Crash Diet
Every girl’s dream is to eat but not gain weight. Isn’t it funny? These days boys too dream to lose weight. Thanks to the growing technology and our sedentary lifestyle, most people of different age groups and gender are being bitten by the obesity bug. This altogether affects not only their health but also their self-confidence. Then these people start looking for some quick fix to their weight issues. And guess what, CRASH DIET comes as a saviour. You can find hundreds of crash diet tips online. They all claim to make you slimmer within few days. But do they give you tips how to maintain the lost weight? Please look for it and you will not find a single website who can assure you a maintained weight loss.
So, let’s find out what is CRASH DIET?
Crash diet is a meal plan with restricted number of calories sometimes as low as 700 calories. The main aim to consume so less calories is to burn up the stored fats as a source of energy. There are different types of CRASH DIET PLANS to be followed for different number of days. Such as 3-day crash diet plan, 7-day plan, 1-month plan, etc. However, though these diets claim to give you the desired look within a short period of time, there is no guidance given as to how to maintain this weight loss in future.
How do these CRASH DIETS work?
Crash diet plans are very low in calories hence you end up burning your stored fats as a source of energy to perform your daily routine. This leads to weight loss within a few days. Moreover, most of these diets will be high in fluids so cleansing of the body and removal of toxins also happens.
What does CRASH DIET do to our body?
- Restrictive meal plans are given to be followed which are not sustainable in the long run.
- Since you are allowed to eat limited food in a day, your metabolism slows down. Hence burning calories becomes difficult.
- In this diet, initially you lose water weight. After that in most cases you start losing from the muscles whereas fat can remain the same. This gradually gives you unhealthy weight loss.
- You are hungry all the time. Levels of the hormone GHRELIN go up which make you feel hungry all the time and you end up eating more calories than needed.
- There are changes in the neural and brain activity which makes you nagging and irritable.
- Because of constant starving, there is a decrease in the adrenaline levels which make you physically and mentally exhausted.
- This can lead to drop in blood pressure and heart beat causing you to pass out.
- Maintaining lost weight is very difficult.
- Since crash diets are not nutritionally balanced, you might end up with severe deficiencies of essential nutrients. This can have adverse effects on your health.
What to do to ensure healthy weight loss?
- Eat high protein diet: Eating good quality protein is very important when you want your fat to burn and muscles to build. Some excellent source of proteins are Eggs, Fish (especially sea fish), Low-fat dairy products, nuts and seeds.
- Eat high fiber diet: Include 4-5 servings of green vegetables and 1-2 servings of fruits in your daily diet. These are high in soluble fiber which keeps you full and provide you with essential vitamins and minerals. Since green vegetables are very low in calories, you can have them in any form at any time of the day.
- Drink plenty of fluids especially water. Water doesn’t have calories and they keep you hydrated all day long. Herbal tea and black coffee too help in weight loss since they are low in calories. However, black coffee or unsweetened coffee with low fat milk should be taken only once a day. Fruit juices should be avoided to avoid unnecessary consumption of sugar and calories.
- Avoid sugary, carbonated beverages. Also avoid deep fried sweets, processed food products and anything prepared with refined flour or too much salt in it. This includes canned food, ready to serve foods and pickles.
- Include 4-5 types of mixed seeds such as chia, flax, pumpkin, sesame, melon, etc. into your daily diet. These are high in antioxidants and fiber.
- Don’t avoid any specific nutrient from your meal. Follow a balanced meal which includes cereals, pulses or meat, vegetables, fruits, oils, nuts or seeds and low-fat dairy products.
- Include any type of exercise or any physical activity in your daily routine for at least 45-60 minutes five days a week or 30 minutes daily.
- Never skip any meal especially your breakfast. Also try to have your breakfast within 1hour after you wake and dinner 2hours before you go to sleep. Do not keep a long gap between each meal and try to have 2 heavy meals and 3 light meals which includes dinner.
- Get sound sleep for at least 6-7 hours daily.
- If you are strict with your diet for the whole week, you can cheat just for one day. But this should act as motivation and not excuse.
Folks, these are few tips which can surely help you lose weight from your fats and not from your muscles. You can go for shortcuts but remember shortcuts can give you temporary happiness but not a guaranteed one. After all SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE. Choose what you are opting for and who you want to be in this race – rabbit or tortoise. For more information, please click www.dietvita.com and for assistance, click [email protected] .
Consultant Nutritionist
DietVita
