Any woman who has ever been on a diet will probably tell you that the so called diet plans for women do not work – or that they may work for a time but that the weight seems to come back after a time.
Fad diets, yoyo diets, celebrity diets that claim to work do so only in the short term and until such time a woman stays on the program. However as soon as she reverts to her ‘normal’ diet, the weight comes back.
Fad diets and diet plans for women that are practiced with zeal, but only for a limited period, are doomed to failure. Diet plans should be picked with care, and the following kinds of diets are not to be recommended.
Those that promise ‘quick’ or ‘fast’ weight loss
The healthy kind of weight loss that can be sustained over a period of time, is never fast, rather it should be slow and steady for giving long lasting results.
‘Effortless’ weight loss
If the diet plans for women are the sort that promise to get you results without making any effort then they should be viewed with suspicion. If they are too good to be true, then they probably are. If a diet plan offers weight loss without exercise or activity, then this is not to be recommended either.
The reasons for exercise are so many – exercise is good for health and wellbeing and not just for weight loss. Exercise should form a part of each individual’s life, no matter whether they are overweight or underweight; if a diet proposes weight loss without any exercise be wary.
Diet plans that cut out entire food groups
These are the diets to be steered clear of. No matter what proponents of a given diet say, the best diet is a balanced diet and a varied one; that contains lots of natural food.
The body needs fats, carbohydrates and protein in proper proportion to function so any diet that requires you to cut out say, all grain, or all dairy products, all veggies or all fruit, or all carbs, cannot be a balanced one, and hence is not going to be beneficial.
For instance the Atkins diet calls for carbs to be cut out as much as possible while eating lots of protein, because this will help sate the body quicker and keep it feeling sated for longer. However research has shown that this kind of weight loss is difficult if not impossible to sustain.
Diet plans that call for severe calorie restriction
Die plans whose intake is less than 1000 calories per day cannot be healthy for the body. To begin with the body may lose weight, but soon the body gets signals of starvation and scarcity and will begin to horde its fat reserves. Weight lost in this manner is bound to return quickly.
Expertise and credentials of the dietician of the person who recommends or has formulated the diet plans for women should also be checked. Also if claims are being made, are they backed up by evidence and are they free from any side effects even in the longer term. These are just some of the questions to be asked.
