Every year it seems as if there is a new diet on the market that is guaranteed to help you lose weight more quickly and easily than ever before. Many women who have struggled for years to lose weight see fad diets as a sort of miracle cure. As the saying goes, however, things that seem too good to be true, often are just that. Unfortunately, while many fad diets can help you to lose some weight, quite often the loss is temporary and the harsh restrictions of the diet make it virtually impossible to keep with it indefinitely. Depending on fad diets as opposed to developing healthy eating habits can also lead to yo-yo dieting. Studies have shown that women who rapidly lose and regain weight on a consistent basis are setting themselves up for heart problems in the future. The best way to lose weight safely is to alter your diet to include moderate servings of healthy foods while exercising on a regular basis.

Problems Associated with Popular Fad Diets

The Protein Power Diet. Like many trendy low-carbohydrate diet plans, the Protein Power diet focuses on reducing the amount of carbohydrates you consume. While cutting down on carbs can be a healthy way to lose weight, many low-carb diets allow you to eat as much fat, including saturated fats you want. Too much saturated fat in your diet can lead to heart disease, some forms of cancer and high blood pressure. Additionally, this diet also is devised to help you burn extra fat. While this seems like a great thing, failing to hydrate adequately while burning fat can lead to problems with your kidneys.

Sugar Busters Diet. Another diet aimed at targeting the carbohydrates in your diet, the Sugar Busters diet promotes replacing bad carbs with the good carbs found in foods sold under the Sugar Busters label. The main problem with this diet is that it claims that caloric content is unimportant so long as you are eating the right foods. Also, there is no recommended exercise program to supplement this diet.

Liquid Replacement Diets. Diets which encourage you to replace two meals a day with a liquid substitute can be very effective in the short term. Unfortunately, once the weight is lost and you return to your normal eating habits, weight gain is frequently quick to follow. When choosing a diet, it is best to stick with something you can maintain on a long term basis.

Tips for Avoiding Fad Diets

The opportunity for losing weight can be a strong temptation, but knowing what to look for can help you to avoid fad diets and find a healthier way to lose weight.

Do not fall for any diet that promises a miracle weight loss. Healthy dieting takes time and effort.

Sensible diets are based on balance and moderation, be wary of any diet that allows unlimited quantities of any particular food group.

Take a good look at studies purporting to prove the effectiveness of the diet. Truthful reporting should come from more than a single source, and should not read like a sales pitch.

For every 100 dieters, one will maintain their weight loss after 5 years, which is the marker determining permanent weight loss to the medical community. Research indicates diets actually add pounds in the long run.

Why are diets so destructive to our weight and health? Here are some of the reasons.

1. Severe food restriction causes real hunger.

It’s a fact that most diets last less than 72 hours. Hunger is a basic human urge. Man continues to survive (and has for thousands of years) because of the ability to cope with famine and scarcity of food. Hunger has been the powerful motivator for that survival.

2. A diet is an artificial plan which is different from your lifestyle.

Your new diet book has pages and pages of special recipes but you don’t like to cook. Your diet says you must prepare all your food, but your job requires you to entertain clients. Only you can set the boundaries around eating and make them work within your lifestyle.

3. A diet is a temporary solution to a permanent problem.

The diet industry makes billions (yes! over $42 billion a year) by convincing people to follow a diet for a few weeks or months to solve lifelong problems of emotional eating, eating for the wrong reasons or eating food that is nutrition-less. Once a diet ends, the weight comes back because the problems and behaviors are still there. Maybe you squeezed yourself into the bridesmaid’s dress in time for the wedding, but you still have the rest of your life ahead of you.

A first step toward success is to accept that there is no free ride. If you lose weight on a strict diet, you will always pay for it later.

4. A diet doesn’t take into account your likes and dislikes.

If your diet prescribes cabbage soup and you don’t like cabbage, you are in real trouble. Or perhaps it limits you to high protein foods but your body doesn’t digest protein easily. Should you really eat in an artificial way that causes you pain and suffering?

No.

Look at the big picture and make the choices that support your goals. Following someone else’s rules can also put you at risk for new health problems that you don’t need.

5. A one-size-fits-all diet cannot possibly be useful to everyone.

You are unique. Different people need different amounts of protein, carbohydrates and fat to feel and perform at their best. No diet can guarantee that you will feel good while following it; no dietician or nutritionist can figure out what makes you feel energetic and balanced. Only you can determine what pattern of food intake keeps you feeling great.

6. Cravings are real.

The body produces cravings for a reason. There are real, productive cravings for things your body needs (like water), and there are self-defeating cravings that come from psychological causes. It’s not hard to train yourself to recognize the differences and act accordingly. A little moderation goes a long way.

7. Diets set up feelings of deprivation and punishment.

The psychological aspects of dieting can be devastating. Diets are often used as self-torture, to “validate” deep-rooted negative feelings or chip away at your sense of worth. Remember, it’s the diet that fails, not you.

8. Dieting puts the emphasis only on food.

A 1995 Baylor University study followed three groups of participants who wanted to lose weight over a two-year period: (1) the Diet Only group; (2) the Diet/Exercise group; and (3) the Exercise Only group. After 3 months, the Diet Only and Diet/Exercise groups had lost more than the Exercise Only group. The Exercise Only group showed a smaller loss of 4-8 pounds.

