4 Weight Loss Methods to Avoid at All Cost

Let’s face it. Weight gains happens. Due to an unhealthy diet of fast and fatty foods packed with preservatives and other nutritional no-nos, many people find themselves need to lose weight. Unfortunately, in today’s fast-paced society, many people who are overweight use dangerous diets and shortcuts to help them reach their weight loss goals.

When I started my weight loss journey, I was tempted to try shortcuts. But I also know that in order to succeed long-term, I needed to make permanent changes to my diet and eating habits rather than look for quick fixes.

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If you’re trying to lose weight, here are 4 weight loss methods you should definitely avoid:

Diet Pills

Even Elvis Presley, the King of Rock ‘n Roll, turned to diet pills when he was trying to lose the excess weight he gained by living an unhealthy lifestyle. Dangerous, addictive and even deadly in some cases, pill popping does not change the poor habits which caused you to gain weight in the first place. Remember that the powerful stimulants found in many diet pills can lead to mood swings, high blood pressure and other negative symptoms and behaviors.

Laxatives

Using laxatives to lose weight seems to make a lot of sense. Laxatives help the human body digest food faster, and those looking for some rapid and effective weight loss point to the fact that they still get to eat the food they love, but thanks to laxatives, it passes through their system before any calories can get absorbed. And unfortunately, laxatives can show a pretty quick and carefree weight loss. However, they drastically dehydrate your body, which causes a number of health concerns and problems. And repeated laxative use can also lessen the effect of any medication you are on.

Drunkorexia

This weight loss method has been on the rise lately, and combines maximum drinking with minimal eating. In order to offset the heavy calorie consumption which takes place during a bout of heavy drinking, some people eat minimally or not at all the day of and the day after binge boozing. If you’re going to drink your calories later, don’t eat them now, some people think. Alcohol abuse combined with starvation is ridiculous at best, and unhealthy, as well as possibly deadly, in the worst case scenario.

Fasting, Starvation

To lose weight, you need to eat. It may sound counter intuitive but it’s not. Your body, even when you sleep, is in an “always on” mode. You need calories, proteins and fats to provide the fuel that makes your body work. Fasting and other forms of starvation to lose weight are extremely unhealthy. You will lose weight as you burn calories that are not being replaced, but the effects of limited food consumption include but are not limited to hair loss, a weakened immune system, sleeping problems, depression, and the severe and unhealthy breakdown of muscles and organs. Fasting is also the surest way to yo-yo your way from weight loss right back to weight gain.

Losing weight doesn’t have to be painful. Just make sure you adopt a sensible strategy, and look out for these weight loss methods you should avoid at all costs.

This article is a series of weekly health-focused posts as I work my way back to living healthy. Join me in my quest.