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French dip sandwich recipes are very well-liked. The French dip sandwich was invented by accident by a Frenchman, but he was not living in France. He had emigrated to the United States and was living in Los Angeles. Philippe Mathieu had opened his sandwich bar and delicatessen known as 'Philippe The Original' on North Alameda Street in 1908, but the Eureka moment came ten years later when a policeman came in to buy a beef sandwich.

Philippe unintentionally dropped it in the tray in which the beef had been cooked, but served it up anyway. The policeman came back with a few friends the next day to try the 'dipped' sandwich and the French dip sandwich was born. The sandwich bar is still there and still making French dip sandwich recipes nearly 90 years later.

Being French, Philippe would have described his sandwiches 'au jus', which means 'with juice', but lots of Americans do not realize this so ask for their French dip sandwiches 'with au jus'. Nowadays, the sauce is frequently specially made or concocted separately so that it is far more elaborate than just the meat juices from the pan, but you can make it as complex or as simple as you wish. There is also no reason why you can not make up vegetarian or fish French dip sandwich recipes

Recipe 1

French Dip Sandwich Serves 4

1 can Franco-American Au Jus Gravy 4 servings thinly sliced cooked beef 4 servings French bread or long hard rolls, cut in half along the length

In a 10 inch skillet, combine gravy with beef. Over a gentle heat, warm through, stirring occasionally.

To prepare the sandwiches, place the beef on the bread. Serve each sandwich with small bowl of gravy for dipping.

Recipe 2

French Dip Sandwich Au Jus Serves 8

3 pounds beef, chuck, trimmed 2 cups water 1/2 cup soy sauce 1 teaspoon dried rosemary 1 teaspoon dried thyme 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 bay leaf 3 peppercorns (3 to 4) 8 French rolls, cut lengthways

Place beef in a slow cooker. Add water, soy sauce, and seasonings. Cover then cook on HIGH for 5-6 hours or until beef is tender.

Remove meat from juices; pull apart with forks and keep warm. Strain juices; skim off fat. Pour broth into small cups for dipping. Serve beef on toasted rolls.

Recipe 3

French Dip Sandwiches Serves 4

1 long loaf French bread 1/2 pound cooked roast beef (from deli or leftovers) 1 package roast beef au jus gravy 4 tablespoons butter 1 teaspoon garlic powder

Cut French bread in half lengthwise. Spread with butter and sprinkle with garlic. Wrap in foil and heat in oven until warm. Mix gravy as directed on package and warm beef in juice. Drain beef from gravy and put on bottom half of warm bread. Put top on sandwich and slice. Put gravy into small bowls (one for every person). Dip sandwich in gravy to eat.

Serve with French fries and a salad.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on several subjects, but is at present concerned with French dip sandwich recipes. If you want to know more or check out some great offers, please go to our website at Vegetarian Sandwich Recipes.

A surfeit of stress can result in all types of problems both mental and physical. The mental issues that can arise from stress include anxiety attacks, although there can be other reasons for anxiety attacks as well. Furthermore, it appears that the trend of anxiety attacks is on the up. This is possibly because of the increased levels of stress that everyone feels.

You just cannot escape tales of misery and conflict in the newspapers and on the TV. It seems that news casters take pleasure in in telling us how much trouble we are in from all sorts of things from terrorists to diabetes.

They also never tire of warning us of the risks from paedophiles, rapists and murderers. It is no surprise that everybody is stressed or that some people have converted this stress into anxiety and anxiety attacks or panic attacks.

These attacks are characterized by a sudden sensation of panic for no reason at all or unwarranted anxiety. These anxiety attacks are very upsetting for those who suffer from them regularly.

There are many prescription drugs available, but these days many people try to do without drugs, preferring more natural cures. One detail that many sufferers remark on, is that they feel much worse if they have a hangover.

Not that they have anxiety attacks while they are drinking, but that they get an increased number the following day, if they have a hangover. It follows then, that you may be able to reduce the frequency and the severity of your panic attacks, if you do not drink too much.

In this vein, sufferers have also noticed that they get more frequent and more severe attacks of anxiety if they are exhausted or worn out. Getting a good night's rest will undoubtedly help, if this is one of the causes of your panic or anxiety attacks.

On the dietary front, vitamin B12 has been pointed to as having a beneficial effect on sufferers. The vitamin B group help the brain to create serotonin, which is the body's happy drug. A lack of serotonin can create depression. Therefore, ensure that you get your daily recommended amount (RDA) of vitamins in the B group, especially vitamin B12. B12 is readily available in natural foods, it is even in cornflakes, just make sure that you are in receipt of sufficient.

