If you were to build the house of Super Supplements & Fitness - nutrition, exercise, and motivation would make up the foundation; they would also make up the framing, the walls, the roof and pretty much the whole house.

Supplements would then maybe be the satellite dish, or perhaps the little gnomes in your garden - not real worthwhile without the house there. So why would you treat supplements as a precursor to weight loss and write off nutrition and exercise as expendable activities. Are you one of these serial supplement users? Do you subscribe to the "abc" product plan or the "xyz" metabolism makeover? If that's you - Stop! Please!

There are new diet pills and gimmicks hot off the press every month, just waiting for their prey - the desperate dieter wishing for that next "breakthrough" product. Don't be that victim. The confusion from the diet and weight loss industries mixed with a dose of media muddle would have you believe that Super Supplements are indeed needed for weight loss, and it's your fault if these "worthwhile" products don't work for you. Many of these hocus-pocus-like solutions tout their creams, potions, wonder pills or gadgets as a no-effort and no-exercise-required approach to fitness - the fat is going to just melt off.

Let's get this straight; fat does not melt off - unless you use a strategy involving a blowtorch. But I don't recommend that. Even the manufacturers stress that their products should be used along with proper nutrition and exercise. If you ever need some good entertainment - watch a late night infomercial for a diet product. Look at the before and after pictures they show. If you look carefully you'll often see in tiny print - the size of a toenail clipping - "results achieved along with proper diet and exercise".

Wow! That is a real breakthrough product. Ever heard of the placebo effect? Often these products are just a good excuse to eat right and exercise - which then produces the desired effect of weight loss.

Yes, there are a few helpful supplements out there. But again, they are not "needed". Even the useful Super Supplements can be used as a crutch, delaying the onset of proper health and exercise. What you eat and how much physical activity you get will make up 95% or more of the results you achieve.

So why would you try to maximize the 5% when you can get the most effect from just working out and eating right. And when you do include supplements in your diet, be sure they are legitimate and proven products with research to support their claims. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) publishes an excellent report on how to avoid supplement scams - it's called "The Red Flag Report" - with a fitting subtitle, "I lost $350 in two weeks. Ask me how!" It gives a list of the top 7 red flags to watch out for when buying diet products and exercise equipment. Here they are:

A supplement or product is too good to be true if it says the product will:

Cause weight loss of two pounds or more a week for a month or more without dieting or exercise

Cause substantial weight loss no matter what or how much the consumer eats

Cause permanent weight loss (even when the consumer stops using product)

Block the absorption of fat or calories to enable consumers to lose substantial weight

Safely enable consumers to lose more than three pounds per week for more than four weeks

Cause substantial weight loss for all users

Cause substantial weight loss by wearing it on the body or rubbing it into the skin

You can download the full supplements report with some more detail about each of these 7 red flags along with examples of products that would violate each of them. Download the report here: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/redflag.pdf

If you get just one thing out of this article I would really be pleased if you realize that you don't need any supplements to be successful with weight loss. You are empowered, you have the capability, you have all you need to do this, without any gimmicks.