I have a lot of clients who come to me after several sprees and lighter pockets at various slimming centers. Their problem is that they have gained weight after all the money they have spent. Now they want solutions for permanent weight reduction.

Let me tell you how these places work.

First, when you go to the slimming center, you are made to opt for a package depending on the number of kilos you want to lose. It is just like booking a tour through a travel agency, but here you are traveling through a weight loss journey.

You are weighed and you get an analysis of your weight, body mass index and fat percentage. You wont understand any other parameter other than your weight on which they will put a lot of emphasis.

Next you are carted off to a “dietitian”. She will put you on a 500-800 calorie diet and also advise you not to eat bananas, mango, potato etc and rice which are all said to be “fattening”. Then you are advised not to take any oil at all(deep fried foods come in another category).

They also use heating pads which are said to burn off fat, advise too much exercise such as 2 hours walking and drinking only juices( orange juice diet for which our beautiful actress “Kareena Kapoor” is blamed for, give me a break she does not follow all this) or eat only Fruit diets.

These diets result in excessive losses of water leaving you dehydrated and also thinner. So the initial weight loss which occurs is nothing but water loss. Are you paying them to lose water? I thought they had a deal with you to make you lose fat.

Next lets have a look at vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Calcium is the most common deficiency seen. Many of these clients end up having thin bones and a small fall gives them major fractures such as hip fractures. Then there are zinc deficiencies which result in acne and iron deficiencies which can cause tiredness. Many have pale looking and haggard skin. Some of the diets are so poor in protein as they consider milk and milk products are fattening(all sidey words they use to describe food) so there are hair losses and brittle nails which keep chipping.

Ok,you are happy you have lost weight and you recommend this place to all your weight agonizing friends and you happily go back to your normal routine of eating and end up in an emotional turmoil ie, feeling guilty every time you pop anything into your mouth. I have seen many of such cases who come to me after all these slimming episodes all upset and agonized after weight gain. Most of them gain back double the weight they had struggled to lose. Their brains are filled up with so many misconceptions, that they are shell shocked when I allow them to eat rice and oil. It take a lot of convincing to make them understand that they have to eat healthy.

I have seen many parents who send their fat teens to slimming centers during their vacations. They make them go through all the pain and  are given gifts for their weight loss. But sadly all the weight comes back immediately once they start college.So once they join back school; they are back to their sedentary routines. This yo yo dieting episodes can slow down their metabolism and will result in poor weight loss and ultimately poor health.

So wake up. Do not fall for all the gimmicks. Consult someone more competent and knowledgeable. Focus on a good exercise routine. All will eventually fall into place.


BDST: 1639 HRS, Dec-31, 2013
Edited by: Sharmina islam, Lifestyle Editor