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Want to lose 10 pounds in 10 days? Three foods to eat for that perfect flat belly! Fad diets are all the rage these days with everyone looking for a quick weight loss fix. Here we are now, a month after everyone has started their new year’s resolutions, and now is not the time to throw in the towel. As I scrolled down my Facebook newsfeed, I saw post after post of people giving up on the classic diet and participating in other diets, such as the cabbage soup diet, the cranberry juice diet, the grapefruit diet, juice cleanses and the list goes on. The truth is this: you didn’t gain the weight overnight so what makes you think you can lose it overnight? One bad meal didn’t make you overweight just as one healthy meal won’t make you a healthy weight for your size, or even one week of healthy meals for that matter. Being fit is a lifestyle that you must embrace each day as there is no such thing as a quick weight -loss fix. Fad diets are short and temporary but they can also be extremely dangerous. Most of these diets severely restrict your calories as well as the food groups that you should be eating, causing you to miss out on the benefits and nutrients that derives from a well-balanced diet.
After trying out a fad diet, you are more likely gain the weight you lost or even worse gain more in the long run. As I’ve previously said, many of these fad diets harshly restrict your caloric intake, so much so that it is impossible and dangerous to uphold these diets for the long term. Once you get back on a “normal” eating routine, you will most likely put back on the pounds you so quickly shed. Another downfall to these fad diets is that they can ruin your natural metabolism. As discussed in my previous article Five Foods to Help Boost your Metabolism, your metabolism is the rate in which your body turns the calories you consume into energy, essentially burning the calories off. If you’re on a diet with a restricted calorie count, one much lower than your normal intake, your body gets used to this extremely low caloric intake and eventually slows down the speed of your metabolism. This is why after a few days or weeks on your magical fad diet, you may not feel as hungry as you did when you first started. This is not a good thing! This means that when you come off the “diet” and begin eating balanced, healthy meals containing additional calories, you will find your body regaining the weight very quickly and even surpassing your initial body weight from the start of the diet.
In addition to limiting the amount of food you can eat, they also restrict the types of food you can eat. The restriction of foods while on one of these diets can cause nutritional deficiencies that can lead to an array of various side effects or health issues. Whether the diet you chose restricts carbohydrates, fats or whatever else is the cause of the weight gain, you are starving your body from essential nutrients. Long-term deprivation from these essential nutrients can lead to some serious health concerns. For example, it is common to see the fad diets recommend drastically cutting or severely limiting carbohydrates. Firstly, carbohydrates is a significant energy source for the body. Depriving your body of them can cause you to feel tired, increase the risk of stroke, cause bone problems, among other health problems. Not only that but natural carbohydrates play an important role in burning your fat cells. Depriving your body of fats in your no/low-fat diets can cause some side effects like over-eating, depression and poor nutrient absorption. Your body and brain need a well-balanced diet to work to their full potential.
Lastly, most of the time you aren’t even losing fat, you’re losing water. To lose one pound of fat, the average person needs to be in a caloric deficit of 3000-3500 calories. Claiming that these fad diets can help you lose 10 lbs of fat in one week is bullshit! The best way to lose fat is to work in reducing your body weight by around 1lb per week over a stretch of time. As I’ve said earlier, the donut on your belly didn’t appear overnight so a quick crash diet isn’t going to rid it for good. A well-balanced diet with an exercise regimen is the only way to maintain your goal of losing weight. As soon as you realize that these fad diets are just a quick fix, the quicker you can begin your new healthier lifestyle and staying fit for the rest of your life.
