A real Diet takes time.

Over the past twenty years weight reducing diets have become very commercial and fashionable in the western culture. There are so many diets on the market now claiming loss of weight quickly, the variety of diet and the claims made are astonishing.

99% of new dieters either fail or give up before getting to their target weight, which should tell you something about these diets. Fasting diets are not the best choice for quick weight loss either, in fact, in some cases it is very dangerous to go on such diets. Just think about this for a second, it took a long time to become overweight and to accumulate all this excess body fat so there for it should take a while to shift this excess weight. Making sense?

So why do most of these fast weight reducing diets not work? The slowing of your metabolism is a start, the concept of dieting is not understood by your body. Dieting is actually recognised by the body as a sign of starvation and starts to protect its accumulated fat stores. Our metabolic rate (the rate at which calories are burned) automatically drops to save as much fat in the body until the starvation period is over, and thus making the excess weight extremely hard to shed, and worse still, the lowering of the metabolism can continue beyond the dieting period, resulting in the yo-yo effect. The yo-yo effect is when the dieter loses some weight only to rebound to a higher weight than when they started. Some crash dieting stories are true,  yes people have lost 10lb. or 4.5 kg in a week but what they have probably actually lost is fluid and/ or muscle tissue, not fat. Weight loss should be gradual so that the anti starvation trigger is not set in motion. There for restrained eating is not advised as it not only lowers the metabolic rate to save energy, it also sets up to take maximum advantage of any food sources it finds. Binge eating is the most likely end result. When confronted with enormous amounts of delicious food, which remember this person has been deprived of, the body will switch on the anti starvation trigger. The body’s intelligence assumes that this mentioned food may be its only calorie source for a while and will demand a binge! This is not due to lack of will power or gluttony but a built in tendency the body has, to binge after periods of starvation. It is for the same reason refraining from eating or skipping meals during the day is not advised as this will encourage over eating at the end of the day. Binging is not a moral failing; it is a natural biological/physiological response/consequence of stringent dieting.

So remember your diet should be planned carefully and properly for your own specifications consisting of fresh foods, the further you get from processed packaged food the closer you get to yourself.

Crash dieting, skimpy meals and skipping meals will not contribute to permanent weight loss!

If you really are serious about losing weight then maybe you should consider a whole lifestyle change, vegetarianism, veganism, Raw veganism or maybe just dropping the dairy or the red meat. Consider joining groups for support on your journey to a healthier lifestyle. The healthier whole lifestyle change will assure the excess unwanted weight will not return.  

Kyle Kendall.