How To Lose Weight Fast

Adopt these 11 healthy habits for the next two weeks, and you’re sure to shed at least a few pounds—and feel better.

1. Routinely choose filling foods, such as raw or cooked vegetables (without fattening sauces or additives), fresh fruit or drained canned fruit packed in water or juice, legumes, whole-grain cereals, lean meats (not processed ones, like hotdogs), fish and shellfish (if canned, packed in water, not oil) and low-fat or fat-free milk and cheese.

1. Begin the day by eating a good breakfast. Avoid sugary cereals and donuts as well as salty, fatty meats like sausage and bacon. Instead, try pairing fresh fruit (not fruit juice) with oatmeal, whole wheat bread or high-fiber cereal and skim milk.

1. 3. Take a daily multivitamin. Doing so will help to assure that you’re getting all the nutrients you need, and it can prevent you from experiencing food cravings.

1. Pack your lunch with healthy, filling foods instead of eating out or ordering in. Not only will you lose weight, but you’ll also save money.

1. Eat small amounts throughout the day, preferably every three to five hours. This will fuel your metabolism and keep you burning calories quickly and efficiently throughout the day. It keeps you from feeling hungry, too, so you’ll be less likely to overeat.

1. Keep a food diary of everything you eat during the day. Often we eat without thinking. Writing down everything you pop into your mouth will make you think twice before you eat those last few fries on your son’s plate, and it will also give you a clear picture of what and how much you are actually ingesting on a daily basis. Is your diet heavy on fruits, vegetables and lean meats? Or are you still putting away too many fried foods and sugary carbohydrates?

1. Exercise for at least thirty minutes per day. No, it doesn’t have to be the kind of grueling physical punishment that makes you never want to exercise again. In fact, it shouldn’t be. You don’t even have to exercise all at the same time. Studies show that short work-outs of about ten to 15 minutes actually are of greater benefit that longer ones.

So after your sensible breakfast, take the dog for a ten-minute walk or begin your day by limbering up with 15 minutes of yoga. After work, take another short walk, do ten minutes of aerobics or enjoy a bike ride around the neighborhood. Soon, being active will become an enjoyable part of your life.

1. Drink water instead of energy drinks, smoothies, sodas, fancy coffee concoctions or alcohol.  Although these beverages do taste good, many of them are high in carbohydrates and sodium, which will cause you to retain water. Most are also high in calories.

Avoid diet soda as well. Although calorie-free, it stimulates your appetite, particularly your craving for sweets.

If plain water all day long sounds too boring, give it some calorie-free zing by adding a wedge of lemon, lime or a sprig of mint.

1. Drink green tea. It’s a natural diuretic that will help you lose water weight. It’s also been credited with suppressing appetite and raising metabolism. Although green tea doesn’t contain as much caffeine as coffee, it does have some. Decaffeinated versions are available as well.

10.  Get enough sleep. If you normally sleep five to seven hours per night, go to bed half an hour earlier. You’ll be better rested in the morning and less likely to make poor food choices out of a desire to perk yourself up (with a fattening energy drink) or comfort your tired bones (with a chocolate donut). A good night’s sleep also boosts your metabolism and provides your body with the time it needs to build muscle.

11.  Stay positive! Losing weight is possible, and it can actually be painless—even fun!—if you adopt sensible changes to your lifestyle that will decrease your weight and increase your fitness level. Keeping a positive outlook will keep you on the track to your healthy weight.

Five Sure Ways to Pump up Your Motivation

Sometimes losing weight seems like it takes forever, much longer than it took to gain. That’s why, like many other dieters, you may become bored or discouraged as you work toward your weight loss goal. You may even forget why you wanted to shed those pounds to begin with! When that happens, it’s easy to resume the habits that made you overweight in the first place.

If you’re having difficulty staying focused, following the strategies below can help you stay motivated as you lose those extra pounds.

Motivator #1: Your Goal

Before you begin dieting, set your weight loss goal, and make it as realistic and as specific as you can. Decide upon a weight that’s appropriate for your age, height and frame, and allow yourself adequate time to lose it, keeping in mind that two to three pounds per week is safest.

