Diets Don't Work ... Period

From ExpertMagazine.com

Health/Fitness/Nutrition
Diets Don't Work ... Period
By Jim Coughlin
May 17, 2007 - 11:46:00 AM

I'm sure you've heard this many times, but if the Diet Companies are still making millions, you need to hear it again.

DIETS DON'T WORK! And hopefully after reading this you'll understand WHY.

So, what is a diet?

A diet is a temporary meal plan in which an individual restricts their calories for short period of time. During this time they will lose weight right away. But like the diet itself, the weight loss is temporary.

Since the numbers on the scale say that they have lost weight, people often think that "their diet" must be working. So they continue onward for the next couple weeks and sure enough more pounds are eventually lost.

And then out of nowhere, their weight loss comes to a complete stop...

"Why is this happening?" "I'm only eating 1000 calories per day?" "Something's wrong."

What's wrong is your body is starving itself and is going through its survival defense mechanism. This is the same mechanism that your body has used for the past 2,000 years when humans would sometimes go days or weeks without food because they had to kill or grow it.

The thing is, your body doesn't know the difference between starvation or a diet. Since you are depriving your body of the calories it needs, the body is saying "Well, looks like this is all the food were gonna get for now...we should conserve as much energy as possible."

This is exactly why diets always fail.

When weight loss stops, a person becomes frustrated and begins to eat the way they did BEFORE the diet. But what the person fails to realize, is that they now have lost a significant amount of MUSCLE and their metabolism is working at a SLOWER efficiency.

Their bodies can't burn calories as it once did, so they gain all their weight back plus they increase their body fat because of the loss of muscle.

You have to realize that every time you go on a diet you will ALWAYS lose muscle. Yes, for a short period of time you will lose some weight, but is it really worth it?

Your goal should always be fat loss and that the weight you lose is from fat. Going on a diet does just the opposite, it helps you GAIN FAT.

So, here are some guidelines to follow that do not involve dieting or depriving yourself of calories.

1. Understand that your eating habits should be for LIFE and that developing a "habit" mindset instead of a "diet" mindset is the way to go.

2. Keep your muscle by eating frequently and never skip meals.

3. Use exercise to burn fat rather than diets to starve fat.

4. Make a realistic goal to lose 1-2 pounds per week and be patient.

Well, I hope this gives you a good idea why diets don't work. Be smart and avoid them like the plague.

Jim Coughlin is a personal trainer and the owner of Coughlin Fitness & Results, a nationwide personal training company. He is also the author of Home Fitness Secrets to Success, a helpful guide to successful in-home fitness in addition to many other popular fitness articles. Jim is very passionate at motivating people to empower themselves to live a healthy lifestyle through consistent exercise and proper nutrition. He has free weekly success tips which you are welcome to subscribe to on his website >http://www.fitnessandresults.com