| If your goal is
to lose weight, one of the worst things you can do to your body
is skip meals. Now that isn’t to say that a person can’t diet,
but dieting does not mean starving yourself. As a matter of fact,
the word “diet” implies a short-lived food pattern. That’s important
if you’re cutting weight for a sports event and you’re required
to “make weight” in order to compete. Wresting, boxing, and horse
racing are three sports that require it’s participants to weigh
in at a designated weight. During the off season, however, most
athletes weigh more than the weight at which they compete. Again
reinforcing that “cutting weight” is only temporary. For the average
person, simply learning to “eat healthy” is a much better approach
because it represents a permanent pattern towards weight loss.
If you’re currently eating poorly and you’re striving to change
your diet for the better, that’s what healthy eating is really
all about—a lifestyle change.
The “starvation diet” is definitely worth addressing for those
of you who are trying to lose fat. By that I mean if you are not
an athlete trying to cut weight, then you are probably an average
person who desires to lose fat. Many people out there, especially
women, think that the best approach to quick weight loss is simply
not eating, or skipping meals. While initially you may see a dip
in the scale, most of the change is due to water weight and is
only temporary. To truly burn fat you need to create a gradual
calorie deficit through eating less (not starving yourself) or
exercising more. Your body has a natural set point where it prefers
to remain, so when weight is dropped rapidly, you can almost be
assured that it will return because you haven’t lost the weight
in a healthy way.
Losing weight in a healthy way usually means dropping a half
pound to a pound and a half per week. Now this may not happen
right away, but if you are causing a calorie deficit either by
eating less, exercising more, or hopefully doing both, you will
eventually see progress. However, if you make the mistake of starving
yourself, not only will your weight most likely return, but you
will lose muscle in the process, ultimately resulting in your
body’s metabolism dropping. At the same time, simply not eating
enough (starving yourself or skipping meals) also causes your
body to go into starvation mode so that it hangs onto calories
rather than expend them for energy, and will ultimately store
them as fat. Let me also add that over time this starvation cycle
may ultimately lead to you screwing up you metabolism to such
a degree that you actually start to gain weight, or store body
fat, on the same number of calories per day that you used to simply
maintain your weight.
So as you can see, it’s simply not worth screwing up your body,
your metabolism, and ultimately your health, for rapid weight
loss. Do it the proper way, and you’ll be much happier with achieving
permanent weight loss, or should I say fat loss. If you need help,
many professional organizations can lend you a hand in helping
you achieve a balanced diet and exercise program.
©Melissa Allen, Optimum Condition. Melissa is a certified personal
trainer, Blackbelt & fitness consultant, as well as the owner
of Optimum Condition—custom fitness services and mobile personal
training. She is a self-syndicated columnist who welcomes input
from her readers, so please contact her with any questions or
comments by calling (619) 252-4993, or visit her website at www.OptimumCondition.com.
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