Your body will adjust and adapt to almost any situation, including a change in your diet. Just about any diet will work, but only in the beginning. This is especially true for fad diets, also known as crash diets. They usually provide short-term weight loss, but you don't want all of your hard work to begin to slide once you resume normal eating. Certain dieting habits can provide long-term weight loss, but you have to know the trick.
History
When your body does not receive the usual amount of calories it's accustomed to, it will respond. Typically, that response is weight loss, but not the healthy kind. When your body goes into starvation mode due to a major lack of calories, it will begin to use stored body fat as fuel since the body is not receiving an adequate amount of fuel from food.
Significance
The significance of starvation mode, or a major calorie deficit, is that when your body responds and you begin to lose weight, you typically lose only water weight and lean muscle mass. This will affect you two-fold. The weight loss is only temporary, according to the Weight-Control Information Network. Once you resume your regular eating habits, the water weight comes back. You never want to lose lean muscle mass. Muscles help protect your bones and keep them strong, as well as help your body burn calories.
Time Frame
It will take as much time, if not more time, to lose the weight you've gained, according to FamilyDoctor.org. Remind yourself that you didn't gain the weight overnight, although it may feel like you did. Avoid diets that claim you will lose an unrealistic amount of weight in an unrealistic amount of time. FamilyDoctor.org states that losing about 1 lb per week is a healthy weight loss.
Prevention/Solution
The best method for losing weight is eating a healthy diet and increasing your activity level, according to the Weight-Control Information Network. There are 3,500 calories in one pound of fat. To lose 1 lb per week, you need a deficit of 500 calories per day, according to the American Cancer Society. You can easily accomplish this by consuming 250 calories less each day and exercising enough to burn 250 calories during your workout.
Warning
Before beginning an exercise or diet regimen, consult with your physician. Ensure that you are eating a well-balanced diet by including foods from all of the food groups and make yourself aware of portion sizes. By severely restricting your diet, you could develop a vitamin deficiency and have side effects such as nausea, dizziness, pale or yellow skin and diarrhea, according to the Mayo Clinic.
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