by Katerina Nikolas

Created on: April 10, 2010

There comes a time when you really decide to do something to address those extra pounds which you carry round around your middle, and resolve to lose some of the unwanted weight. However it is very easy to be influenced to fall for the sort of diet which sabotages all your best intentions of weight loss.

It is easy to be seduced by the type of diet which promises rapid weight loss with no exercise involved, as a quick fix solution would be most dieter’s first choice to a new slimmer body. These enticing advertisements don’t deliver on promise though, as it is a diet myth that there is a quick easy way to lose weight.

The fact is slow and steady wins in the war against weight. It is better to incorporate healthy eating practices and good nutrition with exercise.  Starving yourself into a temporary stick size, which leaves flabby skin waiting to be filled up with excess calories again once you complete some fad diet, is not a long term solution.

One of the most popular and lucrative diet myths in the diet market is the magic supplement. You hand over a large sum of money and in return receive some noxious potion which you drink 3 times a day in the misguided belief that it will make you thin. As you languish on the couch counting the hours until its time to take the potion again, you will fight the inevitable hunger pangs caused by the starvation calorie levels you are ingesting on the diet.

Dangerously low calorie levels will  leave you lacking enough energy for anything more than putting a straw into the magic potion or shake. The reason this type of diet tells you that there is no need to exercise is because it doesn’t contain enough calories for you to even touch your toes without passing out, let alone run up a hill.

Another excellent con in the diet stakes is the often rather convincing claims that you really ought to fast. The reasons given will vary in their reasoning, but tales of horrific parasites chewing away inside your intestines can be a little scary and persuadable. The fact is that we do have bacteria lurking inside us and some of it is necessary. In fact when we eat live yogurt we are doing a positive thing by adding good bacteria to our diet.

The fasting diets usually have an expensive supplement which is necessary for you to take as well, to flush out your insides. If you really have nasty creatures lurking inside your intestines causing you a myriad of stomach problems, it is probably best to seek the advice of your doctor than turn to a dubious fasting plan which requires special supplements.

If you really want to lose weight in a healthy way it is better to forgo these myths and spend the money you would waste on unnecessary supplements on healthy fruits and vegetables. These will be the basis of a nutritionally sound diet which you should supplement with other healthy foods which incorporate protein, low fat dairy, carbohydrates and essential fatty acids.

Although you won’t become immediately thin by following healthy eating ways you will see a gradual weight loss which you have more chance of retaining than if you starve yourself into temporary water loss which will leave you lacking in energy and permanently hungry.

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