Does it Work?Unsure if the latest product or service lives up to it's claims? From popular products to the latest scams, discuss it here before you buy!
My daughters friend in college wants a magic bullet to help her lose 100 plus pounds. The friend has heard the body wraps will take the weight off. My daughter is very active and eats lots of good stuff. Rarely eats meat because she truly doesn't like the taste or smell of all red meat. She has been getting her friend to walk more and eat more salads and drink lots of water. She has tried to get her to the campus gym but the friend is intimidated because of her size and even the walking makes her tired (she has never been a very active person). The friend is already starting to lose some but she wants big numbers so she thinks this is worth trying.
Any wisdom that I can pass on....
Ya know what your middle looks like when you take off your panty hose? You have a line there that is smaller than the rest of your abdomen? But where did the fat go? It's still there, just squished.
I have nothing scientific to say. I just had that thought.
Advise her to save her money. The scale will give her a lower reading for about an hour (or until she's rehydrated herself) because all the wraps do is remove water from the body. Even with that - she isn't going to see "big numbers."
I had a friend who was basically her ideal weight but when she knew a big event was coming up, she'd get a body wrap either the day of it or the day before. I think she'd lose 3-5 lbs in water, and she felt it helped her look better in her dress. (Mind you, already a size 2 or 4.)
I remember asking her about them, and she said, "oh no...its not even close to permanent...as soon as you drink a glass of water, your body is going to hang onto it again because it NEEDS it."
You may want to have your daughter explain that a body wrap may help her lose 3-5 lbs of water, but that it will come back within 2-3 days. It does nothing permanent.
unfortunately there is NO magic bullet for weight loss. It is a simple equation though.
Eat less than your body burns, and eat healthy, i.e. not all processed foods, eat FRESH foods whenever possible. Not all calories are equal, the healthier they are the better your body will respond to them.
Let you daughters friend know that it took time to gain the weight it will take TIME to take it off, if she wants the results to be permanent.
My daughter is trying to get her to make healthier choices and to quit snacking between meals and eating late night in the dorm room. Her friend gets so depressed because she is not small like my daughter and their other friends. Her actual roomate is a University cheerleader that is a size 1, but snacks constantly on junk food in the dorm room which makes it harder to resist temptation for my daughters friend. I will have my daughter talk to her friend about the body wraps and her crazy idea to get one every other week until she is a size 1. My concern after everyone's input is that she would get dehydrated if she does do it as often as she is talking about. I doubt that she could afford to keep it up as often as she plans anyway.
I know for me, when I get advice from someone who is thin, it almost makes it worse.... I know your daughter may mean well, but if her friend isnt ready, pushing her itsnt going to help.
I know that for me, if someone was pushing me to eat salads and stuff, I'd probably eat that in front of that person, and then go binge on something bad after, when they werent around. If she's asking for the help, thats one thing, but if she is just complaining that she isnt a size 1 or whatever, it almost sounds like she's not ready to actually make the commitment to do this. I know thats how I was before. I'd complain about what size I was, but wasnt willing to do anything about it (lol I'm back to that point, since I've been maintaining this 20 something lb weight loss since I was last here and hopefully I'll get past it and do something about it!)
Its hard being the 'fat' friend, believe me I know. You just want something quick and easy to work, so you wont be the 'fat one' anymore. Hopefully she will realize that the wraps arent going to work, and she'll have to do it with diet and exercise. If she has internet access, this would be a great site to direct her to
This girl went to middle school with my daughter and remembers her as the one that spoke up for her when others were making fun of her because of her weight. You may be right though, she is complaining about the weight and how her mother is always calling her fat--she asks for my daughters advice and help with trying to do better. She does eat healthy when my daughter is around and she does walk more with my daughter. Maybe she isn't ready to commit or change her lifestyle and it is a way to keep my daughter concerned about her and in her life. I don't know.
Thanks everyone for the input and advice!
Maybe she should be encouraged to speak with her doctor before doing this ... body wraps can be dangerous under some circumstances.
AS SOMEONE SAID ABOVE and as I said on another thread ... THERE ARE NO MAGIC BULLETS! Well, there's a blender by that name, but ... anyhow, folks are always looking for magic in weight loss ... there isn't any. Sorry the person is probably going to have to find out the hard way ... there's nothing you or your daughter can do to convince her ... if it were me, I'd just back off and not offer any further support as it won't help ...
My daughter talked her friend out of the body wraps. The friend is in college and working part-time at a pizza place and truly doesn't have the $85 dollars to spend for one body wrap that will last less than a week when her mom has told her she needs to start paying for her own cell phone. She's talking about saving up for liposuction. With their conflicting school and work schedules this coming semester they will not be spending alot of time together. My daughter worries as the friend always seems to be depressed over the weight issue.
Your daughter seems like a very compassionate person, she must have had a great mom pass that on to her!
It's always hard to hear about people going down the wrong road in life. But I think that if she isn't ready to accept responsibility for what she puts in her mouth or how often she gets off her butt, your daughter's help will simply fall upon deaf ears.
If you haven't already, tell your daughter her heart is in the right place!
As mentioned above--any body weight/size changes is due to dehydrate and squishing of the fat. It may only be beneficial to squeeze into an outfit that's a tad bit too tight for an evening.
However, the wrap may be beneficial in exfoliating/nourishing the skin--which may help with body acne. Also, if aromatherapy's involved you can be mentally stimulated/relaxed through a body wrap. I personally prefer a massage/facial combo though.
Also, your daughter may be able to encourage her friend to a weight loss by doing healthy things together... cook wholesome meals (they can share recipes and experiment with making traditional stuff lighter), have a "jog date"--and an occasional manicure to boost self-esteem.
Body Wraps
!
