Could You Be Gaining Weight Just Sitting Here?
by Taylor
Talk about a strict diet. And to think it might not even be doing you any good.
It has been put out there through many diets that you need to eat certain foods to diet and nothing else needs to be done. Not true at all, sure you might lose weight and first but then when you return to your normal diet you could gain it all back.
This article shows this to be true. In order to lose weight all you need is a balanced diet and to exercise. When people follow these diets such as Low-Carb or No-Carb, Atkins or the Zone diet they are depriving their bodies of certain things they need to function. A lot of these diets are actually shown to help weight loss through basically, dehydration of your body. However, when you lose water weight it is quickly gained back. So before you think about trying one of these fad diets, do more research and follow the tips of the first article to help you make a decision.
For more information on different fad diets and fake nutrition to make sure you aren’t being fooled check these websites:
If you have any stories about fad diet failures tell us about them.
Also, what else are some pseudoscientific “facts” put out there involving our health?
November 9th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
My dad went on the atkins diet and lost weight until he got to a healthy weight for him. It seemed to work really well for him and he hasn’t gained any of the weight back. But i know that the Atkins diet doesn’t work for many people, at least not for the long term keeping the weight off. I think a balanced diet and a good amount of exercise is the best way to keep in shape. There are a ton of pseudoscienfitic claims being made out there about loosing weight with diet pills and fad diets that never really work like they say the will.
November 9th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
This was a very interesting post taylor : ) I don’t understand why people go on fad diets when they don’t really know if it is helping their body or ultimately hurting their body. My mom is big into nutrition and all she does is eat healthy and gets regular excersize. You don’t need a “diet” to stay healthy. All you need is simple everyday things, exersize and a healthy diet. A pseudoscientific fact that the media puts out is that if you go on a certain diet you will feel GREAT. But really by just eating all protein or no carbs, that isn’t very healthy at all. You need a balanced diet of all the food groups. Another pseudoscientific fact put out by the media is the bandwagon. Everyones doing it! People should do research to be intellgent about what they are really doing before they can hurt their bodies.
November 9th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
What an interesting post! Im constantly seeing these commercials on tv about how much weight people lost on these diets. Some of these diets even claim that you can loose weight by eating more, and not exercising at all! First of all that makes no sense, but second, none of these commercials show any sources of info, or tell about what is in the food that they offer. Good post!
November 9th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
Taylor, I am glad to see that someone put this article up! It is extremely important that people know about these fad diets and how they dont work! They actually make you non healthier because they deprive your body of necessary nutrients! Then when you return to your normal diet you just gain all of your weight back! Good Job Taylor!
November 9th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
Hey, great post!
A friend of mine went on the No carb diet and it really messed up her health. Not only did it make her immune system weak because she wasn’t getting her essential vitamins and mineral that she need, her hair fell out and she did not have energy at all. We just learned caleries are the measure of energy and if u have no calories mean no energy. They claim they will make u lose 30 pounds in the first week, that is not healthy. Thank you for the great info.
November 9th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
i first thought that when all these diets were really popluar a couple of years ago, i remeber seeing them in grocery stores and almost all the celebraties had commercials for them. and i always see on t.v. the jenny craig one and their spokes person is kirstie alley. but shes still no offence fat? so why would people buy it?
November 9th, 2007 at 6:04 pm
well kristen, many people like that she is on a diet. They forget how long she has been a spokesperson, and think about how she lost the weight and not how much weight she lost and therefore they keep buying the product. The wieght watchers diet has also been around for a long time, yet people still continue to believe that they will lose weight and keep buying the product, thus keeping the company alive.
November 9th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
My dad use to try all those diet meals but he didn’t actually do it regularly only when he felt like it, which i good because they didnt work. But now he is just eating healthy and walking around our neighbr hood for exercise. Basicly what I am trying to say is that these fad diets dont work and could possibly even damage your health.
November 9th, 2007 at 10:15 pm
I have always thought that these diets were a bunch of crap. Yeah you will lose weight, but then once you get back to reality you gain it all back. In my family, we know better than this and we maintain a healthy diet and exercise frequently. No one in my family has ever been stupid enough to do a fad diet. They use pseudoscience a lot on their commercials. They will get famous people to approve their product. SCIENCE HAS NO AUTHORITIES, ESPECIALLY NOT SOME RANDOM FAMOUS PEOPLE WHO KNOW NOTHING ABOUT SCIENCE. Nutrisystem commercials use former famous athletes to advertise their product. Its just not a realistic way to lose weight.
November 9th, 2007 at 10:34 pm
I’ve never personally tried these diets because I had always heard how dangerous they can be for your health. My parents have never tried them either, because frankly they think diets are no fun
I agree 100% with those websites, Taylor, the best way to lose weight is controlled portions, more healthy foods, and lots of healthy exercise. I also agree with the website when it said that no foods are bad foods, what is bad about chocolate?? 
