"Lose Weight Without Dieting!"
That magical phrase should immediately set off warning bells in your ever-hopeful brain.

Yesterday, I sat down to watch some TV and stumbled onto an infomercial for Sensa, The Sprinkle Diet. The name alone makes me titter :) The idea behind this product is that you sprinkle their "Tastant Crystals" on all your food and the smell & taste will convince your brain that you are full, so you will eat less. Put down that damn slice of pizza, NOW!

"Eat whatever you want!" There's another favorite phrase. The ad showed people with plates full of food; spaghetti, hamburgers, hot dogs, desserts ~ all my favorite carbs ~ taking mouthfuls and rolling their eyes in ecstasy. I watched more of this ad only because  Patty Stanger (of Millionaire Matchmaker) was endorsing the product. Having a celebrity tout your product is very convincing, especially when you notice she has lost weight. I googled Sensa, scrolled past all of their ad sites until I got to the real reviews. This is where, alas, you find all the info you knew you were going to find about yet another miracle diet product. You discover that the company has tippy-toed right up to the edge of Credit Card Fraud and waggled their fingers over the line. And hey, those studies cited on the ad? The news show, "20/20", says that none of them were endorsed by any respectable body.

Believe me, O sisters, I have hopefully grasped at many of these straws during my life of mostly being a tad to a bunch overweight. All that these products did was suck the extra weight out of my wallet. Sometimes I got a little bonus though: huge pustule-like zits from Hydroxycut; headaches & jitters from some of the others. ... Although, there was one candy bar-like product which I liked because it enabled me to get so much housework done. I am sorry to report that I would buy it again but is off the market, probably due to the fact it is ~ hello! ~ unhealthy.

I have found that actual programs have been helpful. I've been a card-carrying member of Weight Watchers several times in my life, I've joined ediets in the past, and I have the South Beach Diet books. Each was effective for me for a while, and I like to believe that I have picked up bits of important information and tools to use from them all. At this point in time, I am trying to keep the South Beach principles in mind.

Other things I've found to be helpful are the inspiring books written by women who have lost weight, such as Half-Assed; A Weight Loss Memoir by Jennette Fulda and my favorite, Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl by Shauna Reid. I am always newly recharged after reading these books, and I reread them every so often. Also, some of the weight lose blogs I follow are great for motivation. These are written by women who, unlike dilly-dallying me, have set their caps firmly on their heads and determined they were going to lose the weight. And they are. Take Mrs. Munchberry at "I'm Just Puffy", for example. She's down over 50 pounds ~ no gimmicks, just honest hard work.

So. There ya go! The Happy Hag's Diet Review. "Rant" actually.
The only way that works for me to lose weight (other than lopping off a limb or two) is:

Diet, Determination & Exercise.

What works for you?