Secrets to Dieting and Choosing the Right Plan

By: Gerald Fitz Click author's name for more of his/her articles

In today’s world, weight is a major topic of discussion. Many people are unsatisfied with their personal fitness level or appearance. We are surrounded by new theories about food combinations, crash diets, and magic pills that make everything better. This article is not about any of those things; it is about creating a diet plan that will last a lifetime and grant you longevity and health enough to last and be active for your lifetime. Wise decisions about eating are the foundation for healthy living.

First off, crash diets do not do you any good. It turns into a back and forth cycle of losing weight, gaining it back, losing, and gaining again, often called a yo-yo diet. Studies have shown that once you get in this cycle your body becomes more resistant to losing weight each time. An additional is issue with losing weight quickly through crash diets is that you end up losing both fat and lean muscle as your body tries to ration out the fat it is losing. Subsequently, you end up gaining back more fat and less lean muscle. Your body knows that fat is important to survival, and so if your body believes it is in starvation mode it will hold on to fat more tightly. When you go on crash diets you are seriously endangering your body with no permanent reward.

Diet pills are another easy way out that can be potentially harmful. Most of these pills contain dangerous drugs and because of this many are sooner or later taken off the market. You don’t want to be fooled by one of those pills that will be removed ‘later’. One example of this was phenylpropanolamine which for a long time was the main ingredient in many diet pills. It was a stimulant known to do terrible things to the body such as significantly increase blood pressure and cause irregular heart rhythm. The FDA still approved the drug as an over-the-counter diet aid. It was finally withdrawn from the market in 2005 after discovering that it drastically increased the risk of stroke in young women. Remember ephedra? It was also a compound used for weight loss and energy that was fatal to some who took it. The magical fen-phen combination formula was another disaster, with the compound Fenfluramine, which caused heart valve damage and resulted in billions of dollars in damages in a class actions suit against its makers.

Dieting is a tricky balancing act. Going overboard is never the answer—that is when crash dieting occurs. So instead moderate what you eat. You need to be eating a variety of nutrient-rich foods and taking a supportive multivitamin. You can also have a reasonable amount of sweets and fats. Just hold yourself accountable for what you eat and use good judgment. Choose a plan that you know you can stick to for years, not the extreme self-denying diet that won’t last. Look for diet plans that reduce fat, offer variety, extol exercise, promise a slow but steady weight loss, and fit you.

The only way to safely lose weight and keep it off is by healthy living (aka diet and exercise). You may be sick of hearing that traditional answer, but truth doesn’t change over time. Just put in the effort and try, and your life and health will change for the better.

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