Dieting

Can we prevent obesity by dieting? But i Heard that dieting is not good for health?

[nuyou]

"Dieting" is a mis-used word. Your diet consists of everything you eat. So... in order to lose weight (if you are obese), you need to change your diet. Stop taking in fat and sugar. Start eating no-fat or low-fat foods mixed with lots of fiber.

There are three terms that you have to understand in order to take control over your weight, and they are: Fat, Fiber and Carbohydrates. Fat is pretty straight forward. Fiber is anything that grows out of the ground... mainly fruits, veggies, nuts, grains and berries; and the important thing to know about fiber is that the digestive acid in your stomach won’t break it down, so when you eat fiber, it fills you up faster and keeps you feeling full longer. Finally, Carbs are foods that are naturally sweet, or anything made with sugar or flour.

If you ever heard that by eating low-fat or no-fat foods you can lose weight, well in reality, that’s just half the story. Most people, when trying low-fat diets, go to the store and start reading labels and look for zero-fat products. Well, what if you love spaghetti – on the label it says, “zero fat.” So then you start looking at the spaghetti sauce and it has almost no fat... and then there’s the “no-fat” cakes and cookies – and all that other stuff. So then people think, “Great, I can eat all I want.” They eat almost no fat at all – and end up GAINING weight  That’s why you need to know the other side of the story.

If you eat only low-fat foods, most of them are low in fiber and also very high in carbs. Because they are low in fiber you have to eat more to feel full. It’s like trying to fill up a sink that has no stopper. Eventually you can get it to fill up – but it takes a lot more water to do it. So, when you eat more, you take in more calories than you need and your body stores the extra carbs and calories as fat. That’s the other side of the low-fat diet. Unless you eat low-fat and high fiber, at the same time, you’re not going to lose weight.

Another big mistake that lots of people make is skipping meals. Our bodies are designed with the idea that we  have to expend energy in order to get food.  I mean, if you think back a hundred or more years ago, if you wanted to eat something you had to either go hunting or grow your own food. That’s a lot of work (hunting or farming) – a lot of physical activity – and even though we no longer have to do this, it doesn’t change the fact that our bodies are still designed this way. So, when you skip a meal, your body actually thinks that you’re out in the wild, and, for whatever reason, food is hard to come by. This is a survival mechanism that we all have – it’s built in. So, when your body thinks food is hard to find, it does two things to protect you from starving. First, it slows your metabolism causing your body to burn less fat. Second, the meal you eat after skipping a meal will be converted almost entirely to fat and stored –  to protect you from starving. So, if you skip breakfast, for instance, almost all the food you eat for lunch will be converted to fat. We think we’re taking in less food but in reality we’re causing our bodies to store fat. If you want to lose weight you need to eat at least three meals a day, on a regular schedule. You have to let your body know that there is plenty of food available so that your metabolism stays up and meals are not stored as fat, but rather used for energy.

[nuyou]

The approach I took was NO exercise... replaced 2 meals a day with healthy meal-replacement shakes and protein snacks in between. Then, when I reached my target weight, I adopted a maintenance program which consists of 2 meals every day, and replace1 meal with a “diet shake”... protein bars for between-meal snacks.

[Spooty]

I think I have tried every diet imaginable and always failed and gained back the weight, the only way to really loose weight and keep it off is a life style change and moderation, this does not happen over night and I have now lost 22 kilos (I beleive that is close to 50 pounds I think there is 2.5 pounds to a kilo) by changing my lifestyle, eating healty and in moderation (portion size), I also started lots of walking. If I want chocaloate I still eat it just less of it, if you deprive your self of a craving it only makes you want it more and then you will overeat.

all no fat is not good, your body does need some fat and sometimes the low fat option is not the best, if you read the label you will see that the sugar content is much higher, I eat pretty much what ever I want now just in small portions, I excercise regularly and I am still loosing weight very slowly, it has been at a rate of about 1-2 kilos a month, I have gone from an Australian size 18-20 to a 12-14 and I have never felt better.

I really believe that you also need to fix whats inside, your emotions, I was a big comfort eater and "hid" behind my weight, until you can love your self for who you are, you will never be happy, I have been thin and miserable and Fat and miserable and I now like myself and accept myself for who I am,  you will never be happy with how you look untill you learn to like yourself, the rest just followed.

[nuyou]

I agree whole heartedly with the phylosophy of loving yourself first... focus on being happy and be thankful for everything you have now. Think, "I am healthy" all the time. Your subconscious will remove the need for anything that's unhealthy, which includes high calorie or sugar-filled food.