Strict Diets To Lose Weight

The latest in strict diets seem to crop up almost weekly in books, magazine and on television commercials. These types of strict diets claim that by limiting your intake of certain foods, you can experience quick and easy weight loss to achieve the body of your dreams. Unfortunately, these claims may not be true. While a strict diet to lose weight may help you be successful in the short run, it's not a viable long-term solution.

Function

Most fad diets focus on restricting your food intake in order to lose weight, notes the text, "Nutrition Through the Life Cycle." While restricting your caloric intake will help you to lose weight, strict diets also cause you to restrict entire food groups from your diet. Strict diets often promise amazing weight loss in short amounts of time, which is why you should immediately be skeptical of their claims.

Features

Each strict diet is different in process, yet each has similar qualities that can help you to identify them as a strict diet. Strict diets have stringent rules that you must follow in order to be successful. They typically promise fast, easy weight loss. They may be accompanied by eating plans and recipes to help you stick to the diet. Strict diets are sometimes prescribed by doctors before certain surgeries or to help to jump start weight loss when your health is called into question.

Advantages

If you have a long history of eating the wrong things and making bad choices when it comes to food, a strict diet may help you get back on track. Strict diets typically lay out the foods that you can and can't eat. If you struggle with making good choices, a clear list of desirable and undesirable foods can help you gain a clearer picture of what to eat and when to eat it. Some strict diets do offer short-term weight loss results, which could help to motivate you to live a healthier lifestyle.

Disadvantages

Strict diets can be dangerous to your health, warns the American Heart Association. Cutting entire food groups from your diet or restricting yourself to only one type of food deprives your body of the nutrients that it receives from a balanced diet. You could feel hungry, light-headed and dizzy, and even more prone to cheating on your diet because you feel restricted. You may also suffer a slower metabolism, causing you to gain weight when you start eating normally once again.

Alternatives

The Mayo Clinic points out that the best diet is one that includes whole grains, lean protein, fruits and vegetables. Moderation is key to staying on track. If you allow yourself to have a small treat now and again, you may find it easier to stick to a healthy diet that allows you choices rather than strict parameters that are difficult to follow.