Many people have had large amounts of success by limiting their intake of sweeteners too. This includes natural sugar, as well as artificial sweeteners like saccharin. In order to achieve the biggest benefit you should try to monitor your mental reaction to sweeteners. Some may be perfectly OK for you while others may not.

Caffeine has also been linked with anxiety, so it might be worth attempting to do without ordinary tea, coffee and coke, to see if that makes a difference. You could try decaf, if you miss the taste of coffee or herbal teas.

Another suggested home remedy that has provided great benefits is physical activity. If you feel an attack coming on, try to 'take your mind off it' by distracting yourself. A simple walk might be enough or a chat with someone.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece writes on several of topics, but is currently involved with work on high blood pressure charts. If you want to know more or check out some great offers, please go to our website at High Blood Pressure Recipes.

Bowling is a sport that can become quite emotional and because of that, it can also be used to relieve stress and tension. It is a good way to let off steam for people who lead a stressful life and have a high pressured job. Aside from these benefits, bowling can be a useful element in your weight loss program.

After all, you get to move a lot of your body muscles in bowling. It keeps you physically active, so you burn calories as well. Therefore, not only are you getting some physical activity, but you will be getting rid of some excess fat too. It will help keep your back, leg and arm joints supple, particularly if you are over 50.

If you take part in this sport, you will be almost assured to keep your physique in top condition. Depending on how much weight you need to lose and how frequently you play bowls, you may be able to give up your other weight control exercises.

That would suit most dieters as it is the exercising that bothers most people. It would also save you money as you will not have to pay to use a fitness center and buy work out clothes and track suits. The best thing to do would probably be to join a neighborhood team. These teams usually have local competitions, so you might be required to play twice a week.

The weight control advantages of bowling fall into the following categories.

Light muscle toning is achieved by normal bowling actions like walking, bending and swinging your arm in order to roll the ball. This is just like when you exercise by walking, which is one of the best physical exercises. Bending and swinging your arm to bowl is also good for your joints, ligaments, tendons, and muscles. Moreover, it also promotes good blood circulation. So, overall, bowling is a fun way of exercising and losing weight in the process.

Mild fat burning will be achieved by the actions of walking, flexing, stretching, and swinging. If you play often you will be losing weight on a regular basis too. It can be extended by walking to and from the venue of parking your car half a mile away from the club. Walk up and down any stairs involved, do not take the lift

Depression can be avoided by mixing with your friends and fellow team members. Many dieters do become depressed when dieting. This can be for numerous reasons. Your weight loss might be slower than you hoped for or it could be chemical. A sudden drop in calories could leave you feeling down.

Bowling can assist here by helping you build friendships. You get to create good social relationships, which are known to promote better heart performance and good heart performance is a good match with weight loss or control.

So, you see, bowling is not just a great, fun game, it also helps build strength and helps you expend energy, which means calories, and gives you some exercise that you would not otherwise have had.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with how to lose weight online. If you have an interest in losing weight too, please go over to our website now at Why Can't I Lose Weight?

We all know that stress is at a very high level for the vast majority of people and most of us have our own ways of coping with this stress. However, for those who do not know how to cope with stress, it is doubtless first useful to appreciate what stress is and how it can manifest itself.

Stress is most simply defined as: "A mentally or emotionally disruptive or upsetting condition occurring in response to adverse external influences and capable of affecting physical health, usually characterized by increased heart rate, a rise in blood pressure, muscular tension, irritability, and depression" (TheFreeDictionary.com).

There are many reasons why stress can come about, but the most common forms of stress come from finances, family, work, school, quarrels with friends and driving. The most stressful situations, however, are divorce, the death of a parent or spouse, moving house and changing job or school.

Since the causes of stress are so diverse, it is helpful to be able to ascertain where your stress is coming from, so that you know how to treat or prevent it. You have to get to know yourself to cope with your stress, because not all people respond in the same way to stress.

For instance, actors and top-flight business people often say that they need the buzz of stress to give their best performances. They have obviously learned how to exploit stress to their own advantage whether intuitively or by other ways. People who suffer from stress need to get to that phase.

When you have worked out what is causing your stress, you have a prospect of dealing with it. In fact, you have many chances of dealing with it. If the source of the stress is your employment, you may like to go for a drink with colleagues after work to talk things through once or twice a week, so long as you do not let it get out of hand and impinge on your family and your work.

