Article Directory :: Health & Fitness Articles

10 Reasons Holiday Diets Backfire

By Holly Rigsby

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 13Nov2008 Word count: 632 Viewed: 311 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

Motivated to shed a few pound for the holidays?

While we all have the best of intentions to take the necessary steps to look and feel our absolute best so we can truly shine this holiday season, many fall into some unknowing traps that actually hinder our weight loss goals.

The most common and devastating trap - your diet!

So allow me to ask, what is your diet strategy?

"Eat less, weigh less, right?"

Yes and no.

When it comes to successful fat loss results, a caloric deficit must be created ~ you'll want to be eating slightly less calories than the calories you burn through your daily activity, your workouts and your metabolic rate.

I am not one to focus on or preach numbers, but when you are just getting started it is important to take an inventory of what is actually going into your body.

This can be as simple as keeping a basic food log for 5 to 7 days. Nothing fancy, just a running list of what you eat and drink and an estimate of how much.

A common response to seeing what everything we do eat is to cut back....most often it is cutting back too much.

Let's get into what happens when you do NOT eat enough. Reducing your calories by too much will actually backfire on your attempts to lose weight and feel your best this holiday season.

Ten Step Process of Following a Low Calorie "Diet"

1. You decide you want to lose weight, so you lower your calories.

2. Your body weight falls.

3. Your body tries to regain the original weight by becoming VERY energy efficient as it begins to SLOW metabolic processes.

4. Your body senses a loss of body weight and perceives the current low calorie diet as Starvation.

5. Sensing Starvation from low calories, your body begins to .... - slow your metabolic rate...again - hold on to fat stores for survival - learn how to function on fewer calories

6. Your Body now begins to look for alternative sources of fuel for energy

7. Your body adapts to your energy needs by burning lean muscle for fuel....which in turn lowers your metabolism even more.

8. You now become Tired, Lethargic, and find it extremely difficult to stay motivated.

9. To make matters worse, you now begin to Crave foods high in sugar and fat - - - your body is tricking you into increasing your calorie intake.

10. Your body has learned to function on low calories and ANY increase in calories will be stored as fat.

Result => It is nearly impossible to keep this lifestyle up for a long period of time.

Who can stand the fatigue, the lack of energy, the mood swings? Who has the willpower to fight the hunger and extreme cravings day after day?

We are only human and will soon revert back to our old eating and lifestyle habits - but this time with a huge feeling of failure.

Once you begin to increase your calories, you quickly regain what you have lost and are likely to gain an extra 5 to 10 lbs. on top of that.

In order to achieve your fat loss goals, you must eat, you must eat often, and you must eat supportive foods.

Food is not your enemy.

Food is the facilitator of a healthy metabolism. By eating the right types of foods - unprocessed, whole foods - -at the right times -- every 3 to 4 hours- - you have the power to completely reshape your body.

Once you have these key eating strategies in place- food becomes your fat loss friend.

Discover the complete nutrition and exercise plan designed for busy moms who are in search of simple solutions to fat loss.

You have a few weeks to get your body back....you can do this!

EasyPublish™ this article - publishers click here

More articles by Holly Rigsby

Free Report!
Ten Essential Secrets Of Article Marketing ... Grab Your Free
Copy Now:

Need Content?
Regular Top Quality Content for your Blog, Ezine or Website ...
Delivered Direct,
For Free!
Click For Details