Crash diets

Weight loss experts will tell you that crash diets are rarely effective when it comes to weight loss and there are some good reasons behind this. In fact, most of these diets are usually very unhealthy and only succeed in helping you achieve rapid loss of weight. They promote loss of muscle weight or water weight which besides being gained back quickly, loosing these weight is potentially very harmful to your overall well- being. And as if this is not enough, you will realise that sticking to these crash diets in the long run is nearly impossible as your body will resist the change naturally. This in turn ends up frustrating your weight loss endeavours to a great extent.

Weight loss is only possible through a radical exercise regime

This is essentially not true as to succeed in weight loss; you will need to make small changes which you can stick to for a relatively long time. Losing weight is only possible if you are able burn much more calories compared to what you are consuming and an exercise regime is only one of the ways to help you achieve this. You will thus need to move more, eat less and best of all, combine both of them.

Slimming pills are the solution for effective weight loss in the long term

This is certainly not true as slimming pills will do you more harm than good in your long-term weight loss efforts. Most importantly, don’t use slimming pills for long term purposes and always ask your physician for a prescription.

Carbohydrates cause weight gain

A common myth is that carbohydrates only succeed in making you put on more weight and this is highly unfounded and certainly not true. When carbohydrates are eaten in the most appropriate quantities, they will certainly not lead to weight gain. It is essential that you eat whole meal and whole grain carbohydrates like whole meal bread and brown ice and you will certainly succeed in your weight loss efforts.

Drinking water helps in weight loss

While drinking water is always very important, keep in mind that it will not help you loose water. Water only makes you stay hydrated and could succeed in helping you snack less. Drinking water is important for your overall wellbeing and good health.

Keeping note of these myths will help you know what works and what don’t work when it comes to weight loss just to be sure that you are on the right track.

Instead of clearing your diary to find extra time in the gym – or worse still, becoming so demoralised that you give up – it’s time to change your workout. Most of us are creatures of habit, so even though we know we should be varying our exercise routines to stop this happening, we stick to our old routines, and we even risk injury by using the same muscles day in, day out.

However, rather than just swapping the treadmill for the rowing machine, you need to switch everything up, not just varying the activities, but the length of time you do them for, the intensity, and even where you’re doing them. It’s the constant adaptation that stops us from grinding to a halt, leading to better fitness and better weight loss.

If this seems too confusing to stick to, then don’t worry – it’s easier than it seems, all it needs is a little planning. If you’re a real stickler for routine, then this is for you, since you will be working out a few plans to rotate over a period of a few weeks. Vary your cardio activity, and also whether it’s for intensity or endurance; the key is to make sure that no two training sessions are the same, and that you never do two workouts designed for the same end back to back. You may want to discuss your initial plans with a personal trainer, and check in with them every month or so to make adjustments – it’s easy to decide on a plan which is either too tough or too easy for your current level of fitness, and if you don’t factor in suitable warm ups and cool downs, including plenty of stretches, you are in danger of picking up a sports injury.

By their nature, sports injuries can be hard for your GP to diagnose. Waiting lists can also be long for hospital scans, so a private MRI in London is a good idea to speed up the process, especially if your workout is crucial to your physical or mental health, or if the injury is such that you are unable to carry out even day to day tasks without pain, let alone follow an exercise regime. A quick diagnosis can help you get the treatment you need to get back to your best.

So, disregarding crash diets and binge running, here are 5 healthy ways that you can stay in shape this summer with minimal effort and maximum health benefit.

1. Portion Control

Cutting out meals and drastically reducing diet is a popular way to lose weight in a hurry, but unfortunately it is also one of the least sustainable (and least healthy) methods of weight loss. Often, once people reach a target weight, they resume eating normally and quickly gain back those extra pounds. So, instead of “crashing” your diet, focus on mild but sustainable portion control. Eat slowly and stop when you’re full – not when you can’t eat anymore.

2. Eat Breakfast

You’ve certainly heard the old saying that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. With specific regard to staying in shape, breakfast is important because it triggers our metabolism. Once you’ve put something in your stomach in the morning, your body will burn calories more effectively throughout the day, helping you to avoid unnecessary weight gain.

3. Employ Resistance Training

Many people are afraid that resistance training will simply build bulk rather than help keep weight off. However, resistance training is actually most effective in that it provides a massive calorie-burning burst. Working in some weight training 3 to 4 days a week will help your body to keep off extra calories in between, and will also make your cardio workouts more effective.

