So let's say you have decided you want to try to lose some weight and that you've also decided that you'd like some help - who should you call?
Unfortunately I know of no country that regulates the weight loss industry. I say unfortunately because literally for centuries, weight loss scams and snake oil salesmen have been commonplace.
Some programs have celebrity endorsements - of course that doesn't mean that the celebrity has used the program or products. Just last week Rachel Hunter, new spokesperson for Slimfast admitted to Newsweek that she'd never even tried any and in fact the closest she could come to saying that she might try their product (though certainly her weight does not carry with it much in the way of medical risk) was this statement,
"I'm kind of more than willing to try their product."Currently I'm working on a short set of questions to ask when considering a weight loss program based on some simple truths and principles regarding weight loss. As soon as they're done, I'll post them up here, but until then, there's a very extensive checklist/fill in the blanks document published by the FTC which you can print out and bring with you to any weight loss program you consider.
Some for sures:
- Don't join a program that makes you pay up front and doesn't offer refunds
- Don't join a program that makes you sign a contract or guarantees your weight loss
- Don't join a program that requires the purchase of products of supplements
- Don't join a program that has you eating fewer than 1,200 calories daily
- Don't join a program that can't explain their success rates through a maintenance period.
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#6 Don't join a program that has more then three lines of fine print.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely hate weight loss commercials. It makes you believe all that the model did was take this magic once a day pill and the fat melted away. In essence, the model took the pill in conjunction with a sensible diet and exercise program. Unfortunately, that part is never fully advertised and you have to be quick to get it in the fine print.
I could not agree with you more. I'd almost go further.
ReplyDeleteDon’t believe, not just one of the hundreds of lies told by diet companies, celebrity magazine and doctors’ books. (We all know Dr. Phil isn’t a medical doctor, right?) Don’t believe any of those claims of “Slim in 6” or those magazine covers of “lose 30 pounds in 30 days.”
Losing weight is one of the most difficult things you’ll ever do in your life. Have you ever been poked in the eye by a stick? Be prepared to be poked in the eye everyday for at least a year, and then jabbed in the nose for the rest of your life. It’s more difficult than having a baby. What’s child birth: 4 or 8 hours of pain? This is pain that will last a year.
And it’s going to take a least a year. Visualize one year, 365 days. It seems so long and yet it’s just a 1/80 (1.3%) or 1/90 of your life. You didn’t gain all those pounds in one year. So naturally it’s going to take a while to lose that fat.
Only one thing causes you to lose weight: less food. And it’s a lot of less. It’s a lot more of less than you can ever imagine.
I'm trying to help educate people at rightsizing dot blogspot dot com.
Good luck to you.
And don't you love the sneaky way some of these scammers get around their comments? Take, for instance, Dr. B. He is one of those who "guarantees" weight loss (red flag right there), but his ads state "these results ARE typical". Sounds good but check out the asterisk..."program compliance required". So they are reeling in the suckers who want a quick fix and are willing to unhealthy eating (500-800 calories a day - you have GOT to be kidding). But that one really bothers me because sadly, a lot of desperate people will fall for that "results ARE typical" line.
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