Also, set a lifestyle goal that is related to your weight loss. One of your goals, for instance, could be to become an active member of your community’s softball league. Or perhaps, after you shed your first 25 lbs., you intend to join your kids on a weekly bike ride through the neighborhood.

Motivator #2: Your Reason

As you pursue your goal, stay focused on why you want to lose weight. Do you want to do more things and go more places, but you feel your weight is keeping you from that active lifestyle for which you long? Or maybe your size is adversely affecting your health, your relationships with family and friends, or your job performance.

Once you pinpoint the core reason you’re ready to lose weight, write it down and place it in a location you look at from time to time. It could be a statement as simple as, “I want to be able to play sports with my children” or as profound as “I want to break the cycle of obesity in my family.”

As you pursue your weight loss goal, don’t forget the reason you want to change your life by changing your weight.

Motivator #3: Your Success

If you limit your caloric intake, choose a healthy diet, drink plenty of water and exercise, you’re going to lose weight. There’s no doubt about that. As you do so, keep track of your success.

Some dieters actually create a graph or chart so that they can see their progress both in the mirror and on paper. Others simply write their weight in their diaries or mark it on their kitchen calendars or in their electronic assistants.

Because your weight varies widely throughout the day, it’s best to weigh yourself at the same time each day or each week. A weekly weigh-in before breakfast is best, as it will give you a clear view of the progress you’re making. And won’t that be encouraging? Absolutely!

Motivator #4: Your Choices

Routine is great. It often leads to success, particularly when the habits you develop are healthy ones, like drinking sparkling water instead of sugary root beer or taking a thirty-minute walk every evening after dinner. Unfortunately, routine can also lead to boredom, and boredom can lead to unhealthy choices.

What can you do to beat the blahs without reaching for a box of donuts? Add variety through healthy choices. Add excitement to your breakfast with an in-season or exotic fruit. Chances are, it will be low in calories and fit right in with your day’s diet plan. Spice up your lunch and dinner—literally—by experimenting with thyme, oregano, cumin, cilantro, cayenne and other spices instead just salt and pepper.

Break the monotony through variety in your exercise program, too. If your evening walk is becoming boring, take a different route—or take the dog, a neighbor, your best friend or an IPod. Whatever you do, choose to remain active every day. Physical activity will not only help you lose weight, but it will also help you maintain a positive outlook.

Motivator #5: Your Outlook

When you follow a weight loss program, your choices aren’t just about food, drink and exercise. They’re also about how you feel regarding the changes that are occurring in your life.

Often, dieters focus on all the things they can’t have as they lose weight—the chips, the candy, the cakes. Instead, why not focus on all the things that shedding those pounds has given you.

Do you feel comfortable wearing short sleeves again? Do your pants fit better? Do you feel more confident as you navigate throughout your day? Do your joints feel better? And what about your digestion? I bet it’s improved, too.

In other words, count your blessings. Besides, those things you may sometimes miss—like  sitting in front of the TV alone in sweatpants, stuffing down bags of chips and guzzling bottles of soda—probably weren’t really that great after all

If you want to lose weight quickly, try these smart and safe strategies for reducing calories, making wise food and drink choices, and exercising.

Reduce Your Caloric Intake

Today it’s easy to track the calories in the foods you eat thanks to the internet. Many calorie counters are available for free online.

Before you begin your weight loss program, spend a few days keeping track of what you normally eat. Once you’ve figured out your normal daily caloric intake, cut it back, but don’t reduce it below 1500 calories per day.

Cutting your daily allowance of calories back too much is not only discouraging, but it could also make you quit almost before you’ve begun, and nothing’s worse than starting a diet one day and ending it the next day with a giant pig-out. An extreme reduction in your daily caloric intake, particularly for any length of time, could lead to health problems as well.

When your weight plateaus for more than 4 days at the caloric intake you’ve chosen, reduce your daily calories by 200. If you’re at 1500 calories per day already, stay there. Simply increase your daily exercise instead.

