Why Diets Don't Work

Did you know that, barring certain metabolic disorders, your body has a built-in Calorie counter?  An assortment of hormones and brain chemicals work together to tell your body what it needs to replace the energy (Calories) it expends every day.  This mechanism works best in active people who eat real food.

Once you go on a "diet", your built in Calorie counter takes its first hit.  First of all, when the body senses a potential famine, it will tenaciously defend its fat stores.  The weight you lose is mostly water, muscle and glycogen.  When you start eating as you did before, you will quickly replace the glycogen and water and you will now store more of what you eat as fat.  This is a protective mechanism.  You will not replace the muscle mass, and this will result in a lower metabolic rate.  The only way to remedy the loss of muscle is resistance training fueled by a proper food intake.

Here are a few other ways that dieting can make you fat:  The sweet taste of artificial sweeteners alters insulin metabolism so that you store more food as fat.  Restricted eating behaviors can signal to your brain that you are "fat" and your body will comply in many cases!  Processed low-calorie, low-fat foods provide little satiety value and can make you chronically hungry.  Excessive food restriction does not provide the amino acids and energy to get proper results from exercise.