Lose weight fast for Tet

Wanting to lose 11 kg in 2 months to have a slim waist and wear a dress for Tet, Ngan, 27 years old, in Ho Chi Minh City, cut starch from her menu and bought tea to "detoxify and reduce fat".

To complete her plan to lose 11 kg before Tet, Ngan created a menu without carbohydrates, eliminated fried foods, and only ate steamed and boiled foods. She skipped all parties and avoided eating with her family due to the different menus and cooking methods.

The female office worker bought a "detox tea" combo, priced at 5 million VND, and drank it instead of water every day to help the fat loss process go faster. As a result, after two weeks, Ngan lost 4 kg, but her body was tired, weak, and often felt dizzy when standing up or sitting down. She planned to take a leave of absence to continue "losing weight", hoping her body would soon regain balance.

Similarly, wanting to lose weight quickly to have a toned appearance for Tet, Ngoc, 25 years old, in Long An, bought a box of weight loss pills online to try. The seller introduced 100% natural ingredients, helping to reduce fat, reduce appetite, not cause dehydration, can reduce 6 kg in 20 days.

After 10 days, Ngoc gradually lost weight, but her skin began to turn red, her face broke out in pimples, she felt tired all the time, sometimes she felt faint, and was often thirsty. Worried about her health, she went to the hospital for a check-up, the doctor diagnosed her with physical weakness, increased liver enzymes, and asked her to stop using the weight loss medication.

As Lunar New Year approaches, many people start to lose weight quickly. Closed groups on social networks are "exploding" with posts about herbal teas in pill form, lotus leaf extracts, vằng tea, grapefruit essence, lingzhi... or weight loss pills, fat-burning candies, fat-burning creams, and natural powders.

The products are advertised as "100% natural herbal ingredients, no side effects, help lose weight quickly, do not cause fatigue".

When asked about the origin of the product, most sellers gave a general answer of "imported from abroad" without providing any documents to prove it. However, many users still commented on the post to ask to buy the product.

In diet groups, the topic of discussion is often how to lose weight quickly to welcome Tet. Doctor Phan Thai Tan, a HomeFiT weight loss health coach, said he received many requests for advice on "losing weight" as Tet approaches.

Some people want to ask him for guidance on losing 8-10 kg/month, but without exercising or eating healthily. Doctors warn that this will cause many health risks.

"Safe recommendations, you lose an average of about 0.5-1 kg/week, which is already very effective," said Mr. Tan. Rapid weight loss will cause countless health problems, such as exhaustion, gaunt face, long-term illness, and lack of micronutrients.

According to the doctor, the stomach needs time to shrink, the endocrine system needs time to adjust, and habits also need enough time to be sustainable. "If the weight goes down but the body, mind and knowledge cannot keep up, sooner or later it will gain back," the doctor added.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, Deputy Director of the Institute of Digestive Surgery, 108 Central Military Hospital, recommends that users who want to lose weight quickly should be careful with the ingredients in weight loss drugs sold online. In particular, many foods are advertised as herbal, but contain hidden, undeclared pharmaceutical ingredients that can be harmful to users.

Mr. Tuan said that weight loss products of unknown origin or not tested can cause stress or harm the liver and kidneys. More dangerous are complications such as digestive, cardiovascular, and neurological disorders... On the other hand, using weight loss products at the same time as other medications can affect the effectiveness of both drugs.

"Using weight loss products cannot replace a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle," said Mr. Tuan, adding that only scientific weight loss methods that have been proven effective should be applied.

For example, a diet that controls the amount of calories consumed (in) is lower than the amount of calories consumed (out) to help the body burn stored fat. However, it is necessary to ensure adequate nutrition, focusing on consuming foods rich in fiber, natural foods and minimally processed foods. Regular exercise helps increase the process of burning calories and improve overall health.

Additionally, your mental state can influence your eating habits and lifestyle. Stress management techniques such as meditation, yoga, or seeking psychological support can help you maintain positive emotions while losing weight.

Medical interventions such as professional weight loss programs, nutritional therapy, appetite suppressants, and laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery are available for people with morbid obesity.

In addition to weight loss products, many quick weight loss methods such as fasting, drinking only water or eating eggs, also cause many harmful effects. These methods can cause rapid weight loss, but in the long term, they will affect the nervous system, respiratory system, cardiovascular system, and even risk of death.

Common side effects include wrinkled skin due to lack of moisture and nutrients, hair loss, reduced breast size, hypoglycemia, electrolyte imbalance, and metabolic disorders. Women may experience hormonal disorders, menstrual cycle disorders, leading to infertility.

In addition, Dr. Nguyen Trong Hung, National Institute of Nutrition, said that there are currently many methods that are considered effective for weight loss, such as keto, low-carb, the common point is to cut down on carbohydrates (sugar, flour). Abusing these methods causes the body to lack nutrients, seriously affecting the digestive system.

A keto diet high in healthy fats and low in carbs can lower blood sugar and insulin levels, impact the body's metabolism, and limit fat storage, but must be closely monitored.

Weight loss methods such as low-carb are also not recommended. Low-carb is a diet that limits the amount of carbohydrates and increases the proportion of protein and fat in the diet. In addition to the harmful effects of cutting down on starch too much, eating a lot of protein makes the liver and kidneys work harder.

Overweight and obese people need to supplement calcium to prevent osteoporosis because the skeleton has to bear a large weight. Eating a lot of protein will increase calcium excretion through urine, which is not good for bones.

Using too many detox drinks can also cause electrolyte imbalance, muscle loss, and excessive nutrient loss, leading to hormonal disorders.

Experts recommend that a balanced diet must include 4 groups of nutrients: carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins and minerals. People should consult specialized doctors for advice on appropriate diet and exercise, and absolutely do not arbitrarily use weight loss drugs of unknown origin.

"Tet doesn't come just once but will repeat itself. We can use it as an excuse to make a decision to start, but it's not a reason to lose weight at all costs," said Dr. Tan.

*Character names have been changed