Everyone wants to lose weight. After all, we live in a very shallow society and one of the primary aspects of our appearance that people judge us on is our weight. Hence, it can be tempting to go for weight loss gimmicks that promise to help you lose lots of weight in a short period of time since you would not have to wait all that long to start looking good. The problem here is that a lot of these weight loss gimmicks can be extremely harmful for your health. Five unhealthy weight loss gimmicks are provided below.
- Weight Loss Creams:
This is one of the more inexplicable weight loss trends out there. Basically, this is a cream that you rub on the area you want to lose weight from and it would somehow remove fat from said area. Not only do these creams not work, they can cause rashes as well and are often exorbitantly expensive.
- Diet Pills:
There are all kinds of pills out there that are supposed to help you lose weight. These pills generally suppress your appetite which is really unhealthy, not to mention the fact that you would end up gaining all the weight back if you stop taking the pill. Going for regular workouts with a pair of adjustable dumbbells is a much more practical weight loss technique.
- Meal Skipping:
A lot of people support meal skipping as a good way to lose weight but this can lead to malnutrition because your body would be starved of important nutrients. It is also ineffective because your body would go into starvation mode thinking that food is scarce. This will make your metabolism plummet and you would end up losing no weight at all, or at least not a significant amount of weight.
- The Atkins Diet:
While this diet sounds good on the surface since it would allow you to eat as much red meat as you want, it would starve your body of vitamins and minerals which can cause joint pain and low immunity to diseases. Also, red meat is very bad for your heart, so eating a lot of it in this diet can put you at risk of cardiovascular disease in the long run.
- Meal Replacement:
One of the latest weight loss trends involves replacing your meals with shakes or smoothies made of various ingredients. The problem with this diet is that you would not get much fiber which can lead to constipation, and the extra liquid intake can lead to digestive problems.
Basically, you cannot lose weight using any shortcuts. If you want to lose weight and keep your new figure for the long term, you would have to work at it and be patient. Just avoid sugar wherever possible and exercise every day, even if it is just a ten minute jog. This would slowly but surely reduce your weight in a manner that would improve your health rather than harm it.
- Body Wrapping:
Body wrapping has become a latest fad in the public. Though most of the people are not aware about it, but those who do, they need to caution themselves of the consequences it could have. This is a process through which the body, majorly stomach, is wrapped due to which most of the water content inside the human body is reduced. This may lead to weight loss, but that could extremely be detrimental for the health.
The weight loss occurs through the loss of water from the body that may lead up to some serious cases of dehydration. This could become a possible indicator of some serious issues other than stiffness and sporadic headaches.
- Weight and Corset Trainers:
Out of all the weight loss gimmicks out there, this could be considered as the substantial hoax. The weight loss devices are not only dangerous but they are also extremely ineffective. In fact, these devices just give you an idea that you have lost weight, when in actual you haven’t budget even an ounce, so you are better off without them.
Your body certainly gets into a definite shape, but that isn’t promising and long lasting. Moreover, your internal organs will also be in a great deal of pressure that may be harmful in long run for your health.
- Detoxification:
Detoxifying is the latest trend in weight loss, though it is actually good in a sense that it rinse out all the toxins from your body. If you are just following a detox diet, it is harmful in a sense that just following a solo diet routine can’t assume that you are getting all the substantial nutrients. In the end, if you are losing weight that is because you are malnourished. This is a gimmick and you must avoid it or else you will end up facing serious problems.
Author Bio:
Ida Jones is a mother of two little ones. She enjoys home-based workouts, cardio exercises and long runs. She loves spending her vacations outdoors with her kids around nature. She believes in clean and healthy eating. She regularly writes about fitness tips and much more at Fitness Grit.