I used to think carbs were bad, and those fads tried to convince us of that, but now I know they are healthy and they give us energy. The same thing applies to calories as well, just add moderation. Plus exercise and healthy, moderate meals are less expensive in the long run than fad diets, and easier too. From personal experience, I know how GOOD it can make you feel when you exercise right and eat healthy. Awesome post Taylor, thanks for keeping us informed!!
November 9th, 2007 at 11:40 pm
People always seem to be mesmorized by diets with a bunch of cool slogans and fancy foods that look appatizing but in the end don’t even help you loose weight or like Taylor said make you gain it all back once you go off the diet. What these claims don’t tell you is that when you go on a diet your not just going on one for a week or so but for probably the rest of your life. Dieting doesn’t necessarily mean eating to loose weight but it can also mean eating to keep weight off and to maintain a healthy body form. How come you never see commercials for diets like that?
November 10th, 2007 at 5:56 pm
My mom went on the South Beach diet a few years ago, which like the Atkins is a low carb diet. My mom had to eat a lot of special South Beach food and the diet didn’t tell her to exercise. I remember all of the food tasted really gross. When she was finally done with the diet she gained all of her wieght back. Lately I’ve seen alot of commercials on TV for quick wieght loss where you’ll lose alot of wieght in a week. I think diets like this and low carb diets are not good ways to lose wieght!
November 11th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
whoa i knew there were a lot of dangerous diets out there but i didnt know that there were this many and that there were so many precautions to take. my mom’s friend tried a diet that was all bogus and she should have known it. she lost weight quickly but she was a like a veggie. she couldnt do very much and she gained all the weight back plus her metabolism has slowed down because her body thinks it needs to save the nutrition it has incase she ever does that again so now she is bigger than she was before she started the diet. My mom was doing the same thing mrs potts was doing but my mom realy didn’t have the will power to keep it going so it was not working and like rachel said she just gained it all back but now my mom is just eating healthy and avoiding too much fried food or junk food and it is working a lot better and she feels better too. she is also not eating as fast and that works.
November 11th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
I think that people get so caught up in losing weight that they will do anything to get it off the quickest. My family really never tried any of those diets except for I remember my grandma went on the South Beach. She was only on it for a month or so and only lost 5 pounds. She said that the food was awful and it wasnt worth it. Personally I thik that the best way to lose weight is to eat a healthy diet, exercise, and drink lots of water. Also I have been seeing many commercials advertising the various diets and I just think to myself, why would anyone do this. The funniest thing is when I saw a Jenny Craig commercial with Valrie Bertinelli and she looked great. I think she had said she had lost 20-30 some pounds. The next week or so after I saw the commercial, I was reading people and they had a picture of her in it and she had gained all the weight back.
November 11th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
My mom also went on the South Beach Diet too, and I’m not going to lie, some of that food is really good and a little good for you! almost all of their meal things have some kind of vegetable and low fat meat. The stirfry I think is amazing, and even though my mom isn’t “on” the diet anymore, we still make some of the foods because they are really good. However, that ricotta cheese desert thing pretty much made me throw up. that one is nasty. She did have a problem with the diet though. She didn’t lose weight and then gain it back, she just never lost weight to start with. Now she is on the Weight Watcher diet and some of that food is good too, especially the “ice cream”. It isn’t real ice cream, but the little skinny fruit ones taste really good.
November 11th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
No one in my family has really been on one of those fad diets. When they first came out they were really popular and i saw them in books and on tv. I usted to think they worked, but the more im finding out about them the more i find out that they dont work. I agree with may claire that they use bandwagon as their aproach to get people to buy their products. That was a good blog taylor, I think that a lot of people dont have the right concept to those fad diets.
November 12th, 2007 at 12:10 am
Interesting post taylor!
I think weight is someting our society is so revolved around. You have to looki this way and be this weight. Marketers have really taken advantage of this and filled us with many “pseudoscience” facts. They make ridculous claims and claim that you can have the perfect body by simply taking a pill? Obviously this isn’t possible, or healthy. It’s amazing how easily people fall for pseudoscience. This was a really good point taylor!
November 12th, 2007 at 9:14 pm
This is very interesting. Even though she probably does not want me to say this, my mom has been trying to stay on the Adtkins diet for a good time now. Honestly, nothing has changed. However, in my mind i think it is her. She will get on a diet for a little while, then take a little while off. I think this is the problem to many people in the world that go on diets. There are some that stick with their diets for a while, and you can notice a difference. In my opinion, I think the diets are fine, it is just the people that need to be commited enough and need to have a goal at what weight they wish to reach. Once they get there, they cannot slack and go back to their regular eating schedule.
Great post Taylor!
