Why Restricting Calories Never Works For Weight Loss
by Grace Navarro
http://www.ezediets.com
By Grace M. Navarro
http://EZeDiets.com
Once the dust and cookie crumbs from the holidays were
swept clean, many people made some resolutions regarding
their health, planning to shed some weight and get into
better shape. By now, some are still carrying on with their
good intentions, while others got derailed and are looking
to get back on track. For both cases, here is some
information and encouragement.
You're not alone if you're on a diet or thinking about
starting one. On any given day, there are about 60 million
U.S. Americans on a weight reduction diet. Out of a
population of about 300 million, that means one in five of
the people you might encounter today are right now in the
process of attempting to take off extra pounds, whether
they need to or not. During the course of this year, if
data from the previous several years are predictive, half
of the entire population will start a diet in the hopes of
losing some weight, meaning that every alternate person you
meet today will try to lose weight this year. Among women,
3 out of 4 feel they need to shed some pounds.
It is no wonder, with a market that lucrative and
widespread, that the dieting industry is so competitive and
saturated. And it is no wonder the products - from books,
to pills, to exercise machines - are often focused more on
what will sell than what will work. Buyer beware. An
understanding of just a few key principles would help many
people choose wisely among the hundreds of diet plans
available. Rather than starting a diet plan that is
inherently flawed and doomed to fail, one particular fact
could prevent you from suffering that fate of 98% of all
dieters. Research has proven beyond question that
'traditional' diets that are based on a restriction of
calories simply do not work. At all. They actually backfire
and cause weight gain!
The quick explanation of why caloric restriction does not
work in the long run for weight loss boils down to
survival. In the face of a radical reduction of food
intake, our bodies have miraculous systems designed to
ensure that we don't starve. Our brains are programmed when
faced with starvation to conserve energy and slow down
metabolism, create more fat from everything we eat, and to
crank up the level of our hunger signals. Our bodies don't
know the 'starvation' of calorie restriction is voluntary,
and the survival programs don't care a bit about fitting
into a smaller pair of jeans. The survival programs that
are triggered also guarantee that once the diet is over,
all of the weight that was painstakingly lost will be
regained, and then some.
We fall for diet programs that defy common sense because
there is so much conflicting information, so much powerful
marketing competing for our dollars, and so much, well,
desperation. We want something quick, easy, effective -
benefits that are promised to us by many diet products and
plans. However, low-calorie is over. Low-fat is history.
High protein is on the wane. And low-carb is on its way
out.
Well then, what does work? Eating the foods our bodies are
designed to eat, in proper proportion and combination.
Combining the right foods for weight loss is not tricky,
but it doesn't seem to be common knowledge either. There
are, however, good books available on the subject of
effective food combining. The most clearly written and
workable book I've found so far is "Good Calorie Diet" by
Dr. Phillip Lipetz. The book was written in 1994, but it is
based on sound research. And besides, the principles
regarding what foods we should eat in what combinations are
as old as humankind.
The concepts in the book are easy to understand. The
basics boil down to a few principles. The main two I'll
give here so you can get started on the road to changing
your eating habits for permanent and real weight loss. Eat
whole food, not processed (that is, avoid foods that come
in a package, can, or box). Avoid combining animal protein
with starchy carbohydrates (bread, potatoes, pasta, rice)
or fruit. This is aligned with the way our ancestors ate,
and it makes sense to eat according to the diet humans have
thrived upon for millennia.
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