Protein, Fruits, Vegetables and Mostly Water

To lose weight fast, have lean or low-fat high-quality protein as well as fruits and vegetables for each meal. For instance, lunch on 4 ounces of fish, roast chicken or roast beef with steamed broccoli, yellow squash, a dish of berries and a glass of low-fat milk. Eat breads sparingly, and when you do, make them whole-grain.

Drink plenty of water throughout the day, too. This will increase your metabolism and flush fat from your system. Avoid carbonated beverages and salt. Both will cause you to bloat. Avoid sugars as well, including artificial sweeteners which often lead to cravings for sweets.

Exercise Daily and Get Plenty of Rest

To boost your metabolism, build muscle and burn fat, exercise every day without increasing your caloric intake.  Exercising regularly will really jumpstart your weight loss, particularly if you do so every day, 7 days a week.

Alternate aerobic activity with weight training. For instance, engage in 30 minutes of low-impact aerobics on Monday, do weights on Tuesday, take a brisk 30-minute walk on Wednesday, weight train on Thursday and so on. If you want extremely quick results, exercise 60 minutes per day, and eat your largest meal directly after you’ve trained.

It’s also important that you get plenty of sleep while you’re losing weight. A healthy diet, lots of water, daily exercise and 8 hours of sleep each night will turn your body into a fat-burning machine. Not only will you have more energy than ever before, but you’ll also drop weight quickly and safely.

Do any of these scenarios sound familiar?

It’s the morning of an important meeting with your boss. You’ve been planning your presentation for weeks, but now you feel so nauseated you just want to crawl back into bed.

You and the kids used to have so much fun together, but lately, every meal, every car ride, every evening of homework at the kitchen table turns into one long bickering session. It’s gotten so bad that you dread picking them up from school. As you enter the campus parking lot, your chest begins to constrict, as if a band were being tightened around your ribcage.

Your husband leaves the house for hours after getting a call on his cell, clicks off screen every time you go near him when he’s on the computer and works late hours. In fact, in the last few months, it’s not unusual for him to come in after three in the morning. You feel certain that he’s having an affair, but when you try to talk to him about his behavior, he becomes angry and stalks away. You feel so tired that you can barely function. As soon as you come from work, you collapse onto the couch, exhausted.

The Physical Consequences of Stress and Anxiety

If you’ve been in situations comparable to those above, you’ve probably felt apprehensive, fearful, worried or even anxious, feelings that everyone experiences when faced with difficult circumstances. Often, the resulting stress manifests itself physically.

Dizziness, numbness, trembling, chest pains, weakness, sweating, coldness, heart palpitations, muscle tension and general malaise are only a small sampling of the symptoms stress and anxiety can cause. For many, weight loss is also a consequence.

The Anxiety “Diet”

When does anxiety change from an occasional, temporary reaction to normal stress into a serious condition that requires attention? According to HealthCentral.com, people who suffer from anxiety disorders have symptoms almost every day if not daily, and these symptoms interfere with their ability to function at work and at home. Not only does their nearly constant state of anxiety make it difficult for them to interact with others, but it also impedes their ability to complete routine tasks. One of those “tasks” is eating. 

Those who lose weight due to fear, apprehension and worry often simply forget to eat, or they lose their appetites.  Instead of feeling and looking better as they would if on a healthy diet, those who lose weight due to stress may experience serious health problems, such as gallstones, dehydration, malnutrition, life-threatening electrolyte imbalances as well as a host of other side effects, including headaches, dizziness, constipation, muscle loss, fatigue, hair loss and irritability.

There are some diets you don’t want to go on, and the anxiety “diet” is definitely one of them.

Helping Yourself

If you’ve lost your appetite and you’re losing weight due to daily bouts of anxiety, consult your doctor. He or she can connect you with a qualified therapist who’ll provide the treatment you need to reduce your anxiety level and improve your physical health. Some therapy is even available online.

