Weight-loss-diets

From Diet Fitness Wiki

It is quite common for people to begin dieting with the primary purpose of weight loss in mind. You might be thinking nothing more than, "Hey, how can I lose 10 pounds in a month, or even how to lose 20 pounds in a month" It is important to note, however, that weight loss is not an ideal end in itself. Mere weight loss will not always improve an individual's appearance, and in some cases can produce a doughy and pallid look. The true measure of any diet's effectiveness should be overall health and well-being, with a secondary purpose of increasing body composition being subsumed by that primary goal.

Why would a weight loss diet not improve appearance?

It has to do with body composition. Many people make the mistake of failing to consider what their body is actually made of when they engage in weight loss dieting behavior. The human body is essentially composed of protein and fat. Therefore, if too little of either of these macronutrients is consumed over a prolonged period, the body will be forced to recycle its own stores. Furthermore, there are a number of molecular varieties of each of these.

Why you need to eat fat when dieting

The body fat that an individual has stored up subcutaneously and in and around the abdominal organs is almost entirely stored for fuel. Essential fatty acids of the type needed to maintain brain tissue, for example, are not stored in this way. Therefore, even if one is dieting with the goal of shedding body fat, it is still necessary to ensure that enough essential fatty acids are consumed to maintain brain mass.

No protein, no weight loss

Likewise, the body requires a large amount of protein in order to manufacture the numerous cellular structures of the body, enzymes, hormones, neurotransmitters, etc. Most of the amino acids needed for these tasks exist in a healthy body's muscle mass, and can therefore be taken from the muscles if not enough is being consumed in the diet. The downside of this, of course, is that a person is actively losing muscle mass each day that they do not consume adequate amounts of protein. Since muscle tissue is one of the body's main consumers of caloric energy, loss of muscle mass results in a decreased ability to burn calories. This makes it much harder to continue losing weight, and much easier to regain what weight has been lost.