Most people are misinformed and are misdirected by weight loss commercials which promote unhealthy ways to lose weight that can be hazardous to your physical and mental well-being.
If you want to lose weight, it’s most likely because you carry too much fat. So focus on fat loss, not on weight loss since your body is composed of a variety of different tissue types including lean tissues (muscle, bone, and organs) that are metabolically active, and fat tissue is not.
Unhealthy ways that people adopt:
No-Calorie Diet/ Fad Diets: Healthy fats actually help you burn fat. Unfortunately, the zero-calorie trend is one of the most popular leading people to consume harmful artificial sweeteners in the name of losing weight.
Skipping Meals: This approach may appear to make sense, but really it’s a harmful and unhealthy way to lose weight. Your metabolism speeds up after eating, and if you chronically skip meals, your metabolism can slow down and actually lead to weight gain. Starving or skipping meals is extremely ineffective in weight-loss.
Laxatives: Excessive use of laxatives in the form of pills, powders, suppositories and teas in order to lose weight is not a new concept. Continuous use will weaken your digestive system and can cause abdomen related complications.
Over-Exercising: Over-exercising can be one of the worst things you can do to lose weight. Sticking to a rigorous exercise regime can rarely be considered a bad thing, but extensive amounts of cardio won’t help you drop the remaining weight. HIIT for 20 minutes, 3–5 times per week is an appropriate amount, along with strength training.
When you lose weight through crash dieting and improper training, you are losing 60% muscle mass and 40% fat. Since you are losing muscles, it will slow down your metabolism. If you have slow metabolism, it promotes fat gain. In fact, it is very difficult to lose fat when you have slow metabolism. The ultimate goal for successful weight loss is to preserve as much muscle as possible. Your body fat percentage is a key indicator of your success, not the scale. Muscle is vital to your success for losing fat. Muscles have these little fat burning powerhouses called mitochondria where the fat is metabolized.
Dangers of unhealthy weight loss:
A variety of serious conditions are associated with fast weight loss. According to WebMD, these include imbalances of electrolytes, malnutrition, gallstones, dehydration, fatigue, irritability,headaches, constipation, dizziness, irregular menstruation, loss of muscle and loss of hair.
Working out and sticking to a healthy diet should complement one another in order to lose weight in a healthy way. Losing weight requires a lifestyle change, especially if you want it to stay off. It’s hard work, eating healthy and exercising.
Don’t just Diet, Change your Lifestyle!