The Problem with the Weight Loss Industry..
Updated: May 2, 2020
From Diet Pills, Detox Teas, Diet Shakes, 6-week transformations... where did it all go wrong?
Why I ended up interested in Nutrition and trying to live a healthier lifestyle and what I want to teach people, to learn from my mistakes (and millions of other peoples mistakes, possibly even you reading this now)
I joined back Facebook recently to start my Nutrition & Lifestyle page and one of the first posts I saw (which was on a buy & sell page with nearly 40,000 members) was an unqualified person selling Green Tea Diet pills claiming to "speed metabolism" and lose 3 - 5 lbs per week.
No nutrition qualifications, just a random person, who even knows if it was green tea in the tablets?
No scientific explanation to describe the physiological process of "speeding Metabolism" or any warnings of side effects...
The funny thing is that I bought "Fat-Burners" off someone on Facebook not so-many years ago!
When I say I tried everything, I really did
I started wanting to lose weight since early teenage years, and tried everything from, but not limited to
1. Trying to not eat for as long as possible,
2. The chicken and broccoli diet,
3. Slimming World
4. Fat-Burners
5. Soup-diet
6. Detox-teas
7. Low carb/ketogenic diet
8. I actually once tried to only eat sweets as I thought I would feel sick after only eating a small amount, in a hope to eat less, not sure what age I was, but I was young! It is CRAZY when I think back.
I am embarrassed admitting it, but I can't be the only one who went through similar situation?
I am sure there are people now currently stuck in a rut and seems to never be able to lose weight?
Hopefully someone reading this will realise there are other ways, or if you are a parent maybe it will show the importance of getting help from a professional and that it is OK not to know how to help your child lose weight!
For me, it emphasizes the importance for education on nutrition from a young age.
Weight-loss is simple, the problem is the lack of education available to people and conflicting messages.
And it is totally unregulated, so you can have Mary down the road that used to do Avon and is now dealing fat-burner pills...
and "celebrities" promoting skinny detox teas and appetite suppressant supplements.. it's so wrong and damaging on so many levels I could go on all day about it!
Wouldn't it be great if it was true? We could just over-eat and take some green tea tablets and never gain weight?
One thing to note is that people may lose weight while taking them, or trying low-carb, low-fat. Which is the annoying thing, so people think they work, which they do, SHORT TERM.
Usually what happens is,
It is the weekend before you are "starting your diet" and getting back on track
So, you go all-out.. takeaways, out drinking, have more chocolate then usual.
Monday comes, you take a before picture and weigh yourself, holding so much water weight, bloated etc. after the weekend.
You start taking the diet-pills or start the low-carb diet, whatever it is and subconsciously you eat healthier and less than the week before, so you feel great.
The scales are down, you take an after picture and are shocked!
Send your picture to Mary claiming you lost 5lbs because of the fat-burners, and think they are magic!
What happens next?
Have you ever wondered why there are so many solutions to weight gain yet obesity is continuously on the rise? So what happens when you "fall off the wagon"?
When the quick fix goes out the window, and you start eating a regular diet, like a normal human being again?
You gain it back and more over time, and you feel as lost as you were previously.
Figures taken from the HSE website
37% overweight and a further 23% obese overweight or obese. https://www.hse.ie/eng/about/who/healthwellbeing/our-priority-programmes/heal/key-facts/#overweight
Its understandable why we try these "diets".
Cut this demon food out of your diet forever and everything will be solved.
I want to emphasize again it is not that these crazy diets don't work, they do!
That's actually part of the problem because they are so easy to sell and people see before and after pictures and believe that they are the answer.
The problem is sticking to these diets, take Ketogenic/low carbohydrates for example, it is so restrictive.
Can you see yourself doing that in 6 months, 1 year, 5 years? I didn't think so...
If you are doing it for a short term goal, you are going to get short term results..
Selling the long-game isn't easy, learning how to focus on nourishing your body, optimizing your health (while losing weight) instead of just trying the new craze isn't sexy, its boring and seems like too much effort doesn't it?
It really isn't, once you learn that you can eat real food, and lose weight, and feel good while you are doing it, and go out with friends and family not worrying about what is on the menu and how you will eat less to make up for it next week is an amazing feeling, its actually so empowering and you can start to enjoy holidays and occasions - long term!
When you focus on what you are gaining rather then restricting
Improving energy
Improving confidence
Gaining freedom instead of being constantly stuck in a rut in a binge-restrict cycle
Get glowing skin
Gaining your libido
Gaining your period, if you had lost it
Reducing PMS
Improving digestion
To lose weight you need to burn a little more energy then you take in through food but that doesn't mean to eat less and less and less....
Our bodies need sufficient calories, and nutrients from a variety of foods.
Our bodies are A LOT more then just for show or to get into a bikini, nourishing yourself should be number one priority, which is the KEY and why I want to help people lose weight but also get their life in general back, realise losing those few pounds isn't the be-all and end-all, you can do lose weight while becoming the best version of you.
If you have any questions on any of the above please feel free to email me!