Is This Diet Too Good to be True?
With so many diets advertising quick weight loss and boasting to burn off the most fat, how can you tell which one will really work? Here are ten top warning signs that the latest fad diet really is too good to be true!
1. Weight loss is guaranteed! Nutrition is never an exact science, so no one diet can guarantee weight loss for everyone.
2. Promises fast weight loss of more than 3 to 4 pounds per week… sometimes as much as 10 to 12 pounds per week! In order to lose a pound, a person must go into a 3500 calorie deficit. Since most of us don’t approach an intake of 3500 calories in a day, it’s going to take several days to lose a pound, even with a very low calorie intake. It’s practically physically impossible to burn this much off in a day, either, unless you run for about 7 hours.
3. No exercise required! Eat all your favorite foods! See #2 … if you aren’t moving more, you’ll have to be eating significantly less. And most of our ‘favorite foods’ are too high in calories to indulge in when trying to create a calorie deficit. It just doesn’t make sense that you can eat what you want, not exercise, and lose weight.
4. Has fewer than 1200 calories. If a diet plan is lower than 1200 calories, you can bet it’s missing some essential nutrients. Also, you won’t be able to stay on it for long without constantly feeling hungry. A good diet plan adjusts calorie levels depending on your gender, weight, and activity level. Some people can lose weight on as much as 1800 to 2000 calories.
5. Includes the disclaimer “results not typical”. Look at the small print while you’re watching a commercial for the “grapefruit 45″ diet plan, or some of the popular meal replacement programs. They show someone happy with their “46-pound weight loss in just 21 weeks” and then show in small print that this is an unusually successful case. (By the way, 46 pounds in 21 weeks is just over 2 pounds a week).
6. Cautions you to stay on it for a limited time. Some diets are pretty dangerous to maintain, and the people promoting it are highly aware of this fact. So they add a disclaimer to advise staying on the program for a limited number of days or weeks to avoid health problems. If the diet can’t be followed forever, that’s not a good sign.
7. Eliminates food groups or nutrient groups. When a diet plan suggests that grains are forbidden or dairy products will interfere with the results or all carbs are bad, this is a sign the diet is not nutritionally balanced. Once a food group or nutrient group is prohibited, how are these essential items replaced in your diet? It’s okay to limit certain types of food, like sweets, fried foods, or full-fat dairy products, but there isn’t any scientific rationale behind avoiding an entire chunk of the food pyramid.
8. Encourages “combining” foods or avoiding certain combinations. People like to feel there is some exciting biochemical change going on that is burning off the fat in their body. But any diet plan that works is simply helping you burn more calories than you consume. There is no magical way to eat (certain foods at certain times in certain combinations) that helps you lose weight… it’s a sum of what you eat over a period of time and how much of a deficit you can create while still giving your body what it needs.
9. Requires you to purchase their vitamins supplements or fat burning pills. There aren’t any potions, pills, or powders that are proven safe and effective for weight loss. One pill that was popular in the early 1900′s–and it really worked–turned out to contain tapeworm eggs. Tapeworms are certainly an effective way to lose weight, but so was consumption (tuberculosis) and neither are good for your health! How can I be sure there are no fat-burning pills out there? See #10.
10. Oprah is still overweight. Yep, she’s my yardstick. As long as Oprah is overweight I know the secret and magical weight loss pill has not yet been discovered. As soon as it is, I know she will find it, use it, lose weight, and tell us all about it. She’ll probably even give some away on her “favorite things” show. But for now, all we can do is eat a little less, move a little more, and be patient for the weight to come off as slowly as it came on!
Written by Laurie Beebe
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About The Author: Laurie Beebe has been a registered dietitian for 25 years and is certified in adult weight management. Laurie currently serves as a Related posts:
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