I found on the internet this subject, for ex. http://obesity.alistabout.info. Weight loss diets can be causes for obesity? What do you think? My wife is in a weight loss diet program and now I am worried about her.
Well... the key to weight loss is making permanent lifestyle changes you can live with, in my opinion. Diets may work temporarily, but once you go off the diet and resume your normal habits, the weight, and then some, comes back. Dieting is how I ballooned myself to 220 pounds.
So yes, in my opinion, diets can make you fat.
To me, "diet" is a 4-letter word. You need to start eating less (and healthy) moving more and make changes you can stick with for the rest of your life. Diets are only a temporary solution.
I think Linda hit the nail on the head. The tomato soup diet or the four day diet or the lemon juice diet may indeed take weight off. But I'd bet you can find dozens of people on this site alone who have yoyo'd themselves heavier by trying those types of things.
A life change to better foods and increased activity is what causes a slimmer healthier body.
In my experience, dieting made me fat. I started at age 15 at 130 lbs and ended at age 35 and nearly 200 lbs.
In July 2004 I completely changed my eating habits forever and reached my maintenance weight in March 2005. I have maintained my weight loss for 1 year - I have NEVER maintained a weight loss before.
In the past two things always happened:
1. I would severely restrict calories until my body forced a binge - uncontrollable eating to get the nourishment it needed. This binging/out of control feeling always made me feel so lousy I tended to think I was a big fat failure and just give up.
2. I would reach my "goal weight" and return to the unhealthy eating habits that made me heavy in the first place.
Of course, in both cases, since I wrecked my metabolism, altered my body composition (the body cannabalizes muscle in the case of severe restriction) I ended up gaining all the weight I lost AND more. That's how I went from 130 to 200 by "dieting."
To me, any diet program I planned to start and one day finish was doomed to failure. I have changed the way I eat forever - for me, it is the only way to live at my goal weight for a lifetime. Now that I am maintaining, I do exactly what I did to lose weight, I just allow myself more calories a day. Still plan, hit the grocery store several times a week, pack lunches, count calories, keep a food journal.
I did not focus on weight loss, I focused on eating for HEALTH - lots of vegetables, fruit, lean protein, low fat dairy, healthy fats - avoiding packaged/processed foods (including fake diet foods - low cal/low fat stuff), white carbs, fast food, sugary treats, soda and booze.
I've changed the way I eat forever as well. Nice to see a few of you agree with me because in my experience, yes, dieting made me fat. When I finally made the decision to start eating healthy and watching my calories, the weight, finally, started coming off. And in that process I've taught myself good habits that will last a lifetime.
Diets don't do that. Or at least most of them don't. If you follow someone else's regime, you're not really learning anything, you're not teaching yourself anything. Losing weight and keeping it off is like starting a new job - if you dive into it head first and make it a point to learn as much as you can, you'll succeed. If you let someone else do the work for you, you're just sliding along the surface but not absorbing what you need to know.
Weight loss diets can be causes for obesity?
i agree with linda. you need to change eating habits during wieght loss and keep it up after. glen
