How to diet

Low-carb, low-calorie, detox, cabbage soup ... there is no shortage of novelty diet programmes promising to make you lose weight fast.

Are you a healthy weight? Use the BMI calculator to find out
The big question is do they work? Most do lead to fast – sometimes dramatic – weight loss, but only for the pounds to creep back on again at the end of the diet.
More worryingly, many fad diets are based on dodgy science or no research at all, prescribing eating practices that are unhealthy and can make you ill.
In 2011, the British Dietetic Association warned against following popular diets such as the Dukan diet, which it said was complicated, not based on scientific evidence and reportedly did not lead to long-term weight loss.
Below are some of the problems with fad diets, plus advice on healthy eating and how to lose weight healthily
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Five reasons to avoid fad diets

Many weight loss diets promise to help you lose weight quickly. Often, these diets focus only on short-term results, so you eventually end up putting the weight back on.
Here are five reasons why following the latest novelty diet may not be a good way to lose weight.

1. Some diets can make you ill

Many diets, especially crash diets, are geared to dramatically reducing the number of calories you consume. “Crash diets make you feel very unwell and unable to function properly,” says dietitian Ursula Arens. “Because they are nutritionally unbalanced, crash diets can lead to long-term poor health.” Find out how to start losing weight.

2. Excluding foods is dangerous

Some diets recommend cutting out certain foods, such as meat, fish, wheat or dairy products. Cutting out certain food groups altogether could prevent you from getting the important nutrients and vitamins that your body needs to function properly. You can lose weight without cutting out foods from your diet. The eatwell plate shows the different foods we should be eating.

3. Low-carb diets can be high in fat

Some diets, such as the Atkins diet, are very low in carbohydrates (for example pasta, bread and rice), which are an essential source of energy. While you may lose weight on these types of diets, they’re often high in protein and fat, which can make you ill. Low-carbohydrate diets can also cause side effects such as bad breath, headaches and constipation. “It has been suggested that the high protein content of these diets ‘dampens’ the appetite and feelings of hunger,” says Arens. Many low-carbohydrate diets allow you to eat foods high in saturated fat, such as butter, cheese and meat. Too much saturated fat can raise your cholesterol and increase your risk of heart disease and stroke.

4. Detox diets don’t work

Detox diets are based on the idea that toxins build up in the body and can be removed by eating, or not eating, certain things. However, there’s no evidence that toxins build up in our bodies. If they did, we would feel very ill. Detox diets may lead to weight loss because they involve restricting calories, cutting out certain foods altogether, such as wheat or dairy, and eating a very limited range of foods. “Detox diets do not work,” says Arens. “They are, in effect, a form of modified fasting.”

How to Make Your Body Burn More Calories

You can make weight loss quicker and easier by increasing your metabolic rate and burning more calories.

Metabolic Rate is the rate at which the body burns up calories. A body that consumes 2500 calories a day, and burns 2500 calories a day will stay at the same weight. A body consuming 2500 calories daily but burning only 2000 will gain weight at the rate of about 1lb a week.

This explains why that ‘lucky’ person across the table from you doesn’t get fat from all that junk food.

You can do quite a lot to speed up your metabolism – the secret of burning calories lies in knowing what determines your metabolic rate and what you can do to influence it.

You burn calories to provide energy for three main functions:

Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)

This is the amount of calories you burn just by being alive – even when you are lying down, doing nothing. BMR accounts for approximately 60% of the calories burned for an average person.

Burning Calories for Activity

This is the energy used during movement – from lifting your arm to operate the remote control to cleaning the windows. This accounts for approximately 30% of the calories burned by an average person.

Dietary Thermogenesis

The ‘thermogenic effect’ described as meal-induced heat production – the calories burned in the process of eating, digesting, absorbing and using food.

How to Speed Up Your Rate of Burning Calories

You can influence all these factors, and speed up your rate of burning calories using some, or all, of the following tactics:

Build Muscle

Increase the amount of muscle in your body. For every extra pound of muscle you put on, your body uses around 50 extra calories a day. In a recent study, researchers found that regular weight training boosts basal metabolic rate by about 15%. This is because muscle is ‘metabolically active’ and burns more calories than other body tissue even when you’re not moving.

Training with weights just 3 times a week for around 20 minutes is enough to build muscle. Not only will you be burning more calories, you’ll look better – whatever your weight.