Those who are otherwise healthy but would like to de-stress their lives should try these suggestions for reducing their normal feelings of anxiousness:

1. Have a cup of chamomile tea. It’s generally considered a soothing beverage that’s particularly good at alleviating general anxiety due to PMS.
2. Take St. John’s wort, which is available over the counter in liquid and pill form. A proven mood elevator that can reduce anxiety as well as insomnia and tension, this medicinal plant also makes a tasty tea.
3. Exercise is another tried and true alleviator of both anxiety and depression—and grueling work-outs aren’t required. Ten-minute activities throughout the day, like a walk during lunch or a short bike ride after work, will help lower your stress levels.

Changing the way you think about yourself and your body is an essential part of any program dedicated to improving your physical fitness and losing extra weight. Simply put, to be slim, you have to think slim. That means setting realistic, specific and positive goals for yourself.

Be realistic.

Create realistic fitness and weight loss goals for yourself. Some of your goals could be long term. For instance, you may aim to lose 40 lbs. in 6 months and keep it off for another 6. Other goals may be short term, such deciding to exercise 30 more minutes per week or 10 additional minutes per day.

Don’t set yourself up for failure by setting ridiculous (and unsafe) goals, such losing 10 lbs. per week or exercising 5 hours per day. Choose safe and attainable aims. Can you lose 1-2 lbs. per week? Probably. Could you exercise at least 20 minutes per day despite your busy schedule? If you wanted to, yes, you no doubt could. Setting achievable goals—and meeting them—is the first step to feeling better physically and emotionally.

Be specific.

Make your goals specific and write them down. Simply wishing to yourself, “If only I could wear a size 10!” as you reach for another donut is not goal setting, nor is the vague desire to lose “some” weight sometime in the future.

With the assistance of your physician, determine the best weight for someone of your height, age and frame as well as the best exercise regimen for your fitness level, lifestyle and personal preferences. Then begin setting specific weight loss, health and fitness goals for specific periods of time. Note how specific the goals below are.

“I’ll take a multivitamin every morning.”

“Every weekday at work for a week, I’ll walk 10 minutes during my lunch break.”

“This month, I’ll switch from white bread to whole-grain.”

Place your goals somewhere visible so that you’ll see them—and remember them—every day. You might, for example, place them on the bathroom mirror, the shower door, the refrigerator or in your day planner. Doing so will not only keep you on track, but it will also help you celebrate your success—and motivate you to continue pursuing healthy habits.

Be positive.

Express your goals positively. Doing so will remind you that your weight loss and fitness program is not a punishment or a deprivation. On the contrary, you’re doing positive things for yourself, making positive choices for your physical and emotional well being, and your goals should reflect this outlook.

Here’s a positive goal: “This week, I’ll eat a piece of fruit every day at lunch.” Doesn’t that sound better than this downer? “This week, I won’t have any cupcakes at lunch.”

Focus on the positive! You’re eating better, becoming more active and feeling better every day. You have every reason to be positive.

Wouldn’t it be great if it were true—if we really could lose weight just in our “problem” areas? There’d be no more thunder thighs, no more love handles, no more spare tires or saddlebags. We’d simply exercise our arms to lose our batwings or spend 30 minutes a day doing crunches to make our tummies flat, and viola! We’d all have the “perfect” bodies that we crave.

Unfortunately, spot reduction, as it’s called—decreasing the amount of fat in one area through exercise–is a myth. Just exercising your abs, for instance, won’t give you a flat tummy if you’re carrying extra abdominal weight. In fact, the cruel truth is that doing sit-ups can actually cause your belly to stick out even farther as the muscles under your fat become stronger and more pronounced. Fat that’s stored near a muscle isn’t burned when that muscle is used. Our bodies just don’t work that way.

So if you want to lose pounds in your “problem” area, you’ll simply have to lose weight, thus decreasing the amount of fat stored in your body in general and in your problem area as well. In other words, to lose your love handles, you’re going to have to follow a diet and exercise program burns your body’s fat, period. Where you’ll lose it will depend upon your gender, your age and genetics and not upon any pill, exercise program or contraption sold on late-night TV for $19.95. Those who want a cookie-cutter body with have to pay for it—at the plastic surgeon’s office.

