Nowadays it is pretty hard to go through your Facebook, Instagram or any social media channels without a thread or advertisement popping up about the next miracle diet program, ‘special’ weight loss products or some alternative medicine that can induce weight loss. Worse still, a lot of these so-called ‘nutraceutical’ or multi-level companies, all claiming multiple success stories with their highly touted scientific break through miracle product/program.

While these diets or products may seemingly return positive results at first, these are just short-term and difficult to sustain and, ultimately, they deprive you of the essential nutrients and improved physical health that only regular exercise and balanced eating can offer.

We must therefore treat losing fat as part of a healthy lifestyle and not as a weight loss program. You need also to know that obesity is a health hazard and not just a cosmetic issue.

There is no easy way to lose fat neither is there any magic cure. Some people are so desperate to look good, they are willing to compromise their health and waste their money on dubious diets or ‘miracle medication’ to lose fat.

Here are 9 warning signs that indicate dubious (even detrimental) diet fad or products:

1. Promoted by success stories or simply consumer testimony (we see these quite often Facebook groups or marketplace – you know, those before and after photos, “Miss or Mrs so and so lost xxKg in few weeks!”, celebrities or influencers’ endorsements ).

2. Promises fat weight loss without taking into consideration your food intake and exercise. Increased physical activity in combination with diet can modestly improve weight loss than just exercise alone. Overweight and obese people can also lose weight with dietary restriction alone but they will regain it back once they stop dieting.

3. Diet pills or special massaging cream can cause weight loss in selective parts of the body. These claims are inconsistent with existing scientific knowledge.

4. Advocates centering the diet on one particular food. Fact is, there is no quick-fix diet based on a single food that provides the key to fat foss. You might lose some water, some muscle, and a bit of fat and then gain it all back after you are off the diet.

5. Promises quick or rapid weight loss: Anything more than a 2 or 3kg per week. This is unrealistic and dangerous.

6. Involves expensive seminars and medications (often playing on an individual fear of losing out mentality by constantly bombarding of number of attendees so far, famous guest physicians, etc).

7. Dieting is out of fashion. Yo-yo or crash diefing is bad body. The weight loss is temporary and this makes it harder to lose weight again in the future. Some people gain back more weight than they lost.

8. Money back guarantees technique. In actual fact, many will fail to honour or engage in delaying tactics or excuses in processing refunds.

9. Claims in the form of : “Safe and effective, 100% safe and natural, safely lose up to xx kg amount of fat, fluid and flesh in just the first few weeks, safer than fat-burning pills, liposuction, etc ” and the list of claims can endlessly.

To succeed in fighting obesity, you must incorporate eating and exercising right for your hormones, sleep well, don’t drink or smoke and reduce the stress in your life.

These are some of the important lifestyle changes you need to adopt as long as you live. There is no easy answer or a single pill to help you keep fit and trim all your life.

Keeping fit is a lifestyle itself!