Why Fad Diets Don't Work

By Jean Stevens:

We have all seen at least or heard of at least one fad diet in our attempt to lose weight, and most of us have tried a fad diet at one time or another. Some specify only eating specific foods or types of foods, while others focus on the foods which should be eaten together. The grapefruit diet is one of these fads, and the premise is that grapefruit is a great weight loss food, which is true. You can not just eat grapefruit though, or your body will go into starvation mode and drastically cut the number of calories burned, so they have made a pill which has grapefruit enzymes and other ingredients included. This diet will not work as long as you continue with your normal lifestyle and eating habits, and once the diet is stopped you will end up gaining even more weight than when you started dieting in the first place.

Exercise must be added to the equation for a diet to be effective and result in weight loss. Fad diets are intended to be a quick solution to a lifetime problem, and quick fixes will not work with weight loss. Fad diets focus on what you are eating, and this is just one part of the weight loss equation. These diets contain no exercise or lifestyle changes, and because of this they are destined to fail before you even start them.

Weight loss consists of several things, and all of these must be considered for weight loss to be permanent. For a weight loss plan to be effective, the calories consumed must be lower than the calories burned. It is really this simple. If you are eating two thousand calories a day but your body is using four thousand calories a day, don't we all wish, then weight loss will occur. Burning calories is done by exercise and physical activity, because these will help increase your metabolism and make it much more efficient.

One of the biggest causes of failure for fad diets is your metabolism. This is your body's furnace, and the temperature that your metabolism is set at will determine how fast or slow your body consumes calories. If food is restricted to a small amount or to just certain types of food, your body will thing that a famine is at hand and become much more efficient at conserving calories. This is the last thing you want if you are trying to lose weight, because your body is trying to maintain your weight instead by burning fewer calories.

Instead of following some fad diet, which will leave you weighing more in six months than you do now, you must make lifestyle and eating habit changes to be successful at losing weight. Go for a brisk walk instead of watching television. Exercise does not have to be boring. Play tennis, go for a nature hike, swim, go for a bike ride, but do something that gets you moving and that you enjoy. Aerobic exercise done three times a week will make your metabolism work much better, burning more calories even while you are sleeping and sitting still.

By moving more and getting more exercise you are following one part of the equation. The other part is watching what you eat and why you eat it. Avoid eating when you are bored or upset, or for other emotional needs. Only eat when you are actually hungry. Choose fresh fruits and vegetables, lean protein sources, and whole wheat breads and pastas. This will allow you to eat more food and never go hungry, yet still consume fewer calories each day.