Why do people think?

That weight loss is a quick thing and that they'll get 6 packs from doing 500 crunches a day? Diet and exercise are the only ways to lose weight and you have to balance the 2 in order to do it. You can't do a fad diet and expect to keep the weight off long term, nor can you spot-reduce and just lose weight in one area. Weight loss is hard work, there is no "easy" way to do it, you have to work hard to lose it and the sooner people realize that, the better off they'll be. Cutting calories to less than 1200 per day isn't going to help when you end up in the hospital. The diet industry is getting rich off of people who are overweight and want an easy fix. There isn't one, so if you want to lose weight the healthy way and keep it off, get up and exercise, eat the right number of calories in the right portions, and you'll keep it off long term. I've lost 50 lbs without a gag, a fad, or a pill, and I've kept it off.