Weight loss step-by-step guide

Shortly we will take you step-by-step through our healthy weight loss program but first we want to set the scene by telling you how we do not recommend you try to lose weight. We have several reasons for this. In largely overfed and often overweight American, there is a large and profitable weight loss industry. For reasons we will explain, we think many parts of this industry are at best ineffectual or at worst fraudulent. In the absence of any effective government control, they do a lot of advertising that is usually misleading. For example, nearly every commercial weight loss program will show you one or two stars, their customers who are supposed to have lost a lot of weight in a short time. Even if these are true accounts (and we notice the before and after photographs are usually staged to emphasize any weight loss that has occurred), this is misleading advertising.

As you now know, the reasons for being overweight are complex and vary from person to person. Any weight loss program that is not completely useless will fit the needs of at least a few people. These will be the stars, the ones who do well on that program. They are the people who will be invited to take part in that program's advertising and that's why it is misleading. What their advertising does not tell you is the amount of weight lost by most people doing that program, nor how many people are not helped by that program, nor how long their stars manage to keep then weight loss, nor if there are any dangerous side effects of the program. Those are the sort of questions that are asked by a scientific approach to weight loss and that's why a scientific approach is more likely to be helpful to most overweight people with minimum risks of side effects.

We think we have some justification for being proud of out-scientific approach to weight loss. Dr Laurel did her doctoral research at La Trobe University on the causes and treatment of obesity. This involved mastering the research done by others and running her own weight loss groups for more than three years. We have both had the opportunity to learn front some of the scientific weight loss experts in the USA and the clinical experience of taking many people through individual and group weight loss programs. We are therefore confident that our program has a good general success rate with few, if any, risks. On the other hand, we are very critical of much of the weight loss industry.

If you try some approach to losing weight and it doesn't work (because there is no scientific reason why it should), it would be bad enough if you had only lost your money and wasted your effort. But the effects can be worse than this. Some of the weight loss programs are genuinely dangerous to your health. Not only will you not be improving your health by losing weight, but you could actually be damaging your body. Some of the approaches can even kill you. Even if a weight loss program has no lasting effect on your weight or health, for good or bad, there is still the damage that another `failure' does to your self-efficacy and so to your chances of losing weight in the future. So let us try to steer you around some of the traps in weight loss.

`Diets' are still the most popular approach to losing weight. How many have you heard of? How many have you tried? How much lasting help were they? By now you know that ' weight loss diets' not only don't get lasting weight loss, they actually promote weight gain. For that reason alone we have advised you against them. But some of the fad diets that are heavily promoted from time to time are not only useless, they are unhealthy. Many of these rely on the monotony effect. By restricting your food choice very narrowly, they count on your getting bored with the food and eating less. Others make totally unsupported claims for effects from one food or another, such as the nonsense that grapefruit 'melts off' fat. You will recognize that making a narrow selection of food is the exact opposite of the healthy eating guideline, which is to eat a wide selection of foods to ensure your nutritional needs are met safely. You could not stay on one of these fad diets for any time without risking your health. As soon as you stop your fad diet, you will be gaining weight again.

There are two variations of the 'diet' approach that deserve special mention. First, on the grocery shelves you will find some products that claim to be especially formulated for weight loss. They may claim to be 'low-fat' or 'low-sugar' or have a special label on them. Read it carefully. Consumer associations have found that some of these 'dieters' products are just as high in energy as the ordinary foods on the next shelf. Read exactly how many kilojoules there are in a serving and make sure that fits into your healthy eating plan.

Second, there are some commercial weight loss programs that are apparently making much of their profit by selling prepared meals to their customers. In some cases, these meals do fit into healthy eating guidelines but again you should check this for yourself. Even then, using them raises a different problem. If you can afford to pay someone else to prepare your meals for the rest of your life, go for it. If, like most of us, you will eventually have to take that responsibility for yourself, we think you might as well save your money and start now. If you do use one of these commercial programs, at least deliberately plan to wean yourself off their support and start to prepare your own meals, following your healthy eating plan.

The immediate appeal of drugs for losing weight is that it looks so easy. just pop a pill or two and watch the weight fall off. They are probably also popular because many medical practitioners don't know much about weight loss, do want to help their overweight patients and get bombarded with advertising from drug companies. Let us summarize a lot of research for you: drugs for the treatment of overweight either don't work or are dangerous. The most commonly used drugs were those, like the amphetamines, that were supposed to reduce your appetite. They were marketed heavily to the medical profession as being 'completely safe' with 'no risk of addiction'. We now know that users can become badly addicted to amphetamines and that heavy use causes amphetamine psychosis. The other approach to drug treatment of overweight was to try to find drugs that would speed up your body's energy use, your RMR, the only substances found to do this, including herbal preparations, had to be taken in such large doses that they were toxic.

