Login:

Search blogs:

---

Fad dieting - the truth

Posted: 01/09/2009 at 11:21pm by Rich Leigh, founder of Fat Free Fitness

Being a weight loss agency, you'd expect us to have an opinion about yo-yo dieting, fad dieting or whatever other moniker the glossies want it to be known as this week... and you'd be right.


To put it very simply, we've never known a fad dieter who has succeeded in keeping weight off. There are vaguely scientific reasons for why this is, which we'll paraphrase in a moment, but otherwise, the point is that anybody who chooses to lose weight by depriving themselves of certain food has already set themselves up for a failure. The term 'diet' is seemingly synonymous with 'deprivation'.

A quick glance at the glossy magazine stand in any shop will show you what the press feels sells - a myriad of sex, body image stories and real life features.

It's the body image stories, of course, that are most heavily leaned on, detailing the forever up-and-down weights of celebrities, from the ultra-famous to the 'stars' of reality TV. These articles portray weight loss as something you can do with your eyes closed. Celebrities align themselves with impossibly unhealthy diets, cutting out whole food groups in a bid to keep themselves in the pages of the very magazines they often claim ruin their private lives. We as the general public buy into it. If you want to lose weight, stop eating carbs. If you want to drop a size or two, drink macrobiotic yoghurt every meal for 7 days.

If these diets worked, there'd be no need for a new one every issue, and what the media forgets to mention are the side effects and chances of keeping the weight off. Many and little, I'm afraid to say.

I'll quickly detail what happens when you deprive yourself of a food group, and why you're unlikely to keep the weight off.

When you cut the amount of calories you eat, as long as you are eating fewer than the amount of calories you expend (remembering a calorie is a measurement of energy), you will lose weight.

Let's take Woman A for example. She's just a few pounds overweight, likes to keep up with the world of celebrity, works an average week and has very little time or inclination to exercise.

She wants to lose weight. However she doesn't want to exercise because first of all, she doesn't have time. Secondly, she doesn't think she needs to. And last of all, she actually doesn't like to do exercise anyway! It therefore makes sense to 'diet', because every body else does and it's the only other option. Woman A heard great things about cutting carbohydrates (carbs are our primary source of energy, once converted into glycogen) and decides this is the way forward. Carbs are in starchy foods, such as bread, pasta and potatoes, as well as all the foods Woman A enjoys, such as chocolate, crisps and the odd Office Cake.

Still, depriving herself of these foods is worth it, if she can lose weight in the process. Decision made.

Woman A loses weight in the first few days to a week, whilst feeling hungrier. She tells her friends and colleagues about her weight loss, which ensures the cyclical 'diets really work' statement never ends.

Woman A doesn't realise that her weight loss is also beginning to be down to muscle wastage. Muscle mass is important to our metabolism, as the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn, even at rest (due to muscle needing energy to function). By depriving herself, Woman A is not only not eating the food she likes, therefore slowly learning to resent the 'diet' and weight loss as a whole, but she is also lowering her metabolism as her weight loss includes muscle wastage.

Woman A will feel tired, irritable and in likeliness, angry at people who seemingly eat everything they want, without putting on a pound.

Woman A will inevitably give in to eating the foods she previously enjoyed, telling herself she dieted for long enough and deserves the treat. This will then lead to casting off the diet, which will, from experience, lead to weight gain. Except this time, her metabolism is even lower than it was in the first place, meaning that she's burning fewer calories than she was before she went on the diet in the first place.

The difference is exercise. It really is. And it shouldn't be a secret. Celebrities can just about get away with it, as they often use personal trainers such as us to keep themselves active. But people like Woman A aren't aware, through no fault of their own, that restricting certain food types, such as carbohydrates or fat can have significant health effects, some of which can lead to liver damage.

Replacing unhealthy choices with healthier ones (bag of crisps for a banana, coke for a water for instance) and keeping meals balanced as opposed to full of protein/lacking in carbs can make or break weight loss attempts. Any exercise will be beneficial too, and we'd definitely recommend resistance training to help increase metabolism!

If you have any questions about diet, weight loss and fitness, please feel free to ask in the comments or by email, we'd be happy to help. If you do decide to lose weight, we wish you the best of luck.

We will be holding regular weight loss Q&As online through Facebook which we'll detail in the blog, so please check back regularly to find out when these are happening.

Add Comment View Comments

Comments

---

Thanks for the dieting pictures and forum. http://www.theosoftindia.com

Posted by: THEOSOFT, 15/03/2010 at 11:51am

---

Thanks for the details and pictures

Posted by: dubai bus , 11/06/2010 at 01:46pm

---

Thanks For Your Informations

Posted by: dubai tours package , 13/06/2010 at 07:34pm

---

Thanks For Your Informations

Posted by: dubai tours package , 13/06/2010 at 07:34pm

---

Thank you for the tips and information.

Posted by: Spa Institute, 30/06/2010 at 11:54am

---

Thank you for the tips and information.

Posted by: Spa Institute, 30/06/2010 at 12:01pm

---

Every body acknowledges that humen's life is not very cheap, but some people require money for different stuff and not every person earns big sums money. Hence to get some credit loans or financial loan will be a proper way out.

Posted by: EulaBENJAMIN33, 09/07/2010 at 02:25am

---

Thank you for the tips and information.

Posted by: dubai yacht, 14/07/2010 at 01:51pm

---

I do opine that you have to be the best thought’ referring to this good topic or about written essays accomplisher. And you should be employed by the essay writing service to create such of cool custom written essay.

Posted by: essay writer, 05/08/2010 at 10:04pm

---

Add a Comment

Name: *
Email: *
Website:
Message: *
Enter the security code: *

Newsletter Signup

Sign Up For Free Tips & Advice

Enter your e-mail address:

Top 5 Blogs

Guest post - Why do we overeat? Includes tips on how to beat it!

Guest post: Male fitness cover-model David White gives his diet alternatives!

Rich gives guest interview to online fitness magazine finalfitness.co.uk

Real life story - How Fitness Changed My Life

Good news: a big bum = healthy! Health, Diet and Fitness Today - 12/01/10

Have you read these?

The truth is: sometimes even trainers don’t want to keep fit

Would you tell your partner if they put on weight?

Fat Free Fitness gets some really nice weight loss coverage online...

Brits failing to hit 5 a day target

Guest post - Why do we overeat? Includes tips on how to beat it!

Fat Free Fitness Weight Loss