Weight, emotions and common sense

MY SISTER - yes, my sister - recently asked me what I thought about different natural and medical weight-loss products currently on the market.

Without the slightest hesitation, I looked her in the eyes and said, "I hope you are not putting your health and possibly your life at risk messing around with this garbage."

If your goal is to slim down, get fit and get healthier, the only two options I suggest are eating healthier and exercising. The first thing you may want to do is kick the habit on the three bottles of soda you drink each day.

It still vexes me that, more often than not, emotions trump common sense. I guess that's why, despite decades of warnings about weight-loss scams, even smart people who should know better (like my sister) seem to fall time after time for these ridiculous traps.

The one thing I can assure her and anyone else is that these products always overpromise and underdeliver. These products offer nothing but false hope and, worse, rob you of your hard-earned cash.

Under the best of circumstances, here's what you can expect, if you decide to take any weight-loss supplements, pills, potions or shots: You will lose muscle, eventually wrestle with (and lose to) voracious food cravings, probably damage your metabolism and likely deal with depression, too.

There is simply no healthy quick and easy way, because the more you reduce your calories, the more your metabolism will slow down, and the more your metabolism slows down, the more muscle you'll lose, and the more muscle you lose, the flabbier you become and your body ultimately becomes less efficient at burning the few calories you are consuming.

Because you're hungry, the more fatigued and stressed you'll become, and then you'll produce more stress hormones like cortisol. When you just can't take another second, you will retreat back to your old eating habits and begin the vicious cycle again. Isn't that lovely?

So, here's the skinny if you're a little bit curious about what's really going on when you take these quick-fix products. The one variable almost all of these products have in common is an emphasis on water-weight loss, not fat loss. Yes, when we lose weight, a portion of the weight will be water. However, the goal is to decrease losing water weight as much as possible so that the body is forced to turn up its metabolic furnace and burn more body fat.

The multitude of pills (herbal/pharmaceutical), teas and "natural herbs" sound harmless, but many of these products may contain products that may do serious harm. Quick-weight-loss products have been known to cause everything from diarrhea to death. Just two weeks ago, the Sunday Inquirer told a tragic tale about a woman who took a green-tea supplement and ended up needing a liver transplant.

It should go without saying, but these products also can interfere with prescription medications and exacerbate any health problems you may have. If you should suffer a cardiac arrhythmia or electrolyte imbalance, you could potentially die.

Just think: In order for your organs (heart, kidney, liver, etc.) to function properly, it is essential that your electrolytes remain balanced. If your electrolytes go out of balance, you increase your risk for heart failure and/or sudden death.

So, sis, focus on moderate activity and a healthy diet, which are the keys to permanent weight loss.

There is no benefit in dehydrating your body (losing 2-3 pounds a week). Start with 30 to 60 minutes of exercise daily, and it doesn't have to be in a gym. Just find time in your day.

Kimberly Garrison is a wellness coach and owner of One on One Ultimate Fitness in Philadelphia. Her column appears Wednesdays.