“It’s the holiday season again.”This simple sentence brings up all kinds of images before our eyes.Holidays mean family, visiting neighbors, going to parties, getting dressed up and going out, going to concerts.It means food drives, maybe volunteering at the local soup kitchen.It means decorations.Holidays also mean mistletoe, pine trees perhaps, and tinsel.Holidays also mean gingerbread, mincemeat, fruitcake, turkey, ham, cookies, pecan pie, apple pie, pumpkin pie, champagne, red wine, white wine, restaurants, hors d’oeuvres, cheese, popcorn, hot chocolate, cider, wassail, chocolate cake, any other kind of cake, tarts, candy canes, and chocolate chocolate chocolate.And it’s when we get to this last part that our mouths start to drool and, at the same time, fear fills our hearts…and our stomachs.The holidays are both wonderful and terrible because they involve so much good (read rich) food.Holidays can mean the end and the ruin of that diet you’ve been so good at the last 10 months.Holidays can mean the return of that ghetto bootie you’ve been desperate to get rid of.Holidays can mean saying hello again to that beer belly that your wife hates so much.I’m too lazy to even diet the rest of the year, but when I hear the word “holiday,” I start to dread too.Holidays can mean all of this, but they don’t have to!There are lots of ways to make sure that you don’t gain that universally feared weight during the holidays, and during the rest of the year too.Because we all know that holidays aren’t just a November/December thing-Valentine’s Day, Easter, the Fourth of July, Memorial Day barbecues-it seems like there’s danger lurking in every month of the year.
Maybe you’re afraid of the holidays.Maybe you want to lose weight fast.Maybe you’re just afraid of food generally.You’ve tried following the Food Guide Pyramid, you’ve tried exercising, you’ve tried the Atkins Diet and every other fad diet and medical diet that’s come out.Nothing’s worked.Whatever the reason you want to lose weight, and whatever your history with diets, some ads are pretty tempting.Ads for fat blockers are that way.Seems easy enough.If your body can’t absorb fat, you won’t get fat.But are these fat blocking pills safe?After the diet pill scandal of the early 90s, and the number of scam diets out there, it’s important to ask if fat blocking pills are safe before shelling out large amounts of money to take them.
Fat blocking pills sound fantastic.Your body doesn’t absorb fat.No more fat collecting around your middle, in your thighs, making your butt sag, and leaving you with flabby arms and that double chin.Plus, if fat is being blocked, who cares what you eat?Experts say not so fast, though.
Fat blockers say that they’ll stop your body from absorbing fat.But here’s the problem.If they do stop you from absorbing fat, they’re basically making you the equivalent of lactose intolerant.Fat is a kind of nutrient.If your body can’t break it down, you end up with lots of problems.Ever known someone who’s lactose intolerant?Every time they drink milk or eat cheese or ice cream, they end up dealing with all kinds of unpleasant problems.These include terrible diarrhea, bloating (making you look fat anyway), and gas.A fat blocker will also block any nutrients that come along with the fat, which means that you’re not getting vitamins and minerals that your body needs.Besides, even if fat blockers did work, you’d be left with so many unpleasant side effects that all that weight loss would be overcome by the terrible smell that followed you everywhere.But it doesn’t matter in the end: fat blockers have never been proven to work.And fat blockers aren’t safe, because they stop your body from getting important nutrients, like vitamins and minerals.They can also cause serious problems to your gastrointestinal system.That’s not only embarrassing, but it can also be really dangerous.