Everyone has heard the advice that a calorie is a calorie and if you eat less calories you will lose weight and if you eat more calories you will gain weight. However, may people believe the there is more to losing weight than a simple equation about calories. There are many new and improved methods to lose weight and they are becoming very popular. Americans annually spend approximately $42,000,000,000 on weight loss services, products, and foods. When there is that much money in play it’s no wonder that there are numerous weight loss products on the market.
It can be difficult to know which diets to believe in since here so many diet options to choose from. That is the reason that Voluntary Guidelines for Providers of Weight Loss Products or Services was developed by The Partnership for Healthy Weight Management. The goal of these guidelines is to provide the proper guidance to the general public on some strategies to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. According to these guidelines, weight management that is effective includes:
The modification of behavior that includes: physical activity that is at least moderately intense; lower fat consumption; an increase in whole grain, vegetable, and fruit consumption; a reduction in calories; healthy eating in accordance with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and; dietary intervention.
Surgical, pharmacological, and medical intervention should include: the modification of physical activity, used in conjunction with behavior, and; may be required for people who have the most serious cases of obesity of being overweight.
A person who is overweight should find a plan which includes a strategy for the maintenance of weight loss. The worst thing that a person who is overweight can do is to regain all or more of the weight that took so much time and effort to lose.
Some of the most popular diets are fad diets. Basically, a fad diet is the interest or practice that is followed for a time with a great deal of enthusiasm. Usually a fad diet will promise a fast loss of weight in a short period of time. However, success in the long run means that you have to make changes that are permanent in physical activity, diet, and behavior.
The ways to identify a diet that is just a fad include: It is written by a person who has no experience with weight management; there is no exercise required; it eliminates essential nutrients such as proteins, fats, and carbohydrates; there is a lack of randomized, long term scientific studies that prove that the diet is safe and that it works; it eliminates the major food groups including vegetables, fruits, dairy products, meats, and fats; it requires a specific food product or a mineral/vitamin/mineral supplement; it requires less than 1,000 calories daily; it defines food as bad or good; it makes claims that sound too good to be true, and; it claims extremely fast weight loss.
There are disadvantages and advantages to many diet plans that are popular. The basis for many diet plans stresses the reduced intake of one nutrient. Depending on the plan, the other nutrients and food groups are permitted in unlimited or limited quantities. It is impossible to lose weight without restricting calories. Therefore, the diet plan should offer less calories than is required for your body to maintain your weight. If the diet plan claims otherwise, it may result in you gaining weight.
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