Why Calorie Counting Doesn’t Work for Weight Loss...
Most people believe that calories are the "enemy", since
eating excess calories leads to excess fat, right?
That’s why most people believe that the fastest way to lose
weight is to cut way back on calories each day.
After all, if a dieter is eating 2,500 calories per day and
they decide to cut back to 1,500 calories per day – then
obviously those extra 1,000 calories have to result in weight
loss, right?
Well, actually this is not exactly true.
In fact, if you try to cut your calories too much (via
starving yourself and skipping meals) then you'll quickly reach
a dieting "plateau" (a point where the scale refuses to drop
any lower no matter how little your are eating).
Firstly, let’s talk about how the average person begins a
new diet...
The scenario usually sounds something like this...
One day you look in the mirror and see that your clothes are
fitting tighter than normal, and you look more overweight than
normal. ...And on this day you get “angry” with yourself,
you’re angry with what you see in the mirror – and you decide
that you’re going to lose weight no matter what it takes.
You are filled with lots of motivation and anger on this
day, and you feel determined to do whatever it takes to get
slimmer.
So what's the first thing you do?
...You begin skipping meals and cutting way back on calories
in an attempt to starve yourself thinner, since you're
convinced that calories are the enemy.
Anyway, the above scenario is how you begin your “starvation
diet.”
On the first day of dieting you feel so “motivated” to lose
weight that you decide to skip breakfast.
Unfortunately, this motivation doesn't last for long,
because after a few hours your hunger begins making you feel
weak -- because your body is not accustomed to "skipping meals"
like this, and your body is not accustomed to being without
calories for so long.
Anyway, by the time lunchtime arrives you’re so hungry (and
weak) that you feel absolutely miserable --- but yet you
bravely tell yourself that you can handle this diet (because
after all, you certainly don’t want to feel like a
quitter).
So you perhaps have a piece of fruit for lunch (or perhaps
another small food item instead), since you're still convinced
that you can starve yourself thinner.
Finally, hours later when dinnertime arrives you’re so
miserable and hungry that you have a major headache – and this
is the moment when you finally begin to realize that starving
yourself might not be such a good idea after all.
After this first day of starving yourself you feel horrible,
but you’re determined to stick to your diet since you don't
want to be a quitter so soon -- so you’ll likely hold out for
another few days on this diet.
Or, if you are particularly brave then you may even hold out
for a week or two.
However, regardless of how long you actually hold out -- you
won't get any slimmer and the final result will still be the
same.
You see, even after two weeks of starving yourself you won’t
have achieved any serious weight loss at all. In fact,
your body will still look the same when you look in the
mirror.
Why is this true?
This is true because most of the weight lost during a
“starvation diet” is just water weight, and not real fat
loss.
You must remember that any “water weight” lost during a
starvation diet will be gained back immediately when you stop
dieting and start eating normally again.
Also, whenever you starve yourself you cause a “hidden”
factor to come into play...
You see, whenever you starve yourself your body will begin
burning fewer calories each day.
For instance, let’s say that you normally eat about 3,,000
calories per day.
....But then you suddenly cut way back on calories -- so
that you're now eating only 1,000 calories per day.
Guess what happens?
Even though you’re eating 2,000 fewer calories per day your
body will begin burning 2,000 fewer calories per day – so in
reality your weight will remain the same even though you’re
eating 2,000 fewer calories per day.
When this happens the scale will stop going down regardless
of how little you are eating each day, and this is known as a
weight loss “plateau.”
This is why most starvation dieters cannot make the scale go
down anymore after just two weeks of dieting. They all hit a
“plateau” where the scale just refuses to go down any further,
no matter how little they are eating each day.
Now you know why you’ve always failed when trying to starve
yourself in the past, since it’s just not possible to lose
weight by starving yourself.
The truth is that “serious” weight loss can never be
achieved by starvation dieting.
Serious weight loss can only be achieved by giving your body
the right types of calories at the correct times each day,
which is something that we talk about below...
Your body is actually like a big “engine” -- and the truth
is that your body needs all 3 types of calories (protein,
carbs, and fat) to some degree.
To begin losing weight fast we recommend using the new Idiot
Proof Diet from Fat Loss 4 Idiots -- because it does not
require any calorie counting (it's one of the only diets in the
world which forces fast weight loss without the need to count
calories).
You can begin this new
diet right here.
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