How To Evaluate Weight Loss Product Claims

 
Are you one of the millions of Americans who is tempted by ads for diet pills and other weight loss products that promise a fast and easy way to lose weight? Did you know that a simple half-hour infomercial can cost anywhere from $80,000 to $120,000 dollars to make. Yet you see countless weight loss infomercials selling product after product. 

Fad diets and numerous diet pills are hawked by persistent advertising and many people, maybe even you, will be taken in by the hype.

Yet 95% of these weight loss products will let you down once again,- leaving you with nothing but outrageous charges on your credit card bill to show for your efforts. So why do so many Americans willingly hand over their hard-earned cash for these weight loss products, over and over again? 

Stop pinning your hopes on every weight loss product you see!

We want you to stop being their guinea pigs and understand and realize just how many of these diet pills and other weight loss companies are cashing in at your expense. To help you avoid getting suckered into believing in a weight loss product that does nothing but add to the problem.

You can stop getting taken! Here are several of the factors that companies selling weight loss products and services use and exploit in order to get you to buy into their false claims:

1. Hope - Hope is a good thing, absolutely need it. The problem is that many times you have such high hopes that you put those hopes into anything, regardless if its legitimate or not.
   
   By putting your hopes of weight loss into products and services that are not providing the necessary means you need, you're ultimately setting yourself up for failure and your hopes will get crushed.
   
   Have hope, just make sure you put your hope into the right service and don't let your strong sense of hope blind you into not seeing the red-flags and other lies. Don't let your strong sense of hope make you believe things that are not true!
    
2. Emotion - Lets face it, a person's weight and personal appearance can be a touchy, emotional subject. And it should be, because it's your life!
   
   How many times have you seen a weight loss infomercial where someone breaks down into tears while talking about how miserable they were when overweight and how deeply happy and relieved they are now ... and how they owe it all to that particular weight loss product or "revolutionary system." The company hawking the product is doing this intentionally!
   
   These companies know you're emotional about how you look, and they also know that when you're emotional, you tend to act on impulse. They have a better chance to "hook you" when you're emotional and "touched."
   
   They try to stir up your emotions so that you will act impulsively and believe their claims. You should be emotional about your health and the way you look, but don't let your emotions cloud your judgment. Don't allow them to blind you to the red-flags and reason they're really there - to get the "3 easy payments of $29.95" out of you!
    
3. Marketing savvy & media - Just because you're constantly seeing infomercials for diet pills and the latest fad diets doesn't mean they work. And just because you see a well-paid celebrity hosting the weight loss infomercial or program doesn't mean the product is effective.
   
   What it does mean is these companies have millions of dollars to spend on advertising and marketing so they can get their product in front of you through radio, TV, The Internet, etc... they can constantly "pitch you"!
   
   Just how affective is marketing in today's world? Recently, a diet pill company was making the false claim "take our weight loss pill and you can eat what you want and burn fat as you sleep" and made $152 million in profit over three short years by doing radio commercials at over 600 stations across the country! That is until the Government stepped in and put a stop to it!
   
   And all the restaurants that are adding the "new xxx diet approved" menus, all they're doing is trying to make money by jumping on the latest fad's bandwagon!
   
   Restaurants realize that people are willingly paying, so why wouldn't they add low carb diet dishes (even though the number of calories in these dishes are alarmingly high and will cause you to pack on pounds!) 
   
   You need to understand that just because you see a weight loss product over and over again on the TV or radio doesn't mean it will be effective in helping you lose weight permanently.
   
   All these weight loss companies are trying to do is get their product in front of you over and over so it will be there when you're ready to buy. Many people make the mistake of assuming a product is credible simply because it's constantly on television.
    
4. Repetition - Many companies selling diet pills and other weight loss products understand that the more they can get their products in front of you, the more likely it is that you'll buy it when that time comes.
   
   Lets face it, if you were interested in building a deck, when that time comes don't you think your going to choose the "Smith Deck Company" that you saw time and time again on TV.
   
   Most people will simply use the one that's most convenient and right there. Many times people just pick the first product or service that comes to their head and have high hopes that everything will just work out. Unfortunately, many times it's no different with weight loss products. 
   
   This is exactly why you see the same infomercial every day, every hour of the day for like 1 month straight ... and then all of a sudden it's gone. They get in, make their money on desperate people looking to lose weight, and then they get out!
   
   And if you see it again in like 3-4 months down the road, this means they made a lot of money on it previously and are back to make more. They wouldn't be there if they weren't making money - period!
   
   The product is trying to pound it into you head and keep coming at you because they know, the more you see it, the more likely you will be to buy it. Don't get suckered! Just because they are always there, does not mean it will help you.
    
5. Sales pressure - This is a big one. The bottom line is that when people are pressured they tend to act impulsively. Many times you put way to much pressure on yourself.
   
   In today's society too much emphasis is placed on a person's appearance. People feel pressured to look a certain way and this is certainly the case with being overweight as people will do anything to lose weight.
   
   Weight loss products go out of their way to put additional pressure on you, knowing that it will cause you to act and buy. Many of the weight loss infomercials are very good at the art of getting you to believe that ... "finally this is it, the only product that's going to change your life!" The truth is that all they're doing is adding additional pressure.
   
   Don't let the pressure you feel to lose weight cause you to buy into false claims. A sense of urgency to lose weight is good, but don't feel so pressured that it causes you to act impulsively and spend your hard - earned money on the first thing you come across that sounds good.
   
   When you feel pressured, it will allow you to start believing and putting your hopes into things that are not true because you feel like "I need to do something about my weight and I need to do it now!" Weight loss products know this and that is what they are wanting you to do. Don't allow it and don't allow yourself to be one of their guinea pigs! It will just cost you in the end!

• Be realistic - If there was a way to "lose 30 pounds in 30 days and keep it off" or "eat what you want and still lose weight" don't you think that we would all look like supermodels?
   
• Use common sense - If there were magic diet pills or easy way to lose weight and keep it off, don't you think the top movie stars and celebrities who make millions and millions of dollars would have it. 
   
• Allow yourself to believe both sides - If you're going to make the mistake of believing the lies and fabrications many weight loss products are telling you, at least allow yourself to believe that they may indeed be "lying and deceiving you" as well. It's only fair that you allow yourself to look at both sides as this will help you to form a better judgment.

About the Author:

Mari Kudla is the 4th ranked IFBB Fitness Professional And Figure Model in the world. She has been featured in and contributed to numerous world wide media weight loss giants such as Muscle & Fitness Hers, Oxygen, and Flex magazines, just to name a few.

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