What's the fastest way to lose weight? Think you know? Keep reading to find out if you are right!
Common Sense
There are plenty of diets and dietary supplements that claim they hold the secret to the fastest way to lose weight. However, are they healthy, and do they work? Sure, there are diet pills to speed metabolism and slow your appetite, but are they safe. For example, pills containing ephedra can actually rev up your heart rate, which can in turn speed up your metabolism, but this supplement may put you at risk for a heart attack. While you might lose weight with this supplement, you may also be risking the health of your body.
Plenty of diets boast that you can lose 10 pounds the first week. Again, this may be true, but the fact is that much of this weight may be water weight, which can easily be gained back. Some diets rely on purging or cleansing the body, and then filling it with raw foods.This may encourage rapid weight loss, but how healthy is it? As you embark on your weight loss journey, it's important to maintain common sense.
Quick Weight Loss Methods
May methods and programs exist that promise quick and easy weight loss.
Diet Programs/Books
Programs promoting a specific strategy for quick weight loss have been around for many years. For example, the Scarsdale Diet was first introduced in the 1970's and appears to be a popular perennial favorite. Other programs marketing themselves as this type of plan include The Cabbage Soup Diet and The Grapefruit Diet. While these fad diets will produce immediate weight loss, albeit under unsafe measures, the lost pounds are typically not permanently gone. Because these plans tend to be extremely restrictive, following the guidelines for any length of time is not often tolerable. Hence, when normal eating habits return in terms of food portions and choices, any pounds that were shed will quickly find their way back.
Food Products
Meal replacement products, such as Slim Fast food items, promote quick weight reduction by means of integrating their products into your daily intake. For example, Slim Fast insists that if you choose two of their food products and one sensible meal each day, weight will simply melt away. Claims such as these can also be heard from large food companies, such as Kellogg's, and the Special K cereal promise of replacing two meals per day with a serving of their cereal.
Incorporating food products into meal planning, whether they are shakes, bars, or cereals, does offer portion control. However, on that same note, portion control is never taught and understood since dieters choosing prepackaged items need not be concerned with food amounts. Again, when a more traditional type of eating pattern resumes, weight usually returns as well.
Weight Loss Centers
Establishments that offer quick diet solutions seem to be popping up around the country. The Quick Weight Loss Center, based in Florida, for example, describes itself as "the safest, fastest, most effective weight loss program available." In addition to these types of claims, many centers publicize their ability to teach the correct ways to keep the weight off for good. As with over-the-counter food products mentioned above, milkshakes, bars, soups and other food items are incorporated into these programs. These prepackaged foods are highly processed and most contain sugar substitutes such as aspartame. Average total calories are less than 1200 per day, and more typically under 1000 calories per day.
Diet Pills and Herbs
Probably one of the largest sectors of the diet market is the manufacture of diet pills. After all, isn't the magic diet pill what the world is waiting to obtain? While safety issues are always at the forefront, many pills have not been determined unsafe due to lack of long-term studies. Popular ingredients in diet pills include hoodia, green tea extract, ginseng, guarana, and bitter orange. Many manufacturers are still waiting for patents of weight loss blends.
An important note to keep in mind is that the Food and Drug Administration does not oversee these products unless a need arises. For this reason, the use of caution when ingesting any type of ingredient blend new to your body is imperative. Herbs can cause an array of side effects as well, such as blood thinning, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and anxiety.
Fastest Healthy Way to Lose Weight
The fastest way to lose weight should also include the healthiest way to lose weight. Fasting and diet pills simply aren't going to allow you to maintain your weight loss. Although those first 10 or 15 pounds may melt away, the body may be using precious nutrients. Instead, try the following methods in your quest for the fastest way to lose weight.
- Exercise-Many people worry that by exercising they are actually building muscle and thus gaining weight. While that extra muscle may very well add weight, you'll also notice that your clothes fit looser as your body begins to change shape. Eventually, you'll experience a gradual weight loss as well.
- Drink water-Did you know that drinking a 24 ounce bottle of ice cold water in the morning can jump start your metabolism? As your body works to raise the water temperature to become more compatible with your body temperature, you burn calories!
- Water flushes out excess fat. Help your body get rid of that excess fat by drinking lots of water.
- Water can suppress your appetite. Before you sit down to that big meal, drink a large glass or bottle of water, which will leave you feeling fuller, so hopefully you won't eat as much.
- Eat to lose weight. That's right…eat. Eating five or six small meals versus eating only two or three meals each day can keep your metabolism boosted and help you lose weight.
- Eat fiber. Fiber helps with your digestion, allowing your body to rid itself of excess weight as well.
- Choose foods that are good for you. These include foods that are high in fiber and protein, such as whole grains and chicken or fish. Skip foods with processed flour and sugar.
- Eat sensibly. Pay attention to portion control. Eat only until you are satisfied. Don't let oversized portions at fast food and sit-down restaurants overcome your good intentions.
- Don't fall for the fads. Weight loss programs that promise you the moon may take the pounds off quickly, but how soon will those pounds come back around? Don't fall for fads. Remember: "Slow and steady wins the race."
- Monitor your weight loss. Finally pay attention to your body. You should begin to feel better as the pounds disappear. If, however, you feel light-headed, lethargic, etc., then see your doctor and tell her what you have been doing to lose weight.
