Don't be Fooled by Quick-Fix Diets and Exercise Plans

Jannine Myers

It's around this time of year that people start to frantically look for ways to quickly drop some weight and tone up saggy looking muscles. With nothing but hot summer days ahead and inevitable weekend trips to the beach or pool, there's no more hiding behind winter "cover-up" clothing. The lax, and often poor habits that many fall into during the festive season and colder months, result in unwanted excess weight and sudden panic when it comes time to shed the layers of clothing.

I'm all about taking steps to get active and lose excess weight, but not the way that so many people opt to do so. You know what I'm talking about right? The quick "Lose 20 lbs of Fat in 30 Days," or "How to Tone Up Your Body in Two Weeks." There are so many of these programs out there, all promising amazing results if you'll follow their instructions to the letter.

The five-day Bikini Blitz diet

The amazing diet that lets you eat as much as you want

 ..and you still lose 14lb in less than a week

The Bikini Workout

Get Beach-Ready with 10 Exercises

But how long do their promised results actually last? I know people who have followed "quick-fix" diets and exercise programs, and I've seen them lose weight rapidly, but I've also seem them months later either at their original weight or heavier. Heck, I remember my own bouts of yo-yo dieting when I was much younger, and I also remember how wonderful I felt when I dropped several pounds, and how miserable I felt when I regained them.

Even so, with all the evidence stacked up against these diets, revealing them for the shams that they are, people still search for them online in desperate attempts to lose weight. Worse still, is the abuse of diet pills and laxatives as an ongoing means of losing weight. None of these strategies are going to provide lasting results or health benefits; on the contrary, they may even harm your body.

So come on ladies, if you, or someone you know is searching for that quick-fix weight loss remedy, try to divert that focus onto a more sustainable and long-term strategy that looks instead at healthy lifestyle changes. Sure, it may take longer for the weight to come off, but you can at least take comfort in the fact that you will be losing weight safely, and more effectively, since the weight loss is more likely to be permanent.