weight loss and fad diets

http://www.aolhealth.com/diet/basics/diet-trends-cookie-diet?icid=mainmaindl3link3http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aolhealth.com%2Fdiet%2Fbasics%2Fdiet-trends-cookie-diet

Thanks Ellen for the above link....

If you click on this link, it will discuss a story on Good Morning America concerning a woman who went from a size 24 to a size 6 on the "Miracle" Cookie Diet. Have you seen those annoying commercials where people are singing: "Who has their hand in the cookie jar...?"

Once again, corporate America scamming the public...yes, the same public that spends 55 BILLION dollars a year on weight loss efforts. This latest fad involves eating "high-protein" cookies for breakfast and dinner and then a 500 calorie dinner. So the company runs these annoying commercials all the time, their PR person gets a gig on Good Morning America profiling some woman who was probably paid by the company to chronicle her "Miracle" success story and then the viewers of GMA will pick up the phone and order this Cookie Diet thing.

Ladies and Gentleman, let me make this clear once again: LOSING WEIGHT REQUIRES BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION AND LIFE=STYLE CHANGES. ANY PROGRAM BASED ON ARTIFICIAL FOOD SOURCES WILL FAIL IN THE LONG TERM.

So, if Dr. Posner was sitting on the couch of GMA and asked what he thought of the "Cookie Diet" he would pull the New York thing of feigning a sneeze and saying "BULLSHIT".

Seriously, do not be scammed by any supplement company or commercial weight loss organization that makes losing weight sound "easy". As we all know, losing weight requires lots of work on behavior modification and there are no real shortcuts. So, do NOT put your hands in the cookie jar...plan how you can eat "real" food, but in the correct proportions.

cookie diets

I was talking yesterday to a medspa owner in Massachusetts who has previously run a weight loss program based around a franchised "cookie diet". At the risk of having a lawyer contact me about defamation, I will not name the cookie diet involved (there are several out there) but for this medspa owner, the diet plan failed miserably. I started internet researching "cookie diets" and found lots of diffeent ones.

I am laughing because once again, marketing hype is a huge part of the weight loss market. Things that sound eccentric, unique, etc. tend to get lots of press. One of the "Cookie Diet" companies was featured on the Today Show, national magazine covers, etc.

Pardon my New York vernacular, but here are my thoughts on "fad" diets and programs...BULLSH__. Marketing experts know exactly how to get people to take out their wallets when it comes spending money on weight loss....make something sound easy, simple, no-brainer and fun. Eat cookies!!! Or..in the casse of the prepackaged foods, their tv commercials show brownies, lasagna etc. I love seeing the ex-football players in the tv commericals that show how much weight they lost and then on Sunday, you see these same guys on the sidelines looking more obese than ever.

Recurrent theme, but here goes again: There is no easy shortcut to losing weight and maintainign that weight loss. You cannot eat cookies as the cornerstone of your weight loss program. You need to maximize proteins, minimize carbs and alcohol. You need to bump up your activity levels. This is the hard truth It is not cookie BS.