Free Weight Loss Facts

Of all the free weight loss facts you might read, this one may be the most important...

If you look at the official figures, it seems that we're now so well-off and so weak-willed that we're killing ourselves.

There's a health disaster a few years down the road - and it's entirely of our own making!

For all the advances of modern science and medicine, most of us still choose a lifestyle that promises to shorten our lives faster than the guys in white lab coats can lengthen them!

So, are we doomed, or can anything be done?

Weight Loss Measures

Since it is increasingly evident that we need to do something about the state of our health, more and more people are searching for ways to put themselves 'back on track'.

Unfortunately, that increase in concern has spawned a huge industry to sell related goods to those worried folk.

Nowadays, it's easy to buy weight loss pills. Or a weight loss supplement. Maybe a weight loss drug, or weight loss medication. And did I mention the weight loss patch? Or weight loss hypnosis? No? Or weight loss injection? How about ear stapling for weight loss? Perhaps acupuncture weight loss? Or, for the very brave – and the desperate - there's weight loss surgery… (ouch!)

These weight loss schemes have one thing in common. They are aimed at those who seek instant results with no effort on their part. Unfortunately, such attempts are doomed to failure, as we'll consider below.  But there's also good news, as you'll discover when you read on.

Weight Loss Speed

As well as effortless weight loss, what people seem to want are instant results. They look for 'fast weight loss', 'quick weight loss', 'rapid weight loss'…

Such are the search terms logged by the major search engines, month after month. Unfortunately, these are all must-fail approaches, as is explained further on.

Celebrity Weight Loss

In our media-driven age, the power of television, cinema and the press is immense. Increasingly, many of our behaviours are shaped by what we see and read every day in such media.

This is great news if you're a celebrity. It's even good news if you're someone who works as a trainer of celebrities. If you are well-known and can slim down, even for a short time, while you're in the public eye…

… then there's a book deal, or a video deal, or a DVD deal just waiting to be brokered.

The bad news is that "what's good for Oprah" might not be good for you…

Her (very expensive) personal trainer would have devised a program that suited her needs exactly. Had he instead been considering you, he would probably have devised a completely different approach.

So, is there any point in slavishly following somebody else's weight loss program?

Not unless, by some amazing fluke, your body (and your circumstances) would have required exactly the same solution… So, choose instead a weight loss program that's customised to suit you alone.

Active Weight Loss

Even if you accept that some effort on your part is required, you aren't spared the attentions of the weight loss industry. They want to sign you up for a weight loss camp, the LA weight loss center, a weight loss spa, a weight loss clinic, or a weight loss support group.

Now, I'd be the last to pour scorn on any sort of useful support mechanisms. It's always easier to achieve one's aims – weight loss or otherwise – when there's a form of backup available.

But, however sympathetic the listener or group, there's no chance of individual success if the idea being supported is another of those 'one-size-fits-all' approaches.

Information Overload

Let's face it, we're awash with weight loss information. It's no wonder that we get confused. And each thing you learn about is the 'latest' and the 'best'. It can't all be true, can it? Especially when so many of the methods contradict each other.

'Miracle Weight Loss' Myths

Unscrupulous manufacturers know that long-term overweight folk are desperate to see some improvement. And the quicker, the better. Preferably without too much effort or pain. So, the word 'miracle' comes into play. It conjures up just the kind of thing we'd all love to be true.

"Just take one of our pills / potions / supplement drinks / (tick as appropriate) every day and you too will be able to eat like a hog while looking like a gazelle".

Okay, that one was made up, but it's not that far from the crazy claims that you see, now is it?

It would be great if there really was a newly-discovered, fat-burning herb or plant that grew only in an inaccessible valley somewhere in the Andes or Himalayas. And even better if we could buy it in boxes of one-month's supply, over the Internet. That would mean we could go right on living as we do now, taking no responsibility for our health or how we look…

… because it would all be taken care of by that little capsule that we'd swallow every day.

Then pop! – the 'effortless weight-loss' fantasy bubble bursts and we descend back to earth with a bump.

Like I wrote earlier, that would be nice – but we all know (deep down) that it's just nonsense.

It's unfortunate, but then, the real world so often is!

Weight Loss Help Resources

There are many sources of advice for weight loss support. And most of them are determined to extract some money from your wallet on a repeat basis. Either you're encouraged to order a month's supply of whatever they're selling, or you pay a monthly subscription for Internet access to a private site that provides weight loss tips and even some forums for mutual support.

Or you could join a weight loss support group – maybe one of the really famous brands. They, and others, might provide you with weight loss recipes, or recommend weight loss food, maybe even give you tips about weight loss herbs…

I suppose the support groups do at least offer a form of weight loss motivation.

