Losing weight is all about motivation. We can have all knowledge about food and exercise but without motivation we're not going to lose weight. The only good thing that can be said about the different "diets" is they may give us temporary motivation. If we think it is an easy way to lose weight, we are excited about doing it. If the diet works it is because it reduces calories to the necessary level to cause the body to burn fat for energy. It is not because it is some miracle discovery. Some foods may tweak our digestive system or our metabolism to slightly increase calories burned but never enough to make a significant difference. In the end it is the amount of calories we consume.
Fat is stored fuel. When we eat, some food is converted into fuel throughout the day for immediate use. If there is more fuel than the body needs for that day, the excess is stored as fat. The reverse happens if there is not enough food consumed. Our body will convert the stored fat into the needed fuel. The unit of measure for the amount of fuel is calories. A pound of fat contains 3500 calories. If we store 3500 calories we gain a pound. If we convert stored fat into 3500 calories we lose a pound. It is that simple. No diet is going to change that. All the diet does is motivate us to consume less calories than we need for fuel each day.
Starvation diets or diets that allow only one food are counter productive. If the diet has less than approximately 1800 calories a day for males or 1200 for females, there may be a quick initial weight loss but then the body starts to consume muscle for energy. Muscle is the fat burning engine. If the diet is continued, the person will finally get discouraged because of low energy or some health issue and discontinue the diet. The weight will come back rapidly because the fat burning engine is smaller. I'm not talking about anorexia here. That is a whole other issue. I'm talking about the normal struggle that most people have with managing their weight.
Breakfast: Boiled egg, slice of whole wheat toast, coffee with cocoa,creamer and sweetener.
Lunch: Ham sandwich with slice of cheese, 8 oz. skim milk
Snack: 3 walnuts.
Dinner: Taco Bueno Nacho Salad and Taco , Diet coke. Not enough motivation to resist the ease and temptation.
1 comment:
It's always interesting to read about the kinds of food that people in love to eat. And oh, mind you, not al lthe pics on my blogs are of me. *winks*
And the surprise is just a simple things. Nothing extravagant lol. I'm almost done with it though and I'll come by again once I am. For now, I'm beat from work and I'm off to bed. Tudeloo..
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