Nearly all the appetite-reducing drugs have now been banned from sale because of their harmful side effects. There is one exception to this, the drug fenfluramine. Clinical trials of this drug show that it can be helpful for suppressing appetite without any undue side effects. To their credit, the company that sells this drug in the markets it as an aid to and not a substitute for a proper weight loss program (in fact, they recommend ours). If you find it genuinely difficult to stick to your sensible eating plan because of feeling hungry, you could discuss with your own doctor the possibility of using this drug as a temporary aid while you establish healthy eating habits.

Another approach to weight loss that can look quick and easy is surgery. We have already expressed our doubts about one surgical method, liposuction, because of its limited applicability and high risks of infection and scarring. The other surgical approaches all aim at reducing your food intake, either by removing or by-passing part of your intestine, or by reducing the size of your stomach by stapling it, or wiring your jaws shut. These surgical approaches have experienced a number of problems including wound infections, blocked blood vessels, kidney disorders and failure, liver damage, anaemia, disturbances in mineral levels, malnutrition, long-term diarrhea and sometimes death. We repeat: we can only recommend surgery when the possible gains outweigh the possible risks. Surgery for overweight should be the last resort for people who have first tried a proper weight loss program and whose level of overweight is a serious health risk. We are sure that responsible surgeons will agree.

Get instant download of our Best Selected FREE SLIMMING RECIPES now! Just enter your name and email below:

Your name:    E-mail address:

Commercial weight loss programs abound. There's probably one being promoted in your suburb or town. Some of these programs are run by people with no professional qualifications or training. Some of them have one or two professional 'consultants' in the organization, but the actual program is delivered by ordinary people who have had very brief training. By now you will know just how complex overweight can be.

If you want to try a commercial weight loss program, compare it with our guidelines before you sign up or hand over any money. If you will be asked to do something very different from our healthy weight loss guidelines, ask for an explanation. If you don't get a satisfactory one, we suggest you don't enrol. If they won't explain their approach in enough detail for you to evaluate before you sign up, we wonder what they're hiding. Let us emphasize something: no commercial weight loss program can offer you a proven weight loss method that we don't know about. We are confident we are more up to date with the research than they are, if they draw on the research at all. If you find the incentive of wanting value for your fee or the support of attending a structured program helpful, and the program suits your overweight problem, we won't begrudge you that. just make sure you are getting lasting value for your money. If you aren't and you aren't able to do a successful self-help program, consider seeing a qualified clinical psychologist. The cost of a few consultations may be much the same as months of membership fees in a commercial program.

Similar advice applies to weight loss groups which are offered by community health centers and similar organizations. While they are not driven by the profit motive nor simply out to sell you packaged foods, their leaders are also not always professionally or appropriately trained. Enthusiasm and altruism are admirable, but not substitutes for accurate knowledge and effective skills. Review our guidelines and be a thoughtful consumer.

Junk is everywhere in the field of weight loss, whether it is junk advice or junk material. Saunas, Turkish baths, rubber suits and other ways of heating up will cause you to lose water and not fat. They cannot 'melt' your fat, unless you honestly cook yourself. Passive exercise machines make your muscles contract with a weak electric current. You don't have to work, which is why they appeal to your lazy streak, and also why they don't burn significant amounts of energy. They can also aggravate some medical conditions. Massage can be very pleasant but the only person burning up energy is the masseur. Massaging does not 'break up fat', unless it's done hard enough to cause injury.

Hypnotherapy does not exist: that's the opinion of some of the leading experts in the field. Hypnosis exists: most people can go into a hypnotic trance, possibly but not necessarily with the help of a hypnotist. In a hypnotic trance your attention is very narrowly focused so your retention is enhanced. But there is nothing therapeutic about simply being in a trance and there is nothing that can be achieved through hypnosis that cannot be achieved without it. If you consult a qualified clinical psychologist or similar professional and she thinks hypnosis will aid your therapy, she'll suggest it. But she still has to have an effective therapy to deliver during the hypnotic trance. Beware of someone called a 'hypnotherapist'. If he is only trained in hypnosis, he will not be able to offer you a professional therapy program. He will not be able to help you with and may not even identify the many possible complications of your overweight problem. You might wind up worse off than before.

Back to Weight Loss Program