Monday, November 23, 2009

Why Can't I Just Diet?

Did you know that dieting defeats our efforts to lose fat?

How?

1. Dieting lowers the basal metabolic rate (the rate at which you burn calories).
Our bodies are designed to conserve calories so that we can survive a famine. Your body does not know the difference between a famine and a diet. Be careful about cutting back too far. I think I even did this myself at the beginning of the challenge. I was trying to cut back, and I think I overdid it. I was feeling hungry all the time, and still not losing weight.

2. Dieting decreases the muscle/fat ratio. When you straight diet, 50% of what you lose is fat, and 50% is muscle. The key is not to lose muscle. Muscles are what we need to help burn those calories and dissolve the fat!

3. Dieting decreases your energy level, causing you to be less likely to expend calories.

4. Dieting causes depression and lethargy (especially if prolonged).

Please don't think I am against any cutting back, I'm not. Excess fats and sugars should be eliminated from your diet. Cut out junk food. Make sure you are still getting enough complex carbohydrates and protein.

So, what else do I need to do to get weight off and keep it off? Next tip, I'll talk about that.

Happy Crunchin' Day!

Tami

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is all good news to me! The 'diet' is the part I'm having difficulty with...NO DIETS is music to my ears. ;-)

-Tricia

Ketty said...

I think you are right Tami. We can´t stop eating, but stop eating the wrong things. I´ve heard many times the only way to lose weight is to close your mounth and not eat. Big mistake, we have to eat, but smart eating. Thanks.
ketty

Unknown said...

Right ON Tami!

This is why I called it my Fitness Journey.

Thank you for this post! Well said!

-the big crunch,
Dani Joy

Shane and Kristy Davis said...

Yes, I like to say "I'm eating healthy." Much better terminology. And... I think it's better for the kids to hear.