I think it's fair to say that most of us have wanted to, or do want to, lose some body fat. There's a good chance most have tried already. Some have had some success only to see the weight pile back on, others may have given up altogether.
It's scary to try something as personal as losing weight, there's a fear of failure, a fear of not being able to enjoy life as much, a fear of never being able to eat certain foods again, and if you have been overweight for a while - let's be honest, there's a fear of change.
So.......until things get out of control, or maybe you have a holiday booked, or a wedding day, it's easier and less stressful to put it to the back of your mind. File it away in the "to do" box.
One day the time comes for you to take action....
You start making a plan.
Your friends and family all of a sudden turn into weight loss experts "try this, I lost ...... in a week". "You need to detox and cleanse".
The logical part of your brain says that this is too good to be true, why would I need to detox? Surely my liver takes care of that?
Losing that much weight so quickly can't be healthy?
But then the fears start to be an issue again. That "to do" box has been opened and now the reasons that you put "weight loss" to the back of your mind are back out in the open and are very much back in play.
But what if there was a way that you knew would work? You wouldn't fear failure as much - your friends/family say it worked for them.
Maybe you do need to do a detox? The milkshakes/juices do look tasty. I wouldn't have to worry about breakfast and/or lunch. They have snack bars too. It's my friend/family member selling it to me, it can't be that bad.
Plus....
"you don't need to miss out on the foods you like if you use the supplements/pills".
"you can still go for drinks after work and go out for meals with your partner etc, life goes on!".
You all of a sudden don't feel scared anymore, you have the support of your friends and family (you would have had that anyway, but nevertheless), you have a plan, and you don't have to make too many changes - bingo!
Now, I'm not going to go into all the reasons why this sort of approach doesn't work as a solution to your problem - for now I just want you to take my word that it is most definitely NOT a good idea. Anything that requires you to buy supplements whether they're milkshakes, juices, pills or whatever else is being offered is simply a fad diet. They may have some clever marketing with some inspirational quotes. Maybe even some pictures of attractive men and women.
But it IS still a fad diet....
According to the BDA (British Dietitians Association) a fad diet is -
"Something that encourages you to eat in a disordered way and/or severely restricts some or all real foods"
UNDERSTAND THIS -
You will lose weight.
Initially through dehydration and not replenishing energy stores.
In response your body will cut out all unnecessary processes and slow metabolism.
The next stage of weight loss will be from your body starting to digest itself - not literally - muscle will be broken down and used as fuel where you are not getting enough energy from food.
Fat will also be used as an energy source (it ALWAYS is to some degree) and the people selling the products will use this as a selling point.
Stay with me....
Now you have less muscle, very little, if any, stored energy and your metabolism is running at a speed that reflects the lack of food.
Stored energy contains quite a large amount of water, lean muscle tissue is quite dense and heavy.
Congratulations!!!! You have lost weight!!!
But you still have a large amount of body fat.
And guess what, when you start eating proper food again you have less muscle tissue to burn the calories.
Some of the processes a healthy body goes through have been slowed up or shut down.
Oh, and your digestive system has lost some of it's ability to process food...
You will gain weight, that is a certainty. You will also in 90% of the cases studied, end up with more body fat than when you started.
These are facts.
I'm not selling you anything.
They are just facts.
If you want to lose body fat - find the right information and stay healthy. No-one has ever got normal, regular results from abnormal, irregular diets.
This is the ugly truth - Thanks for taking the time to read this.
I genuinely hope it helps someone!
Darren