diets

If you haven’t tried at least one of the latest diets doing the rounds yourself, then you probably know someone who has. It’s hard to avoid being bombarded with information about what the celebs are currently doing to stay in shape. But if these diets are so effective, how come ‘real’ people seem to bounce from one diet to the next without seeing any long term result?

The truth is, we all want a quick fix. Some ‘magic bullet’ that gets the weight off fast. That’s what sells ‘fad diets’. A fad diet will typically promise rapid weight loss by promoting ‘magic’ foods or combinations of foods and will exclude or severely restrict certain food groups or nutrients, such as carbohydrates. The problem is, such diets are based on testimonials rather than scientific studies. Also, whilst a fad diet might result in rapid weight loss in the short-term, such diets are difficult to sustain and may even cause serious health problems. Because they characteristically cut out key foods, fad diets can lead to dehydration, weakness and fatigue, nausea and headaches, constipation and inadequate vitamin and mineral intake. If followed long-term, fad diets may even lead to increased risk of various diseases.

Although fad diets do encourage rapid weight loss, this loss in body weight is unlikely to be due to diminished fat stores. Rather, the initial weight lost from fad dieting is mostly water and lean muscle, which you obviously don’t want. When food intake is severely restricted, your body begins to break down muscle, rather than fat, to meet energy requirements. Breaking down muscle leads to a loss of water, thus creating the illusion of rapid weight loss. In addition, metabolic rate is reduced so that once the diet is stopped the body will gain fat much more readily than prior to starting the diet. It’s not hard to work out that after following and then stopping a few of these fad diets over time, most people will actually end up gaining even more weight.

So now that we’ve established that fad diets and ‘quick fixes’ don’t result in the long-term weight loss that you’d like, what can you do to achieve a leaner, healthier self? It’s really pretty simple – adopt a balanced diet. This means you don’t have to cut out any foods, rather you can eat everything in moderation. In combination with regular physical activity, a balanced diet will lead to gradual and sustained weight loss, not to mention an overall improvement in general health and wellbeing.

At the Healthy Eating Hub, our team has the knowledge and experience to help you change your diet and exercise habits. We can get you back on track with a balanced diet to suit your personal energy and lifestyle requirements, whilst ensuring that you obtain all the nutrients you need to maintain good health. It can be hard to change old habits at first, but here at the Hub we will help you to make gradual changes that are easy to sustain and provide tips to help ease the transition.

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