The rising obesity problem has been blamed on the mass media’s coverage of processed foods targeted at children and thereby undermining the efforts for healthy eating. No thanks to high-budgeted advertisements people now consider fast food, processed food and alcohol an exciting and sophisticated way of life.

People are willing to go the extra mile just to find an effective way to lose weight including experimenting with diet gadgets like eyeglasses that suppress the appetite and magic weight-loss earrings. However, nothing has proven as effective as a healthy diet that takes note of the food you eat coupled with an active lifestyle.

In your search for an effective way to lose weight there is always a chance to get lured to diet strategies that can hurt not only your self esteem but your health as well. Make sure you steer away from the following diet strategies that can hurt you.

Those who are desperate enough to lose weight resort to fasting especially for drastic weight loss. This is dangerous because fasting makes you lose muscle first before you lose fat. And after fasting, your urge for high-calorie food will be high which can lead to yo-yo dieting.

Some people resort to fad diets which are generally harmful to the body’s immune system. People who totally get rid of meat from their diet are in danger of losing nutrients that provide energy needed for their daily activities. The same way is true for those who go for a strict no carbohydrate diet.

A lot of diet strategies have surfaced in the quest for a leaner body. While losing weight can do much for your health, you should also be wary about the diet strategies you will be using to achieve that purpose.

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You may have decided that using a diet meal replacement plan or diet food plan would be the easiest way for you to lose weight. However, there are so many plans available; you may not know which program would work the best for you. Diet food, meal replacement plans Nutrisystem and MediFast. These diet plans may seem similar, although once you read about each plan, you will find they are very different.

Nutrisystem Overview:

Nutrisystem offers prepackaged, pre-portioned diet meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner and two snacks. You are advised to add fresh vegetables, fruits, salads to lunch, and dinner meals. The meals are low calorie, yet nutritionally sound with the added fresh fruit and vegetables. The diet meals are based on low glycemic, good carbs, with the right amount of protein and fiber that your body needs for increased fat and calorie burning.

The Nutrisystem program also offers a free weight loss community website where you can get free diet counseling, weight loss tips and community support in your weight loss endeavors.

Nutrisystem advises if you eat their prepackaged diet meals and follow their plan, you can potentially lose 1 to 3 pounds a week.

MediFast Overview:

MediFast offers prepackaged diet meal replacement foods including shakes, soups, bars, pudding, drinks and cereals. Their name basically sums up how their plan works; you are “fasting” most of the day. Their most popular program is the 5 and 1 diet program where you eat 5 MediFast meals a day and 1 low calorie, low fat meal you cook and prepare yourself. Their plan is designed to be calorie deficient (between 800 – 1000 calories a day), thereby allowing your body to use fat for energy.

MediFast also offers a free weight loss community website where you can get diet support, weight loss tips, diet recipes and more.

MediFast advises if you follow their 5 in 1 diet program and use their diet meal replacements you can potentially lose up to 20 pounds in a month.

The Cost:
Nutrisystem costs about $11 a day, $77 a week and $308 a month plus shipping, although if you choose their auto-ship program, you will get a discount and a free week of diet meals and free shipping.

MediFast costs about $10 a day, $70 a week or $275 a month if you order one of their 4-week variety packages.

Both Nutrisystem and MediFast offer a money back guarantee minus shipping if you choose to return unopened packages of the diet meals within 30 days.

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Can you lose weight with Yoga? Maybe the best way to answer that question is by another question. Have you ever seen a fat Yoga practioner? Although exercises burn fewer calories than say jogging this is only part of the story. Yoga is really about a life style change. No I don’t mean you have to move to India and spend all day comtemplating you naval.

Let’s look at some facts:

* Most weight loss diets only bring temporary results.

* If you take some diet pills, you may lose weight because your appetite is temporarily suppressed.

* When you stop taking the pills your appetite will return and you will be faced with the same problem.

* Diet pills are a short term solution, and in some cases may even be harmful to you.

* If you adopt an extreme weight loss diet you may get dramatic results while you stay on the diet, but if you live a normal life, surrounded by your family and friends, you probably will not be able to stay on that diet for a long time.

* As soon as you quit the diet and return to your old ways, you will gain weight again.

* Many weight loss diets, are not healthy and can even be harmful.

For long term weight loss you need to go to the root of the problem and make changes in your life and lifestyle. Excess weight in our society is mostly due to a sedentary lifestyle and poor selection of food.

Why? Because yoga is not a conventional sport or exercise. Yoga is a system of personal transformation on all levels, physical, mental and spiritual.The effects of yoga is to make deep rooted changes in your inner being.

If you learn how to apply yoga to your life you will get a long term solution to the problem of achieving self control and self fulfillment. Without any special equipment you will be able to do exercises that keep you in shape, you will learn how to do meditation that will put your mind at peace, you will become internally balanced, and you will make the choices that are right for you.