Weight Loss Diets That Work

There are many people who want to lose weight by utilizing the weight loss programs. But almost 70% people don't get the desired results after the program. The reason for this is either they are too lazy to follow a weight loss program or they don't follow it systematically. Also, there is a huge misconception that dieting can help in reducing your weight. Its not completely wrong, but then dieting does not mean starving yourself.

Low calorie dieting slows your metabolism, making it progressively more difficult to lose weight and keep it off. The failure rate of most diets is astronomical, yet people continue to try one after another, always hoping that each new scheme will provide the solution. Let's take a look at why diets often fail and how strength training and a healthy appetite can rev up your metabolism.

Dieting fails due to a combination of hormonal changes, muscle loss, and flat out frustration. When faced with a shortage of calories, your body's natural response is to conserve fat. If a dieter persists long enough with the self-imposed famine, the body begins to break down muscle tissue for fuel. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue. It requires a certain number of calories each day to maintain itself. Therefore, the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn even when you're just sitting around. As your muscle mass drops, so does your daily calorie requirement.

However, we know that most dieters won't keep up the starvation routine for long. They'll eventually return to their old eating habits. When this happens, the weight inevitably keeps piling back on. While they lost both muscle and fat during the diet, what they put back was all fat. So, even though they may weigh the same as they did when they started, they now have a lot more fat and a lot less muscle than they did before the diet. This means that their metabolism is slower and their calorie requirements are lower.

The solution to this dilemma is an active lifestyle that includes aerobic exercise, a solid weight training program, and a healthy diet. There is a lot of confusion about what is a healthy diet? My opinion is that a healthy diet is based around whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, and lean protein. A healthy diet keeps your metabolism in high gear with 4 to 6 small meals a day. The goal is to consume as many calories as you can while still losing body fat and maintaining or gaining lean muscle. Following this type of routine, it's possible to gain about one pound of muscle per week and lose about one pound of fat per week.

The bottom line is that you want to make strong, healthy, positive changes rather than punishing your body and your spirit with starvation. Your goal is the sleek healthy body of a naturally lean person who can enjoy what they eat.