Otherwise, you may go for a massage or a sauna or take regular weekend getaways either for pure relaxation or to follow a specific hobby such as hiking. In fact, a leisure pursuit of some kind is generally a good stress-reliever, even if the pastime itself is stressful. Just altering the routine seems to assist a lot of people. Some people turn to shopping and beauty salons.

A weekend picnic, communing with nature, or rambling are other major de-stressers. The point is that you have to find something that suits you. For example, I work alone all day and detest shopping, so when I have done my bit, I seek out people to have a conversation. My wife on the other hand spends all day with people, and likes to hose the garden alone at the end of her working day.

Other major stress dispersers are sports - either watching them or playing them. Playing is clearly healthier than watching, but given that stress is a major killer in the West, the reduction of stress is the central worry. Yoga and meditation are a good compromise between being active and passive in your dealing with stress.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many topics , but is currently involved with the stress headache. If you are suffering from any kind of stress, please go over to our website now at Stress and Heart Disease

The race to health and fitness is raging and a lot of people are getting in on it. Some people do it in order to achieve a sexy body, some people do it because they are embarrassed about their body, while others do it just to remain fit and healthy. Because of this, there are hundreds of fitness programs on the Internet, in gyms, spas and fitness centres all over the world. Some are very - so dear that you will lose weight quickly, just because you have to work hard to earn the money to pay for these fitness programs.

You may not have to go to the gym or the spa or any fitness centre and spend a fortune just to slim down and obtain that longed for beautiful body. There are many books available in the bookshops offering weight loss programs that are easy and cheap. However, the books are not cheap though. These diet plans are gaining increased popularity due to their publicity, testimonials and reviews and you might be confused as to exactly which one to follow. So before you pick which weight loss plan to follow, try reading the following summaries of the most popular diet programs out today.

Atkins' New Diet Revolution by Dr. Atkins: This weight loss program encourages a high protein diet with a restricted carbohydrate consumption. You can eat loads of vegetables and meat, but must not eat bread, rice or pasta. You are not restricted with your fat consumption so it is OK to pour on the (correct) salad dressing and freely spread on the butter. However, during the diet, some people may find themselves short on fibre and high on fat and cholesterol. Grains and fruits are also severely restricted.

The Carbohydrate Addict's Diet by Drs. Heller. This diet plan also advocates low carbohydrate food. It approves eating meats, vegetables and fruits, dairy and grain products. however, warns against taking in too many carbohydrates. "Reward" meals can be very high in fats and saturated fats.

Choose to Lose: by Dr. Goor. Restricts fat intake. You are given a "fat" budget and you are given free reign on how to spend it. It does not pressure the individual to watch his carbohydrate consumption. Eating meat and poultry as well as low-fat dairy and seafood is fine. You may also consume vegetables, fruits, cereals, bread and pasta. This weight loss plan is quite healthy, because it recommends correct amounts of fruits and vegetables and saturated fats. Watch your triglyceride levels though. If they are high, trim down on the carbohydrates and eat more unsaturated fats.

The DASH Diet. Advocates eating a fairly moderate amount of fat and protein yet lots of carbohydrates. It was primarily designed to reduce blood pressure. The diet plan follows the pyramid food guide and encourages a high intake of whole wheat grains as well as fruit and vegetables and low-fat dairy. However, some dieters consider it advocates too much eating to create a significant weight loss.

Eat More, Weigh Less: by Dr. Ornish. Mostly vegetarian fare and strictly low-fat. Warns to look out for low-fat dairy and egg whites. This diet plan is low in calcium and limits the consumption of healthy foods like seafood and lean poultry.

Eat Right for Your Type: It is interesting because it is based on your blood type. For example, it advises plenty of meat for people with the blood type O. Diet plans for some blood types are nutritionally imbalanced and too low in calories. Furthermore, for the record, there is no proof that blood type affects dietary requirements.

The Pritkin Principle: It focuses on cutting back on the amount of calories by eating 'wet' foods that make you feel full. It recommends eating vegetables, fruits, oatmeal, pasta, soups, salads and low-fat dairy, which it says is fine, although it also limits protein sources to lean meat, seafood and poultry. It is healthy since it allows low amounts of saturated fats and rather large amounts of vegetables and fruits. However, it is low on calcium and restricts lean protein sources.

Volumetrics: It provides for eating fewer calories. It recommends the same foods as Pritkin but restricts fatty or dry foods like popcorn, pretzels and crackers. This diet is fairly healthy given the high amounts of fruit and vegetables as well as being low in calories and saturated fats.

