Fat Loss 4 Idiots
Does "Fat Loss 4 Idiots" really work?
The Fat Loss 4 Idiots weight loss program was developed in 2004, and works by providing you with a number of easy and simple guidelines. You are given an 11-day meal plan, after which you are allowed 3 “cheat days” before starting another 14-day cycle. The exercise plan recommends walking a little bit each day to facilitate fat loss through aerobic activity, instead of shocking your body with a series of extreme workouts.
The eating component of the Fat Loss 4 Idiots weight loss diet has both its good and its bad points. The great thing is that it doesn’t try to sell you on any gimmicky methods of food intake, such as low carb or high protein. You are given the choice of either following 10 eating rules, or having meal plans generated for you via their online website.
I would recommend simply following the eating guidelines, as they will help teach you how to eat healthfully on a long-term basis. The rules are simple and commonsense, and include a number of good tips including eat at least 4 meals per day, rotate your foods, and eat at home. The generated meal plans seem to complicate the diet, and would be inconvenient to follow if you didn’t have the required groceries on hand. However, if you don’t know much about nutrition, or feel nervous about being in control of your own meal plans, by all means utilize the meal plan generator on the website.
The bad thing about the meal plan is the 14-day cycles. The 3 cheat days at the end of each cycle are unnecessary and unhealthy. First of all, adding 3 cheat days will reinforce the notion in your head that the 11 healthy days are restrictive and “bad.” Second of all, believing that the healthy days are unenjoyable will never help you adopt long-term healthy eating habits. Fat Loss 4 Idiots is clearly more concerned with rapid weight loss than sustained weight loss over time, because a quality diet should never leave you feeling so deprived that you need 3 days to “cheat.” Third, even just 3 days of cheating is likely to sabotage your weight loss efforts, because if you are looking forward to those days, you are probably going to binge considerably on all of the restricted foods.
The exercise component of Fat Loss 4 Idiots is helpful in suggesting that you stick to low-impact activities and exercises. However, repeatedly stating that intense exercise should “never” be done is unwise. While people who take up walking may be more likely to stick to the plan, there is nothing wrong with trying other forms of exercise, and it is not true that intense exercise “won’t help you lose weight and is a waste of time.” If nothing else, intense anaerobic exercise will burn the carbohydrates you take in throughout your daily diet. Read the Fat Loss 4 Idiots weight loss plan yourself!
Conclusion: Fat Loss 4 Idiots has its good points, but some of its extreme claims are misleading, especially the one saying you will “lose 9 pounds in 11 days.” Beware of any part of the Fat Loss 4 Idiots program that uses the words “always” or “never,” because weight loss is a complex process that can’t be reduced to all-or-nothing terms. Following the Fat Loss 4 Idiots diet and exercise plan will help you lose weight, but be wary of taking the program’s advice to heart.
