Hello ladies and gents! Today we're (well, I'm) going to discuss the sexiness known as dieting. When I refer to "dieting," I'm not talking about eating less/better; I'm talking about things like Weight Watchers, the Atkins Diet, Jenny Craig, etc. When you want to lose weight, the best thing to do is to change your overall lifestyle to be healthier and lose weight gradually. It's far easier to keep off because 1) I don't remember, I just remember it is and 2) it's a new LIFESTYLE, so it's your new LIFE.
When you start a diet that requires you to deprive yourself, you're setting yourself up for failure. If you manage to not break during your diet, what happens when you're "finished" with it? Simple: you gain it all back. You indulge and you're no longer depriving yourself. That is why I endorse just changing your overall eating habits. I just eat less overall and less processed food. That doesn't mean that I don't treat myself, I just treat myself a bit less.
Tracking my calories and nutrition helps me make sure I'm not overeating and that I don't get down on myself when I do. Tracking calories isn't for everyone, but it's the only way that I personally can manage portion control. When I stop using my calorie counter, I have trouble sticking to smaller portions, though after using it I am WAY better at it. :)
Now, maybe I should address the title and ACTUALLY write about THE DANGERS OF DIETING instead of preaching. :)
NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES
When you follow fad diets and cut out things like carbs or fats, you can stop getting the nutrition that you need. "Following a low-carbohydrate diet can cause high blood pressure and the unhealthy release of ketones, compounds made during the burning of fat. Ketones can build up in the blood, causing nausea and weakness." (Source) High protein diets mean that you don't get the energy from carbs that your body uses as fuel. If you're eating way more beef it can be bad for your heart because of higher cholesterol and saturated fat levels.
When you follow random "fad" diets, you can stop getting the vitamins and minerals that you need to SURVIVE. That's bad.
YO YO DIETING
Yo-yo dieting is when you lose a bunch of weight, gain it back, then lose it again in an endless cycle of weight change. This can be hard on your body and on your self esteem. Continuously changing your weight has been shown to lower the number of white blood cells your body makes, which basically means that it weakens your immune system.
"Other studies suggest that constant weight gain and subsequent weight loss may increase your risk for certain health problems, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and gall bladder disease.
Additionally, the psychological factor of yo-yo dieting cannot be neglected. Some studies have found that women who experience large weight fluctuations also experience an increased measure of psychological distress, life dissatisfaction and reduced levels of self-efficacy. " (Source)
YOU'LL PROBABLY GAIN THE WEIGHT BACK
When you go on a diet, lose weight, then go back to the way you ate before, you're probably going to gain it all back because *shock* NOTHING HAS CHANGED. Then you enter that yo-yo dieting thing mentioned above.
Furthermore, when you lose weight and gain it back, you frequently gain back even more than you originally lost. That's why I think it's so much better for you to change to a healthier lifestyle. You can safely and healthily lose weight at a gradual rate and then keep it off. You'll be healthier and feel healthier if you just LIVE HEALTHIER.
<3 - CFC
When you start a diet that requires you to deprive yourself, you're setting yourself up for failure. If you manage to not break during your diet, what happens when you're "finished" with it? Simple: you gain it all back. You indulge and you're no longer depriving yourself. That is why I endorse just changing your overall eating habits. I just eat less overall and less processed food. That doesn't mean that I don't treat myself, I just treat myself a bit less.
Tracking my calories and nutrition helps me make sure I'm not overeating and that I don't get down on myself when I do. Tracking calories isn't for everyone, but it's the only way that I personally can manage portion control. When I stop using my calorie counter, I have trouble sticking to smaller portions, though after using it I am WAY better at it. :)
Now, maybe I should address the title and ACTUALLY write about THE DANGERS OF DIETING instead of preaching. :)
NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES
When you follow fad diets and cut out things like carbs or fats, you can stop getting the nutrition that you need. "Following a low-carbohydrate diet can cause high blood pressure and the unhealthy release of ketones, compounds made during the burning of fat. Ketones can build up in the blood, causing nausea and weakness." (Source) High protein diets mean that you don't get the energy from carbs that your body uses as fuel. If you're eating way more beef it can be bad for your heart because of higher cholesterol and saturated fat levels.
When you follow random "fad" diets, you can stop getting the vitamins and minerals that you need to SURVIVE. That's bad.
YO YO DIETING
Yo-yo dieting is when you lose a bunch of weight, gain it back, then lose it again in an endless cycle of weight change. This can be hard on your body and on your self esteem. Continuously changing your weight has been shown to lower the number of white blood cells your body makes, which basically means that it weakens your immune system.
"Other studies suggest that constant weight gain and subsequent weight loss may increase your risk for certain health problems, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and gall bladder disease.
Additionally, the psychological factor of yo-yo dieting cannot be neglected. Some studies have found that women who experience large weight fluctuations also experience an increased measure of psychological distress, life dissatisfaction and reduced levels of self-efficacy. " (Source)
YOU'LL PROBABLY GAIN THE WEIGHT BACK
When you go on a diet, lose weight, then go back to the way you ate before, you're probably going to gain it all back because *shock* NOTHING HAS CHANGED. Then you enter that yo-yo dieting thing mentioned above.
Furthermore, when you lose weight and gain it back, you frequently gain back even more than you originally lost. That's why I think it's so much better for you to change to a healthier lifestyle. You can safely and healthily lose weight at a gradual rate and then keep it off. You'll be healthier and feel healthier if you just LIVE HEALTHIER.
<3 - CFC
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