With social media at its height, it’s almost impossible to log on to any social media site without seeing targeted ads specifically for you. You’ve looked up weight loss diets, supplements, books, programs, etc. in the past, and despite maybe not participating in one at present, your news feeds are bombarded with ads by these crazy people.
You know who I’m talking about. They make miraculous claims like ‘lose 30 pounds in 30 days,’ the ‘21 day fat furnace,’ and all this other stuff. It’s all bull.
How many quick-fix diets have you tried? How many DVD programs have you purchased that are just collecting dust on a shelf, either because you never actually opened them, or because they were ineffective and you moved on with your journey?
Either way, these miraculous-sounding programs popping up across social media are smoke screens. They’re going to offer a very restrictive diet, plus a killer workout program that will make you see just enough within the time period to pay more for the next program. Then, the next program will give you just a little more, until it upsells you to an even more expensive program.
Once you’ve had enough of that person or that series of programs, you’re several hundred or several thousand dollars in the red, and you have absolutely no idea what to do from there. You were reliant on a con man with six pack abs and a guarantee to get your beach body ready fast, and have nowhere to turn.
Can someone lose 30 pounds in 30 days? Sure. Can you burn a good amount of fat in 21 days? Sure. Is either method of losing weight and getting healthy sustainable? Nope.
These people are selling you with good looks, sexy bodies and phony guarantees. Their programs may be effective in short bursts, but they know deep down that what they’re selling is not going to keep you where you want to be forever. Think about it: How else would they make money if they didn’t have another program to sell you on?
I’m not trying to toot my own horn, but I personally went through enough of the BS on my 100-pound weight loss journey to feel compelled not to offer that type of program or type of service to people. I don’t sugar-coat things either; losing weight and changing your lifestyle to sustain your results is not easy.
If it were so easy, nearly 70 percent of this country wouldn’t be overweight, with two-thirds of that 70 percent being obese. We’d instead be running around willingly all the time, bodies exposed, to show off our lean, toned muscles.
Look, I know that in this quick-fix, instant-gratification society we live in, we want to see massive change right away, or else it’s hard to maintain motivation. Trust me, if I wanted to, I could give all of my clients a similar nutritional and fitness-oriented program that could get them to drop a lot of weight really fast. I don’t do that, because losing weight permantly takes two things:
1) Knowledge: You have to know yourself, and you have to know what works for you. The only way to do that is to learn as you go, and to create a routine so that good nutrition and regular exercise are necessities in your life once you’ve lost the weight.
2) Consistency: As previously mentioned, you can’t stop eating right and exercising once you reach your short-term weight loss goal. Otherwise, you’re just going to yo-yo with both your health and your weight, and that puts a lot of strain on your heart, organs and body in general. Instead, develop positive, healthy habits and stick with them. It takes 60 days to form a habit, so if you can do what’s needed for two months, the chances of those things lasting in your daily schedule are much more likely.
Next time you’re thinking of starting your weight loss journey, don’t fall for the phony gimmicks. Do things the right way.
Pete Weintraub is a local permanent weight loss specialist. Visit www.weightlossbypete.com, email pete@weightlossbypete.com or call 516-659-0195 to learn more.
