IF DIETS DON’T WORK WHY IS MY FRIEND LOSING WEIGHT?
Diets* don’t work. We know it and yet they are ubiquitous. It seems that every other person you know is dieting and the book stores always have a new program on display. Let’s look at why they don’t work and offer an easier alternative.
Main Reason Diets Don’t Work: Going without enough food is like holding your breath under water. No matter how strong your resolve, eventually you will surface and breathe in all you can. It is a biological and physiological response, but a dieter blames themselves for not being stronger. They end up feeling like they have failed (again), and their self-esteem takes a beating when actually they have done a very difficult thing! We are designed to eat, and when you fight Mother Nature you will always lose!
Contributing Problem: About 1/4 of the weight you lose will be muscle. Maybe more if you aren’t exercising. To make matters worse your body goes into a survival mode so it needs less to sustain itself. All this means lowered metabolism which means need fewer calories to survive. Now it is harder than ever to keep the pounds off.
Contributing problem: Research shows that dieting too intensely or tracking every morsel too closely creates the perfect conditions for adding belly fat, not subtracting it. A new study tracked the tension levels of 121 female dieters for 3 weeks. Those who followed a strict low-cal eating plan — consisting of prepackaged meals totaling 1,200 calories a day — experienced a significant rise in their levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol tells your body to store more calories in your midsection.
Solution: Eat. I know it seems counter-intuitive but the solution is to eat and eat often. Skip counting calories. EAT SIX SMALL MEALS A DAY. Eat real food rather than meal replacement products. Balance carbohydrates like vegetables, fruits, beans and a little grain with a protein at every meal. Bill Phillips suggests your protein be the size of your palm and the carbs the size of your fist. Don’t worry too much about the fats as long as they are good fats but please skip the added sugar. Add short, high intensity workouts (HIIT) and make sure you are doing some muscle building workouts a few times a week. Maybe try our boot camps. They are the most time efficient way to get the best workout for fat loss.
Final Note: When you lose excess weight you reduce your chances of every health risk from the common cold to cancer, from hypertension to tension and depression. Doing it this way takes a little longer but you are never hungry and the loss is healthy and permanent and you don’t have to purchase any books or programs.
*In this context diet means restricting of calories usually according to some prescribed program and often promoting a product, book or program you must buy.