Ever feel like you’ve made a grave mistake by spending your hard earned money on weight loss gimmicks that sounded too good to be true, but still hoped for your sake that they would work? Or ever fall victim to newly invented and highly advertised weight loss products that guaranteed 100% results, with zero personal effort and a super-model figure within a few weeks?
Well, do not worry, because you’re honestly not the only one. A majority of the women I have come across, myself included, have found ourselves victims of such scams. We can blame our naivety or even the desperation on the desire to lose weight fast, but either way it doesn’t soften the blow of wasting a week’s worth of pay on different weight loss fraud scams.
Unfortunately, there is no shortcut to losing weight the healthy way. It requires the utmost dedication and commitment along with a strictly kept plan. Below are five major weight loss gimmicks that one should avoid under all circumstances regardless of how desperate you are to look good for a wedding, a date or even to show off your figure at your college reunion party.
1. Laxatives or Diuretics
Infamous for being fed to seagulls at busy beaches and then the aftermath recorded on tape, using laxatives as a method of losing weight within a week’s time is the most absurd tactic of losing weight I have come across to date.
Likewise, the use of diuretics, to eliminate water for giving the illusion of looking skinny, is prescribed for those who are diagnosed with severe kidney or heart conditions. They should never be used as a method of shedding pounds.
The abuse of laxatives or diuretics can result in complications like dehydration, muscle cramps, heart palpitations and even under excessive usage, death.
2. Corsets/ Waist Trainers
Jumping on the waist-trainer bandwagon may seem like an easy way out instead of putting in a constant effort to lose weight, judging by the promotions done by various famous personalities such as Kim Kardashian and Amber Rose. However, it is only a temporary solution. With absolutely 0% comfort level of wearing the corset 24/7, the hourglass effect which is achieved by wearing it disappears just as soon as you take it off.
Another major drawback of wearing a corset is the pressure that is applied to the diaphragm of the lower body, which in the long term, may lead to serious complications in the kidney, lungs or the gastrointestinal system.
3. The Body Wraps
Offered at various spas around the globe, these particular weight loss gimmicks swear to take inches off your waist in just a single session. Which they do to be honest, but only temporarily.
These work just like diuretics, by causing the waist to lose water. Under certain situations, however, the dehydration can also lead to side effects such as headaches and lightheadedness.
Obviously, one cannot avoid water unless they have a death wish and hence just like waist-trainers, the effects achieved by these costly procedures are erased by the intake of water or food.
4. Diet Supplement/Diet Tea
Diet supplements and diet drinks seem just too good to be true, with promises made by the manufacturers of shedding 10 pounds in just one week. Sadly, these promises are too good to be true.
They are just as hard on the body, and on the wallet. Containing ingredients that may not always be tested and can cause internal harm, this is one gimmick that should not under any situation be opted for.
5. Fat-loss creams
As unbelievable as it may sound, there are creams based on assuring the elimination of fat that exist. All the more astonishing is the fact that there are people that are naïve enough to purchase these self-proclaimed methods at a whopping price of an average of over $50. I am sure that there is no way that even science could prove their effectiveness even if ten years’ worth of study were put solely into it.
The conclusion that can be produced is that anything that looks too good to be true is probably too good to be true. We live in a world filled with scams to target naïve individuals into trying new things to achieve what it is they want. But the one truth to life is that nothing can be accomplished via shortcuts, and especially weight loss.
Author Bio:
This post was written by Beth Martel. She is a mother of two, a medical professional and a humanitarian. She blogs at HealthyRecharge.com.
