Just search diets on the internet and you will find a much greater focus on fast weight loss, than on effective weight loss. Is it important to you to achieve both when you diet?
First…….I would like to offer my definition of effective weight loss. Weight loss is effective when it helps you lose weight and keep it off. It is effective when it helps you to look the way you want to look, on a permanent basis.
Research into weight loss that is effective, has revealed that a fast weight loss diet usually results in the weight being re-gained after the diet. In fact, the US government recommends that you should aim to lose just 1 or 2 pounds per week.
Yet the market abounds with diets that promise a loss of 5 – 10 pounds a week. There is no doubt that you can lose this amount in a week on these diets. However, if you put it back on again, are these diets providing effective weight loss?
What Motivates People To Lose Weight?
There are 2 principal reasons:
1. They want to improve how they look
2. They want to return to health
The weight loss industry plays to the first reason. You wont see a lot of diet advertising that plays to your health. It is pitched at your appearance – do such and such a diet and you will look good and feel good about yourself.
If you decide to lose weight in order to improve your appearance, it is usually because of what you see in the mirror. What you see in the mirror is unwanted fat. The mirror does not show you how much you weigh; your scales show that.
What Should You Focus On?
You need to focus your attention on losing fat; not on how much your scales say that you weigh. When you lose fat, you will lose weight. However, when you lose weight, you dont necessarily lose fat.
If you want to lose fat, you must exercise. Fat loss wont happen just by dieting. Fat loss will lead you to effective weight loss.
You can lose weight on a diet and your scales will confirm this. However, if you diet without exercising, the loss will be from loss of water in your body and loss of muscle mass. This is what happens on a fast weight loss diet. The reason you will put the weight back on after the diet, is that your body will replenish its water level.
You may be spellbound by what your scales are telling you, when you are on a fast weight loss diet, but can it be considered to be effective weight loss?
Jay works closely with a prominent weight loss professional, who has a PHD in the subject, and who has worked with thousands of patients in his private practice. Jay has created an A-Z Roadmap that walks you through all you need to know about weight loss programs that are effective. You can get free access to it, for a limited time, by going to his fat loss answers website.