At the 12-month mark, the Diet Alone and Diet/Exercise groups again had lost more total weight than the Exercise Only group BUT they had gained back some weight from their 3-month mark. (In simple terms, they lost all the weight they were going to lose very quickly, in 3 months, and were now regaining the lost weight weight.)

At the 2-year mark, the Diet Only and Diet/Exercise groups were back at their original weight or MORE. The Exercise Only group was still losing weight. It’s a variation on the Tortoise and the Hare. A good question might be, “Where do I want to be in two years?”

Putting the emphasis on food allows us to believe food is the issue and that, if we change food, we’ll achieve permanent weight loss. This simply isn’t true. Changing our behaviors with food is the key.

9. Dieting promotes weight loss, not fat loss.

The number on your scale may be going down with a severely restricted eating plan, but it is only a temporary change of the non-fat elements of your body (water, muscle, interstitial and organ tissue, and even blood volume). The real issue: Do you want lower the number on the scale or permanently burn fat?

Long-term health lies in fat loss, which can only occur at 1/2 to 2 pounds per week. This is why quick weight loss is always followed by quick weight gain.

10. Dieting leads to new problems or compounds old ones.

If you are concerned with your weight and health, you don’t need new problems. Many popular diets cause fatigue, low energy, loss of sleep, depression, stress and erratic mood swings. Who needs that, especially when the dieting effort doesn’t solve the weight issue in a permanent way?

Your best indicator that you are eating well is how you feel. Your best approach to weight loss is an individual one that takes your preferences, lifestyle, needs and attitudes into consideration.

Be kind to your body. It’s the only one you’ll ever have. Give it the fuel and exercise it needs on a consistent basis — and it will stabilize at a comfortable, reasonable weight.

Are you tired of hearing “Diets Don’t Work.”?

As an overweight person needing to lose weight, this can seem quite disheartening. Somewhere in the back of your mind, you can’t help but wonder if they’re wrong – surely there has to be a diet that works … You know that you’ve lost weight by dieting. You also know other people that have lost weight dieting.

It’s important to understand that when the experts tout “Diets Don’t Work”, they are saying that if you want to lose weight and keep it off permanently – You MUST make a lifestyle change.

Lies the Diet Industry Tells Us:

Eat anything your want and still lose weight

Lose 30 pounds in 30 days

Lose weight without exercise

Eat the right combination of foods and lose weight fast

Drink this tea or juice and the weight will melt right off

Foods that cause you to lose weight

Herbs that create rapid weight loss

Lose weight in only 15 minutes a day

Go low cal, low carb, low fat etc etc …

Here’s the newest greatest diet pill

The six-week plan to better abs, flatten your stomach, makeover your body etc

Look at the weight loss lies above. Do you see what they all have in common? They all promise rapid weight loss with barely any effort from you. They feed into our dream of being able to lose weight without changing a single thing about our lifestyle. They tell us that we can have our cake and eat it too. Deep in your heart, you know it’s not possible – but you want to believe it, so you buy into it.

Why Don’t Diets Work?

Diets teach deprivation The diet world wants us to believe that to be successful we have to have major willpower and live without foods we love. And sometimes without foods that provide nutrition to our bodies and mind.

Diets do not teach us how to change our lifestyle. Their main focus is on changing your weight – not your body. They don’t care about the reasons you overeat.

Diets are a temporary fix. Lose weight quick and you’ll gain it back just as fast – if not faster.

Diets teach you that there are good foods and bad foods. Food is our fuel. Different foods are utilized by our body differently – but that doesn’t make them good or bad.

Diets tell us we have no control over our weight and our bodies. On the flip side, if we don’t lose weight on the diet – then it’s not our fault either because “Diets Don’t Work.”

The diets I’m talking about are the ones that tell you exactly what to eat, they leave out foods or food groups or severely limit them. Just about all so called “celebrity diets” fit into this category. They do not take into account your individuality or your personal tastes and dislikes.

Why Diet

According to the dictionary the word “Diet” means “Food Habitually Eaten” In actuality we are all on a diet – and our diets determine how much we weigh. To successfully lose weight you need to change your mindset about what, when and why you eat. Find a diet that you are willing to follow for the rest of your life

A good diet program to lose weight will teach behavior modification skills. It will build on successes and positive results. It will offer support and advice while losing weight and provide a maintenance plan. A good diet will not restrict any foods. Pills and supplements are not required. Read Unbiased Diet Reviews to find the best program for you.

“Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Albert Einstein

Stop believing the lies. Stop trying to do the same thing over and over again. TAKE CONTROL of your life today. Learn to eat healthy nutritious meals. Begin changing your eating behaviors – each small change leads you one step closer to your ideal weight.

Losing weight is a matter of learning how to expend more calories than your body is using. It’s not about starving – It’s about moderation.

Losing weight is a personal journey. It’s about loving yourself and overcoming obstacles that may come your way.

Listen to the Lowcarbshow.com weekly podcast podcast.com Low Carb, Low Fat Diets can be hell – here is a great BBC Documentary about it….