How Dieting Works – A Key to Healthy Living

Okay then, let’s think about dieting. It is an important topic in today’s western world. Our modern lifestyles are leading to an increasing number of people with weight problems, and this is not mere body fascism from those smug racing snakes out there. Being overweight can lead to health problems, both mild and severe.

I’m sure you are more than familiar with the list of disorders associated with carrying a too heavy load of fat on your body, it’s rammed down our collective throat often enough by health authorities, not to mention those folks trying to sell their particular dietary plan, so there’s little point of going through them all one by one, but here’s just one fact to grab you attention: In most western countries, the number one killer is coronary heart disease, with around half a million annual deaths in the United States alone. And way too much weight, especially obesity, with usually attendant skyrocketing cholesterol levels, is a major contributory factor of coronary heart disease.

The ear might listen, but does the brain act?

So we are regularly warned, but may choose to ignore, because dieting is just so much bother.

But the problem is that they are right, whether telling us because they are genuinely concerned for the state of the nations’ health and fitness, or for less than altruistic reasons like profit, many millions of Americans, Canadians, Europeans and Australians are getting fatter all the time.

It’s all the fault of western consumer culture! Some might cry this in despair and continue to consume with added relish, as if they have no control over their health destiny. This claim might help for some, wider spread blame lessens its impact on individuals, and after all, if everyone was overweight, then perhaps all the slims would surrender to the alternative view and shovel down the junk food with the best (or worst) of them.

Many people though, know that this is a false premise, your health and fitness is in your hands, and the multi-billion dollar dieting industry is here to help. At least, it claims to be.

A healthy body for the customer? Or a healthy profit for the author?

There’s clearly nothing wrong with an honest profit, capitalism is certainly more than a fine system for most of the time, but be aware these two goals do not always walk happily hand in hand.

Because dieting can be a hassle for a busy person, who may mot have the time to fret over the calorific value of everything on their plate at mealtimes, many health conscious citizens decide to follow laid out diets.

Some of these are free and can be found in various magazines, or on multiple websites, others involve the purchase of a book. Which, depending on price, will make modest or spectacular claims about the marvelous weight losing or fat fighting powers of the diet in question.

These diets can vary quite considerably in many aspects, which is highly confusing. Some even give directly opposed advice to others, which is even more confusing.

No one planned diet will work for everyone

The reason for this is that everyone is an individual case, okay that’s obvious enough. But what this means is that dieters will have different expectations and requirements, both in weight loss goals and in time frame demands to achieve those goals within. They will have widely varying tastes in food and drinks, and be starting the diet from different health situations, and also combining the positive value of the diet with a greater or lesser degree of physical or weight loss exercise.

Bank balance may also play a part, as some diets like to promote exotic foods which can be difficult to find and quite expensive. Or, they might press upon the need for increased food and vitamin supplements, often helpfully offering their own brand which is doubtlessly more costly than others but apparently, just right.

In addition to these possibilities, everyone also has their own `stickability’ factors to add to the dietary equation. I.e. - how long they will be able to put up with their recently altered eating and drinking habits; and how impatient they are at wanting to see those extra pounds drop.

Help too, in the form of support and consideration from friends and family members is an important thing to consider. For if you are trudging your way through bran and rice cakes, whilst all around you are heartily tucking into burgers, fries and shakes; then it perhaps would not be too difficult to predict that the proposed diet will not proceed smoothly.

So, as well as medical and/or allergic reasons for specific food content and advice, this is why diets can differ so very much. It’s not because of some vast Machiavellian plot by the diet planners to pass their followers around to one another like a money making version of the children’s game, pass the parcel.

If their really was a never failing miracle diet out there, then responsible organizations like the American Institute for Cancer Research, the American Dietetic Association, and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) or other nation’s equivalents, would be trumpeting it from the rooftops.

But they don’t, because there isn’t.

Of course most of these diets can work if followed well, and many Americans have successfully proved that, sometimes to then think that all is well now, so they can start merrily eating too much of the wrong foods all over again.

Consult a physician before beginning a fad diet.

That wasn’t meant to read like the voice of doom, it’s just that some hyped up and fashionable diets are viewed with extreme suspicion by the health authorities mentioned above, and others. Here’s a quick look, without getting too deep and technical, at why many nutritionists would wish a certain number of these controversial diets, would just go away.

