It’s no surprise that many people want to try fad diets when they seem to get such fast results. So you might be wondering what’s so bad about them? A lot actually! You can certainly find hundreds of sites online claiming amazing weight loss in just a few short days. However, what they don’t tell you is that type of weight loss is only temporary. It is usually just water weight that you are losing, which will be put right back on as soon as your body re-hydrates, which it has to do or you will suffer severe health problems, or even die!
Other fad diets are not so obviously crash diets with outrageous claims but they are over hyped diet plans that tend to be fashionable for a while and usually make a lot of money for the inventor in associated product sales. In the best cases these are good nutrition plans which will help you lose weight, but which you could probably have gotten for free from your doctor. In the worst cases they will prove so difficult to follow that you will give up after a week.
The BAD of “fad” diets…
1. Diets that promise quick and easy weight loss are usually based on eating more of one food type and none of another. These do not give the benefits that you would get from a balanced diet. They may suggest you take supplements but many supplements are not absorbed by the body unless they are taken along with the foods that the diet has banned. After a few weeks, if you stick to it that long, you may begin to develop nutritional deficiencies.
2. Fad diets are often boring and over restrictive. After the novelty of the first day or two, you will not enjoy your meals. You will then start to crave food constantly and will break the diet. You may even feel guilty, thinking it is your fault that you did not lose weight.
3. Most fad diets do not follow recommendations set by health authorities for fat levels in the diet. Often the diet will recommend high fat foods and low carbs which if taken long term, could result in heart disease or other health problems. The promoters may tell you that the diet is only intended to be followed for a short time. But you probably will not reach your weight goals in that time, and then what? You either continue with a plan that is not good for your health, or stop and gain back everything you lost.
4. Many fad diets do not help you to incorporate enough servings of fruits and vegetables in your weight loss program, or give you the variety of foods that your body needs.
5. Quick weight loss diets are just a temporary solution and do not help you to make permanent changes to your eating habits. Permanent changes are the only way to remain at your target weight once you reach it. Fad diets encourage yo-yo diet-binge cycles of fast weight loss and equally fast weight gain. This is worse for your health and your self-esteem than if you had stayed overweight all the time.
Whatever the publicity materials may say, these diets will not help you in the long term. The best way to sustain weight loss is to eat healthy balanced meals, do not over eat, exercise regularly, and avoid fad diets. I recommend doing crossfit workouts for a healthy lifestyle, effective weight loss, increased muscle mass, a toned body, and overall better results.