets, weight loss supplements and other purveyors of false hope.

Listen up people: The proven and basic weight loss equation is:

Weight Gain = More calories taken in than used.

Weight Loss = More calories used than taken in.

Most diet pills, and other weight loss supplements do their "work" by causing either more calories to be burned, or by causing fewer calories to be taken in. In other words, they either "rev up" your metabolism, at least temporarily, or they suppress your appetite. Some diet pills act by interfering with the body's ability to absorb fats, and some cause the body to lose water. These last two effects, like most of the others, last as long as the pills do, and any weight "lost" will rapidly find it's way home once the supply is depleted or the bottle is forgotten and pushed to the back of the shelf.

Most diets, whether fad or otherwise, act on the assumption that merely decreasing the calories you eat will cause you to lose weight. Some add the idea that certain foods will contribute to the weight loss process by filling you up, providing fewer calories than other foods, or by stimulating your basic metabolic rate in order to burn more calories.

If you have paid attention, you have notieced that almost all of these diets and products will commonly include a remark or warning that the product or plan will work best, or only work at all, when combined with regular exercise and sensible eating habits.

Now, there are many reasons why diets don't work, and that discussion is too long to go into here. I have written several articles on this subject, and they can be found on many sites around the Internet, including the home page of this one. One major fact to remember about diets is that once you cut your calories to a low enough level to produce a weight loss, your body is going to reduce its basic metabolism so that you will simply establish a new point at which your weight will be maintained. This normally occurs after only a few pounds are lost, so, in order to lose more weight, you have to cut your calorie intake farther.

When the time comes that you "fall off the wagon" and go back to eating the way you did before the diet, and you know you will, your body needs fewer calories to function, so even more calories get stored as fat.

Diet pills (generally appetite suppressants) and other weight loss supplements, which all work by altering the normal functions of your digestive system, merely relieve you of taking responsibility for eating properly, may cause health issues (in some extreme cases, death), and will usually stop being effective the moment you quit taking them.

Neither method, diet pill or diet, improves your health, or teaches and encourages a healthy lifestyle in which weight loss and weight management is a normal byproduct.  Even when, as instructed on their own labels, they are used in conjunction with regular exercise and sensible eating and living habits, they only contribute a small portion to overall weight loss.
 
The actual weight loss process is the result of exercise and sensible eating, while the pills and potions just help the process along!

Additionally, whether a diet pill which obstructs or alters the normal function of the body, or a diet which curtails the ingestion of the broad range of nutrients necessary for a healthy body and mind, interfering with the normal nutritional needs of a healthy body is, almost by definition...unhealthy.

It would seem to me that since the purpose of weight loss should at least partly be to become healthy, incorporating some moderate, regular exercise into one's life while taking the initiative to eat more sensibly (the two steps that are the most effective weight loss tips around) should be the basis for any weight loss program. In fact, regular exercise and sensible nutritional decisions will completely negate the need for weight loss supplements, diet pills, or fad diets. The person who opts for a lifestyle in which these two issues are given importance...and are acted upon...will find that they have discovered the real secret of how to lose weight.

How's that for a weight loss solution?

I have just posted a new article entitled 2 Steps to Weight Loss

P. S. If you want to learn more about why Diets Don't Work, please click here.

If you want to learn how to burn fat, a great book to read is Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle by Tom Venuto