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Have you been on a new diet for a couple of weeks and found that you STILL can't lose weight? Have you gained a pound or two since you've been on it? Are you just about ready to throw this diet out the window and try something else? Well, hold on a minute. There might be something else going on that's preventing your diet from working.

Getting your diet to work is like planting a seed in a garden. For the seed to grow, you have to plant it in good soil. You have to water it, fertilise it, and protect it from weeds. In other words, a seed needs a right environment if it's going to have any chance at all to sprout, take root, and grow.

Similarly, for your diet to start showing results for you, it also needs a good environment. Here are 10 "weeds" that will prevent the success of any diet and may be the reason that yours isn't working.

1. YOU'RE NOT SERIOUS ABOUT LOSING WEIGHT
For your diet to work, you apparently have to be serious about losing weight. You need to have the right mental attitude about weight loss. In other words, you have to get your "head right." It includes:
a. Making a firm commitment to lose the weight, no matter what.
b. Making sure you're doing this for the right reasons. Trying to lose weight to please someone else never works.
c. Convincing yourself that you CAN lose the weight--and that you WILL!
If your diet isn't working, it could be because you're not serious about losing the weight in the first place.

2. YOU'RE CHEATING ON YOUR DIET
Cheating on your diet and cheating on love both end in disappointment. Consistent weight loss requires, well, consistency. Most of us work so hard to stick to our food during the week that we convince ourselves that we can splurge on the weekend. Or we think that because we skipped breakfast, we can have dessert with lunch. Both are a wrong choice.

It's easy to convince yourself that having a small snack won't hurt, or that you'll work it off later. The problem is it does, and you never do. If your diet isn't working, it could be because you're not following it consistently.

3. YOU'RE NOT EATING FEWER CALORIES
I heard of someone that started one of that protein shake diets. He gained a couple of pounds. When he was asked how often he was drinking the shakes, he said, "I drink one with every meal." It never occurred to him that the shakes were supposed to replace his meals, not supplement them.

Many dieters buy low-cal foods and then eat twice as much. Don't be one of them! The only way to lose weight is to reduce your total caloric intake. Make sure you reduce the size of your portions and cut out all snacks that are not part of your diet plan. If your diet isn't working--or if you've gained a pound or two--it could be because you're not eating fewer total calories.

4. YOU'RE NOT EATING THE RIGHT FOODS
Eating fewer calories is only part of the battle. You need to make sure that the foods you do eat are the right types. A good rule of thumb is to make sure you get plenty of fruits, salads, and dark green vegetables. Stay away from refined foods and starches and eat meat in minimal amounts (sorry, I'm not an Atkins fan).

Leafy, green, water-rich vegetables will aid digestion, help keep you healthy, and will help your body get rid of excess fat. If your diet isn't working, it could be because you're not eating the right foods.

5. YOU'RE NOT DRINKING ENOUGH WATER
When you go on a diet, your body goes into overdrive to get rid of the excess fats and toxins that the diet liberates. Many diets (especially the protein ones) put a strain on your body's organs, especially the kidneys. Because of this, it's vital that you drink plenty of water.

Drinking 8 or so full glasses of water every day helps to flush out the excess fats and toxins your body is trying to eliminate. Drinking plenty of water has other benefits including reducing headaches and improving your hair and skin. If your diet isn't working, it could be because you're not drinking enough water.

6. YOU'RE NOT EXERCISING ENOUGH
The best way to increase the number of calories you burn is through exercise. Pick walking, running, playing sports, swimming, or whatever--just make sure that when you exercise, you exercise. Some people go to the gym to socialise, not to apply. Make sure you're not one of them! Get to work and make sure you stay with it long enough to burn off some excess calories.

To lose weight, shoot for 20 to 30 minutes of aerobic exercise, every other day. Note that these 20-30 minutes do not include stretching, warm ups, cool downs, or checking yourself out in front of the mirror. Sure, these are an essential part of your exercise routine, but you're not going to lose any weight by stretching. At least 20 to 30 minutes of aerobic exercise, every other day.

If you've reduced the number of calories you're eating, and your diet isn't working, it could be because you're not exercising enough.

7. YOU'RE EXERCISING TOO HARD
It may be counterintuitive, but it's true. If you exercise too hard, your body goes into an ANAEROBIC state (without oxygen). It is when you get so out of breath that you can't seem to take in enough air. When the body is in this state, it burns mostly carbohydrates and very little fat. It is why runners "carb up" before a big race--and also why runners have just as much body fat as the rest of us.

