Weight Loss & Diet Plans

6 Things Never to Do to Lose Weight

Legal and Illegal Drugs

Using drugs other than prescription weight loss drugs intended for weight loss is a grim mistake and fraught with all kinds of consequences.

“The potential risks associated with abusing drugs such as cocaine, speed, and meds prescribed for attention deficit disorder, thyroid disorders, or diabetes to lose weight far outweigh any health benefit you may get from weight loss," Gazzaniga-Moloo says. Just some of the unintended risks include, “physical and psychological addiction, social and financial problems, strain on relationships, anxiety, severe headaches, stroke, and heart, lung, and kidney problems.” 

Using illegal drugs for any purpose is strongly discouraged, and using legal drugs for their unintended purpose without medical supervision is dangerous.

Tobacco Use

For decades, public health officials have discouraged smoking because of its countless health risks. Yet some people -- especially young adults -- use smoking as a diet strategy.

Nicotine has been shown to be an appetite suppressant, but the risks of smoking vastly outweigh any supposed benefits of cigarette smoking.

Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body; causes cancer as well as cardiovascular, respiratory, and other diseases; reduces the health of smokers in general; and increases the risk of death.

Beyond the numerous health risks, weight gain is often a side effect when smokers try to kick the addictive habit.

Bottom line: Don’t smoke for any reason, least of all to lose weight.

Best Weight Loss Practices

Choose a diet that works for your lifestyle. Studies show the best diet is the one you can stick with long term. Use common sense, listen to your body, be mindful of what you eat, and pass on expensive, risky, and worthless weight loss schemes or products that are unproven.

Seek expert advice from your doctor or a registered dietitian if you are concerned that your weight loss methods may be bordering on extreme or unhealthy.