Why fad diets don't work

People all over the world are constantly jumping on the next new diet craze that promises amazing results in a week. We’ve heard of the cabbage soup diet, the baby jar diet and the shake diets, all of which guarantees to make us skinnier than we ever have been in no time. Think it sounds too good to be true?

Well, that’s because it is! Fad diets always aim to deprive your body of at least one vital nutrient or food group. Sure you lose the weight faster than Fern Britton and her gastric band but in the long term, these fad diets do not work. They are short term solutions to a long term problem. As soon as you come off the diet even to treat yourself for a weekend, the weight will start to re-pile on your frame and you’re back to where you started a month ago.

Your body needs a healthy amount of carbs, proteins, vitamins and even fats to keep healthy. Fats are often misinterpreted to be the underlying reason behind weight gain, but in reality by avoiding fats altogether, your body stores excess fat for energy which means that weight loss will be next to impossible.

These fad diets may make us feel weaker and sluggish than a proper weight management plan does and hence, reduces the physical activity you should be doing to lose the weight in a more balanced way. If you are striving to keep weight off, exercise is vital to turn fat into lean muscle so while you may be thinner than ever, you won’t look slimmer to yourself or anyone else. By not including exercise in your diet, your weight will go up more times than down.

Fad diets see carbohydrates as ‘evil food’ and so, have no place for them in their guidelines. While indulging in too much carbs may be bad for you, natural carbohydrates found in healthy foods such as fruit and vegetables or rice actually help muscle use up the fat in your body for energy. This means that some carbs actually do make you thin!

Your metabolism is the most important tool you have when you are seeking to lose the extra pounds. Your metabolism must be in perfect working order to ensure that your body is burning the calories you eat. Fad diets tend to have an adverse effect on your metabolism. When you begin to eat fewer calories, your metabolism adjusts to that level but once, you start to eat more than you were, the metabolism does not burn off these excess calories as it would have before the diet.

Fad diets work wonders in theory but if you look at what your diet entails, it will become clear that while you may lose weight for a couple of weeks, you are guaranteed to put it all back on within two months when you start eating normally again. These diets are not designed to be continued for more than a couple of weeks as it can cause long-term damage to your health.

It’s important to lose weight naturally by eating healthier and exercising more. It may take a longer period but weight that you work to get off, will stay off.

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