EXTREME APPROACHES TO WEIGHT LOSS

A desperate desire to lose weight may cause some obese people to resort to extreme approaches of weight loss, which may be undesirable. Some of these extreme approaches include:
• Fasting: Fasting is a drastic measure and is seldom prescribed as a treatment for obesity. However, individuals often invoke fasting for religious reasons or in a personal effort to lose weight. Prolonged fasting can lead to acidosis, hypertension, lowered BMR, neurological and hormonal side-effects.
• Fad diets: Weight loss foods available in the market are often based on scientific inaccuracies and may be nutritionally inadequate too. They may in fact, make weight loss more difficult each time as they may not be practical and may not bring about behavioral changes.
• Drugs: Drugs such as amphetamines are commonly used to suppress appetite and may cause many side effects such as confusion, stroke, hallucinations and psychotic behavior.
• Special clothing and body wraps: These help weight loss in specific spots of the body so as to reduce body size. The small weight loss that occurs is the result of temporary water loss due to application of heat and vibrations.
• Surgery: Surgical techniques such as jaw wiring, liposuction and intestinal bypass are used for severely obese persons and may result in some side effects.
These should only be resorted to if all else fails and your obesity severely limits your good health.