The Zone: It is moderately low on carbohydrates yet moderately high on proteins. It recommends low-fat protein foods such as fish and chicken plus vegetables, fruits and grains. It is also a healthy diet but short on grains and calcium.

Weight Watchers: High carbohydrates, but moderate on fats and proteins. A very healthy diet plan and very flexible too. It allows the dieter to plan his own meals rather than offering recipes, although there are WW TV dinners in the shops.

Are you interested in a rapid weight loss diet? If you are, please visit our website called Quick Weight Loss

There is nothing intrinsically wrong with wanting to be slimmer just to have a sexier body. Many people have moulded their bodies to make them look more healthy and more attractive. However, there is no way to attain this new look in a day of two. The problem is that most people do not want to wait, they want it now.

This can lead to these people making rather rash and, it has top be said, rather silly decisions. They are not willing to wait and they are not willing to work for what they want. This is why so many people turn to rapid weight loss diets. Some 'guru' brings out a new fad diet and a good proportion of the 'I want it now' crowd jump on the band wagon. Only to be disappointed again within the year or less.

Speed diets or rapid weight loss diets tend to put out impressive advertising copy that is very difficult to resist. However, all diets, no matter which one you choose, Weight Watchers, Atkins or fad diet, depend on overweight people making lifestyle changes in order for them to work permanently.

There is a very apposite saying: if you always do what you always did, then you will always get what you always got. That says it all. You can lose weight with all but the silliest of diets, but if you go back to your old ways when you hit your target weight, you MUST slowly, but surely creep back to your old weight.

If you give your body more calories than it needs, it will store them for when it does need them. The problem is that that day never comes for too many people, because they never exert themselves. This is especially true of fad diets like the 'cabbage water' diet. Yes, you will lose weight on it, but you would lose weight by fasting whatever you did. For a while, and then you might get sick. For a diet to work, it has to be flexible and enjoyable enough for you to be able to stick with it for the rest of your life. Make no mistake, dieting is long-haul.

Many rapid weight loss programs actually only squeeze the water out of you. Just like a wet sponge. But a good dieter maintains his or her grip on that sponge, not letting it soak up water again. The problem with short term dieting, is that you let go of the sponge underwater.

This is why serial dieters first lose weight and are happy; then finish dieting, go back to their old weight and become depressed. In that state of depression they are suckers for the advertisers of the next latest craze diet. In other words, they are being manipulated and literally squeezed dry, but of their money too.

These silly rapid weight loss programs also include fat loss pills. They are not making you lose fat, well, maybe a tiny amount gets washed out with all the surplus water you are carrying. They are only diuretics under another name. How many pills would I sell if I called them diuretics? How many more would I sell if I called them miracle fat loss pills?

Type the word diuretic into a engine and find out more about them. They are all around you in mild healthy forms. A diuretic will essentially cause your body to lose more fluid than was in the diuretic. Tea is a diuretic, for example.

This list of these dopey dieting aids to rapid weight loss goes on and on, but someone must be buying them and you can bet your bottom dollar that it is the sad, depressed dieter who let go of the sponge.

Slimming soap! Slimming soap is being advertised as being a rare Eastern remedy for corpulence. Well, let me tell you, I live in the East and I have never come across it here. Asians are slim because they do a lot of physical work and do not come under the pressure to eat junk food that Westerners do, although that situation is changing rapidly too.

Magnetic weight loss earrings, I ask you! Even being drunk without a present for your wife ten minutes before Christmas Day is not a good enough excuse to fall for this one, surely? The advertisers say that the secret of this set of earrings is that they are magnetic.

Well, if you believe this, why not get a pair of $1 children's toy magnets or even a pair of fridge magnets and put one in each hip pocket? Two? Well, after all, you would not want to lose weight from only one side, would you? You would be lop sided.

Just remember, when you are looking for a rapid weight loss diet: there ain't one ( that will work for life). If you are putting on weight, then your lifestyle is wrong and it is up to you alone to change it.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with how to lose weight online. If you have an interest in losing weight too, please go over to our website now at Why Can't I Lose Weight?

A fad diet is a trendy diet plan that promises to help you lose weight usually in a comparatively short time. A fad diet frequently attracts a lot of media coverage, which then attracts a large number of overweight people to try it in order to get back in shape. Fad diets are frequently quickly discredited, but they keep raising their head from time to time.

