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Both the media and supplement companies have recently been hyping up and spending millions of dollars on promoting dieting and weightloss. Americans are fixated with having the perfect body.

Cosmetic surgery is the latest fad and plastic surgery shows like Dr. 90210 and Nip Tuck are now some of the hottest shows on television. However even with all this pressure to have the perfect body Americans are still having an increasingly difficult time keeping the weight off. But why?

FAD DIETS

Most Americans have taken part in some sort of fad diet with the hopes of shedding those unwanted pounds of fat in the quickest amount of time. A fad diet is basically a weight loss program that promises breathtaking results. The most famous fad diet is the Atkins Diet.

Despite what you may hear about these fad diets, the truth of the matter is that these diets are not very healthy for your body, and they do not provide the dieter with long-term success.

However one of the main reasons these fad diets are so popular are because some of them actually do work, but its only for a short time. How can these crazy fad diets work for the short-term, but fail in providing the dieter with long-term success?

Easy. When most dieters begin implementing these “rules” that many fad diets have (such as food separation techniques, eliminating an important macro-nutrients such as carbohydrates), or sticking solely to a liquid-based diet regimen, these dieters are ultimately eating fewer calories than they normally would. The dieter also gives up his or her favorite foods and begins to become more aware of the foods they eat which usually means a reduction in overall calories - leading to quick weightloss. However within time their body adjusts to this new diet and they may gain this weight back.

ADKINS

The Atkins diet works but only for a little while. By eating only meat your body is depleted of glucose. Glucose is the body’s main source of energy. So when the body can’t use glucose for energy, it uses fat instead. Sounds great right? However when fat is broken down due to a lack of glucose and excess of ketones appear in the body. This causes ketosis which increases the amount of Beta receptors in your fat tissue. These Beta Receptors make the fat harder to burn and encourage your body to save more fat for energy. In turn your body ends up burning muscle for energy which lowers your overall metabolism and the amount of calories your body burns on a given day. This leads to a crash in energy, lethargy, depression, and weight gain. This is a vicious cycle that occurs with the Atkins diet and usually leads to the dieter quitting the diet after they gain all the weight they initially lost back. It is not worth it! The Atkins diet is crap!

This diet also was NOT invented by Dr. Adkins, it was invented in London by Dr. William Harvey in 1862 long before Dr. Atkins was even born. Dr. Atkins was just the first to market and profit off this diet. Dr. Harvey actually knew at the time that this diet would only lead to short-term success and even noted this in his research. Dr. Atkins was well aware of this but saw an opportunity to make a good profit.

This diet was also found to be unhealthy long term. Eating only meat leads to high cholesterol and a greater occurence of heart attacks, strokes, and even cancer.

OTHER CRASH DIETS

There are other fad diets out there that say that you need to eat zero fat to lose weight. Well eating fat is essential for fat loss, so this whole diet concept is wrong as well. By eating no faty your body is left out of the EFA (Essential Fatty Acids) that are essential for fatloss. Again the dieter gets frustrated because there is no fat loss and soon returns to the old, unhealthy lifestyle of consuming tons of unhealthy and artery clogging fats.

Diets that tell the dieter to consume no meat are bogus too. Protein is the building block of tissue in your body. Without it, you cannot build or maintain muscle, which will cause a metabolism drop, and futile results. By not eating protein, you are starving yourself from amino acids that are needed and your body will be unhealthy. You will loose muscle and look flabby, and that will frustrate you.

Try to avoid all Fad Diets. Foods are made for us to eat and we need a balanced diet to survive, and complete our fitness goals. By trusting the next fad diet you are giving yourself a false hope and soon you will crash down.

Failure is the most common thing I see when I talk to people on the diet. As soon as they start they loose a lot of weight which is mostly water and muscle. After a few weeks the body is fighting back and they feel and look unhealthy. Fad diets are a part of the confusion that is on our nation. And with this confusion, we will stay fat.

SEDENTARTY LIFESTYLES

Let’s face it, it’s much easier to eat delivered pizza while watching comedy central than to go to the gym and get on a treadmill and run. I have seen some people who don’t even want to get up off the couch to get soda despite the fact they are thirsting like they just ran a mile in the Sahara.

