Slimming is the buzz word nowadays. There are many advertisements on TV, the internet and in the newspaper. Most of them are not perfect for everyone. But the natural thing is suitable for everyone. Here you find some slimming aids that work like diet, drugs, and exercise.
Judging by the vast amounts of money spent every year on slimming aids; it would appear that slimming is very big business indeed. And given that some of that money may be coming from your hard-earned wages, it is only natural that you should want to know if the product you buy is going to help you lose those extra pounds.
There are many different slimming aids that work. If used incorrectly, can be harmful, but are any of them real substitutes for being harmful, but are any of them real substitutes for will-power and better eating habits?
Table of Contents
Tips for successful slimming aids that work
- Consult your doctor before starting a diet, particularly if you are very overweight, or suffer from heart disease or high blood pressure.
- Remember that the more gradual your weight loss, the more likely you are to stay slim. A crash diet may make you lose weight quickly, but the pounds will pile on again when you start eating normally.
- Weigh yourself once a week, using the same scales and wearing the same clothes or, better still, naked. Do not be tempted to weigh yourself every day as body fluid can make a difference to the total weight.
- Diet with your partner or a friend. Knowing that he or she will know what the scales say will help you stick to your diet.
Slimming aids that work: Diet foods
There are many meal replacement foods on the market, usually in the form of sweet or savory biscuits and drinks. Both drinks and food are intended to be taken as part of a calorie-controlled diet. In place of a meal, you take a drink or maybe three to four biscuits, depending on the brand.
Meal replacement foods are often quite expensive and you may have to think twice before making them a regular part of your diet. One advantage is that they require hardly any preparation, but they do tend to be extremely bland tasting, and when a diet becomes boring and monotonous, it may be very hard to keep going on the same thing day in, day out.
Another corner of the slimming food market is covered by low-calorie foods such as soups, bread, crispbreads, artificial sweeteners, spreads, and drinks. These products are not to be used as meal replacements but as substitutes for their ordinary counterparts.
They can make your diet more interesting, but, if you do eat a lot of low-calorie foods, do make sure that you are getting all the right nutrients. And do not make the mistake of thinking that just because you are dieting you must give up bread. Eaten as part of a calorie-controlled diet, bread is not fattening.
A couple of slices of wholemeal bread a day will ensure that you are getting enough fiber in your diet, and will make you diet far more palatable low-calorie bread does have a tendency to resemble cotton wool, which is hardly appetizing!
Of all the slimming aids available, dietary plans seem to be the least popular. These plans usually take the form of a two three week strict diet in conjunction with a course of vitamin or bran tablets which supplement the diet.
The bran tablets work by giving you a full feeling so it is easier for you to stick to the diet. The drawback, however, is that as the diets are usually fairly strict, they may also lack essential nutrients, so be sure to get your doctor’s advice before following a dietary plan or any other diet.
Slimming aids that work: Slimming drugs
Appetite-suppressant pills are most definitely an aid that requires your doctor’s supervision. In fact, many doctors will only prescribe ‘slimming pills’ to patients who are extremely obese and need to lose a large amount of weight. These appetite suppressants should not be used on a long-term basis, so when a patient has settled into a diet and is starting to lose weight, the pills will no longer be prescribed.
Some disabled people are prescribed appetite suppressants to help them lose excess weight caused by inactivity. But it is very unlikely that your doctor will prescribe these pills to you if you are in good health and only need to lose a few pounds. Opinions do differ, however, so if you really feel that you cannot possibly lose any weight without taken pills, you must visit your doctor, who will decide if they are necessary.
Models who want to stay slim have been known to take diuretics to keep their weight down, but this can be very dangerous as diuretics cause water to pass more frequently, and, after a time, the kidneys may become damaged through overwork.
Diuretics should never be taken unless they are prescribed by a doctor, and, anyway, are quite unnecessary if you are in good health and dieting sensibly. However, used correctly and under medical supervision, diuretics can be a great help to those people who suffer from fluid retention for women, this may be particularly noticeable around the time of menstruation. If you think you are retaining fluid, see your doctor, and never try to remedy the condition yourself.
Laxatives should never be used as slimming aid; they will not help you to lose weight and may even damage your health. The unnecessary use of laxatives will simply drain our body of minerals and vitamins and may leave your body unable to absorb any nutrition. This constant washing can also irritate the inside of the colon and intestines and cause them to become inflamed.
To regulate bowels and avoid constipation and indigestion, make sure you are taking plenty of fiber in your diet in the form of cereals, bran, wholemeal bread, fruit, and vegetables. The skin of the fruit, such as apples and pears, is high in fibred, so unless they are much bruised do not peel them. The skin of potatoes is also high in fiber, so eat them baked or boiled in their jackets.