Should we all despair then and give up, perhaps grab a box of Ding-Dongs and camp out on the couch in front of the TV if we can’t have things as slim as Jillian Michaels? Of course not!  Through a healthy diet and exercise program, each of us can all develop a strong, sexy body. And the great thing about that is that your strong, sexy body will be uniquely you. Yes, some of us may have busts that are larger than the norm, or hips that are wider than average. Some of us may have thicker ankles than others or larger behinds. But is that such a bad thing? Surely beauty rests not on one feature but on the whole ensemble.

Another up side of working out and staying slim—besides the development of your own individual allure—is that your bones and muscles will become stronger. And that muscle you’re building will now never turn to fat. That’s another myth, like spot reduction, that’s pure hokum. Your muscles may shrink with disuse, but that’s all. If you start exercising again, they’ll return to you like old friends.

So eat healthily and exercise regularly. No, you may never have the “perfect” body—short of plastic surgery—but you will have one that’s fit and toned. And those large upper arms? Consider them your signature, like Cindy Crawford’s mole or Angelina Jolie’s enormous lips. They make you, you.

Although spot reducing is a myth, you can lose your abdominal fat and make your tummy smaller and flatter by following these 10 tips:

Lose weight in general, and you’ll lose belly fat.

Whether you’re apple or pear-shaped, like most people, you’ll lose more weight from your abdominal area before you lose it anywhere else. That’s because visceral fat, the kind that makes up your spare tire, is more metabolically active than other kinds of fat, so it’s easier to lose.

Eat whole-grain foods.

According to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, if you follow a calorie-controlled diet of about 1,600 calories per day that is rich in whole-grain foods, you’ll lose more stomach fat that you would otherwise.

Of course, the key is not only to eat whole grains, but also to control your caloric intake and make wise food choices, like the ones described below.

Reduce the amount of refined foods that you eat.

As much as possible, avoid white grain products, such as white rice, spaghetti, sandwich buns and other simple carbohydrates. They not only cause rapid weight gain in your abdominal region, but they also leave you feeling hungry later.

Here’s how it works. Refined foods like white bread trigger elevated blood sugar levels in your body followed by an increase in insulin, which can cause fat to be deposited more quickly than it would be otherwise. Eating whole grains, which also tend to be higher in fiber, improves your insulin sensitivity and helps your body use its blood glucose more efficiently; thus, you’ll have lower blood glucose levels and less fat deposited.

Eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables each day.

In addition to eating whole grains in lieu of white grains, lose belly fat by enjoying five servings of fruit and vegetables every day as part of your calorie-controlled diet.  Be sure to choose fresh fruit over juice or dried versions, and eat your vegetables steamed, roasted or boiled—without thick cheese or cream sauce.

Eat lean protein and low-fat or nonfat dairy products.

In addition to eating fruits and vegetables, target belly fat by eating three servings of low-fat or nonfat dairy products as well as two servings of lean protein every day as part of a healthy and balanced calorie-controlled diet.

Eat monounsaturated fatty acids.

These fatty acids are found in nuts, olives, seeds, avocados, chocolate, soybeans and olive and canola oil. Keep your portions small, however, as these foods are high in calories.

Exercise moderately 60 minutes per day.

Although exercise alone won’t flatten your belly if you’re fat in the middle, strengthening your abdominal muscles will make you appear thinner, and it will help you burn fat. So take a bike ride or a brisk walk daily. Enroll in an aerobics class or swim at the local YMCA. Adding an hour of moderate exercise to your daily schedule will contribute to the effectiveness of the calorie-controlled diet described above and increase your loss of belly fat.

Drink lots of water.

Make drinking water with every meal part of your daily regimen. Not only will water make you feel fuller, but it’s calorie-free, it flushes out excess water weight and it increases your metabolism.

Reduce your salt intake.

Eating too much salt will cause you to retain water, making your waistline expand. Cut out the excess salt, which is often found in junk food, and you’ll be less likely to suffer from bloating.

