BY ERIN TOWNSEND

As the semester is coming to an end many students’ focus might switch from staying healthy to their increasing school work. With summer approaching, the hunt is on for the quickest way to shed those winter pounds and get swimsuit ready. Whether on TV, Pinterest or Instagram, everyone is advertising the latest bizarre trend diets that claim to be the best way to get a perfect summer body.

The new craze on Instagram is teatoxing. The companies advertising can’t seem to keep the teas on the shelf. Bootea is one of the Instagram teatoxes with 467,000 followers.

They advertise an all-natural health and weight-loss product, but don’t list the ingredients on the main shopping page. When the customer is able to locate the ingredients list the wholesome sounding ingredients might still trick them.

While the tea is sticking to it’s all natural claim, it’s important to know that ingredients like licorice root and dandelion root act as laxatives. Oolong tea and green tea extracts add caffeine, which on top of giving you energy, acts as appetite suppressants and diuretics to rid the body of more water.

With the diuretics and laxatives, the rapid weight loss the customer is seeing is not fat loss but only water weight and will return as soon as the tea stops severely dehydrating the body.

Diet pills are another popular quick fix scheme. Remember the Kardashian’s Quick Trim commercials? The Kardashians and Quick Trim were sued for using claims that were false, misleading and unsubstantiated. U.S. News and World Report broke down the ingredients to their three main products and what did they find? More laxatives.

Everyone remembers the Sensa TV commercials that showed girls in bikinis sprinkling the weight-loss system’s crystals on things like ice cream and talking about their weight loss. Government agencies have since fined the company $26.5 million for making false claims in these commercials.

“Diet pills are the biggest scam. Today you see all of these commercials saying you can sprinkle these pills, or take pills to lose weight without even dieting,” said sophomore John Feltman. “Diet pills aren’t even worth taking because in the long run eating healthy and staying active on a consistent basis is the ultimate key to losing weight.”

Junior Gabe Cohn has used weight loss programs like P90X and low carb dieting and has seen good results. Hedid mention that when his workouts were heavy he found that he needed to add back in more carbs to help with his energy levels.

“My brother tried a diet that he referred to as the ‘Military Diet,’ which heavily restricts your portions and overall food consumption,” said Cohn. “It is almost like fasting, which is a little over the top for me.”

Feltman decided last summer that he wanted to change his weight for good. Since last July Feltman went from 220 pounds to 158 pounds, losing a grand total of 62 pounds.

“I really hated the way I looked. I also felt like garbage all the time because of the food I would eat everyday. One day, I woke up and decided I was tired of looking like a slob so I got myself a gym membership, and went to the store to buy a bunch of healthier food options,” said Feltman. “I haven’t looked back since.”

Dieting properly doesn’t mean the results won’t be exciting or drastic. Switching out 64 oz. sodas, regular fast food trips and sugary snacks for healthier options like chicken, vegetables and protein bars like Feltman did can have a huge impact on physique.

“I lost 13 pounds my first two weeks, so I saw results happening before my eyes without even working out,” said Feltman. “All I drank was water, and I tried drinking a gallon of water a day. Grilled chicken, broccoli and sugar-free protein bars was what I ate mostly in the beginning.”

Seeing these quick changes motivated Feltman to take his transformation to the next level and start working out regularly. He started using his new gym membership five days a week, doing a half hour of cardio then an hour of weights.

“That has been my gym routine ever since. Low carbing, a lot of water, lean meats and the gym are the main reasons I was successful,” said Feltman.

Feltman is proof that working hard and seeing the results of that hard work can be more exciting than a week-long fad diet that makes you gain the weight back immediately after or has no effect at all.

“The biggest thing is staying committed, and if you put your mind to something anything can be accomplished,” said Feltman “Without a healthy diet you’re never going to see any results. Your body should be something taken very seriously. It’s something you’re stuck with forever whether you like it or not, you should keep yourself healthy because of that reason.”