Beware Of 'New' Weight Loss Plans Hyped For New Year's Resolutions

Although the Christmas holiday season is upon us and people aren't thinking about New Year's resolutions just yet, that hasn't stopped articles like this one from being printed.

The story highlights a "new weight loss, exercise program" that is sure to help people lose weight come this January.

Check out how it's being hyped:

"Tired of losing and re-gaining the same excess pounds? Keep your New Year's resolution and stop yo-yoing up and down with a new weight loss program."

Okay, that's a good hook to get people to check out your weight loss plan. Get ready to see a whole bunch of these kind of advertisements and columns in the next few weeks as people gear up to resolve (yet again!) to lose weight in 2006.

When I made it my New Year's resolution to lose weight beginning on January 1, 2004, I wanted my "new" way of eating to work for me so badly I couldn't wait to try it. Of course, after years of failed low-fat/low-calorie/portion-controlled diets, I expected a lot from the low-carb lifestyle. And the rest they say is history.

ONE-HUNDRED EIGHTY POUNDS LOST IN ONE YEAR!!! Yipppeeeeeee!

But the best part of livin' la vida low-carb isn't the weight loss as hard as that may be to believe. For me, maintaining that weight loss and even losing a little more in 2005 has been more gratifying because it shows me this way of eating is sustainable over the long-term and can help people get thin and stay thin.

Anytime I hear of a "new" diet to help people lose weight, I always try to get to the heart of the matter to see if there is anything "new" about it. I've always lived by the credo, "there's nothing new under the sun" and I'm usually right about that. This "new" diet is no exception.

It's called "Shape Up & Lose" and promises to "help you lose weight, get in shape and establish a healthy lifestyle for life."

Sounds laudable, doesn't it? But keep reading how you get there...

"Combining nutrition education with professionally led exercise classes and practical advice on reaching and maintaining weight loss goals, the program promotes a sensible approach to eating and physical activity."

Red flags always go up when I read the words "sensible approach" because that's usually code words for something I don't even want to think about now that I'm a low-carber. And they claim doing this program will provide permanent weight loss success.

Rejecting Weight Watchers and other "special diets," the Shape Up & Lose program entails "nutrition education about healthful eating, reduction in calories, lowered fat consumption and more."

If there's MORE, then I don't want to know about it because cutting my fat and calories is not gonna happen as long as low-carb is working! While this plan pretends to be new, it's anything but! Cutting your fat and calories along with regular exercise is what we've been told by health experts and the government for the past three decades. That's not new!

Isn't it funny how people think calling something "new" suddenly makes it more marketable to consumers?! If it failed 20 years ago, 10 years ago and 5 years ago, then what makes them think it's gonna work NOW?! Yikes, people! Why don't we call the wheel "new" although it was invented thousands of years ago? Same logic, right?

Proponents of the Shape Up & Lose plan believe they have found the answer to the weight problems people need to deal with.

"We motivate people in a positive way by helping them change their lifestyles so they're stopping bad habits and developing healthy ones."

While I have no doubt in my mind that they earnestly believe their program is helping people (and it very well may be effective for some people), I cannot help but shake my head at yet another "diet" program that is centered on the low-fat/low-calorie/portion-controlled LIE that we have been forced to listen to for most of our lives.

LISTEN TO ME: You DON'T have to eat this way to lose weight and get healthy! While you CAN lose weight eating that way, there's a much more delicious and satisfying way to eat that will also help you shed the pounds and improve your overall health.

It's called livin' la vida low-carb and it completely changed my life in 2004. I cannot stop talking about it because I will never be the same again.

Call me an activist, evangelist, or crusader for low-carb, but personally I don't care because I am a changed man and indebted to the low-carb lifstyle for helping me overcome a lifetime of weight problems.

No offense to the Shape Up & Lose supporters, but that's not gonna help most people attain lasting weight loss. But livin' la vida low-carb can and will.