People come in all shapes and sizes. What is considered healthy to one isn’t always the same case for others. This is the same with diets.

From eDiets to Weight Watchers to Jenny Craig, all diets guarantee results, but do they really work? No statistic can prove that it is going to work for you because everyone is different.

Your genetics and lifestyle is not going to be the same as the person sitting next to you. These diets might work for you, but if you do not change your lifestyle they won’t.

A college student usually doesn’t have time to eat right when they’re running from class to class and then to work.

Try carrying fruit, like apples, in your backpack and eat them between classes. Eating healthy is a great start.

Every food product has a nutritional facts table. Use it. Everyone can eat right. You just need the will to do it.

On the other hand, some do not have the patience for dieting and resort to miracle pills or surgery. Pills and surgery are misleading. They are not quick fixes.

Pills can sometimes hurt you instead of help you. Weight loss pills containing ephedrine, mainly found in herbal supplements, can cause heart attacks and strokes.

Many diet pills can carry addictive qualities as well. They can also cause insomnia, high blood pressure, fatigue, congestive heart failure, headaches, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, dizziness, hair loss, blurred vision, fever, urinary tract problems, and many other negative side-effects.

Overdoses can cause tremors, hallucinations, heart attack and convulsions.

According to the Mayo Clinic website, gastric bypass surgery is considered the safest weight loss surgery available. The surgeon creates a small pouch at the top of the stomach and small intestine and is sealed off from the rest of the stomach. The pouch is about the size of a walnut.

Food enters directly into the second half of the small intestines, limiting calorie absorption.

If you do choose this surgery, you must be careful. The first few days after surgery you are not able to eat while the stomach is healing.

In the first six months after surgery, small meal portions are recommended. Eating too much or too fast may cause vomiting or intense pain under your breastbone.

However, surgery does not stop there. After this great of a procedure, another surgery will have to take place to remove the excess skin.

To those who think that surgery is a quick fix, it’s not. It may take several surgeries to get what you are looking for.

What people need to do if they feel they are unhealthy is consult a nutritionist and exercise. If the condition is life threatening, a surgery might be best but consulting your doctor is the only way to find out if that is your best or only option.

No matter diets or surgery, your lifestyle must change. Eating healthy and exercising is your only solution to achieving the results you want.

Hillary Geiger can be reached at [email protected]