Take an anti-gas pill.

If, despite reducing the salt in your diet, you tummy is bloated and sore, try taking anti-gas medication. It can be found at any drugstore or grocery store in liquid, pill and chewable tablet form and will dissolve the gas bubbles in your digestive track, which will reduce bloating.

Although most dieters will find that the acai berry is a tasty, nutritious food additive that can serve as a great part of a healthy diet, few will find it helpful in weight loss. In fact, it’s safe to say that those who do lose weight by following a diet plan that includes acai berry do so for reasons other than its “super” powers as a “super” food. These dieters, no doubt, would have lost just as much weight if blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, blackberries or strawberries had been substituted for acai berries.

It’s a Berry, Not a Magic Pill

In other words, acai berries are packed with vitamins, minerals, amino acids and other properties that make them a good dietary choice, but they’re just berries, not miracle weight loss pills. In fact, there is no wonder powder, pill, gel, drink or poultice that will cause extra pounds effortlessly to melt away, although there are many Alices out there in Diet Wonderland (or perhaps Wilderness would be more apt) who would love to find such a magic potion—at any price—to make them small. But face it: no such concoction exists.

Sorry, Alice.

Berry Delicious—and Good for You, Too!

Even though acai berries aren’t wonder drugs or miracle weight loss tablets, they are good for you. For one thing, they are rich in anthocyanins and flavonoids, both types of antioxidants.

Acai berries, which are reddish purple and about an inch long, like all red, blue, dark purple and black berries, are full of anthocyanin, a term that comes from two Greek words meaning “plant” and “blue.” It’s this property of the berry that is responsible for its attractive color.

Like the anthocyanins in blueberries, red grapes and other comparably colored fruits, the anthocyanins in acai berries neutralize the harmful byproducts called free radicals that our bodies produce; thus, they help to defend us against illnesses such as cancer and heart disease, and they may even slow down the aging process as well.

According to some studies, acai fruit pulp contains more antioxidants than that of other fruits. However, regardless of whether it has more or less flavonoids and anthocyanins than a handful of cranberries, eating acai berries is good for you. Unfortunately, though, there’s no scientific evidence that doing so will contribute to your weight loss.

Beware of Hidden Calories and High Prices

In fact, if you chow down on lots of acai-rich foods, you could gain weight. Because of the fruit’s recent popularity, it can be found in cereals, protein bars, smoothies and other “healthy” foods that are often high in calories. So before you buy an energy bar with acai, check the label, and remember, there’s no magical property about the berry that will cause you to lose weight regardless of how much you eat.

Acai products are also often expensive. The berries, which are raised in Central and South America, are highly perishable, so they’re processed as soon as they’re harvested. If not used as additives in other foods, they are freeze-dried and made into powder, pulped and frozen, or put into “miracle diet” pill form.

The pills can be quite pricey, particularly when shipping and handling charges are added. You might be better advised to get your antioxidants by buying acai powder or frozen pulp from a nearby health food store. If you can’t find either for an affordable price, consider purchasing comparable fresh, antioxidant-rich fruits, such as in-season blueberries or blackberries, at your local market.

So you’re on a diet. The rewards are great, aren’t they? You’re feeling better, you’re looking better, and you have so much more energy, but … sometimes you get so hungry that you simply can’t help cheating.  Unfortunately, after you’ve scarfed up that last spoonful of fattening dessert, after you’ve downed the last morsel of greasy, salty snack food, you feel absolutely awful—guilty and depressed and bloated.

How can you beat the munchies, feel good about yourself and lose weight?

First, you must accept the fact that when you’re on a diet, you’re going to get hungry. That’s just the way it is. However, when you’re so hungry you fear temptation is about to get the best of you, try these low-cal (or no-cal) tricks.

Drink water.

Drinking an 8-oz. glass of water is one sure way to cure the munchies. In 10 minutes, you’ll feel full—without consuming any calories.

Chew gum.

