Harsh Diets Not The Ticket To Fat Loss

     One of the worst things we can do to our body is embarking on a low calorie diet. It never really did seem like a good idea and now science supports the notion that treating our body like this is both harmful as well as being ineffective for losing body fat.

We believe that the only way to lose weight is to reduce our food intake but this way does not work as 95 percent of these diets fail and weight is not kept off for the long haul. These diets cause a disruption to the hormonal systems that control appetite and fullness and go on to cause cycles of damaging weight loss and weight gain.

The long term harm done to health is not yet known about but it is thought that yo-yo dieting makes it harder to lose weight with each successive attempt. Each time the rebound effect from a diet kicks in weight is lost more slowly and regained quicker after the diet as the body attempts to protect itself from what it perceives as starvation. It has no idea a person only wants to get into their skinny jeans.

A slowed down metabolism seen with most of these diets does not stop when a person begins to eat normally again. In fact this lowering of the metabolic rate is one of the survival strategies the body uses to regain the weight quicker. Another big problem with low calorie diets is that the weight that is lost is not all fat but precious muscle tissue as well which furthers lowers the metabolic rate.

When the rebound weight happens when one comes comes 'off' the diet the regained weight is all fat and not the muscle which means you are in a worse position than when you started. You may as well have saved yourself the grief of starving when it has gained you nothing but a worse body composition (muscle/fat ratio).

The best way to lose weight is to get back to basics. Rebuild and restore lost muscle tissue with strength training exercise and let that go to work for you burning up body fat. This is a far better way to lose weight that starving. Your muscle tissue is where fat is burned for energy so it is imperative that this is in good toned condition.

Your exercise program must be supported by good nutrition so some effort can be put into it so you can make the necessary changes to your metabolism. Strength training does require a high level of intensity (degree of effort) so you need lots of energy. (Something you will not get from dieting). Low intensity endurance activity will not change your metabolism so focus on what will give you increased fat burning - strength training.

In just a few months you will have toned up your muscles and begun to change your body composition back to a healthy level, and guess what - no starving involved. Small meals every 2-3 hours, protein at each meal and at least 1800 calories for a woman or 2200 for a man are the ticket for fat loss.

Quite the opposite from what we used to do with our harsh starvation diets that work against our body. Now we know to get what we want we have to work with our body and we can slowly coax it to give up its fat stores.

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