Without a doubt, diets do work.
Even short term “fad” diets produce results, so what is the problem?
The problem is that it is dangerous to radically change your eating habits from one day to the next. Your body simply does not know where the next meal is coming from and therefore the starvation response is triggered. When food is plentiful, our bodies use what it needs and then stores the rest as fat, for use in the future. When food is scarce, your body uses the fat that's been stored up and converts it to energy. If it was this simple then short term diets would work fantastically well.
We could all eat what we wanted and then when we needed to slim down, we simply tightly restrict our calorie intake. Unfortunately it is not this simple as our bodies is built for survival. When food is plentiful and you eat more than you need to, fat is stored.
Our current reaction is to restrict the calorie intake to use up the fat.
As we are built for survival, when our diets change drastically it sends a strong signal to the brain that says “we have a problem, we do not have as much food as yesterday.
We must prepare for famine”. Instead of your body carrying on as normal and using fat instead of food to run, it lowers your metabolism so less energy is burned. As your metabolism lowers, your body adjusts to your new diet.
Your energy levels will lower, you will want to sleep more and your moods are likely to be erratic. Your body thinks you are in danger and it causes a lot of emotional issues. After a while of restricting your calorie intake, your body will start to use the stored up fat.
Using up the energy store is seen by your body as a last resort, what will happen when the energy stores are gone?
You will start to not only lose fat but also muscle as your metabolism is lowered and you are likely to be doing less exercise due to having less energy. After your 10 days of tricking your body into thinking you are in danger, you go back to your normal diet.
Out with the calorie controlled meal plans and back in with the old stuff, the stuff that got you fat in the first place.
When this happens your “starving” body sees this as a life line and stores as much of the food away as fat, as possible.
We could all eat what we wanted and then when we needed to slim down, we simply tightly restrict our calorie intake.
Unfortunately it is not this simple as our bodies is built for survival. When food is plentiful and you eat more than you need to, fat is stored.
Our current reaction is to restrict the calorie intake to use up the fat.
As we are built for survival, when our diets change drastically it sends a strong signal to the brain that says “we have a problem, we do not have as much food as yesterday.
We must prepare for famine”. Instead of your body carrying on as normal and using fat instead of food to run, it lowers your metabolism so less energy is burned. As your metabolism lowers, your body adjusts to your new diet.
Your energy levels will lower, you will want to sleep more and your moods are likely to be erratic. Your body thinks you are in danger and it causes a lot of emotional issues. After a while of restricting your calorie intake, your body will start to use the stored up fat.
Using up the energy store is seen by your body as a last resort, what will happen when the energy stores are gone?
You will start to not only lose fat but also muscle as your metabolism is lowered and you are likely to be doing less exercise due to having less energy. After your 10 days of tricking your body into thinking you are in danger, you go back to your normal diet.
Out with the calorie controlled meal plans and back in with the old stuff, the stuff that got you fat in the first place.
When this happens your “starving” body sees this as a life line and stores as much of the food away as fat, as possible.
For long term weight loss you need to stop abusing your body with short term fixes. You need to eat a balanced diet for good!
This does not mean a strict calorie controlled diet where everything is measured.
It simply means reducing or cutting out the bad food (highly processed junk food, bread, pastries, pasta, sweets, certain dairy products etc) and eating more healthy foods (poultry, meat, fish, nuts, seeds, good fats and oils such as coconut oil, butter and extra virgin olive oil, fruit and vegetables).
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Chat soon
Jason
Coach @ The Perth Fitness Camp
PS. If you're tired of restrictive eating, feeling unhealthy and want to feel better physically and mentally, all you need is a willing body and a desire to change.
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