The Truth About Low Calorie-Low Fat Diets

So many people believe that, to lose weight fast, all you have to do is hardly eat anything.

Dead simple. And, yes, you certainly will drop pounds if you skip breakfast, have soup and lettuce for lunch, and a bit of chicken with 3 carrots for dinner every night. The scales will show a dramatic drop, especially in the first week. And you'll probably feel dramatically awful!

Here are some of the side effects of drastically cutting calories:-

• You'll think about food all the time
• You'll feel weak and shaky
• You'll be irritable and weepy -Your nerves will be on edge
• You won't be sleeping very well
• You may start catching colds and feeling ill But you soldier on.

You are determined to lose weight. And you console yourself, that once you get to your target weight, everything will be All Right - life will be wonderful and the sun will always shine; you'll be slim, full of energy and feel 10 years younger. Right? Wrong.

Low Calorie/Low Fat diets are harmful to your health. Your body is not designed to lose a lot of weight over a short period, and starving yourself - which is what it is - has some pretty awful consequences and ultimately, WILL NOT give you the results you so desperately crave. Just the opposite in fact. Look at it this way:-

• You are programmed by Nature to eat enough to survive. Trying to override this fundamental programming is not wise. Mother Nature will not be mocked!
• You feel shaky, nervy and weak because your blood glucose levels are too low - every single one of your body's functions, from figuring out a crossword clue to scratching your nose, needs fuel. Your body runs on glucose - and all food is broken down into glucose. Basically there's not enough fuel in your tank.
• Your body needs around 1000 calories a day just to keep your brain and internal organs working. Take in fewer calories than that on a regular basis and - well, you do the math.
• Out of a 3lb weekly weight loss, nearly half isn't fat. It's muscle and water. When you don't eat enough, your body starts to break down muscle tissue for fuel. Your body starts eating itself!
• Because you are losing muscle, your metabolism slows down - and the slower the "motor" runs, the fewer calories you use to function. Conversely, the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn even when you're just sitting watching TV.
• When you're not eating enough, your body becomes super-efficient at storing fat, because fat will keep you alive in the long run - your body doesn't realise that the low cal diet is self-inflicted. Your body thinks there is a famine!

As a result of all this, you may indeed reach your target weight. But you won't feel too good, and your body will be saggy as most of your muscle has gone - it is toned muscle that gives you a sleek shape. And the minute you go back - thankfully - to eating normally again, your fat storage system swings into overdrive and starts cramming every scrap of fat into stores in preparation for the next "Famine". Not only that, because you have much less muscle than before (your body ate it, remember), you use fewer calories to function - more go into fat storage than before. So not only do you put the weight back on a lot more easily than you lost it, but you put on more - and it's all Fat.

So there you have the facts. Drastic dieting has drastic results - and not the ones you wanted! The only way to lose weight and keep it off is to eat healthily, exercise regularly, cut down on processed, pre-prepared and junk food and accept that weight loss will be slow and steady. But you'll feel good.

I hold qualifications in Personal Training, Nutrition and Pilates and I believe that a healthy lifestyle is a balance of exercise, sensible eating and some relaxation - Work, Rest and Play! If you would like to learn how to fit all these into a hectic schedule, please visit my website Natural Weight Loss

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