Local personal trainers and influencers are weighing in on weight loss fads.

Health experts warn against diet pills

The same thing happens every year – January comes around and the weight loss industry takes centre stage. Diet plans, books, DVDs, pills and shakes are bought up by people hoping to shed their Christmas pounds or achieve substantial weight loss.

There have been renewed warnings issued about the dangers of skinny teas and shakes which claim to help users lose weight in very short spaces of time.

Celebrities and bloggers are endorsing various brands of detox and skinny teas which often specifically appeal to women and young girls.

Doctors have warned about the side effects of radical detoxes and excessive consumption of herbal remedies and water. Plus, the laxative effect of some skinny teas has led to warnings over contraceptive pills in women, as the quick moment of the digestive system can lead to the Pill not being absorbed.

Influential Donegal trainers have spoken out passionately against dieting fads.

Personal trainer Emmet Rushe from RusheFitness.ie advises his followers to increase their vegetable and water intake to help their bodies detox naturally.

In a live Facebook update, Emmet said: “You don’t need to buy detox, pills or anything like that. Your body is well able to detox itself by increasing your fluid intake, decreasing your processed foods and your alcohol intake and your body will be back to normal in a week or two.”

Rushe warns that the companies selling fad teas and products are ‘scamming’ their customers. In straightforward terms – a calorie deficit is the best way to lose weight.

Read Emmet’s Donegal Woman columns on healthy weight loss here, and setting New Year’s resolutions here.

Image: @Lisadeefitness

#MoveMoreEatBetter

Health and fitness guru Lisa McDevitt (Lisa Dee) from Donegal, now living in Dubai, also slammed the trend.

Posting on Facebook, Lisa said she couldn’t control her frustration with the topic.

“Drinking a €50 box of TEA – no matter what it’s named, whether it’s laxative or non-laxative, it will NOT make you “skinny” or lose weight. These companies ask you to eat an unhealthy low amount of calories while overloading on their teas every day. The only reason people feel better in a few days is because they are eating less s*** and more aware of the foods they’re eating, wouldn’t YOU do the same if you just spent €50 on a box of tea?”

Lisa called out bloggers and influencers who are paid to promote skinny teas, and begs her readers not to be persuaded by their claims.

“STOP looking for an easy way out, there is none, and these companies are prying on your desperation. Trust me I spent years growing up wasting money on shit like this. Move more, eat better and that is your answer.” Read Lisa’s full post here.

Magical solutions – straight from a Unicorn!

Facebook: Secrets of S-Mum

S-Mum Maria Rushe

Our own Thoroughly Modern Mammy blogger Maria Rushe has ‘jumped on the train’, pretending to have created a miracle wonder product – The S-Mum’s UN-I-CAN.

This hilarious dig at the weight-loss industry targets the multitude of proposed benefits such teas can have. UN-I-CAN’s ingredients which are 100% unicorn farts (yep, really!) claim to give people sparkly skin, weight loss of 12 stone a week, an improved life and some wonderful body smells… we’ll spare you the details! Read more about The S-Mum’s “fablis” product here.

Have you tried a New Year’s detox with shakes or teas? Tell us about your experience: news@donegalwoman.ie