Fitness isn't a Short-term Sprint, it's a Life-long Pursuit

There is nothing you should take more seriously than your health and fitness.  Yet so many of us are stuck in unhealthy ruts, desperately wanting to improve but ultimately unsuccessful.  Unscrupulous companies capitalize on that desperation and try to get you to believe that if you pay them money, they will make achieving a healthy and happy life easy. Don't fall for their tricks.  If the changes you make aren't permanent, then the results won't be either.  Fitness isn't a short-term sprint, it's a life-long pursuit.  Whatever you do, make sure it's something you can keep doing for most of the rest of your life.

For example, a co-worker of mine has told me about a relative who is trying to sell him meal-replacement shakes.  My co-worker is smarter than that - he knows that adopting an overall diet that includes these shakes is not something that he can keep up for the rest of his life.  As soon as he drops the shakes, whatever positive benefit they had on him will disappear.

Want some more examples?  

• Juicing diets are promoted as a way to "detox" the body, prevent disease and lose weight.  While nutrient-rich juices can be a part of a normal, healthy diet, some fad diets go to extremes and have people only drink juice for a few weeks.  The juices tend to not have enough protein or calories, and certainly aren't sustainable.
• The grapefruit diet combines high-fat, high-cholesterol foods with grapefruit to burn fat.  In reality, the diets limit your calories to less than 1,000 per day which indeed results in weight loss, but ultimately result in starvation and a lower metabolism.
• Low-carb diets limit carbohydrates — such as those found in grains, starchy vegetables and fruit — and emphasizes foods high in protein and fat.   Low carb diets are currently very popular, and sometimes piggyback on the "gluten free" movement.  Most people aren't gluten-intolerant.  And while many people are happy and healthy with their low-carb diets, many find it an unsustainable for the long haul.  Examples of these kinds of diets include Atkins and South Beach.
• The Master Cleanse/Lemonade Diet involves subsisting for days on only lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper mixed in water. You are essentially just drinking diuretics and shedding water weight.
• Diets that sell you food, such as Jenny Craig are simply unsustainable.  While many people have good success losing weight, no one going into the diet really intends to purchase their food from a company for the rest of their lives.
• The HCG Diet limits you to about 500 calories a day while taking human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), a hormone that proponents tout as a powerful appetite suppressant. However, there's no evidence that HCG does more than act as a placebo, and the weight loss is only due to the unhealthy and extreme calorie restriction. 
• Meal replacement shakes substitute a few meals for shakes,  helping you drop pounds in the short term, but you will gain the weight right back when you quit the shake strategy and return to your regular diet.
• The Paleo Diet for many is not easy to follow for more than a few months. It cuts out grains, legumes, dairy, and many processed foods because they're thought to cause GI problems. But the truth is, for the majority of the population, these are safe and healthy. We've been eating these foods for a long time.
• Any diet that dismisses the calories-in, calories-out principle.  There are many who say don't worry about calories, but instead worry about the quality and types of foods you are eating.  If you want to lose or maintain weight, both matter.  You simply can't take in more calories than you expend and hope to not gain weight.

There are numerous others.  For any diet or fitness plan you need to ask yourself:

• Is this diet balanced?  A weight-loss plan should include proper amounts of nutrients and calories for your individual situation. Diets that direct you to eat large quantities of certain foods, such as grapefruit or meat, that drastically cut calories, or that eliminate entire food groups, such as carbohydrates, may result in nutritional problems. Safe diets do not require excessive vitamins or supplements.
• Is this diet enjoyable?  A diet should include foods you like and that you would enjoy eating for the rest of your life — not just for several weeks or months. If you don't like the diet, if it's overly restrictive or if it becomes boring, you're probably not going to stick to it and therefore won't lose weight in the long term.
• Does the plan include exercise? Every weight-loss program should include physical activity. Exercise plus calorie restriction can help give your weight loss a boost. Exercise also offers numerous health benefits, including improving your mood, strengthening your cardiovascular system and reducing your blood pressure. And exercise is the most important factor in maintaining weight loss. Studies show that people who maintain their weight loss over the long term get regular physical activity.
• Is the diet flexible? Look for a plan that doesn't forbid certain foods or food groups but instead includes a variety of foods from all the major food groups. A healthy diet includes vegetables and fruits, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, lean protein sources, and nuts and seeds — and even an occasional sweet indulgence. A diet plan should also feature foods that you can easily find in your local grocery store.  (source: the Mayo Clinic)

• Can I live with this for most of the rest of my life?  Basically, are the changes you need to make sustainable in the long run?  This cuts out all of the "one week cleanses" and "30 day detoxes" and a myriad of other diet plans that ask you to make unrealistic changes.

You really don't need to pay money or adopt some kind of exciting new plan in order to achieve better health.  It's the simple daily choices that will result in the biggest impact. I know, you really want that quick fix.  But there isn't anything quick to the process of losing weight or achieving better health.  It's a lifelong pursuit.