When you're searching for a new weight loss plan to try, you are literally bombarded with fancy pages full of persuasive sales pitches, too-good-to-be-true claims, impressive promises, and endless testimonials from "satisfied customers".
Such techniques are usually perceived as "dodgy" by those in the know. It's all hype, they say. But is it indeed?
One of the most popular phrases used to promote a diet plan is "lose weight while you sleep".
People have taken to referring to those who make such claims as scammers.
So is there any truth to it? How accurate are such claims? And are they indeed used by scammers to lure people in, and cheat them out of their hard-earned cash?
MYTH: Don't trust anyone who tells you that you can lose weight while you sleep. They're scammers.
TRUTH: This phrase in no way indicates that the person is a scammer.
Some people would call it "an exaggerated claim", and it is perhaps slightly misleading, but that's no reason to associate it with scammers.
Basically, you might feel cheated if you don't know exactly what losing weight while you sleep involves...
Here's what is it:
The diet programmes that make such claims - that you can lose weight while you sleep - will usually introduce you to metabolism boosting techniques and/or muscle-building exercises.
These are the things that can boost your metabolism, hence - make you burn calories while you sleep.
Here are 2 examples:
(1) If you eat a low calorie snack before bed (such as an apple), you will indeed be "losing weight while you sleep", as your metabolism is not going to shut down, and it takes your body more effort to digest this apple than the apple's worth calorie-wise, so... strictly speaking, you'll have burned more calories than you've consumed, which can be described as "losing weight", and this process occurs while you're sleeping if the apple was consumed before bed.
(2) Similarly, if you've lifted weights or done some form of resistance exercise before going to sleep (and, perhaps, eaten a protein snack in addition), your body will continue burning fat for hours afterwards i.e. while you sleep. The more lean muscle mass a person has, the faster their metabolism, and the more fat their body burns naturally. So if you engage in muscle-building workouts, there's a good chance you'll be "losing weight while you sleep".
So no, people that promise you weight loss while you sleep are not necessarily scammers. Do you want to know who the real scammers are?
The real scammers are those who take mainstream, cliched weight loss advice a la "eat healthy and exercise regularly", put it in a slightly different way, stick a price tag on it, and try to sell it to you as ground-breaking information.
They are absolutely everywhere these days.
Yet nobody slated these people, because their (useless, generic, thoughtless, recycled) advice is supposedly "good for you". They don't tell you what effects this so-called "scientifically-proven" method can have on you if you're one of the people unfortunate enough to have a genetic predisposition to weight gain.
Moreover, some people will go as far as saying that anyone who claims that weight loss without exercise is possible, is a scammer. Ridiculous. Of course it's possible! 100% possible, and even recommended -- by those who know the truth about weight loss.
Yes, it is good for general health to make better food choices and engage in some form of physical activity, but doing these things for weight loss is downright counterproductive, and actually damaging to your mental health if you're not a naturally slim person.