Fierce and Fit: {Saying No to Diet Pills}

Good Morning Bloggers! Hopefully everyone in the Midwest is safe and warm as this crazy storm blows through. A couple of weeks ago, Leslie was kind enough to let me talk to y’all about diet as we all start off the new year with hopes becoming a “healthier you” in 2011. A key follow up to the diet piece is something that I’m extremely passionate about. Leslie can certainly attest to this sentiment of mine: I HATE DIET PILLS!!!

Think about every bit of information that you’ve ever heard about diet pills and the outrageous claims they make. NOW FORGET IT! It’s all a bunch of hooie (as the author of this blog has been known to say). Just like with anything in life, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. We’ve all heard the claims before: “Take this pill once a day and lose 10 pounds a week without exercising and eating whatever you want!” REALLY?!?! Working in a business that competes with these pills, I can tell you that people buy into these products in droves. On a personal level, this makes me throw up in my mouth a little (not literally- and I don’t condone that either). To lose weight in a healthy way, two pounds should be the maximum amount of weight lost in a week. Before you get discouraged, consider this: if you stay diligent for a year, you could lose 104 pounds!

If you knew me personally, we probably would have already had this conversation. I am morally opposed to this method of weight loss. Let me explain why: I consider it to be #1) unhealthy and #2) ineffective long term. I will not deny that you may see weight loss when you start taking these. There are three ways to lose weight: reduce fat, reduce muscle, and reduce water. These pills take advantage of water reduction method. On a scale of 1-10, guess how effective that is long term. I’m going to say it’s a negative three.

The reason that these products do not work is because it does not take a change in lifestyle to “lose” this weight. Successful weight loss takes a complete change in lifestyle- from diet, to exercise, to vitamins, to sleep, to how much water you drink in one day. It is the lack of lifestyle change that causes 90-95% of consumers that use diet pills will gain weight back after they stop taking the pills. Everyone is looking for an easy way or a quick fix. Well, it doesn’t exist—sorry. If you are looking to lose weight, I challenge you to be patient and do it the right way with a healthy diet and commitment to exercise. I can assure you that this way is not a quick fix, but it is more likely to be a permanent fix!

Thank you for listening to my rant. Again, I’m passionate about this for a reason. I LOVE to see people succeed in their fitness goals, but I’m all about hard work and doing things the right way.

Best!

S

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Thanks hun! See you Blonde Ambitioners tomorrow!

Be blessed, lovelies-