Approved Weight Loss Programs- So Can It Really Be Easy

"But it's so easy to lose weight!" You can be sure that anybody who utters such a statement has never really had to lose weight. In theory, losing weight shouldn't be that tough, but finding approved weight loss programs makes things more complicated than they should be. To be clear, we are referring to weight loss programs that approved by doctors, or are otherwise medically sound.

If you have ever tried losing weight, then chances are that you have seen more than your fair share of fad diets. It would be great if we could simply say that fad diets never get approval from medical doctors, but that isn't the case. In fact, one of the most famous diets, the Atkins Diet, was formulated by Dr. Robert C. Atkins, so that certainly has at least one stamp of approval from a doctor.

It only makes sense that people would be looking for some sort of approved weight loss program, and the purveyors of fad diets are well aware of this fact. Unfortunately, some of them will pay a doctor for their endorsement, and some of the more unscrupulous ones will use faulty credentials to give the illusion of medical approval.

So, what it comes down to is this: it is up to you to determine whether or not a diet is healthy or not. The good news is that there are a few things you can look for when trying to draw your own conclusion.

1. Watch out for bold claims. When you see a headline that looks like "Lose 30 Pounds in Two Days! Guaranteed!!!" it's time to run in the other direction. There are diets that work really well, but if the promises sound too good to be true, then they probably are.

2. Is the diet overly restrictive? Your body requires a wide range of micro- and macronutrients to be at its healthiest. Science is always finding new compounds in food that are beneficial to us. Diets that forbid certain foods automatically start you off on the wrong foot by limiting how much nutrition you can receive. Furthermore, diets that are too restrictive can cause you to eventually give in to temptation, and give into it in a bad way.

3. Gimmicks. All a fad diet needs to be successful is one good-sounding gimmick. The gimmick could revolve around eating a certain food (re: Peanut Butter Diet, Cookie Diet, Cabbage Soup diet, etc.), avoiding certain foods (re: no-carb and low-carb diets), or methods that need more medical studies done (re: HCG diets); to name a few. The truth is that gimmicks may actually help you to lose weight, but only until the novelty wears off. Once the novelty is gone, the pounds come back on and sometimes they bring a few new friends along for the ride.

4. Does it combine the powers of diet and exercise? Approved weight loss programs take a balanced approach. They also understand that the real "magic" happens when you use both diet and exercise to lose weight.