The human body is really just a chemical and biological machine. Don’t get insulted if you’re religious, this is true regardless as to whom or what force was the original designer.

And machines need fuel. Our fuel is our food and drink, which gives us the energy we need for our bodies’ everyday activities, growth, maintenance and repair. So this means that the right sort of fuel, and in the correct quantities and ratios is vital. All of this as a whole is collectively known as nutrition.

Like petroleum and motor oils for cars and boats, our foodstuffs must have a constituency that is better balanced for a better performance. And the food balance is where some of these fad diets rumble onto troubled ground.

Because they encourage the omission of foods or even food groups, then a balanced diet, which has long been recommended by responsible authorities for all-round health, is virtually impossible to achieve.

For example, health authority and other nutritionists warn that diets which are extremely low in dietary fiber and carbohydrates may lead to vitamin and mineral deficiency, or a diuretic effect, which is the loss of weight through water loss, not fat loss. This is a false gauge of weight and it can and does rapidly return.

High-protein, high-fat diets, which claim you will burn more fat than you take in if you don’t supply the direct energy needs of the body with carbohydrates, (starches and sugars) also risk the alarming condition that is called ketosis. This is an extreme metabolic state where muscle tissue is consumed by the body instead of fat, which is slow to digest anyway, and without carbohydrates present to join with the fats in the bloodstream, the body cannot properly utilize. In effect, the body begins to eat itself.

As you can imagine, deliberately bringing about this emergency measure of the human body for weight loss reasons has many dietitians throwing their hands up in the air. Many experts in this field say that the long term health effects of such diets are numerous and not at all safe.

Through a straw

Liquid diets may work but experts warn that replacing solid foods altogether is not a good habit to get into. As when the diet comes to an end, then good eating practice that should also be learned as part of a healthy diet will not be implemented in your daily life, increasing the chances of rapid regain of any lost weight.

Combos

Some diets are in existence which make claims that the food combinations involved in a serving or portion will increase chances of weight loss, by interacting with one another during the digestion process, altering each others characteristics, and giving out extra enzymes. Most experts agree that this alleged altering has not been clinically proven to be so and that anyway, digestive enzymes are created by the body, not by foodstuffs.

Too much morality can cause problems as well

Vegans, (a vegan is a person who not only avoids the eating of meat like a vegetarian does, but the entirety of animal products like eggs, cheese, milk and honey as well) preach that a weight loss diet regime recommended by them is good for the soul as well as for the body.

The former is a moot point likely to be argued over as long as the planet Earth is in existence, but the latter is not the case. It is correct that a vegetarian diet can be extremely effective at weight loss but many experts state that it should contain at the very least milk or eggs as well as all the plant based foods involved. This is because there are some amino acids which are needed by the body and are not present in any plant foods.

Balance

That word again, you can’t get away from it if you want your weight loss to be achieved in a way that doesn’t give you equal or more health concerns that were caused by being overweight in the first place.

The clue is in the actual word `diet’ which is derived from the Greek word `diatia’ which translates as `a way of living.’

If you decide to go on a diet, it should always be a balanced one. This means a wide variety of foods, in moderate and small servings. And happily there are a lot out there like this, which really can help to get rid off the flab that may have accumulated upon your guilty frame. It’s not too difficult either, as long as you persist, and `keep the faith’.

Dieting tips and useful info for succeeding with weight loss

Now let’s have a look see at some general ways for losing weight without espousing any particular diet plan out there. As well as checking out how some frequently encountered diet problems can be bypassed. They are not listed in any particular order, so browse through at your convenience.

