Fad Diet Does Not Mean Mean Fad Weight Loss

In America today, fad diets are a growing trend.  Celebrities act as the trendsetters.  Gossip magazines use celebrities and their diets as an advertising technique.  When you go to a store, take a look at the magazine stands.  Almost every issue that pertains to women contains a cover story having to do with another weight loss solution.  Truth is, most fad diets do not work.  They require a person to make extreme changes to their diet and lifestyle to lose weight quickly.

Fad diets can have devastating effects on one’s body.  First of all, most of them cause people to under consume calories.  Yes, you do need to limit your intake of calories when trying to lose weight.  But calories are required for energy and when you aren’t consuming enough, your metabolism slows down and your body cannot carry on its normal functions.  Every person’s calorie limit differs and you can easily calculate how many you need to consume to lose weight.

Most fad diets necessitate the need to decrease consumption of a nutrient such as carbohydrates and fat.  In order to maintain proper health, you need to ingest a proper amount of every nutrient daily.  Although overconsumption of carbohydrates and fat can lead to weight gain, they are needed to produce energy in the body.  Weight gain will not be a problem if the macronutrients are obtained from the right foods.  If any diet you hear of requires you to eliminate a nutrient, decide against it.

Another reason why extreme diets are unhealthy is because most of the pounds you lose at first are from water.  One will think that they lost weight quickly and will continue the diet, leading themselves to even more problems.  After a few weeks on a low calorie diet, your body goes into starvation mode.  The basal metabolic rate, which is the rate at which the body burns calories, decreases.  Your muscle mass will decrease because your body steals energy from them since it is not getting enough from food.  The smaller your muscle mass, the fewer calories you burn.  It is harder to gain back muscle than it is to gain back water and fat because you have to work harder for it, so think about that next time you consider going on a fad diet.

Most individuals who use fad diets for weight loss are “yo-yo” dieters, meaning that they go on a diet for a week, stop for another, and try another diet the next week.  This causes their weight to fluctuate, sometimes at extreme levels.  Over time, the body loses its ability to burn fat efficiently so the person will eventually gain more weight when they are not on the diets.

It is likely that people who partake in fad diets fail.  This is because many of them basically cause a person to eat the same thing over and over again or deprive themselves of food that their body needs.  Since they usually require very low calorie intakes, fad dieters gain their weight right back when they go back to eating normally.

If you wish to lose weight, do it healthfully.  Make it a “in with the new and out with the old” process by eliminating self-defeating behavior as well as considering the use of a body cleansing/organ detoxification product.  Don’t listen to the media—usually they are just trying to sell products when they advertise weight loss solutions.  Lose weight gradually because it will be easier on your body and you will be likely to keep it off in the long run.  Be sure to follow a balanced, nutritious diet that consists of a variety of foods.  Exercise regularly and do not be afraid of gaining muscle weight.  The larger your muscle mass, the more calories you burn.  If you wish to try out a fad diet, be cautious and stop if you begin to feel the negative effects on your body.

 

Brianna Elliott is a dietetics major, and attends UW-Stout in Menomonie, WI.  She is a regular contributor at ProbioticSmart.com and PSCLife.com – leading health and nutrition websites.