Is it a Good Idea to Count Calories to Lose Weight?

Are you wondering if it is a good idea to count calories to lose weight? Thinking about it is natural as we all know that the old idea of calories in and calories out is still mostly true. Counting calories is difficult though and there are easier ways to reduce them other than counting them.

Getting a good eating plan is the best way to get rid of those extra pounds without having to start counting. A good eating plan, with proper portion control, will have you well on the road of getting your ideal weight the easy way.

Losing fat does not have to be difficult. There are many good diets on the market and you can choose the one that suits your lifestyle the best. The only danger you have to watch out for is that you do not go onto one of the many fad diets out there.

Now you may wonder what a fad diet really is. How are you going to be sure you are not choosing a fad diet? You may also be wondering why I keep warning you against fad diets.

Well, let us start with recognizing a fad diet. It is actually very easy as fad diets have certain characteristics that are very easy to recognize:

* Very often you have to eat mainly one kind of food all the time
* You are only allowed to eat very little
* The diet forbids exercise while you are on it
* Some fad diets are so restricted that you are only allowed to stay on them for a few days at a time
* Very often fad diets exclude whole food groups

If a diet has one or more of the above characteristics you can be pretty sure it is a fad diet.

Now for the reasons why a fad diet is so bad. The main three reasons are:

1. If you eat too little, your metabolism will slow down and you will find it very difficult to lose more weight in the long run. As soon as you start eating normally again, you will gain back all that weight and, in all probability, some extra pounds as well.

2. If you eat mainly one kind of food all day, you can be sure that it is not healthy and you may develop malnutrition and become very ill.

3. Any good slimming routine includes moderate exercise. If you are eating too little to exercise with safety, you will not be able to speed up your metabolism and firm up your muscles, which will make the weight loss less effective.

So, I think I have motivated myself enough to convince you of the dangers of a fad diet. You WILL pay a price in future if you go on a fad diet. You may lose a few pounds initially, but as it is mostly water and muscle there is not real fat loss. As soon as you rehydrate all the pounds come right back.

As far as the muscle loss is concerned, there are a few important things to keep in mind.

* Because muscle weighs more than fat, it will make you lose more pounds than fat, but you do not want to lose muscle you want to lose fat!
* Muscle uses more energy than fat and when you lose muscle, your metabolism slows down and that makes the process slower in the long run.
* Your body can become very weak if you lose too much muscle. With a weaker body, and muscles that do not support your skeleton in the correct way, you can really do a lot of damage to your body. With the weakened muscles you may very easily injure yourself while going about your normal daily life. It is simply not worth it.

So, if you are still wondering whether it is a good idea to count calories in order to lose weight, I will say yes, but there are easier ways to get rid of those extra pounds. Get yourself a good, healthy and calorie controlled diet and you will be able to lose the weight without all that counting.

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