4. Vary Your Workouts

When crashing for beach season, a lot of us tend to shoot for excessive running, because it is perceived as the best way to drop weight. However, varying your workout routine will keep you from losing interest, and ultimately makes for a more sustainable effort. Running, cycling and swimming are all great options, but think about working in entertaining exercise as well – beach activities, summer sports, etc.

5. Get Enough Sleep

Finally, try your best to get the recommended 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night. Studies show that this proper rest helps your body to attack fat, instead of muscle, with calorie burning efforts, and that keeps you in the best shape.

What is the best diet ever?  Is it “Eat Right for your Blood Type” or Atkins?  Is it Dukkan, Paleo, Raw, Vegetarian or Vegan?  Or is it the diet that hasn’t yet been invented?  Maybe it’s the Food Pyramid after all?!

The best diet is none of these.  But it is all of these.

We have some basic food groups, they are: Animal (meat, fish, eggs), Dairy, Grains, Legumes/Beans, Nuts/Seeds, Fruit, Vegetables.  We are taught, that so long as we are eating these and minimising processed foods high in sugars and transfats then we will be more likely to maintain a healthy body weight and optimal health.

But then Mr Blood type comes along and tells us that if you are an A type, that grains are your friend and meat, not so much.  Mr Dukkan and fellow Paleo writers tells us that it’s meat all the way.  Raw Foodists tell us that nothing should be cooked and Vegetarians tell us that meat rots in our intestine.

So what these diets are telling us is that not all healthy food is healthy.  Wait, what?

They are half right.  Not all healthy food is healthy – but the only person who can determine that is you.  Not some diet writer and not someone who has only found data to support their particular diet regime.

Let me explain with some easy examples.  Grains are supposed to be good for us, but in someone with Colitis, grains can cause inflammation and gut issues which fires up the immune system leading to all sorts of other health conditions.

Dairy is supposed to be good for us.  But for those without the enzyme DPP-IV the metabolised casein molecule can swim around the brain as Casomorphine and cause psychological disturbance.

Onions are good for us, but if you bloat and fart, then just maybe your stomach isn’t happy with it.

The best diet ever is the one that keeps your body in balance.  The one that provides the foods for optimal function from head to toe.  Such things to consider are:

• Energy levels
• Sleep patterns
• Brain fog
• Weight maintenance
• Bloating and other digestive issues
• Elimination function
• Migranes and headaches
• Absence of food cravings
• Healthy functioning immune response
• Good hair, skin & nails
• Good cognition and lowered anxiety, depression or stress response

Food provides the building blocks to our entire body.  We all know this, but we struggle to listen to our body when finding out what it really needs, instead we listen to our brains or egos and diet writers.

It takes time to work out what the best diet is for you, and it will also change as the years pass.

There is a best diet, and it is the one that brings your body into balance.  A great place to start is to see what foods you’re intolerant to and to take time out and listen to your body.

The best diet for me is Paleo (meat, nuts, seeds, fruit, veges).  Eat right for my blood type tells me to eat lots of grains, but guess what – I don’t digest them well, so who is right?  Some book…or my body?

Start playing around with your food groups and write your own perfect and best diet while the diet writers and scientists battle it out amongst themselves.

1. Rewarding yourself

You may think that half an hour in the gym gives you the right to sink two beers afterwards right? Wrong! You may be consuming twice the calories than you’ve just burned and it may take you another half an hour in the gym to burn off the extra cake or pint. If you do need to satisfy yourself on your cheat day then try going for one small beer or a small slice of fruit loaf. You don’t want to undo all of your hard work.

2. Mindless eating

Some people when they’re in front of the TV enter a kind of trance where there not even sure how many chocolates they’ve just consumed. US studies have shown that keeping a food diary when dieting can double the amount of weight you lose.

3. Liquid calories

All of those healthy juices and smoothies you drink contain lots of sugar. If you’re congratulating yourself with one of these (or the odd beer) every time you’ve just worked out, you’re not only drinking extra calories but your body is metabolising alcohol before processing anything else, which slows fat loss.

4. You don’t have a goal

You may be permanently on a diet and have no idea how much weight you want to lose or what your weight was even before you started. The problem with this is that you’re not getting the satisfaction every week of knowing how much weight you’ve lost. Again, US studies have shown that people who jump on the scales daily lost more weight than those who did it monthly or less. You’re more likely to lose weight when working towards a goal because it keeps weight loss at the forefront of your mind.