Are you thinking of following a low calorie diet plan to help you lose weight? Before you make your decision, take a quick moment to read this article.
Low calorie diets used to be all the rage about a year ago. Since then the fad has died down some but there are still many of them out there. I have witness countless stories of real people that tried these diets only to give up because they were not seeing the weight loss results they had hoped for.
There are a couple of reasons these low calorie diets do not work. Perhaps the number one reason is when you eat lower calorie foods, your body essentially is being undernourished. You will often feel fatigued and sometimes sickly. These diets leave you very little energy to to anything, let alone exercise! The cause of this is that your bodies metabolic rate is now running low.
If you are looking to lose weight successfully, you really need to think about these following two points:
Calories Are Not Your Enemy!
Calories themselves are not something you should avoid. Calories are what your body derives its energy source from. Eating the correct foods will boost your body’s natural metabolic rate burning those excess pounds and help you lose weight.
It is not rocket science. Basically, all you need to do is separate the “good” calories from the “bad.” The bad calories are found in the obvious places, junk foods. Think about this. You will not gain weight by eating 10 apples a day even though an apple typically contains around 100 calories, however, you will gain weight if you eat 10 hamburgers.
It seems too simple but it’s honestly just that easy. You will help yourself greatly by focusing on finding the foods that consist of negative calories. That may sound strange but “negative calories” does not mean there isn’t any contained within the food. Instead, it means that in order to digest these foods, your body must burn more calories than are contained in these food items themselves.
Focus On Your Muscles
Now this isn’t a strength and resistance training section. It simply means that you need to think about your bodies muscles when you are losing weight. In order for your muscles to maintain themselves they need to burn a lot of calories. So, the more muscles you have, the more calories that you will burn. For building them up, you need to focus on protein-rich foods.
You do not have to be going for a super ripped stomach and what not to take advantage of this. Simple getting up and doing some simple exercises will help you lose weight tremendously. If you are really into exercise then I recommend joining your local gym. If you check around you can find some really cheap places to work out. If you prefer to do some exercises on your own you can always just do them at home. One really fun way is to stop by your local dvd store and find some fitness videos that spark your interest.
How Does This Relate To Low Calorie Diets?
The reason I mentioned the muscles section is that low calorie diets will reverse your muscle mass. While on one of these diets you will be unable to maintain your strength and gradually lose it so this is just one more reason low calorie diets are not a good idea.
The truth be known, low calorie diets result in water weight loss and muscle density. Can you lose a few pounds this way? Sure. Is is a good idea? No.. There are many other healthier ways to lose weight than low calorie diets so watch out and keep these tips in mind!
Take Care All!
~Ryan