Diets do NOT work!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Did you know that the most popular New Year’s resolutions is starting to exercise? This is followed by eating better. Losing weight and getting in shape has always been at the forefront of resolutions. If you were one of the majority that gained weight during the holidays, well it’s time to take action. But before you spend your valuable time, energy and money on the latest diet fad, let me tell you that Diets do NOT work.

Diets have almost a 100% failure rate.

A July 2007 UCLA study concluded that most efforts at calorie restriction result in only very short-term weight loss, and, could even ultimately lead to weight gain.

Diets are dangerous to your health.

Diets put a strain on your body. Cutting calories results in depression and low energy levels.

Diets slows down your Metabolism.

By cutting calories and skipping meals, your body can’t differentiate between deciding not to eat and real famine. Your body believes it is starving and slows down in order to maintain every critical calorie it has.

Diets create fat.

When your metabolism slows down, it is more like to store fat. Then, when you do eat, your body realizes it is now getting the food it needs to survive and stores it as fat.

Diets lead to eating disorders.

It is very easy to binge or overeat when you are on a diet. Most dieters become part of the chronic or Yo-Yo dieters. Others become obsessed with controlling what they choose to eat.

Diets are Negative thoughts.

People dieting are more critical of themselves and become more miserable eroding confidence and self-respect.

Diets result in muscle shrinkage.

Muscle helps burn fat. Diets creates water and muscle loss.

Any person that loses weight rapidly (faster than 1-2 pounds a week) is mainly due to water loss.

Diets are synonymous with Weight Loss.

Focus on FAT LOSS rather than weight loss. Rather than thinking of your weight, focus on your body composition. Your body fat percentage and hip to waist ratio are two of the best indicators of your lean body mass.

Losing fat is not easy. Your body wants to stay the way it is and requires hard work and willpower to succeed in a person’s quest to become leaner. There are no magic pills or fads that are effective in the long run. Models and Movie stars that endorse products are there to make money. Don’t waste your hard-earned money.

It is important to realize that weight is meaningless as an index of fitness or health. It is best to focus on FAT LOSS rather than weight loss.

Rather than Dieting do the following:

Focus on Calories in vs Calories out.

Exercise - Burning off the fat is much healthier and effective than starving the fat.

Nutrition - Proper nutrition is 60% of the effort in building a healthy strong body. Follow a properly balanced eating schedule. Eat 5 or 6 meals of fruits, vegetables and lean cuts of meat per day. Stay away from processed and fast foods.

If you’ve made losing weight your New Year’s resolution do NOT diet. Remember, the reason why we are so fat is because we eat improperly and exercise too little! Your ultimate goal should be to improve your energy levels, be free from illness, and achieve your personally desired body composition. ie: Body Fat (lean body mass) and Body Fat distribution (waist circumference). So stop focusing on “losing weight”. Scales belong on a fish!

I hope you do not fall in the Diet Trap and become part of the yo-yo phenomenon. Besides, you can’t stay on a diet forever. It is important to find a lifestyle that works for you. The best results come from a long-term strategy involving permanent change in both eating and activity habits.