Slow your exercise down to no more than 85% of your maximum heart rate (subtract your age from 220 to get your max heart rate). At this pace, your body is in an AEROBIC state (with oxygen), and most of the calories that are burned are from fat, not carbs. An added benefit is that aerobic exercise tends to be low impact making it easy on your joints.

If you already get plenty of exercises and your diet still isn't working, it could be because you're exercising too hard.

8. YOU'RE NOT GETTING ENOUGH REST
We all live stressful lives. Dieting typically changes your eating and exercise habits-- two more stressor's your body has to deal. The only chance your body has to relieve tension, rejuvenate and rebuild itself is during sleep, so it's important to get enough when dieting.

Not getting enough sleep can slow your metabolism making weight loss difficult. It can also make you feel "groggy," which means you probably won't make the best food choices throughout the day. If your diet isn't working, it could be because you're not getting enough rest.

9. YOU'RE FIGHTING TOO MANY BATTLES AT ONCE
Weight loss requires both consistent effort and focus. You won't have either if you're trying to diet and deal with other "major events" in your life at the same time. Significant events include things like changing jobs, moving to new house or city, trying to stop smoking, a death, accident, or sickness in the family, and so on.

All of these things disrupt our lives and cause us to put everything--including our diets--on hold. To make matters worse, how do most of us deal with the stress caused by these major events? By snacking! Your diet doesn't have a chance.
So don't even try. Permit yourself to put your diet on hold until you can give it the consistent energy and focus it needs. Choose your battles carefully and fight only one at a time. If your diet isn't working, it may be because you're trying to fight too many at once.

10. YOUR WEIGHT LOSS GOAL IS NOT REALISTIC
Like all good things, healthy weight loss takes time. Make sure you're not setting yourself up for disappointment by setting a weight loss goal that is unrealistic. It includes not only the amount of weight you want to lose but also the amount of time you think it will take. If you're doing all the right things and your diet isn't working, it may be because your weight loss goal or the time required to reach it-isn't realistic.

Once you get all of these issues resolved, you've cleared the way to get your diet back on track. As your diet takes root and begins to work, you should start to see the weight come off quickly and naturally.

Weight Loss Pills Explained

Within the pharmaceutical industry, obesity is now seen as the "trillion dollar disease". That's the estimated amount of profit a successful weight loss drug can expect to make. But are companies getting close to delivering a diet pill that works - meaning, a medicine that is both safe and effective at solving obesity? The answer, it seems, is No.

Pills To Reduce Obesity

It's true that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a tiny number of weight loss pills like Xenical and Meridia for long-term use in the treatment of obesity (BMI > 30). But evidence accumulated in clinical trials suggests that the effectiveness of these obesity drugs is less than impressive. Total annual weight reduction tends to be in the range 8-20 pounds.

Furthermore, the highest weight loss tends to be achieved by patients who participate in supervised trials involving a combination of drug treatment, diet, exercise and counselling. Which makes it difficult to ascertain the precise effect of the medication itself. By comparison, less well-supervised obesity drug trials tend to have a higher drop-out rate and reduced weight loss. And the longer the hearing, the lower the compliance and the lower the weight loss. In short, while helpful to some patients, weight loss drugs are not yet the answer to obesity, especially when factors like cost are taken into account.

Should we be surprised? Not really. After all, even bariatric surgery is no guarantee of long-term weight loss unless patients comply with the necessary post-operative dietary regimen. Indeed, some obesity experts claim that medical interventions like drugs and surgery are almost by definition doomed to failure, for the simple reason that they take control and responsibility away from patients. According to this view, it is only when patients accept full responsibility for their eating habits and lifestyle, that they have a real chance of achieving a healthy weight in the long term.

Unfortunately, this view satisfies no one! It doesn't fulfill the pharmaceutical companies, who need to make money. It doesn't persuade doctors, who need to give hope to their overweight patients, and it doesn't satisfy consumers who want instant weight loss without having to change their eating habits. In short, there is an overwhelming demand for an obesity pill, but a viable product has yet to emerge.

Pills For Cosmetic Weight Loss

Demand for diet pills is not limited to those suffering from clinical obesity. Millions of consumers with less than 40 pounds to lose take non-prescription pills to burn off body fat or increase their rate of weight loss. According to a study conducted by the University of Michigan, almost 25 percent of girl students turn to anorectic diet pills when they're trying to lose weight, including laxatives and diuretics.

