Why Diets Simply Don’t Work.

Eating a healthy, balanced diet, even when trying to lose weight, is so important. Faddy diets that you read about, or hear of celebrities endorsing, are simply that - fads. Diets that can only be followed for a short period of time before, firstly YOU get bored of doing it and secondly, your body is screaming out for the energy and nutrients it is being deprived of. They are expensive, time consuming, and tedious. Why make being healthy more of a challenge than it needs to be?

When we skip meals, crash diet and eat less than a small bird would, we are simply starving our bodies. That leads to an instinctive reaction - we do not want to die and that is what our instinct tells us might happen. Our bodies believe that there is very little food around and in order to survive, we need to conserve every bit of energy that we ingest. We go into shut-down mode. Rather than shedding the fat, we are actually making more of it!  Our body’s reaction is to store every bit of energy possible and so we make more fat than before! We feel sluggish, tired, irritable and depressed, because we just cannot function properly. And on top of all that, we don’t lose any weight either!

Of course, you may have read stories of people shedding a lot of weight in the first few weeks of high intensity dieting, but you probably won’t have read the reason why. You also won’t have read that weeks later, once they have stopped the diet, they have probably put the weight back on - tenfold!

So why do some people lose a lot of weight very quickly? Well, this is simply water and muscle. Not fat. Not only is the fluid water but it also contains the much needed glucose, or energy, that our bodies need in order to function. Remember that feeling of being tired and sluggish all the time when dieting? There is your reason! Once the excess fluid has depleted, people stop losing the weight very quickly. Often, because these diets are unsustainable, dieters will find themselves putting weight on again. 

The body is starved and, whether we like it or not, it is always on the lookout for calories (energy). It soon becomes difficult to ignore that cake shop, or the juicy burger in front of us. Then, before we realise what is happening, we are tucking into a chocolate cake and ice cream. This is how binge eating starts and weight gain repeats itself.

Don't forget that it took a long time to put the weight on in the first place. There is no quick way to lose it.

So what is the answer to healthy, sustainable weight loss? A healthy lifestyle change. Eating food that you enjoy (so it is not a chore), that has all the nutrients your body craves and that you can sustain for the foreseeable future. In order to lose weight at a healthy rate, nutritionists recommend eating a minimum of 22 x your ideal weight in kilograms (10 x your ideal weight in pounds).  So, if you wanted to weigh 60kg, you would have a minimum of 1320 calories per day. Depending on how active you are, this number may be increased. It is a good starting point, though. 

The types of food you should eat can be discussed with your diet therapist. Nutritious, delicious and filling enough so that your body is not shocked into anti-starvation mode. It may take time but you are guaranteed positive results. Weight loss that is bound to stay off you. It is a long term lifestyle diet. You will feel happier, have more energy and look great. 

Remember, change comes from within. If you really want to lose weight and keep that weight off you, then you need to do it in a way that doesn’t inconvenience you. Your body will thank you for it!