The reason your weight loss pills didn’t work

According to ABC News, at any give time in the United States there are 100 million people on a diet. Those 100 million people spend 20 billion annually on commercial weight loss fixes.

Weight loss pills are among the various products hyped up to be the missing piece in your weight loss plan. If they didn’t work the last time you tried them, there is one good reason.

Weight loss pills do not cause weight loss.

If you want to lose weight, there is only one issue to consider:

Calorie deficit.

This reality destroys the fantasy that, if you pop a pill, you won’t have to worry as much about what else goes into your mouth. If this is your hope, give it up immediately. It won’t work. You’re wasting your money and possibly harming your long-term health.

Creating a calorie deficit while maintaining proper nutrition should be your primary concern if you want to see smaller numbers on the scale. You must burn more energy than you consume, causing your body to rely on stored body fat for fuel.

The only sure ways to create a calorie deficit

The first way to create a calorie deficit is to eat less. Any good nutrition plan will help you choose healthy, whole foods in quantities that create a calorie deficit for you. If your nutrition plan does not take into account how many calories you need, based on your height, weight, age, and gender (at a minimum) then you ought to be skeptical.

How are you supposed to create a calorie deficit (the only sure way to lose body fat) if you don’t know how many calories your body needs to get through an average day?

Fitness expert and author Tom Venuto has published a very useful cheat sheet in the form of a blog post to help you calculate your daily calorie requirements. This is where all fat loss begins!

The second way to create a calorie deficit is to burn more energy. For most people, this means exercising. Exercising offers a multitude of health benefits, but it will only lead to weight loss if it pushes you into a calorie deficit consistently.

To make sure your exercise pays off, you simply must know the point at which you are burning more energy than you are consuming (know your daily calorie requirements). Otherwise, your exercise routine will not lead to fat loss.

So, give up the weight loss pills. Embrace the calorie deficit. You’ll never regret it.

References:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/100-million-dieters-20-billion-weight-loss-industry/story?id=16297197