These non-prescription pills are more difficult to evaluate, as they are not subject to the same high level of regulation as prescription-only drugs. Thus not all ingredients need to be tested, dosages and other labelling requirements are less stringent, and reporting of "adverse events" or health problems is not mandatory.

Furthermore, few long-term clinical trials are conducted on non-prescription pills, so hard evidence as to their safety and efficacy is scarce. Meantime, the vast profits to be made from these weight loss products means they can be supported by expensive advertising campaigns to increase consumer acceptance, building regulation and control even more of an uphill struggle. Indeed, the FDA has found it almost impossible to ban over-the-counter diet pills, even after reports of illness and injury.

Herbal Diet Pills For "Healthy Eating"

The past five years have seen a considerable rise in sales of herbal diet pills, which are marketed as a form of "healthy eating". These herbal supplements typically include a variable combination of vitamins and other active ingredients which supposedly offer a healthier type of weight loss. Such claims are not supported by clinical evidence, and some suppliers are under investigation by both the FDA and FTC. Nevertheless, rising demand for these herbal weight loss pills is yet another confirmation of our vast appetite for what is mostly a non-dietary approach to weight control.

How Do Weight Loss Pills Work?

In simple terms, weight loss pills are designed either to alter body chemistry to reduce appetite or to interfere with digestion to reduce calorie absorption. Appetite suppressants include amphetamine-like stimulants such as ephedra, or pills to increase serotonin or norepinephrine levels in the brain. Pills that interfere with the digestive system contain fat-blockers (lipase inhibitors) like Xenical and chitosan, carb-blockers, and very high fibre bulking agents such as glucomannan.

Are Weight Loss Pills Safe?

Obesity drugs are safe when used correctly and under medical supervision. The trouble starts when users do not follow the manufacturer's instructions. Adverse health events for these pharmaceuticals include heart or blood pressure problems and strokes, as well a range of less severe complaints. The same applies to non-prescription diet pills, whose adverse health effects include high blood pressure, heart palpitations, irregular heartbeats, dizziness, blurred vision, headaches, insomnia, intestinal blockages, anxiety and depression.

In extreme cases, both prescription-only and non-prescription pills can cause life-threatening conditions. Even so, safety remains a relative concept. Cigarettes, alcohol, cars and stress kill millions of people every year. By comparison with these things, diet pills cause far fewer "casualties", and if you consult your doctor before taking them, you can reduce the health risk to a minimum.

The Real Problem With Weight Loss Pills

The most significant problem with relying on drugs and supplements to lose weight is not health; it's reliability. In my 20-odd years of dealing with overweight individuals and their families, I have yet to hear of anyone who achieved and maintained any significant weight loss by using pills. But I have met a considerable number of people whose weight and emotional state of mind had been significantly worsened through the use of medicines.

They were afraid of food, they had absolutely no confidence in their ability to make sensible food choices, and tended to rely on purging, laxatives and similar products to control their eating habits. One client - a former annual weight loss winner with one of the significant dieting companies - had been fed deliberately with pills to achieve the weight reduction that the organisation required. When she came to me for help, she had regained 70 pounds of her original weight loss. In short, relying on pills for weight control can mess up your body and your mind.

The Small Print Says It All

Advertisements and infomercials for diet pills are dominated by headlines like: "Effortless Weight Loss" or "Lose Weight While You Sleep!" and so on. But the small print often tells a different story - either that users should follow a calorie-controlled diet, or only eat at certain times of the day, or stop eating certain high-calorie foods, or some combination of all three. There may also be a reference to the need for exercise. In other words, if you want the truth about a weight loss pill, check the small print. Because, as all obesity experts and dietitians will tell you, no long-term reduction in weight is possible without controlling energy intake and expenditure.

If You Must Take Pills

Whether you are a diet pill addict or just an occasional user, here are two ways to make weight loss easier. Look for a healthy, gimmick-free diet, and follow it as carefully as you can. In the process, focus on healthy eating rather than calorie reduction. Aiming to eat healthily is much more favourable than calorie control.

Secondly, join an online dieting forum and get encouragement and advice from other people. Because all surveys show that losing weight is a lot easier when you have others to lean on. My forum, for instance, includes a large number of former diet pill users who are now enjoying their food and losing significant amounts of weight in the process. Which proves that when it comes to weight control, people power is much more efficient than popping pills.

Why Isn't My Diet and Weight Loss Pill Working?

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