Just think of pizza, pizza is one of everyone’s favorite foods and not only is it loaded with sugars and trans fats but it’s also delivered so that makes it even easier to be lazy. Most people would rather pay an extra five dollars for a tip than put their shoes on and make that long drive 1/2 a mile around the corner to pick up the pizza themselves.

Many people really think they are too busy for things such as working out.

It only takes 30-45 minutes to exercise. Whether that form of exercise is a light stroll in the neighborhood, a jog in the park, a run on the treadmill, or a weight-training session at the gym, it simply does not matter as long as you do something.

Exercise and a sound nutrition program are vital to achieving your dream physique. Now put down that TV remote, and get moving!

FAST FOOD

You are what you eat. We have all heard this phrase millions of times, but somehow, Americans faced with weight issues do not acknowledge this little phrase. If Americans only knew just how fast food was prepared, and just how many calories and fat it contains, they would be totally surprised.

A burger and fries from your favorite fast food joint will cost you between 600-950 calories! What about those awful trans fats? First, let’s define what a trans fat is. It is an unsaturated fatty acid molecule that contains a trans double bond between carb atoms.

Fast food is loaded with trans fat! Diets that contain high amounts of trans fat have been linked to coronary heart disease and even atherosclerosis. Trans fat is not only found in those favorite fried foods at the local fast food joint, but also in baked goods, fried goods, snack foods, and other foods which have been processed.

Why do many Americans eat fast food and food items with trans fat? Simple. Americans live busy lives, and will chow down on fast food and conveniently packaged goods just because of the fact that these food choices are quick and easy.

A much better option instead of gorging on these unhealthy food choices would be to simply prepare your own meals. This way you would know exactly what you are eating.

POOR EATING HABITS

One of the most obvious examples of these poor eating habits is the collapse of structured mealtimes and snacks. Why is this so common? Americans live busy lives. In many homes, families don’t even share dinner together at the table, and snacking is common without any limits.

You also have those people who skip breakfast for whatever reason.

Many people operate in either one extreme or the other - either they are following a program perfectly, or they are simply going wild with their poor eating habits.

They pile down the calories at lunch to compensate for not eating breakfast. Guess what? The more food the body has to digest at one time, the more food it stores as fat. There is only so much the body can digest and process in one sitting. Eating much smaller meals more periodically throughout the course of the day increases the body’s thermal effect, which ultimately results in an increase in metabolism!

Another poor eating habit among Americans is eating too fast. Those who eat fast tend to consume more food because they do not give their brain an opportunity to signal to the body that it is satisfied. Chewing often and more slowly can easily avoid this poor habit.

Another big problem is some Americans looking to get rid of extra weight try too hard to constantly eat a healthy diet. They simply try too hard. Eating healthy is great, don’t get me wrong, but eating too healthy can be a bad habit for those looking to shed a few pounds. Don’t try too hard, and follow a nutrition regimen that you’re comfortable with and can easily adjust their lifestyle to fit.

ACCEPTANCE

Many people just accept the extra weight and tell themselves that they are just like the rest of the people in the United States and that being over weight is alright. Being unhealthy and obese is not cool, sexy or admirable and even if you can never look exactly like a fitness model that is no excuse to not try to get into shape.

People always revert to the saying “It’s what’s inside that counts” well guess what, the things that are going on inside most Americans like high cholesterol and high blood pressure are not good.

Some people may have pair shapes and think it isn’t worth working out because you can’t change the bone structure you were given which you may hate so why bother. There are certain body parts you can workout to accentuate the good parts about your body and narrow the parts you may not like.

If you have a pair shape then work harder on your shoulders it’s certainly better then accepting the things you don’t like about your body. Listen to yourself when it comes to what your life should be like.

No one is holding a gun to your head telling you where to live and where to work. The boundaries that are the highest are the ones you make for yourself.

In Conclusion

As a whole Americans are noticably more obese now than they were 20 years ago. It is widely known that obesity in America is a growing problem. This situation has opened the doors for marketing companies to profit off of fad diets, worthless supplements, and misleading books and articles on how to “easily” lose weight fast and keep it off. These marketing campaigns create the biggest obstacle in resolving this issue: misinformation.