One health issue that many of us deal with is being overweight. We work hard and put ourselves on diets so we can lose weight, but a lot of the time we fail and then become discouraged. The sad thing is that crooked people also know that many of us desire to lose weight and take advantage of us. They make up diet plans that will fail or come up with products that don’t work just to take our money. There are good programs out there too, but weeding through false information can be extremely hard and discouraging. Here are a few red flags to look out for in weight loss programs to make sure you won’t be taken advantage of.

Weight Loss Programs to Avoid

Safe and successful weight-loss programs should include behavioral treatment, also called lifestyle counseling, that can teach you how to develop and stick with healthier eating and physical activity habits—for example, keeping food and activity records or journals, information about getting enough sleep, managing stress, and the benefits and drawbacks of weight-loss medicines, ongoing feedback, monitoring, and support throughout the program, either in person, by phone, online, or through a combination of these approaches, slow and steady weight-loss goals—usually 1 to 2 pounds per week (though weight loss may be faster at the start of a program), or a plan for keeping the weight off, including goal setting, self-checks such as keeping a food journal, and counseling support.

The most successful weight-loss programs provide 14 sessions or more of behavioral treatment over at least 6 months—and are led by trained staff. Some commercial weight-loss programs have all of these components for a safe and successful weight-loss program. Check for these features in any program you are thinking about trying. Some weight-loss programs use very low-calorie diets to promote quick weight loss—3 or more pounds a week for several weeks—in people with a lot of excess weight. You should be monitored closely by a healthcare professional if you are on a very low-calorie diet that provides 800 calories a day or less.

Although these diets may help some people lose a lot of weight quickly—for example, 15 pounds in a month—they may not help people keep the weight off long term. These diets also may have related health risks, the most common being gallstones.

For people who are overweight or have obesity, experts recommend a beginning weight-loss goal of 5 to 10 percent of your starting weight within 6 months. If you weigh 200 pounds, that would amount to a loss of 10 pounds, which is 5 percent of starting weight, to 20 pounds, which is 10 percent of starting weight, in 6 months.

Avoid weight-loss programs that make any of the following promises: Lose weight without diet or exercise! Lose weight while eating as much as you want of all your favorite foods! Lose 30 pounds in 30 days! Lose weight in specific problem areas of your body!

Other warning signs to look out for include very small print, asterisks, and footnotes, which may make it easy to miss important information, before-and-after photos that seem too good to be true, and personal endorsements that may be made up. You can report false claims or scams by weight-loss programs to the Federal Trade Commission.

Source: jesusdaily(.)com
“Watch Our For These Clear Indicators That Reveal If A Weight Loss Program Is Just Another Scam” by:Dr. Aaron Tabor MD