| THIS MAY BE THE MOST IMPORTANT ARTICLE | | | | a Dunkin Donuts on every corner. |
| YOU EVER READ CONCERNING THE DEBATE OF | | | | It is natural to crave bad foods. Things like sweets |
| LOW CALORIE DIETS EFFECTIVENESS | | | | and fats which are foods that would have helped us |
| If our bodies need to burn a certain number of | | | | survive long ago but now they just make you fat. |
| calories to maintain our body weight, then it should | | | | A study in the Journal of American Medicine showed |
| be easy to lose weight, right? | | | | that a group of people put on a very low calorie diet |
| Common sense would say that all we have to do is | | | | experienced a 20 percent decline in their metabolism |
| cut down the number of calories that we consume. | | | | in the first month and their metabolism continued to |
| There are many studies that show this is not | | | | fall for three months straight after that. |
| effective long term. An interesting study was | | | | What a nightmare! You have to eat less when on a |
| published that showed a group on a low calorie diet | | | | low calorie diet....and less...and less...in order to lose |
| who lost 26% of their body weight during the study | | | | weight, and you will very quickly reach a point where |
| gained it back almost immediately. They gained it | | | | you are struggling simply to maintain your weight. |
| right back. | | | | If you are have cut calories attempting to lose |
| EVERYONE in the study regained almost 75 percent | | | | weight then you know this is true. |
| of their lost weight within three years of completing | | | | The first few days or even the first week or two of |
| the study. And many studies show even worse | | | | the diet, the weight crashes off. You're constantly |
| results than that. | | | | starving and can't concentrate because you're so |
| If weight loss were as simple as less calories in and | | | | hungry and you're irritable and dizzy, but hey, at least |
| more calories burned then it would be easy for | | | | the weight is falling away, right? |
| everyone to get thin. | | | | This doesn't last long. The loss slows then comes to |
| Long term weight loss using low calorie diets can't be | | | | a halt. No matter how much you starve yourself |
| achieved for numerous reasons. | | | | you're seeing no reward. |
| Part of it has to do with biology and how our | | | | Another reason the diets fail is most people can stick |
| ancestors evolved to survive the feast and famine | | | | to them long term. |
| lifestyle. | | | | And if you start eating normally - if you even start |
| We need a certain amount of calories to stay alive. | | | | increasing your calories a little bit...the weight piles |
| Since humans and other animals evolved in the days | | | | back on after all that hard work. |
| when we had to hunt and gather our food, and food | | | | This sounds like terribly discouraging news, but it |
| supplies were never predictable, our bodies | | | | really doesn't need to be. It simply means that low |
| developed in a way that allows us to survive times | | | | calorie diets do not work well for maintaining weight |
| of famine. | | | | loss. |
| When little or no food is available, our metabolism | | | | It's actually great news because you don't have to |
| simply slows down and we burn less calories. | | | | starve again! You need to find a diet that you can |
| Unfortunately this is just one of the many survival | | | | stick to long term that is proven to give results or |
| mechanisms that our bodies developed that worked | | | | even one that will teach you to shift your calories vs. |
| to keep us alive thousands of years ago, but that | | | | sticking to a certain amount over and over. |
| don't work so well in the modern world where there's | | | | |