But – so much information! It's a quagmire, isn't it? Where do you start, whom do you believe? Most of all, what's the best thing for you?

Which approach to choose?

Good question! On the one hand, you can sign up to a weight loss program, while on the other you are offered a weight loss plan. Are any of them customised to suit you? Or are they all, as mentioned earlier, 'one-size-fits-all'?

Just where do you turn for weight loss help?

And, what is a good weight loss system? Are there health implications? In other words, where can you find a safe weight loss method?

Fixing Hitches

You've chosen a 'diet', you've lost a few pounds and then – screech! – the brakes go on.

You've hit a 'weight loss plateau'.

Does your weight loss plan tell you what to do? Should you just cut back the calories even further? Or do you just sit it out and hope?

How about consulting a weight loss forum? But then, you're back to the argument that what suits one person might not suit you. How much experimentation can your body stand? Face it, every failure means you have to wait even longer to become a weight loss success story…

Frustration follows frustration, and you feel like you're stuck in a treadmill – trying and trying but never getting anywhere.

So What's The Problem?

A lot of it comes down to our perceptions, and the words used by the media, both Press and Television.

The truth is that we don't need to lose 'weight'. That's too general a term. What you need to lose is body fat. Shorten that term to just 'fat', and what you should be looking for is not weight loss but fat loss.

It might seem that it's not worth worrying about the difference but, believe me, it is…

Let me give an example.

You start with the latest fad diet. You follow it faithfully for a couple of weeks. You don't feel too good, but you're encouraged because the bathroom weigh-scales tell you that you're 8 pounds lighter.

Good news, right?

Well, not necessarily – and here's why.

You've lost 8 pounds in weight, there's no disputing that. But what was that weight, exactly?

• Some of it was water. You'll regain that as your body re-hydrates.

• Some it if was fat – hey, well done and many congratulations!

• But the rest of it was lean tissue. That means muscle!

And that's the single thing that you can't afford to lose if you want to be slimmer!

You probably lost 3 or 4 pounds of fat, a couple of pounds of water and the same of lean muscle tissue. Which probably has left you feeling tired and edgy most of the time. And weak if you try to do any physical activity.

And you've left yourself with less body muscle, which will slow down your metabolism and thereby burn less fat!

That's right… and here's my first free weight loss tip for you -

One side-effect of most low-calorie 'diets' is to reduce body muscle and put the brakes on your metabolism. So when you lapse from the diet or give up because you feel so miserable all the time…

… that means your body's fat-burning rate has decreased and you pack those fat pounds right back on! (And then some).

Does this sound familiar? And did you ever wonder despairingly why it happens that way?

Well, now you know why.

Let's cut to the skinny!

• However well-meaning an organisation may sound, if it's trying to sell you something that you'll need over and over again, then the main aim is to make someone else rich, not to make you slimmer.

• If someone wants you to join a club, or take out a subscription of any kind, then the main aim is to make someone else rich, not to make you slimmer.

• In short, if you're being asked to pay and pay again, then you are not the centre of attention in this arrangement – your bank account is!

The Crucial Weight Loss Fact

What you are seeking will not be found through 'weight loss'. You will achieve your aims only through fat loss.

Weight and fat are not the same, as far as your body shape goes.

Strangely enough, though, if you search the Internet for 'fat loss' rather than 'weight loss', you won't find much difference in the results offered up by your favourite search engine…

And that's because you'll come across the same companies, selling the same stuff. If you haven't found them under 'weight loss', they're hoping you'll notice their products under 'fat loss'.

So the same offers will be found if you search for 'fat loss supplement' as for 'weight loss supplement'. They don't really differentiate between the two terms.

But, if you want to change your shape and feel better about how you look, you must appreciate the difference.

'Weight' can mean anything including body fat, body water and body muscle. It's really too vague a term, and will not help you in your efforts to slim down.

'Fat' on the other hand is what you want to shed, so you should concentrate your efforts on fat loss, rather than weight loss.

I can just hear the next question forming on your lips…

"So, how do I go about achieving some fat loss?"

Glad you asked!

It just so happens that you can read my introductory primer on the subject on my page that contains 12 free Weight Loss Tips.

And I'm betting that your next question will be…

…Why did you use the term 'weight loss' rather than 'fat loss'?

To which I answer - because it's the term most familiar to those who don't yet know the difference!

Those 12 free weight loss tips will give you a great start.

But, if you're interested in 'the whole enchilada' (just can't escape that food terminology) about fat loss success, you really should check out the complete, all-inclusive program called Fat Loss For The Rest Of Us.

Go right ahead – you won't regret it!

In fact, your body will thank you for the rest of your life!

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