Modern weight loss pills shown to encourage people to eat more junk

In modern culture, we want a quick fix for everything, especially those things that do not lend themselves to being fixed quickly.

Like weight loss.

We don’t want to exercise patience and persistence, do we? There has to be a pill, powder, potion or at least an app that will speed things along, doesn’t there?

No, there doesn’t.

Weight loss is difficult, not because losing weight is impossible, but because it takes time, patience and consistency in doing all the right things. So unappealing, right?

So, millions of people have turned to modern medical fixes that are supposed to make it easy — and it appears to be backfiring, according to a recent study.

A study, “The Perils of Marketing Weight Management Remedies and the Role of Health Literacy” has discovered that false beliefs about weight loss drugs are causing Americans to gain more weight.

The study is to be published in the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing.

“Weight management remedies that promise to reduce the risks of being overweight may undermine consumer motivation to engage in health-supportive behaviors,” wrote authors Lisa E. Bolton (Pennsylvania State University), Amit Bhattacharjee (Dartmouth College) and Americus Reed, II (University of Pennsylvania), according to the researchers’ press release.^[PDF]

“Put simply, why put effort into living a healthy lifestyle when a weight management remedy can take care of the problem?”

In the study, participants were allowed to eat (if they so desired) chocolate chip cookies. One group, however, was advised ahead of time about a new, powerful, fat-fighting pill.

The group that was told about the new fat-fighting pill ate significantly more cookies per person, with some participants consuming as many as 30 in a sitting. An additional test showed that the more fattening the cookie, the more the participants would overeat, as long as they expected to be able to take the weight loss pill.

Thus the conclusion: Weight loss pills can cause people to dangerously increase their consumption of unhealthy foods.

The authors commented, “There is ample room for policy makers and responsible marketers to improve remedy marketing practices to minimize potentially harmful consequences for consumers.”

Yes, pill marketers seem to want you to believe that their product takes the work out of it. And for people who aren’t really ready to make sacrifices, it’s a perfect set up for failure to achieve health.

The truth about what it takes to lose weight and keep it off

If you’re significantly overweight, then the following is almost certainly true:

• To lose weight and keep it off, you will most likely need to change your entire lifestyle.
• To lose weight and keep it off, you’re going to need to deal effectively with your pervasive tendency toward self-sabotage.
• Losing weight and keeping it off will require sacrificing your tendency to self-indulge.
• To solve the weight loss issue permanently, you’ll need to deal with your underlying motivation toward remaining heavy. (Yes, when you’re overweight, part of you wants to be overweight or feels safer being heavy.)
• Losing weight will bring about emotional changes — fear, anxiety, anger and even depression may show up as the weight comes off. Losing weight successfully requires learning to manage these emotions and heal yourself psychologically.
• Losing weight requires dealing with all the negativity in your mind that says you can’t do it, that it’s not worth it, that you’re not good enough or that people will never accept you anyway.
• Losing weight requires feeling good about your body NOW. This is scientifically validated.

The good news….

You can do it, absolutely. Lots of people have done it. You can, too.

If you take your weight loss effort seriously, you will also grow as a person. This will enhance every area of your life. True weight loss is a personal development transformation!

When you are mentally and emotionally 100% ready to lose weight, you ABSOLUTELY will.

I can say all of this because it has been true for me — every ounce of it.

And there’s one more emotional monstrosity that all of us must deal with if getting thinner and healthier is a priority. I wrote about it right here.

Do you want to lose weight? Then let’s get real and confront the issues, without believing in the false claims of weight loss drug pushers. Let’s deal with the underlying reasons why we want or need to hang on to the weight. Herein lies the only genuine and lasting solution.

Mike Bundrant is founder of the Stop Feeding Humiliation online weight loss support group.