The grapefruit diet was or is an example of a fad diet. People wanted to accept as true that you could lose weight just by eating. The food in this instance was grapefruits, but there is also a cabbage diet. The trouble with these fad diets is that their slimming effect is only temporary, because you cannot eat no more than cabbage or grapefruit for the rest of your life, so the weight comes back as soon as you go back to normal.

'If you always do what you always done, you will always get what you always got' is a true axiom. But what is worse is that most of these diets can be harmful to your health.

However, do not think that fad diets are a new phenomenon. Fad diets or fad medicines have an ancient history going back to fake witch doctors, medicine men and quack doctors who doubled as barbers! Fad practitioners have a long and scandalous history and they are still alive and doing very well, thank you very much, today.

These days, medicine is too strictly regulated for them, so they have turned their attention to susceptible, desperate dieters. Most of those that take up a fad diet are overweight teens longing to look like their favourite movie idol.

Fad diets usually concentrate on reducing or completely cutting out carbohydrates. It is the low intake of carbohydrates that brings about the rapid loss of weight. In fact, this rapid loss is due to the quick loss of water that these low-carb diets stimulate. Much of the fat might still be there, so that when you stop the diet, your body regains its normal amount of water and the lost weight is put back on just as fast as it was discarded.

In the normal course of events, carbohydrates are the source of energy for work and exercise, but with these fad diets, the carbs are no longer there, so the body begins to break down its store of fat. This may appear advantageous but it is not necessarily so. The ketones resulting from the breakdown of fat are excreted via urine and often increased volumes of urine, which can result in dehydration. People with certain medical conditions have to be very careful too; diabetics, for example.

Fad diets are popular, but they can be very detrimental to your body and when they do not have the desired result in the long-term, it can be very depressing leading to comfort eating. This is why many people begin a fad diet, lose weight and are radiant for a month or two, but then slip back when they are approaching their ideal weight. They go back to their old ways and the weight begins to come back. They become depressed, certain that they will never be able to lose weight; they comfort eat some more, maybe giving up any hope of regaining a normal weight permanently.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with lose weight fast and safe. If you have an interest in losing weight, too, please go over to our website now at Why Can't I Lose Weight?

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A lot of people do not understand their bodies. That much is obvious because they think that fasting will help them become fitter. They feel convinced that their bodies will feed off their surplus fat and that they will lose weight as a result. They also appear to imagine that they will automatically end up with more muscle, just in the right places too. Some take up fasting for fitness because they think that it will rid them of the toxins in their bodies.

Another belief that these fasters have is that they are will be able to flush out all of the toxins in their bodies by drinking plenty of water at the same time as not eating food. Even if this is true, it would be a long procedure that would mean that you would have to fast for at least five to seven days though in order to conclude the detox process, although it is still not clear scientifically whether fasting is the right approach for those that desire fitness.

There are many other routes to fitness that do work well though. For example, you can cut back the amount of food that you eat. Cutting back is not fasting, it is dieting and it is not only far more effective, it is also far less painful. This, together with drinking lots of water and increasing your amount of physical exercise will help you to become fitter.

If you drink a lot of soda like cola or lemonade, which are full of sugar, like a lot of kids do, or lots of cups of sugared tea or coffee, like a lot of adults do, then just replacing those drinks for water or weak tea will help you lose weight fairly rapidly even if you do not make any other changes to your diet or your amount of activity.

It is also possible to damage your body if you take on on a demanding exercise regime only relying on body fat to keep you going. Your body almost certainly will not be able to supply enough energy to fuel such a change, because your metabolism will be too low.

Someone going about it in this way, can become very weak and dizzy. It is not a good idea to run the risk of injury because you have not given your body all the fuel it needs to complete the tasks you are requiring it to do.

It is better to consult a doctor before you make any alterations to either your diet or your fitness routine. Confer with your doctor about your thoughts on fasting and fitness. They will be able to inform you whether they feel it is something you can try or whether it is just too risky.

Fasting is all right if you have do it for religious purposes, but do not attempt much physical work. Ask a Muslim how he or she feels during Ramadan! Fasting for long periods can lead to high blood pressure and even liver damage. So, be very careful before trying to fast yourself fit, there are much better ways.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with lose weight fast and safe. If you have an interest in losing weight, too, please go over to our website now at Why Can't I Lose Weight?

The most famous or notorious country in the world for overweight and obese people is the United States of America. Regrettably, it has become one of the things that tourists first talk about, when they get back from a holiday in the USA.

For example, my father was a Second World War teenager and had always wanted to go to America. It was the first thing he did when he retired. Three months travelling wherever he could think of by bus and when he came back he was full of tales about whom he had met and what he had seen. but he could not hide his astonishment about how many really fat people there were there.