Most diets demand both a reduction in fat intake as well as calories. As a rule of thumb, it is recommended that calories from fat should be no more than 30% of all calories per day.
Remember to eat foodstuffs from all the food groups if you are not following a very short term plan for only slight weight loss. This will ensure you have a nutritious diet and do not suffer from lack of vitamins and minerals. These are (in random order, not in order of importance): Breads. Fruit. Meat (red, poultry, fish and other seafoods). Milk (and other dairy) and Eggs. Vegetables.
You probably don’t need as much food per day as you think you do. Try to have smaller meals less often (not every ten minutes), but around five or six times each day. It may be surprising how this simple trick can help to control your appetite. Having less servings more times is better because your body will raise its metabolism rate, (which burns fat faster) and also your blood sugar level will not fluctuate so much than happens with fewer larger meals. This also helps to burn that fat.
Make an attempt to eat fewer foods that are high in fat (especially saturated fat) and sugar.
If you go to a restaurant, remember these calories count too! If you do go a bit over the top because you don’t want any comments from others at the table, then don’t think that is the end of your diet; just eat less before and after your dining for that day, to help bring you back on track.
Also in restaurants; ask if there is a low calorie alternative for the meal you’ve set your sights on.
When buying foods at a store or supermarket, look for `fat replacers’ on the labeling. These are a variety of lower calorie, or calorie free agents that mimic the actions of fat in processed foods. Just two examples of fat replacers are cellulose and different gums, though there are many others. The food industry are increasing research on these ingredients and their available uses, as in the United States, recent surveys indicate that up to 60% of adult Americans are concerned about their weight. Be assured that all these latest ingredients have to pass Food & Drug Administration (FDA) safety standards.
Look for drinks with low calorie sweeteners in them rather than sugar. Some people claim the taste is notably different, but unless you find them objectionable, try to persist as this will help you to lose weight as part of a diet over the long term by cutting the calories.
Avoid single food diets unless you only want to lose a little weight. They are difficult to stick to for long as most people find them extremely boring. You will also need supplements with them to avoid vitamin and mineral deficiencies, whatever your age.
Think about success and what that means to you. There are different goals that can be achieved in dieting, you have not failed if you have not met all of them, so rather than berate yourself, give it a couple of days then start afresh. A lower cholesterol level or BMI rating is excellent work, but sometimes just feeling more physically agile and mentally alert can be a reward in itself, and a milestone that your diet is going well. Don’t kid yourself that overnight slimness is possible if you are heavily overweight, but as the days go past, things will improve. And the more you keep at it, the easier it becomes.
You don’t have to cut foods out completely if you really love them. Just have richer foods in smaller servings as a treat to reward yourself now and again for the effort of overall dieting. This will help to cut a craving for favorites that in the past, you have overindulged in, and also to fight against the feeling that your diet is a punishment.
Beware of dietary claims that include the term 'tricking your body' or similar. You should not want to `trick’ your body. Instead, you should be interested in looking after it. God, nature, space aliens, or whatever your beliefs tell you, designed our bodies to work according to laws of nutrition. These laws do not need to be sidestepped whilst losing weight, as this can cause medical problems. Just give it a little time and with forbearance, you will succeed.
Fast and easy weight loss usually means fast and easy weight regain. Diet sensibly.
Avoid complicated diets unless you have plenty of spare time on your hands. These new recipes will be new to you and will take up time to prepare, changing all your foods at one go is probably not a good idea either as most people are creatures of habit and therefore comforted by what they are familiar with. Strange new foods all at once can discourage the most well meaning of people on a diet.
One third fat content foods on your plate, does not mean that you can have three times as much!
Eat more fruit and drink more fresh water. This will help to stop you from feeling hungry as well as flushing out your bodily system. The increased fruit intake will also diminish any cravings for sugar if you have switched to artificial sweeteners like saccharin or similar for your diet.
Smaller servings on a regular sized plate can look mean, as if you’re missing out, but the answer to this is simple, use a smaller plate!
Exercise is the partner of diet, this doesn’t mean you have to work out at the gym three or four times a week, just try to walk around a bit more. Use the stairs rather than a lift, buy a bicycle, improvise some exercises in your home. Get a couple of two gallon plastic containers, when empty they can easily be stored, if you want to do some simple exercises, fill them with water, take one in each hand, and carry them around!
An amazingly simple tip for losing weight is just to eat slower, chew slowly for every mouthful and you should find you want less to eat.

And try not to worry too much if those scales are not giving you the information you want every morning. Don’t give up, the extra pounds will become a memory as long as you stick to your guns.

After all, when dieting you have nothing to lose, but your fat.

About The Author

Matt Jacks is an experienced freelance writer providing valuable tips and advice for consumers purchasing low carb weight loss programs, low carb books and low carb menu plans and recipes. His numerous articles offer moneysaving tips and valuable insight on typically confusing topics.

This article on "How Dieting Works" reprinted with permission.