Where Diets Go Wrong

When we discover that we are heavier than we want to be, we have

a natural invlination to eat less food.  We may skip lunch or

eat only a tiny amount of our dinner in the hope that if we eat

less our body will burn off some of its fat.  But that is not

necessarily true.  Eating less actually makes it more difficult

to lose weight.

Keep in mind that the human body took shape millions of years

ago, and at that time there were diets.  The only low-calorie

event in people's lives was starvation.  Those who could cope

with a temporary lack of food were the ones who survived.  Our

bodies, therefore, ahve developed this built-in mechanism to

help us survive in the face of low food intake.

When researchers compare overweight and thin people, they find

that they ear roughly the same number of calories.  What makes

overweight people different is the amount of fat that they eat. 

Thin people tend to eat less fat and more complex carbohydrates.

Losing weight is not something one can do overnight.  A

carefully planned weight loss program requires common sense and

certain guidelines.  Unfortunately, there's a lot of

misinformantion floating around and lots of desperate people are

easily duped and ripped off.

Every day one can open a magazine or newspaper and see

advertisements touting some new product, pill or patch that will

take excess weight off quickly.  Everyone seems to be looking for

that "magic" weight loss pill.  Millions of Americans are trying

to lose weight, spending billions of dollars every year on diet

programs and products.  Often they do lose some weight.  But, if

you check with the same people five years later, you will find

that nearly all have regained whatever weight they lost.

A survey was done recently to try and determine if any commercial

diet program could prove long-term success.  Not a single program

could do so.  So rampant has the so-called diet industry become

with new products and false claims that the FDA has now stepped

in and started clamping down.

Being seriously overweight and particularly obesity can develop

into a number of diseases and serious health problems, and it is

now a known fact that when caloric intake is excessive, some of

the excess frequently is saturated fat.

The myth is that people get heavy by eating too many calories. 

Calories are a consideration it's true, but overall they are not

the cause of obesity in America today.  Americans actually take

in fewer calories each day than they did at the beginning of the

century.  If calories alone were the reason we become overweight,

we should all be thin.  But we are not.  Collectively, we are

heavier than ever.  Partly, it is because we are more sedentary

now.  But equally, as important is the fact that the fat content

of the American diet has changed dramatically.

People who diet without exercising often get fatter with time. 

Although your weight may initially drop while dieting, such weight

loss consists mostly of water and muscle.  When the weight returns,

it comes back as fat.  To avoid getting fatter over time, increase

your metabolism by exercising regularly.

Select an exercise routine that you are comfortable with and

remember that walking is one of the best and easiest exercises for

strengthening your bones, controlling your weight and toning your

muscles.