The Heavy Price of Fad Dieting

• “It’s so easy to lose weight without dieting or exercising!”
• “Eat whatever you want and still lose weight!”
• “Lose weight forever…you’ll never need to diet again!”
• “Block the digestion and absorption of fat, carbs, or calories!”
• “Rapid weight loss: Lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks!”“Lose 40 pounds in 30 days.”
• “Finally, a weight loss formula for everyone!”
• “Lose weight with this miracle diet patch, cream or gel!”
• “Scientifically Proven! Doctor Endorsed!”
• “Money-back guarantee!”
• “100% safe!”
• “A miraculous breakthrough!”

Ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-aa-aa-CHING!

For many, a “diet” is always seen as a temporary measure — an unpleasant episode that must be endured in order to reach some weight (or dress size) target, often in time for a major event such as a wedding or their kids’ graduation or bathing suit weather. Afterwards, with a big sigh of relief that it’s over, they get back to what is for them “normal” eating. Then, in no time at all, their weight is back where it was — or higher! — and they wonder; was it worth it? . . . in both time and in money.

Year after year after year they come — the diet or the product or service that will put an end to one’s fat — followed by the people who fall for that shit, who want fast results without any hard work. I have clients who have spent, literally, tens of thousands of dollars over the years on different kinds of diet products and diet services — from pills to meal replacement solutions to injections to diet food home delivery services. This is because, for too many, the psychological cost of giving up their fattening lifestyle seems too great. So they opt for the “quick fix.”

Can you name one meaningful thing in life, ANYTHING at all of quality and value, that you can achieve without hard work? . . . that you can maintain without hard work? Not gonna happen!

Quick-fix-diet-shticks appeal more to people’s vanity than to their desire to get and stay slim and healthy. The focus is on inches and pounds and how fast they can see results, and not on learning about how to put a good system in place to change behavior in order to lose and maintain weight loss. They’re interested only in outcome goals, not process goals . . . and certainly not on reducing the risk of diabetes or heart disease or cancer. They don’t deal with the real issues of how/why someone let themselves get overweight or obese, and they are not sustainable. They are programs or regimens you follow for a finite amount of time, most often just a few weeks. Life, however, is longer than the 20 days or 30 days or 8 weeks.

If you want to make a real, lasting change, you have to make real changes to your lifestyle, and few people are able to do this on their own. The greatest success in weight loss is seen with ongoing individual and personalized counseling and support wherein you learn skills and strategies to achieve and maintain your weight long-term. You also need to feel that the benefits of changing your behavior will outweigh the costs . . . both in time and money . . . of working with a professional.

The next time you watch an infomercial, come across a magazine ad, hear a radio commercial, or spot a new supplement reporting miraculous weight loss results, know this: Even in a rare case where a product might result in some temporary weight loss, it is never a permanent solution and is usually unsafe and/or nutritionally inferior to everyday healthy alternatives.

When you lose weight quickly over and over and over again, the only real loss is always to your wallet. Stop feeding your fat cells with your money.