Like many people, I spend a good amount of time on the internet.  One of my favorite sites is Pinterest.  I like scrolling through all the recipes, memes, workouts, and numerous other things that people pin.  The other day I ran across this written on a pin under the Health and Fitness section: “Honey and cinnamon cleanse every morning, on an empty stomach, half an hour before breakfast, and again at night before sleeping, drink honey and cinnamon powder boiled in one cup water. If taken regularly it reduces the weight of even the most obese person. Also drinking of this mixture regularly does not allow the fat to accumulate in the body, even though the person may eat a high calorie diet.” 

Yeah, right.

Most people who read that would probably disregard this “helpful” hint and move on to other things.  But there are others out there who are looking for any way to lose weight and might cling to this bit of advice as a magic bullet.  Everyday I see one thing or another out there in internet land that is just plain wrong, but sounds just good enough to maybe work.  There are lists of negative calorie foods (these do NOT exist people!), exercises that will burn 500 calories (maybe if a person is a certain weight/height/body type), and numerous cleanses that promise everything from weight loss to higher test scores (did you know that your body does a fairly good job of cleansing itself every day?).

I’m not going to sit here and debunk every single crazy bit of advice that is out there because that would take way too long and you would get bored.  I just want to caution you to take any health advice you read on the internet with a grain of salt.  Even things that I write aren’t meant to be taken as the hard and fast truth.  I am not an expert, I just relate my experiences with you in hopes to help you find your own way.  I want you to be careful because I know what it’s like to be desperate when it comes to my weight and body.

I was once the impressionable consumer who saw numerous commercials promising that I could lose weight quickly with just one pill!  It was like a miracle.  All I had to do was take a pill and all my weight problems would be solved.  I would finally be happy and look amazing.  I bought into the lie.  Thankfully my mom found my hidden stash of weight loss pills, essentially just caffeine in pill form, before I seriously hurt myself.

Don’t let your desperation cloud your good judgement.  I knew deep down that one pill a day wasn’t going to make me lose weight, but I wanted to believe it badly enough to try it.  I know better now and I always do my research with any health advice I read or hear.  Ultimately you have to do what is best for you and your body.  If you’re confused or something sounds too good to be true, dig deeper.  Talk with medical and health professionals and make sure that you are helping instead of hurting yourself.

The internet can be a great thing, I mean where else can you spend all day looking at cat photos?  But make sure that it isn’t your one and only source for health information.  Take any advice you get from the internet with a grain of salt.  And a funny meme.

Have a great Monday everyone!