Slimming aids that work: Exercise aids
Exercise alone will not make you lose weight but coupled with a calorie-controlled diet it will help you to keep fit and tone any sagging flabby muscles you may have.
Any exercise is better than none, whether taken in the form of walking, jogging, digging in the garden, playing a sport, dancing, keep fit, or swimming. But if you are the lazy type, you may have been tempted to try a passive exerciser, such as an electric muscle toner.
Exercising with an electric muscle toner involves placing pads, wired up to a base, on areas of the body which need to be slimmed. An electric impulse is passed through the pads to the muscles, stimulating them and causing them to contract.
This treatment strengthens and tones the muscles, but sessions are expensive and you could get exactly the same effect simply by exercising and using up energy for nothing. On the other hand, these machines can be used at home and are quite beneficial to those people who are not fit enough to take regular exercise.
Other machines, such as massagers and vibrators, claim to break down fatty tissue and cells, but the simple fact is that if you do not eat less you will not lose weight, machine, or no machine. If you have enough money to space, jogging and rowing machines and exercise bicycles are certainly good for improving your shape, if used regularly.
Self help the best aid
Do slimmer’s really need aids to help them lose weight? There is no doubt that a little help can go a long way, but if you are basically healthy and you are overweight because you have simply eaten too much, then the very best aid is a large dose of will-power and some self-restraint.
So, before spending money on slimming aids, always bear in mind that nothing is going to work miracles. To lose weight you must retrain your eating habits and get yourself a realistic target to aim for.
Avoid all the obviously fattening foods, eat smaller portions on a smaller plate take plenty of exercises and set up an incentive award for yourself, like a new outfit, or a prize if you are slimming with friends. The only way you will ever lose weight is if you really want to. It’s all up to you.
Slimming aids that work: Exercises
Pelvic exercises
When it comes to exercising, most of us think about trimming down waistlines, strengthening arms and legs, or whittling away surplus weight, but rarely spare a thought for the part we cannot see. One of the most important of these, the pelvis, is a major anchorage pint for many muscles and their strength and flexibility can improve posture and guard against backache.
Kneeling on all fours, raise you back into an upward arch, tightening the muscles of your buttocks and abdomen. Hold the position for a count of four, then relax muscles and allow your back to drop into a downward arch, keeping arms straight. Repeat eight times.
Start by kneeling back on your heels, with your hands placed on your knees. Push your bottom back as far as possible and hold your head up straight so that your back arches inwards. Then, keeping your hands on your bottom in and tilt your pelvis so that your body arches forwards. Relax and return to the original position. Do this exercise four times, and gradually work up until you can manage eight.
Stand with feet apart and knees slightly bent. Place your hands just above your knees and push your bottom out as far as possible. Then, in one short, hard jerk, tighten your buttock muscles, and pull in your bottom and tip your pelvis under. Hold this position and then repeat the exercise. Do this four times.
Chest exercises
There is really no need for a man’s chest to become soft and flabby or a woman’s breasts to sag, but if it does happen it is probably due to slack chest (pectoral) muscles.
Whether you build is large or small, your aim should be towards firming up: so spend less time thinking about your size and concentrate more on shaping up. The result is sure to please, and not only will you look better, but you will also feel better too.
You will be able to breathe more freely and will be less likely to suffer from tightness across the chest. But remember, exercises only work if done regularly.
Lie face downwards on the floor with palms turned inwards under the shoulders. For him: push against your hands to lift your body up keeping it perfectly straight until only your hands and toes touch the floor. For her: raise the top half of your body, bending your head back and using your arms to lift your stomach slowly off the floor. Return to the original position and repeat five times or more if possible.
Bring your arms up in front of you, with elbows bent and either fists or palms together. Press the hands together as hard as you can and hold for a count of five. Repeat the exercise five times.
Arms and shoulders
When you think of how much you depend on your arms and shoulders, doesn’t it make sense to keep them in good working order? If done regularly, these simple exercises shown here will help to make you arms and shoulders supple, and increase their strength.
Kneel on hands and knees, with arms and things straight. Breathe in and bend our arms until your chin touches the floor. Breathe out and press up again until you are in the starting position. Repeat exercise twice building up the number gradually.
Stand with hands joined, and the toes of the light partner on top of the other partner’s feet. The, with the feet slightly apart, lean back and lower yourselves into a deep knee bend. Rise and repeat the exercise in a continuous movement starting with four.
You may like also