If you’re super hungry for something sweet, don’t grab a candy bar or a Krispy Kreme cruller. Pop a stick of sugar-free gum into your mouth instead. It’ll curb your appetite for only about 5 calories.

Snack on almonds.

Eat a few natural almonds between meals when you’re hungry. They’re a filling snack packed with nutrients and healthy fat, and in small quantities, they won’t adversely impact your diet. Just make sure you eat them plain, not smoked, sugared or chocolate-covered!

Choose protein.

Fill your diet with more protein to combat hunger. When you eat protein, the hormone PPY, which sends the “I’m full!” signal to your brain, is released into your system. Try a low-fat high-protein snack, like a small stick of nonfat cheese, to feel full fast.

Have a big salad.

Salad greens are so low calorie that many dieters consider them “free” foods. Pair a big bowl of Romaine, endive, iceberg, spinach and other leafy greens with no more than 100 calories of low-fat salad dressing for a meal between meals.

Bite into an apple.

Super hungry? Have an apple. No, apples aren’t calorie-free, but they are filling—and they’re packed with bulky fiber that will fill you up. They’re full of vitamins and minerals, too. You could eat a 1,000 calorie bag of salty potato chips and feel less full than you would after consuming a 90-calorie apple, so … pick the apple.

Fill up on fiber.

Take a fiber tablet and follow it with plenty of water to cure the munchies for an hour or more.

Even by using the above “tricks,” sometimes as you diet, you’re going to get hungry. Think of it as a good sign. Not only does hunger indicate that you haven’t overeaten, but it’s also a signal that you’re losing weight.

For those times when your hunger seems overwhelming, however, drink a big glass of water, chew a stick of gum or try one of the other above methods to suppress your appetite and stay on course to a slimmer you.

“Wow!” my friend Stacey said.

We were standing in front of the mirrors in the bathroom of a seedy bar during college. Stacey, who’d always been at least 10 lbs. overweight, stared drunkenly—and enviously—at a thin stranger who was brushing her hair over the sink.

“I wish I could be as skinny as you are!” she said.

Without looking up, the stranger replied, “I have cancer.” Then, during the uncomfortable silence that followed, she popped her brush into her handbag and headed out the door.

“Oh, my God! Can you believe that?” Stacey wailed, thoroughly embarrassed.

Of course, she had meant her remark as a compliment. Instead, it had been … well, horrible. In the face of serious illness, how trivial a few pounds truly are! And how ridiculous it would be to envy someone who was skinny due to a life-threatening disease!

Yet, every day, weight loss advisors make a similarly ludicrous suggestion by advocating that people who are overweight smoke cigarettes in order to lose pounds.

Weight Loss through Smoking

Yes, smoking will cause you to drop weight. The tar and other chemicals in cigarettes damage your taste buds, so food won’t taste as good as did before you started smoking. And, according to some researchers, nicotine suppresses the appetite as well. It also makes your heart beat faster so that your body burns more calories. In fact, some heavy smokers burn as many as 200 calories per day just by smoking.

So, if you smoke, you’ll probably lose weight. Not only will your metabolic rate increase, but food won’t taste good to you, and you won’t have as much time to eat either. After all, you’ll be smoking–in the alley at lunch instead of having a sandwich with the gang, on the balcony at parties instead of inside by the buffet, and in your own backyard instead of in the house with the rest of the family watching TV.

Won’t it be great? Just you and your pack of smokes.

The Trade-Offs

Of course, you may also develop emphysema, heart disease, lung cancer and a host of other illnesses. And, after you smoke for a while, your teeth and nails will yellow, your skin will become dry and wrinkled and, girls, you could even develop unwanted facial hair. You’re most likely, however, to develop lung cancer, and we all know there’s nothing like a terminal illness to make those extra pounds melt away!

Seriously though, although smoking does contribute to weight loss, it’s an idiotic way to lose it. It’s like amputating your arm in order to cure a hangnail. The trade-offs—life-threatening conditions much worse for you than extra weight, social isolation and an unattractive appearance—just aren’t worth the few pounds you’d lose by smoking.