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Have you wasted valuable time and money trying to lose weight? Then tried again and again? One thing Americans know how to do is market. The desire for quick and easy weight loss has created an ideal opportunity for modern-day snake oil salespeople to pick your pockets by selling magical diet products.

One minute you're innocently reading the newspaper and the next minute you find yourself ordering a sixty dollar, one month supply of diet pills. After all, those before and after photos look great and they say it works.

Or you're now the proud owner of the latest infomercial gadget that promises to wrap, buzz, sway, steam, lift, or glide you to slenderness. All too often you find it's only useful for drying your clothes on.

In our desperate quest to be skinny, we buy the strangest things. Next time you're hypnotized by a diet commercial, remember these red flags:

1) The product involved putting anything non-food into your body. Pills, potions, chemicals, herbs. None have been proven to cause substantial, permanent weight loss.

2) Promised results require the purchase of any special gadget at all. The only thing you really need for physical fitness is a good pair of walking shoes.

3) The program is based on unproven fads like food combining, 'forbidden' foods, or magical effects of certain types of foods.

4) The advertising promotes use of a product but the small print explains that the plan requires drastic calorie restriction and exercise to get results - so why buy the product?

5) Outlandish or miraculous claims are made of rapid weight loss, changes in body shape, or weight loss from specific parts of the body.

The fact is that 95% of diets fail and the constant search for a quick fix is a sure path to disappointment. The human body is naturally healthy and strong. It doesn't need potions and gadgets and certainly doesn't need starvation.

Listen to your body. Give it the food it wants when it's hungry and stop when it's full. Move in ways that feel great. Play more. All of these are completely free and will create vibrant, natural, long-term health that expands and enriches life.