Fad diets usually offer a quick fix – a fast track to weight loss with very
little effort. But remember, something that sounds too good to be true, usually
isn’t!
Any diet that cuts calories will help you lose weight, whether it’s high-carb,
low-carb or somewhere in-between. The trick is to keep the weight off over the
long term.
| • | Diets that are very strict or restrict
certain food groups are hard to follow for long – they take a lot of
willpower to maintain. Eventually, you get tired of working so hard at
restricting calories and fall back into old habits. And some fad diets may
put your health at risk by restricting your intake of essential nutrients.
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| • | Fad diets often leave you feeling
hungry and deprived – which is always a recipe for disaster. Research shows
that dieting actually triggers primitive biological mechanisms that make you
crave the very foods you’re trying to avoid.
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| • | Crash dieting makes it harder and
harder to lose weight. When your body goes through a period of starvation,
it responds by slowing down your metabolism and storing more fat for future
emergencies.
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| • | Fad diets don’t teach you the skills
you need to maintain healthy eating habits. You don’t learn how to make
permanent lifestyle changes that will help you maintain your weight loss.
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So don’t fall for the lure of a fad diet. Learn to follow a healthy eating plan
and you’ll see those pounds come off – slowly but steadily!