I Don't eat Anything!

Post 7
Weight loss the right way
By Trafford R. Cole PsyD

Last week (post 2) we stated that losing weight permanently requires first a change in attitude. The first attitude change is that there is no magical solution. If we keep looking for a quick easy way to lose weight, we will only be disappointed in the end. To reinforce this concept a recent study showed that statistically if you start a diet today – any of the fad diets – it doesn’t matter which one, one year from now you will weight more than you do today. They found that all the subjects in their test weighed less after 3 months, most had maintained their loss at six months, but nearly all had regained everything and gained more by the end of the year.

The second attitude that you must acquire is that this is about health not weight loss per se`, and not about looks. Unless you just need to lose five pounds to fit in your bikini or if you have a multi-million dollar contract waiting for you if you lose 30 pounds in a month, strict diets are bad for your health. Beyonce’s maple syrup diet is a starvation diet. It adds up to 300 or 400 calories a day and was enhanced by an increase in her exercise routine with a personal trainer so that she was also consuming twice the calories from her normal routine which was already more exercising than most of us do. If you start burning 4,000 calories and taking in only 300 it is guaranteed that you will lose weight. However it is also guaranteed that this is bad for you. By the end of the week besides feeling burned out, you will have cramps, you may have digestive problems, interrupt your menstrual cycle and have dizzy spells. The longer you continue the more risk you have of permanent damage to your kidneys, heart and other internal organs. This is not healthy and it is not wise. In any case, it doesn't work for the long term. You will stop the diet, gain back the weight and add on more pounds.

Change is a strain on your heart and organs both an increase and a decrease in weight causes strain. The more sudden and severe the change the greater the risk is. Most good doctors advise that you should lose weight slowly and gradually by making permanent dietary and life style changes. All it takes is a 10% decrease in weight to alleviate most physical problems. Except in extreme cases, it is better to lose this 10% in body mass over a year's time then in brief periods. If it has taken you years and years to put on the weight, why do you expect to lose it in a month or two? The important thing for your health is to reverse the trend. Each year weigh something less than the year before. So for your health weight loss should be gradual. It also means that any diet that deprives the body of necessary vitamins, minerals or proteins is not good for you and should be avoided. Take dietary supplements is never a good way to balance your diet. Pills are not absorbed well by the body and don't have the same balance of vitamins that natural fruits and vegetables do.

Weight loss tip # 2
Most people who have lost large amounts of weight (60 pounds or more) and who have kept it off state that the number one dietary change they made that made the difference is to start drinking large quantities of water. Not low calorie soda, but water and at least two quarts a day, but often much more.