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Top Seven Ways to Avoid Weight Loss Rip-offs With as many as 30% of
Americans being or more pound over weight, and many more approaching that it’s
no surprise that weight loss is big business. The Federal Trade
Commission (FTC) says fat-fighting fraud was the number one consumer scam in
2007. Many of the fraudulent claims made various scammers appeal to the
desire for quick and effortless results. In the search for answers many
otherwise sensible people suspend healthy skepticism. The FTC issued a list of
the top seven weight loss rip-offs and how to protect yourself. Beware of any
product that promises any of the following:
The only way to consistently lose weight is to use more calories than you take in. If you want to lose weight you must reduce the number of calories you take in and increase your activity. There is no other way. Excess fluid
(water) weight can be quickly lost, but the amount of weight loss one can
expect from this is minimal, and is quickly regained. Also, without exercise
muscle mass can be lost. Muscle is heavier than fat, so the amount of weight
loss might seem dramatic. Loss of muscle is dangerous and unhealthy. To lose
weigh you must increase of at least maintain your activity.
There is a
grain of truth in this claim. One can each as much as one wants, if one limit
what one eats. For example, if all you eat is celery, you can is eat as much
as you want and lose weight. Restrictive diets are not only unsatisfying they
are nutritionally incomplete. A wide variety
of foods, with emphasis on vegetables and fruits, is the healthiest approach
to eating for most people.
The only way to make weight loss permanent is to make permanent changes to one’s lifestyle, beginning with changing one’s thinking.
Small amounts
of weight loss are possible with fat and carbohydrate blockers. Long-term use
of either of these is nutritionally dangerous. Any weight loss attained
through the use of these is quickly regained when they are discontinued.
Continuous
weight loss for more than four week is possible only with a regimen of
increasing activity. While this is possible a more realistic expectation is
to see a gradual slow weight loss over many months. Weight that took years to
gain is not going to be lost is a few short months.
All diets work
–for some; none work for everyone. There is no product, technique, or diet
that works for everyone. If you truly desire to lose weight you may have to
try a number of approaches before find the one that works for you. The general
principles of weight loss are the same for everyone: Sustained weight loss
begins on the inside, by changing your thinking and emotional habits. Then
you make changes in your behavioral habits so that you use more calories than
take in. The specifics for each person require an individualized approach and plan.
Creams and ointments can have modest cosmetic results, but the results are only skin deep. There is no cream or ointment that can replace the work of an individualized plan. This is not to
say that products making any of these claims have no benefit. Just beware
that any benefit may be minor, temporary or come with health risks that
outweigh any benefit. In addition to
the warnings issued by the Federal Trade Commission, the Better Business
Bureau has issued consumer warnings as well. The BBB top seven weigh loss
rip-offs to be aware of are: 1. Products with unproven
claims. The Federal Trade Commission just fined four companies $25 million
for what it said was false advertising: Exendrine EFX, One a Day Weight
Smart, Cortislim, and Trimspa. 2. Fraudulent clinical trials. The Better Business
Bureau says a company called Metacor offers to pay you to test a weight loss
drug. The Better Business Bureau says people in six states say after paying
$144 to start the program, they never heard from the company again.
Legitimate clinical trials do not require payment by the participants. 3. Refund policies that are impossible
to follow. A guarantee should be in simple language, without complicated
conditions. Many weight loss companies guarantee your money back, but a
refund is only as good as what is on paper and what you can enforce. If a
company is out of business, you have very little recourse other than trying
to do a civil suit. 4. A number of studies show
hypnosis can help some people lose weight. Beware of traveling weigh loss
(and stop-smoking) seminars. Some are little more than sales pitches for
expense diet products or tapes and CDs. Check out the refund policy first.
Some hypnotism seminars offer a guarantee that is only good for a specific
limited period of time, typically the time that you're in the seminar.
There’s no way to know if you quit smoking or lost weight in that period of
time. Others require strict adherence to a daily routine, such as listen
everyday for 21 days, or the guarantee is void. There are legitimate weigh
loss and stop smoking seminars. Check all the conditions and promises before
you enroll. 5. Be leery of buzz words
like "breakthrough" or "secret." Be aware of the difference
between what can be scientifically proven and what makes for interesting
advertising. 6. The Better Business
Bureau warns you to be careful with lipo-dissolve, injections that are
supposed to melt fat. The procedure is not FDA approved, so choose a licensed
doctor. The Bureau says 300 people complained injections by a national
company called Go Fig, Inc. did not work. The company went belly up. 7. Be cautious with health
clubs that are financially unstable, or that offer unproven programs. Many consumers lose more from their
wallet than they do from their waistline when health clubs suddenly close
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