Everyone needs support sometimes and also enjoys the advice of supposed health experts. After all, they’ve studied nutrition and/or human physiology and have years of experience consulting others.

Too often, though, led by desperation, we rely too much on programs others boost. If you have a lot of weight to lose, it can be exhausting. So it’s understandable to want to gather as many techniques, programs and products that you can find to help.

But as I’ve said here before, there is no shortcut to weight loss and good health. It takes time to change a lifestyle and become consistently active.

Sadly, everyone in the health and fitness industry is not in it to improve your condition. They want to make money — lots of it. Their fortune can easily become your misfortune, as you run in circles trying to figure out why that new fad diet didn’t work for you.

We’ve learned this from the droves of lawsuits and fraud cases. For example, Kevin Trudeau was sentenced to jail last fall for hawking profitable, yet misleading, books such as “The Weight Loss Cure ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About.”

Often, we become enthralled in the newest exercise program and books or the latest “super food.” There also are health blogs and television shows that promise to breakdown the real reason you’re not losing weight or show you how to shed it forever. Usually, there’s no harm, but what works for one may not work for another.

Television personality and well-known physician Dr. Mehmet Oz was in the hot seat recently when senators called him out for promoting bogus weight loss products. Oz has for years touted certain products and fad diets on his show — many of which seem to go against the messages espoused by many doctors and dietitians today.

Much like the influence of Oprah Winfrey, who introduced him to the world, Oz has gained a following who trust that what he says has been proven. While his show has been educational at times, his questionable support of suspect products hurts his credibility.

In the end, we have to put the fate of our bodies in our own hands. Trust yourself. Your body is yours alone and no one knows it better than you. You know when something is off, or which tailored program best suits your lifestyle.

My common sense approach (for what it’s worth) is to: Do your own research, see a doctor to make sure there aren’t issues that would hinder weight loss and stay active.