I’ve seen them advertising those shakes like Optifast on t.v. and my doctor gave me some pills to help me lose weight. What should I do?

There is no fast and easy way to lose body fat permanently! NONE!

No matter what that person trying to sell you the product tells or promises you.

Fast weight loss which occurs with fad diets or shake programs is mainly a loss of water and lean muscle tissue. While this looks like a result on the scales, it is not they type of ‘weight’ loss you are after as only a small amount of fat is actually lost.

Once you go off the diet, the lost water quickly returns (seen as instant ‘weight’ gain on your scales).

The lean tissue does not come back unless you exercise, so your new body will weigh much the same as before but will be flabbier than before. Plus less lean muscle means a slower metabolism, so you can more easily gain weight now too!

Most diets and weight loss products offer a quick fix, and are useless for permanent weight control. Some are even dangerous.

If they did work in the long term, we would see a lot more success and a lot less dieting. The only success I see is in those ads, not in real life!

Starving or skipping meals is not effective. Without food, your body will think it needs to conserve everything you eat, storing energy for later and burning fewer and fewer calories. This means you are eating less, hungry (or worse, hangry!) and still can’t lose weight! How frustrating!

Fat on the body doesn’t appear overnight and it certainly doesn’t disappear quickly. To lose fat and keep it off, you need to change the eating and exercise habits which caused the fat to accumulate in the first place. No diet will do this for you.

Be patient and realistic

Make small improvements to your intake and lifestyle, starting with those that are most do-able first.

Make sure any changes you make, you can maintain.

Allow the weight to come off while you nourish and move your body in ways you enjoy, not by suffering and starving, and punishing yourself with grueling exercises.

True, this will take longer, but this time will pass anyway.

And when you release the weight, you will be a LOT less likely to find it again, or any of its friends! Which will also release you from ever having to ride the weight loss rollercoaster again!!