November 12th, 2007 at 10:08 pm
Danny i agree with you that it may be the person that causes the diet not to work. The person may not be the only problem though. It could be the type of diet the person is on check out this site.
http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/high-protein-diet-for-weight-loss
I really dont believe that diets are the only way to lose wight you need exercise, if you do a diet like taylor said it is just dipriving you of what you need.
November 12th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
Danny i agree that the porblem may be with the person who is on the diet. I really believe if people chose to go on a diet that it depends which one you go on. Here is a link for more information
http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/high-protein-diet-for-weight-loss
I think that excersices is one of the better solutions for weight loss, i would rather do that than worriing about going on a diet.
November 12th, 2007 at 10:53 pm
Yeah Graham as soon as i did that last post, i thought about putting in the part that the diet can’t get you at a good weight and in good shape by itself. A huge factor for getting in shape is excercise, excercise, and more excercise. Even if you do not play a sport, go out for an occasional jog, or maybe lift a few weights at our school’s wonderful workout facility. If you do this, it will for sure help you get to your desired weight, or if not, that means that the weight that is not going is not fat, it is muscle!
November 12th, 2007 at 11:43 pm
Yes, danny that is a good point, i think that most diets can not garrenntee that it will work . Most likley if you excersise you will get in good shape and have more energy. Some times on diets i know that it can cause you to loose energy and not really feel like doing anything. When you excersise you are gaining energy, losing weight and get in good shape. When you work out you may gain more wait but muscel weighs more than fat. You will also feel good about your self, probley better than you would if you were on a diet!!
November 13th, 2007 at 12:09 am
Here is a good site that talks about the benifits of dieting and weight loss.
http://www.newstarget.com/021149.html
The site says that the weight loss of the two was about the same, but at the end of the test the dieters had much less muscel than those who excersied. It says that if you chose one of the other exercise whould be theh best, but the best solution whould be a combnation of both diet and exercise.
November 13th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
There is a lot of dieting pills that say all you need to do is take the pill and relax and you will lose the weight you want. The commercials on t.v. show either really skinny or really buff people and old pictures of how fat they were. Then they say how they lost that weight and kept it off due to this amazing diet pill. What they dont tell you is that not only did they use the pill but they exercised and ate really healthy diets. So they pill might have helped them, but it wasnt the only thing effecting their weight loss. This website(http://health.howstuffworks.com/diet-pill.htm) talks about why and how diet pills actually work and if they do. It also has many interesting stats on how many people are actually overweight in the U.S. I think that by looking at those stats of all the people that are overweight then I can see why easy diet pills would be apealing to alot of people and why so many people would buy them.
November 14th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
This post reminded me of my mom. She is a major health-nut. Everything we have in our house is organic. She reads all the ingredient labels before we buy something and if there is an unnatural ingredient she puts it back on the shelf. She sells this product called Isagenix, which is not a diet, but a “cleanse.” It’s not as much about losing weight, but more about cleaning out all the bad things in your body.
November 14th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
I like that website Jon thanks for posting that. You are definently right though, the images they show on TV are constantly either perfectly skinny or very muscular which are either the ideal body for girls or guys. But obviously like you said they don’t just accomplish that through those pills.
November 14th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
Wow great post taylor! i’ve always heard and seen about all those fad diets, and how bad they actually are for you. My mom is a dietitician and strongly disagrees with all the fad diets, especially the south beach diet. That diet makes you go for two weeks without sugars, carbohydrates, and anything besides proteins. you aren’t even allowed to have fruit because of the natural sugars. WHO CAN LAST FOR 2 WEEKS WITHOUT SUGAR OR BREAD!!! I MEAN SERIOUSLY! That just hurts your body, and the weird thing is after those two weeks you can eat as much of it as you want. I don’t understand why people are so infatuated with the idea of being perfectly skinny, no one is ever going to be that skinny, EVER!! The best thing you can do for your body is to eat a healthy diet and exersice!
November 19th, 2007 at 12:25 am
My mom went on a no carb diet. She did loose alot of weight, but it really affected her health in a negative way. I noticed that she had become really weak and was offten becoming sick. When she went off the diet, she gained all the weight back. It is diffinatly not worth your time and money to go on these diets. Good job on the blog Taylor!!
November 19th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
Diets are essential in the war against weight. I’m not sure about the Atkins diet, No-Carb diet, Low-Carb diet, etc., but watching what consume key. You have to watch the number of calories consumed verses the number of calories you burn. They way to weight loss is through a healthy* diet and exercise.
November 25th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
I dont have a story that to tell, but as far as pseudoscience goes, i think the one that makes me the most irratated it the one that says that calories are bad for you and the less calories you eat, the more weight you will lose, and the more weight you lose, the more energy you will have! What I hate even more about that whole senario, is that POEPLE ARE GULABLE ENOUGH TO BELIEVE IT!!! AAAAAAH!