I believe the organizations who say that this is largely to do with Americans' love of hamburgers, pizzas and doughnuts; foodstuffs that have only recently become popular in Europe. Great Britain was the first country to follow the American lead, as you would imagine, because it was easier for the advertisers, both countries speaking English.

Sure enough, Britons are becoming obese at an disturbing rate too. Those adverts and trends are also visible in mainland Europe, but at least there are enough warnings now. Anybody who falls for into the junk food trap these days, only has himself to blame. We have been warned.

I now travel a lot in Asia and it is a crying shame to see rehashes of old adverts promoting junk food. For example, Thai food is one of the best in the world, yet Knorr is trying to persuade family cooks that they do not have time to make sauces or soups; that they should tip the salty contents of one of their boxes into boiling water and that nobody would know.

I can assure you that they would know where I live. However, firms like Knorr know, that if they can sabotage one generation then they have won. Likewise with McDonald's, get one generation of parents to take their kids there every week and it becomes a family tradition. Bang! They are in!

I saw it happen in the UK and it is so hard to see it happening in Asia too.

If you want to know the secret of losing weight naturally, I will tell you. The best of all methods is to only eat food that you have prepared yourself. There you are, easy! Or at least easily said. We can moderate that rule if necessary, to include food that has been prepared by people with your interests at heart, people who love you. You can also include good quality restaurants, but that is just about the limit.

Do not eat potato crisps or chips, shop-bought biscuits, cakes, pies, pasties, hamburgers or sandwiches. If you yearn for that stuff, then get up and cook it yourself! This is how to lose weight naturally. It is called eating well and people used to do it naturally because in those days, there were no fast food stores and people took home made sandwiches and salads to work or school.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with how to lose weight online. If you have an interest in losing weight too, please go over to our website now at Why Can't I Lose Weight?

It is a good idea to set yourself targets, if you want to achieve a goal. However, there is a right way and a wrong way to go about this. For example, if you are a size 14 and you spend a fair bit of money on some gorgeous size 8 dresses as motivation, you will probably feel quite cheesed off if you are not wearing them a month later.

It is not a good idea to make yourself feel bad, so the right way to have done this would have been to set smaller, more easily attainable, less expensive goals. A consequence of disappointing yourself like that could be depression or / and desperation and desperation to meet your targets can lead to stupid decisions.

Foolish decisions like following a fad diet, because it promises you rapid weight loss. There is no such thing as sustainable rapid weight loss without a change of lifestyle. Yes, you can go for surgery and have lumps cut off yourself or you can pump yourself full of diuretics and squeeze the water out of yourself, but the weight will come back, unless you change the way you live.

Any diet that promises rapid weight loss without recommending a healthier, more active lifestyle is doubtful. Many of these types of diet are fad diets. The organizers of these diets are only interested in selling you magic potion drinks or powders as meal substitutes. I have even seen one company selling magnetic earrings which were 'guaranteed' to make you lose weight, if you dieted and did more exercise!

Of course you will lose weight if you diet and exercise, but carrying the earrings around with you is not helping. It just adds to the depression when you read in the newspaper that the guru you have been following is outed as a con artist.

Here are a few tell-tale signs to help you spot a phony diet:

Any diet that requires you to miss meals should start red lights flashing. If you stop eating, you are reducing the number of calories you are eating, so you can expect to lose weight. That is not rocket science. You do not need to pay for advice like that.

However, this approach does not necessarily work either. If you miss a meal, your blood/sugar levels will drop and that has different consequences for different people, but none of them are advantageous. It will also increase the likelihood that you will overeat at the next meal. It would be better to eat a salad, an apple or a banana instead.

Any weight loss program that says you can lose weight without exercising or without dieting is definitely dodgy too, because exercise is necessary for good blood circulation and metabolism, which are vital to your losing weight and living healthily.

However, exercise alone will not guarantee good health, you have to diet too. In this context 'dieting' just means eating healthily.

You do not have to wear anything special to lose weight either. Electric vibrating belts, magnetic earrings, sweat-inducing cummerbunds and the like, do not work. Full stop. They do not work and in a similar vein, powder and liquid substitutes are not worth it either. Get a liquidizer and make your own or just eat properly.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with losing weight quickly. If you have an interest in losing weight too, please go over to our website now at Why Can't I Lose Weight?

categories: diet,health,fitness,exercise,cardio,advice,family,men's issues,women's issues,recipes,supplements,nutrition,outdoors,other