Being fit is in. Consumers are constantly bombarded with images of thin, seemingly happy people promoting the latest and greatest secret guaranteeing rapid weight loss. The ads are everywhere, online, in print, and on television.
However, buyer beware. Rapid weight loss may not be as healthy as you think. In fact, the secret to rapid weight loss is there is no secret. No miracle product or supplement can provide healthy weight loss. Only a comprehensive, diet, exercise, and emotional support plan can do that, which is why many people turn to medical weight loss programs for help.
Fad diets may provide temporary, fast weight loss albeit at the body’s expense. Your body’s cells and organs are not being nourished properly. Therefore, these diets are often difficult to adhere to, and the weight will only return with a vengeance. This up and down process can be physically, emotionally, and mentally frustrating and taxing, resulting in lower self-esteem and even depression and anxiety.
On the other hand, medical weight loss centers take an integrative approach to weight loss, reviewing the “big picture” instead of simply focusing on losing weight. Instead, medical weight loss solutions focus on lifestyle and overall health changes that will contribute to weight loss, such as developing a healthier relationship with food and reducing stress.
While fad diets do not provide healthy, long term weight loss solutions, diet as a whole plays an important role in weight loss. Simply put, the typical American diet is unhealthy. Chock full of genetically modified, sodium-rich, processed “food-like” products such high fructose corn syrup, Americans are the heaviest they’ve been in decades. Combined with living a more sedentary lifestyle, Americans are experiencing higher rates of chronic heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and obesity than ever before. So much so that is many consider it to be an epidemic.
However, a counter movement has also begun to offset higher rates of chronic disease. Americans are more conscious and concerned with where their food comes from and how it gets to their table than ever. As Americans continue to explore the links between food, well being, and weight loss, it’s hoped that incidences of chronic illness will decrease.