gimmick

**This post is not meant to offend anyone that represents any of the products mentioned below, this is just my personal opinion**

In the days of social media, I am sure that we have all been inundated with advertisements for products that promise to “get skinny quick” or “take this pill and drink this shake and you will look like this”… those products offend and make me angry.

I would be lying if I said that I hadn’t been intrigued by some of them prior to starting my weight loss journey.  The thought of taking a pill or wrapping myself in plastic wrap to get skinny quick instead of putting in the work with my diet and exercise is appealing.  How could it not be appealing?  What I am doing is hard and it isn’t all rainbows and unicorns, sometimes I just want the “get skinny quick” magic pill because I am tired of watching every calorie that I put in my mouth and making sure that I am staying active enough.

But, the elephant in the room is….do these products really work? or are they just ploys by companies to capitalize on our obese nation and the push to get healthier? It seems like weekly, there is another new product that promises the impossible.

Okay, okay, okay…promising the impossible might be an exaggeration, I should have said, promises the impossible WITHOUT changing your diet and exercise.  If you have to change your diet and activity to get the products to work, then what’s the point? You can lose weight WITHOUT a “magic” option…so wouldn’t that make the “magic” option void?

Ding, Ding, Ding….

A lot of these products don’t mention anything about having to change your diet and the need to exercise until they DON’T work, then it becomes the number one excuse….”Well, the products do work best when combined with a change in diet and exercise…” DUH! You mean wrapping my body in saran wrap isn’t going to make me look like all the “before and after” pictures I see all over the internet??? Common sense would say, no.  Those people wrapped their body in saran wrap, AND, changed their diet drastically, as well as worked out.

Another product that that I simply do not understand is one that claims to make you “happy all the time!” Enticing, right? I want to be “happy all the time!”  But, you have to take a pill, drink a shake and put a patch on to get the results, and if you do not do them all in the EXACT order the company says at EXACTLY the right times, it may not work.  Convenient excuse for the company when their claims don’t pan out, put it back on the customer, they simply didn’t do the process right, sorry! Another thing that concerns me is that it is no wonder the product makes you “happy all the time!,” it has 6 different kinds of stimulants in it.  They say that up to 400mg of caffeine a day appears to be safe for most adults.  Since the ingredients are listed as proprietary, the manufacturer does not have to list the amount (mg) used, so it is therefore unknown how much caffeine/stimulants each product contains.  What no one has addressed, and I have asked several promoters of this product, is how does the body handle the inevitable “crash” when the product isn’t being taken anymore?  With that many stimulants, it seems like a crash and a feeling of “not happy all the time!” is looming.

Well, I have a way that you can save lots of $$$$ and get the same results!  Wait for it…..it’s called HARD WORK.  Whoa, there is a concept that isn’t easily accepted in this society.  I have lost over 50 pounds and in turn have a higher self esteem by good old fashioned working out and changing my eating habits.  Yes, I have used different methods of those things along the way (examples:  Weight Watchers and 21 Day Fix), but I would consider neither of those “gimmicks” because they still involve YOU making the ultimate change, there are no impossible promises.

Dieting and losing weight is no joke.  The weight didn’t come on the body overnight and it will not come off overnight either.  There are no two ways or gimmicks around that, it is simply a fact.  I have worked very hard over the last 6 months to get closer to my end goal and frankly I am offended by the messages that I get that say,

“Emily, you look fantastic! I have this amazing product that will help stimulate your activity level and will make your weight loss easier! contact me for details!”

“WOW, girl, you must be feeling amazing! I am just wondering if you might be interested in this wrap that will tighten your extra skin from your weight loss”

I am not interested in those products, I am interested in working hard and achieving my goals.  I put this weight on my body and it seems as though it is fitting that I have to work hard to take it off, so I KNOW the reality of my old habits.  Quick fixes fix nothing and the odds are that you will need to try another one in a couple months because you are right back where you started, just several hundred $$$ poorer.

I am proud of this “gimmick” free weight loss!

MY hard work is paying off!

there is sugar in that?!

According to the American Heart Association, the maximum amount of sugar to be consumed daily is:

Men: 37.5 grams or 9 teaspoons

Women: 25 grams or 6 teaspoons

1/2 cup Raisins –> 43 grams

8 oz Fruit Yogurt –> 43 grams

1 cup unsweetened Grape Juice –> 35 grams

12 oz can of Coke –> 33 grams

Sweet & Sour Chicken (frozen entree) –> 16 grams

1/2 cup Granola –> 13 grams

1/2 cup Banana –> 9 grams

1 serving of Kellogg’s Raisin Brand cereal –> 5 teaspoons

1 bottle Vitamin Water –>  33 grams

1 tablespoon Ketchup –> 1 teaspoon

1 Cliff bar –> 20 grams 

Excuse me, WHAT?!?    I. ate. way. too. much. sugar. 

When I had my initial weigh-in and consultation with Katie (my coach), she explained to me that my body is functioning over 2 times my actual age because of my Body Fat %, BMI and Visceral Fat content.  Ouch.  I don’t feel that unhealthy anymore and it scared me straight.  I really do have a long way to go.

Katie has me on a very strict diet right now, and I am also learning about the relationship between sugar/carbs to weight loss.  I am not ashamed to admit that I thought, “its fruit, who cares how much sugar is in it, because its healthy sugar” or “Its a Cliff Bar and not a Big Mac.”

The eating plan that I have been following is called a Ketogenic diet. Basically, the body gets its energy from glucose.  Typically, glucose comes from carbohydrates – sugar and starchy foods such as bread and pasta – which the body is able to break down. Glucose can either be used to fuel the body or stored in the liver and muscles as a chemical called glycogen.  If there is not enough glucose present, the body will resort to an alternative strategy in order to fuel itself. Excess fat will begin to be broken down in order to provide a source of glucose. A by-product of this process are ketones.

In simple terms, it means that I have cut sugar and carbs almost completely from my diet.  I eat several servings of vegetables and 8 oz of protein a day.  I also can have some protein shakes to fill in the gaps.

I will not lie.  Its hard.  It is amazing how many foods have hidden sugar in them.

I have been a complainer, I’ll be honest.  It’s hard to live off of veggies and meat only, but, I understand the concept behind it.  Let your body deplete its natural glucose supply and then the body will go to the next thing to burn to create energy….FAT.

I am beginning to understand why my weight loss was very slow over the last couple months, there may have been changes to my body, but I hadn’t lost very much weight.

My body was getting too much glucose.

I ate wayyy too much fruit.

I used too may condiments that have sugar in them.

I wasn’t giving my body everything it needed, even though I was eating healthy.

This Ketogenic diet is Phase 1 of Katie’s plan for finishing my weight loss journey.  Once I can get my body fat % down significantly, then Phase 2 will start.  Phase 2 will include re-adding some sugars and carbs back in my diet, along with some more intense workouts.  The end goal is to see my body functioning near or at my actual age, my body fat % in a normal range and the ability to maintain my weight loss now that I am more educated on health and wellness. 

I am anxious to be able to incorporate more food into my diet again, but I didn’t get obese by eating veggies and protein, so for right now, I am exactly where I need to be.