Getting Fit This Year? Avoid These Traps

Every year, millions of Americans resolve to lose weight or get healthier. Historically, it's the most popular New Year's resolution, ranking above financial or other personal goals. This year is no different.

In a Nielsen poll, 37 percent of respondents resolved to "stay fit and healthy" in 2015, and 32 percent resolved to lose weight this year. And if you think nobody makes resolutions anymore, think again -- only 16 percent of respondents said they wouldn't be doing so.

So if you're someone with weight loss or a healthy lifestyle in mind for 2015, make sure you do it right. That means eating right and getting exercise, of course, but it also means making smart choices for the new, healthier you. Here are some things you'll want to avoid to stay healthy and on track toward your goals.

Tainted Pills

The Food and Drug Administration recently posted a warning to consumers about weight-loss products, most notably diet pills. The warning says many weight-loss products are marketed as simple dietary supplements but are actually tainted with unlisted prescription medications. These ingredients might assist in weight loss for a time, but if you don't know what's going in your body and something goes wrong, your doctor will have a much harder time treating the problem.

Drugs that have been found in these products include seizure medications, blood pressure medications and antidepressants, according to Jason Humbert, a senior regulatory manager at the FDA. FDA tests have found traces of fluoxetine, the active ingredient in Prozac, as well as sibutramine, the main ingredient in prescription weight-loss aid Meridia. Having a prescription weight-loss drug in your diet pill might not seem like a problem, but in this case it is. Meridia lost its FDA approval and was pulled from the market in 2010 amid concerns that it could contribute to heart problems and strokes.

Some weight-loss products also contained unlisted triamterene, a diuretic that can have serious side effects. The FDA keeps a running list of all tainted weight-loss products on the agency's website.

Products Promoted as "Natural"

By putting the label "natural" on a product, marketers are trying to give it credibility. Shoppers typically think that if something is natural, it's safe. But as with tainted diet pills, the risk with natural supplements is that they're unregulated. "It is the company's responsibility to make sure its products are safe and that any claims made about such products are true," the FDA says.

Not all things found in nature are safe, and neither are all natural diet aids. The FDA has received "numerous reports of harm associated with the use of weight-loss products, including increased blood pressure, heart palpitations (a pounding or racing heart), stroke, seizure and death." Only when it gets such complaints will the FDA investigate and, if necessary, take steps to remove these products from the market.

The most natural way to lose weight is to take in fewer calories than you burn, but that's easier said than done. If you're bent on using pills to help lose weight, talk to your doctor first. For those who are obese or overweight and have a weight-related medical condition, there are FDA-approved prescription medications available that may be safer.

Misleading Presumptions

So maybe you're not looking for a pill, and you want to achieve your goals on your own. In every corner of the Internet, you can find information on diet and fitness from self-proclaimed experts who may or may not have your best interests at heart. Further, even those who really do want to help often get their facts wrong or overstate research with conflicting findings.

For example, we're often told to set realistic goals and to avoid losing weight quickly to achieve the best results. To test those common beliefs and 17 others, researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham conducted an exhaustive review of weight-loss studies in 2014. It took 24 researchers to look at hundreds of studies, and some of their findings, published in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, were surprising.

The researchers found that losing weight quickly at the start of a diet had a motivational effect, not a detrimental one. And when it comes to goals, some studies showed that unrealistically high goals were actually associated with more weight loss, while others showed no correlation. They also found that weighing yourself daily is associated with better results than weighing yourself less frequently, even though many weight-loss gurus advise against daily weigh-ins.

The researchers also found mixed evidence for other common beliefs, and called for more research to support or refute them. Among them: that eating breakfast protects against obesity, that eating close to bedtime contributes to weight gain and that "yo-yo" dieting increases mortality risk. So far, these claims have yet to be proved definitively.

Promises of Miracles

Whether it's a pill, a book, a new diet or a new exercise program, it's probably not a miracle. So even though it can be tempting to believe your next solution will be your last, think critically before purchasing -- especially if the price is high. Any time you're asked to shell out a lot of money upfront for a product that promises quick or amazing results, consider the probability that it's just not true.

Some phrases and terminology should raise a red flag. Among them:

-- "Quick and effective!"

-- "Scientific breakthrough"

-- "Lose weight without exercising!"

-- "Totally safe"

-- "Lose 10 pounds in 10 days!"

-- "Keep eating all your favorite foods!"

-- "Blocks fat absorption in the body"

"Miracles" in weight loss are, at best, rare. The truth is there's no magic bullet, and some products claiming to be one may actually be dangerous to unknowing consumers. Don't let yourself be one of them.