Fad Diets That Can Kill You
When you’re unhappy about your weight, almost every weight loss product you see looks fantastic. And there are certainly plenty of legitimate ways to lose weight and get yourself into great shape. But there are also far too many fads – products which are over-hyped at best, and downright dangerous at worst.
One infamous weight loss fad is Ephedra, which is an herb of Asian origin that is used as an ingredient in numerous “herbal” weight loss products. Ephedra is an extremely powerful appetite suppressant. Unfortunately, it is also very dangerous, having reportedly been linked to numerous deaths among its users.
In the 1990s, “Fen-phen” (fenfluramine-phentermine) was another huge weight loss supplement fad. Unfortunately, the product was implicated in several deaths involving heart-valve failure. Other side effects include migraines, dizziness, and trouble sleeping. And yet many of today’s weight loss products still contain phentermine.
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4 Things That Could Accidentally Sabotage Your Weight Loss
As with most challenges in life, succeeding in your weight loss goals starts with having the right mental outlook. The psychology of losing weight is the subject of many entire books, but you just need the bullet points. So, what are the most common ways in which dieters mentally sabotage themselves?
1. “I must be perfectly thin to be happy.”
This could not be further from the truth. As long as you are improving yourself and moving towards your goal, you deserve to feel good about yourself. You don’t need to wait until you’ve reached your final destination physically before you start celebrating the changes you’re making. In fact, if you go into it with that mentality, you will probably have a hard time being happy even after reaching your perfect weight and fitness level.
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Why You Should Avoid Diet Pills
Where there are some legitimate uses for diet pills, they are commonly abused by dieters in search of a shortcut to weight loss success, and in that context they can be quite dangerous. They will suppress your appetite, sure – but this does nothing to make you more healthy in the long run. The real solution is to learn about healthy eating, and diet pills won’t make that happen. As soon as you stop taking the pills you’ve been relying on (you can’t take them forever), your appetite will return, and since you still won’t have learned proper eating habits, the weight will probably come right back as well.
Diet pills can also be addictive, and for those who already have body image issues or eating disorders, this can add up to a powerful one-two punch. Doctors are reluctant to prescribe pills for dieting, and there’s a good reason for this. The medical side effects of various diet aids can range from difficulty sleeping to addiction, hallucinations, high blood pressure, or heart problems.
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