There are many diet plans around today that promise fast weight loss. Many people who want to slim down rapidly may be tempted to try them out. You need to know why this may not be the best choice for your health. If you are serious about taking some weight off, learning what rate is safe and how to accomplish it is much more valuable than learning what the latest fad diets are. You will end up being much healthier and happier in the end.
You may wonder why some people seem to be naturally slender and have lower body weights than others. A lot of this has to do with our metabolism. Some have efficient metabolisms that can consume a lot of the calories from the food they eat. Others have inefficient or slow metabolisms. This means that the calories in the food they eat are often converted into fat. If we eat a lot of excess calories, we end up storing a lot of it as fat and can end up gaining weight that we do not want.
The idea of losing weight quickly seems to be a simple one. Many people think that if they cut back on the number of calories that they consume, they will be able to shed pounds and inches very quickly. They think that this will help them drop weight in a hurry. Unfortunately they fail to realize that there can be a number of unwanted side effects when they use this method to reduce their body weight.
Our bodies are designed to tell when we are starving. This was a protection method that dates back to when food was not always readily available. During the times when we were short on food, our bodies would hold on to all of the calories that we were able to take in. Our metabolic rate would slow down. Even now, when we starve ourselves, we suddenly become unable to shed body fat since our body is holding on to it as a way to stay alive.
We also tend to shed water weight first when we go on a speed diet. This effect is enhanced when we take many of the fat burning pills that are on the market today. As we dry out, we lose pounds and inches but it is not a real result because we are not losing fat. We can become quite weak if we become dehydrated and the situation can become dangerous if it is allowed to go on too long.
Other affects you may experience are a drop in your energy level and health problems due to restricted vitamin and mineral intake. You can lower your energy levels and if you stay on a severe diet for too long, you may end up lowering your metabolic rate permanently and causing significant, long term health problems.
To avoid the dangers of quick weight loss, you should try and lose no more than two pounds a week. This will preserve your metabolism. If you watch portion sizes and eat more fruits and vegetables, your caloric intake will be reduced. By increasing your activity level, you can burn more calories and finally begin shedding pounds and inches in as healthy a way as possible.
In order to stay healthy, fast weight loss may simply not be possible. We are all better off setting longer term goals and working toward a gradual and sustainable fat loss that will have us looking and feeling great.