What to Expect:
Do not expect to lose weight overnight. Weight loss is necessarily a lifestyle choice and is often a difficult process. Life-long, bad, habits are not easy to break and new, healthier, lifestyle choices are not easily adapted. It should take months, if not years, to attain your weight loss goals in a healthy manner. However, once your weight loss goal has been achieved -- through making life choices rather than drinking the newest diet milkshake -- your weight loss can be properly, if not easily, maintained.
Crash diets and "miracle" cures do not work and often cause additional damage to your body. 95% of people on such diets quickly regain the weight and "yo-yoing" can cause additional health problems due to the physical and emotional stresses of severe weight fluctuation. Remember that miracle cures exist to sell products, not to make people lose weight and be healthy.
Being obese increases your chances of becoming seriously ill. High blood pressure and stroke are twice as likely to occur in obese people than in lean people. Heart disease and heart attacks are much more prevalent among obese people. The adult-onset of diabetes mellitus is five times more common among obese people. Obese men are at a greater risk of colon, rectal, and prostate cancer. Obese women are at a greater risk of cancers of the breast, uterus and cervix. Being overweight also puts undue strain on your back, legs and joints, which can lead to further health complications, including knee and lower back problems.
