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Stop Aging - Start Training - A Few Words on Fad Diets
(Excerpted from Stop Aging, Start Training.)
There are three words regarding fad diets that I want you to remember: they don’t work! They may help you to lose weight, and perhaps quickly. But there are two problems with such approaches: 1.) the results are temporary; and 2.) the weight lost through such methods is mostly the wrong type of weight: water, muscle tissue and bone density.
There is no faster, healthier way to lose weight and firm up than through basic, sensible eating (coupled with regular, vigorous physical activity and exercise). This may entail the gradual, piecemeal elimination of unhealthful foods over time. But it should never involve the elimination or minimization of an entire food group, or macronutrient group, as advocated by high-protein diets (through the elimination or minimization of carbohydrates).
To prevent yourself from succumbing to even the most popular of fad diets, remember three things:
- We need to focus on fat-loss, not weight-loss. If you merely gauge yourself by general weight (which is what all weight-loss centers and fad diets do), you’ll never know for sure whether you are losing fat tissue or lean tissue as opposed to just fat. After all, muscles weigh something too, as do your organs, brains and bones … as well as the water (which makes up 70 percent of your body).
- The human body cannot lose more than two pounds of fat per week. If you lose more than two pounds in one week, then you’re losing healthy tissue that your body needs to keep; namely, bone and muscle (this includes the heart) tissue. It’s been shown that dramatic weight losses cause even the heart muscle to weaken. Yet, one famous diet book promises that, as a result of their induction phase, you can lose thirteen pounds in two weeks. This is an undocumented claim – simply a myth.
- There is no such thing as spot reduction. For example, it’s virtually impossible to lose weight specifically in areas that you prefer to lose, such as around your waist or on your thighs. Proper eating and exercise draws on fat stores from throughout the body. Be sure to include a variety of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains with your daily consumption of nutrients.
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