Have you ever received those tempting ads that seem to arrive regularly in the post - seductive brochures describing diet pills, patches and potions promising miracles? They show you "proof". They have the endorsements by medical and scientific "experts". They have the pictures before and after. And they have no end of guarantees, free gifts and other offers.

But when you look a bit deeper into the background of these diet products, you find very little of substance. With just a little research online you will see that you can find nothing posted from any believable source about the product or the experts depicted so glowingly.

And you often see offer after offer sent by the same company using the same return address.

Now the chances of a company hitting on a miracle product once are remote but three such products in one year? No way!

Whenever you receive something which sounds like it's the answer to your prayers, stand back a little from the hype and the excitement of finding a miracle solution to your weight problems and think clearly.

Ask yourself "Is this another diet scam?"

Generally you'll avoid being ripped-off if you decide NOT to buy those things you think the rest of the world has missed. Believe me the world's press and TV (and dieters everywhere) would ALL be shouting from the roof tops if those weight loss patches, pills and potions worked. It's unlikely you'd be the first to know because the manufacturers would be telling the media about it first and not just sending you a letter out of the blue.

If something sounds too good to be true - it probably is. If something requires you to make no changes whatsoever other than to take a diet pill or stick a patch on your thigh then you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be no visible changes in your body size as a result either.

I know it's tempting, when you've struggled to lose weight for a long time, to want to believe any promise of a miracle that comes along. But please don't - you're just letting yourself in for disappointment and heartache that way. And you're only delaying the start of the real process of losing weight - the day when you finally realise you can only do this by sensible and consistent changes in your eating and exercise habits.

Diet scams like the patches and pills on offer everywhere will only ever reduce the contents of your bank account and never the size of your thighs. It's your choice whether you spend you money on healthy food and running shoes or on miracle cures that will never work but I know where I'd spend my hard-earned cash.

Copyright 2005, Janice Elizabeth Small