| Weight Management Keeping the weight off |
Why Diets Don't Work The Atkins diet, the Zone diet, the Blood Type diet--we could go on and on. There are as many different ways to lose weight as there are people who want to lose it. And most of them will work in the short run. Some work because they take choice out of your hands. By telling you what and how much to eat, they limit the calories you eat. That's their magic, and that's why they work temporarily. All fad and crash diets offer some claim as to why their diet works: more protein, less protein, all the bacon you want, all the cabbage you want. But there's really just one reason why they work: they're low-calorie diets in disguise. But why do the people promoting these diets conceal the real reason why they work and make preposterous, unsubstantiated claims instead? There are two reasons: We may not believe that bacon has magical weight-loss powers, but many of us still search for that one diet that will help us lose weight easily, quickly and permanently. Also, if promoters revealed the real reason their diet works (because it's starving you), it may spend a few less weeks on the bestseller list. So what happens to your body when you crash diet? Well, in the beginning the needle on the scale is moving, so everything seems okay. Sure, you're tired, cranky and don't have enough energy to run up the stairs (forget working out), but as long as the pounds are dropping, you can endure it. There's the hope that maybe this time you'll do it--lose the weight and keep it off. The first five pounds or so that you lose on crash or fad diets is water, not fat. Take high-protein diets: Your body is forced to excrete water when it relies on protein and fats (from the diet and your body) for energy. The kidneys use water from your tissues and body fluids to wash out the toxic waste products from incompletely burned fats and unused nitrogen from protein. Most people who've tried one of these diets regain the weight--and then some--as soon as they try to eat normally. And when it comes to falling off the diet, it's not a matter of willpower, it's a matter of survival. Considering the amount and type of food you can eat in most fad diets, it's a good thing that few people can stick to them for long. Every fad diet is nutritionally unbalanced in one way or another, and some are downright dangerous (even if followed by healthy people for a short amount of time). Mother Nature wants us to crave carbohydrates for a good reason--it's our body's primary energy source. Lose your main source of fuel and you can't think or move easily. We may not need to hunt and gather food anymore, but most of do need to function at home and work Without a healthy amount of carbs in your diet, you won't be able to do either. If you do the math, it's impossible to lose as much weight as most crash and fad diets promise. Even if you went on a total fast, you can't lose 10 pounds of fat in 10 days. And you certainly don't want to lose muscle and water. The minute you drink water that you've lost, you regain the weight. Losing muscle is even worse. When you lose muscle your metabolism slows down. Why? Muscle mass is your body's furnace--the more muscle you have, the more calories your body burns, whether you're sitting on a couch or working out in the gym. On crash diets, the body will go to muscle mass for nutrients before fat tissue. So even though you're eating less food, your body is burning fewer calories because it has less muscle to burn calories. And people wonder why they regain weight so quickly after dieting? To prove you can't lose 10 pounds in 10 days, let's go back to the math for a moment. A pound of body fat represents 3,500 calories. To lose one pound of fat, you must burn 3,500 more calories than you eat. For example, if you weigh 170 pounds and are a moderately active person, you burn 2,500 a day. If your diet contains only 1,500 calories, you'd have an energy deficit of 1,000 calories a day. In a week's time that would add up to a 7,000-calorie deficit, or two pounds of real fat. In ten days, the accumulated deficit would represent nearly three pounds of lost body fat. Even if you ate nothing at all for 10 days and maintained your usual level of activity, your caloric deficit would add up to 25,000 calories (2,500 calories a day times 10). At 3,500 calories per pound of fat, that's still only seven pounds of lost fat. So if you want to lose fat, and that's all you should want to lose, the loss must be gradual--from one to two pounds per week. Reversing the Damage Now that you have the lowdown on fad diets, you can see that you weren't a dieting failure; those diets failed you. Most people who try crash or fad diets regain the weight they lost--and more--once they return to their original eating habits. The important thing to learn is that it's never too late to get fit. It may be hard to think about trying to lose weight again because you've been frustrated by your last attempt. There's a good reason for feeling that way. Diets are exhausting--they take time, effort and often they don't provide enough calories for sustained energy. When you're on a diet, your focus is deprivation. All you can think about is the food you can't have. So what happens? Of course you become obsessed. It's no wonder we regain weight time and time again. It's practically instinctual to respond to food deprivation by overeating. Make a fresh start. If you lose weight in a healthy way you won't feel starved or deprived, cranky, tired or depressed. Evaluating Weight-Loss Plans What's the best diet? Sorry, there's no right answer to that question. But if you want to know what's the best diet for you, that's a very different matter. We all have different food preferences and lifestyles. Maybe eating cabbage all day sounds yummy to you. Or you hate counting calories and would rather have someone do it for you. Think bacon should be included at every meal? If you fit into any of these categories--and lots more--there's a diet out there for you. But you need to make the call on what's the best diet for you. I'll give you the tools to help you choose. First, check out the general guidelines for choosing a weight-loss plan. Though most commercial weight-loss programs can work, you want to be sure that the pounds come off safely. And stay off. The only way a program can help you lose weight safely and effectively is if you decrease the amount of calories you eat and increase the calories you burn. Simple. Here's what you want to look for when choosing a healthy weight-loss program: 1. Safety first: The diet should be safe and include all of the Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs) for vitamins, minerals, and protein. 2. Slow and steady: The program should encourage a slow, steady weight loss. Expect to lose only about a pound a week after the first week or two. With many calorie-restricted diets, there is an initial rapid weight loss during the first to second weeks, but this loss is largely fluid. Remember, once you return to a normal-calorie diet, you'll regain the initial water loss pronto. Easy off, easy on. 3. Time for a check-up: Plan to lose more than 15 to 20 pounds? Have any health problems? Take medication on a regular basis? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then it's time to pay your doctor a visit. A doctor will assess your general health and medical conditions that might be affected by dieting and weight loss. Also, a physician should be able to advise you on the need for weight loss, the appropriateness of the weight-loss program and a sensible goal of weight loss for you. 4. Keeping it off: Most people have successfully lost weight., but most people haven't kept it off. That's the really hard part. Your program should include plans for weight maintenance after the weight-loss phase is over. What's the point of working hard to lose weight only to regain it? Weight maintenance is the most difficult part of controlling weight and is not a part of every weight-loss program. The program you choose should help you permanently change eating, exercise and lifestyle habits that may have contributed to weight gain in the past. 5. Get it in writing: A commercial weight-loss program should provide you with a detailed statement of fees--including the costs of additional items such as supplements, prepackaged food costs, etc. 6. Look down the road: To be safe and effective, a weight-loss program must include a long-term approach or else you're probably wasting time, money and effort. People who are overweight or obese have a greater chance of developing high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol or other lipid disorders, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and certain cancers. Weight loss not only helps to control these diseases but may also prevent their development. For a detailed diet plan specifically for you please call Fred a 321-276-4084 or email at faithfullyfitt@hotmail.com |
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