Avoiding FAD Diets

Diets of all kinds are attracting consumers, but that does not mean that these nutritional fads or workout trends are successful in making you lose body weight. Even if such a diet causes weight loss in your body, you will likely gain those pounds back in no time. The University of California conducted a research in 2007 surrounding such diets’ effectiveness in leading to weight loss. UCLA reviewed as many as 31 case studies (long-term) within 2-5 years to conclude that 1/3rd to 2/3rd of those individuals on diets gain back excessive weight within 4-5 years.

Reasons for Failing at Fad Diets and Workouts
So, what does this mean for you if you are making plans to go on one of these diets? Here’s a look at some strong reasons to opt out of such diets or workouts:
Leads to Dehydration- While you are dropping impressive amounts of body fat at this moment, be aware that the effects will  not last for long. Diet myths tell you that you are losing body fat, but in reality, you are losing water weight. When you start losing water weight at a rapid rate, you will soon become dehydrated. Alternatively, opting for a balanced, healthy diet will not only replenish your body with water, but with essential nutrients as well. 

Causes Fatigue- A majority of trendy diets are unable to provide your body with required fuel and nutrients, leaving you thirsty and hungry. This results in extreme fatigue. Therefore, not only you are thirsty and tired, but your fatigue will also keep you from exercising- all of which will make your weight loss a complete disaster. Experts explain that a fad diet offers unsustainable weight loss, as it imposes restriction on the amount and frequency of food intake.

Muscle Loss- Opting for such diet or workouts causes you to change your workout and eating habits, keeping you from engaging in healthy exercise. When you don’t exercise in a healthy way, your body is unable to build muscle, which in turn leads to a deficiency in muscle tissue that prevents your body from burning potentially maximum calories.

Heart Risk- Since this option for weight loss does not last very long, you will tend to put back the weight you lost along with some extra pounds. This rapid gain in weight can put your health at risk, especially your heart. According to various studies, such type of yo-yo dieting can be easily associated with high cardiovascular disease risk. Apart from the health risks associated with fad diet/workouts, there is also a lot of expense involved in opting for such diets. Since these are short-term solutions, you will have to jump from to the next to keep your weight under control, which will bore a hole in your pocket.

Some experts have tried to understand why such diets or workouts are so popular, and they believe that it is the “overfitting” concept that results in their growing popularity. Often, we tend to miss out on the gap between that what actually matters and that what we can measure. We tend to over-optimize that what we can measure instead of what actually matters. For example, if a study shows that nuts can lower cholesterol level then this small piece of information is hyped by media, and people begin to consume nuts without finding out exactly how it can affect their health. Therefore, you must try to avert news related to dietary advice, especially if it is not backed by proper data.

Well, good for you if you are planning to engage in physical activity and nutritious healthy diet to improve your health. However, you must first decide what your preference is in terms of sport or training you want to try out. This is because if you don’t enjoy what you are doing, your motivation will soon wear out, and you will develop distaste for physical activities. In addition, whatever sport/training you choose should suit your lifestyle, else you will have to give it up because you cannot dedicate time for it. Don’t forget to consult with your doctor to make sure that your preferred sport/training is right for your body, especially if you are 40 years or above in age, and haven’t engaged in physical activity for a very long time. As far as choice of nutrition is concerned, you need to consume all kinds of food that occur naturally (unless you are allergic to certain foods), including foods with healthy fats. Your dietician can help you figure out what food will work best for your body, but proper nutrition is the key to a healthy body, which can only be achieved with a healthy diet.

Author: Jennifer Dawson