Move More

Although the average person burns around 30% of calories through daily activity, many sedentary people only use around 15%. Simply being aware of this fact – and taking every opportunity to move can make quite a dramatic difference to the amount of calories you burn.

The trick is to keep the ‘keep moving’ message in mind. Write the word ‘move’ on post-it notes and put them in places you’ll notice them when you’re sitting still. Then, take every opportunity to move – here’s some ideas for burning calories:

Tap your feet
Swing your legs
Drum your fingers
Stand up and stretch
Move your head from side to side
Change position
Wriggle and fidget
Pace up and down
Don’t use the internal phone – go in person
Use the upstairs loo
Park in the furthest corner of the car park
Stand up when you’re on the phone
Clench and release your muscles
You’ll find lots of opportunities for burning more calories if you remember that you’re looking for them! Keep thinking ‘keep moving’.

Eat Spicy Food

There is evidence to show that spices, especially chilli, can raise the metabolic rate by up to 50% for up to 3 hours after you’ve eaten a spicy meal.

Drinks containing caffeine also stimulate the metabolism, as does green tea.

Aerobic Exercise

As well as the actual amount of calories burned during exercise – studies have shown that sustained, high-intensity exercise makes you burn more calories for several hours afterwards.

Try 30 minute sessions of heart rate raising exercise, such as vigorous walking, step aerobics, jogging, cycling or swimming, 3-4 times a week.

Eat Little and Often

There is some evidence to suggest that eating small, regular meals will keep your metabolism going faster than larger, less frequent meals. There are two reasons why meal frequency may affect your metabolism. Firstly, levels of thyroid hormones begin to drop within hours of eating a meal, and metabolism slows. Secondly, it may be that the thermogenic effect of eating several small meals is slightly higher than eating the same amount of calories all at once.

Provided your small meals don’t degenerate into quick-fix, high fat, high sugar snacks, eating little and often can also help to control hunger and make you less likely binge.

You can find the original article at:
http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/calories/burning_calories/burn_more_calories.htm

Physical Activity and Weight Control

Physical activity is important for physical health, emotional well-being, and achieving a healthy weight. Physical activity may help you control your weight by using excess calories that would otherwise be stored as fat. Most foods and many beverages you eat and drink contain calories, and everything you do uses calories. This includes sleeping, breathing, digesting food, and of course, moving around. Balancing the calories you eat with the calories you use through physical activity may help you maintain your current weight.


Calories in Food > Calories Used = Weight Gain
Calories in Food < Calories Used = Weight Loss
Calories in Food = Calories Used = Weight Control

How much physical activity do I need for general health?
Experts recommend at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most, if not all, days of the week. This amount of physical activity may reduce your risk for some chronic diseases.

To lose weight, experts recommend that you do 60 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity on most days of the week. In addition, you should follow a nutritious eating plan and consume fewer calories than you burn each day. Remember that your weight may be affected by the balance of “calories-in” and “calories-out.”

In order to maintain your weight after weight loss, experts recommend that you do 60 to 90 minutes of daily moderate-intensity physical activity while continuing to eat nutritious foods that do not exceed your calorie requirements. Studies show that physical activity is very important to successful long-term weight control.

People may need to do different amounts of physical activity to lose and control weight. You may find that you need to do more, or that you may not need to do as much. Also, remember that your eating plan and the number of calories you eat are important. You may wish to speak with your health care provider, a fitness specialist, or a dietitian about the right amount of activity and calories for you.

You can also use interactive tools on the “ChooseMyPlate” website of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to find out how much activity and how many calories you need. See the USDA listing under the Additional Resources section at the end of this fact sheet for a web link

http://win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/physical.htm#Physical_Activity_and_Weight_Control

Why your weight matters

While most people don’t like the way they look when they're carrying excess weight, a healthy weight isn’t just about looking better: it's much healthier too.
People who are overweight are at greater risk of serious health problems, such as heart disease, stroke and certain cancers.
Obesity causes 9,000 premature deaths in England every year, and on average reduces life expectancy by nine years.
So what’s causing this epidemic? Only a tiny minority of people (fewer than one in 100) are overweight because of medical conditions. Most overweight people can blame their excess weight on eating more calories than they burn. You can learn more in Understanding calories.
That means there are two main options if you want to lose weight: eat less or do more exercise. The best way to lose weight is to do a combination of the two.
What you can do

The good news is that you can help reduce your risk of obesity-related health problems by losing weight, through eating more healthily and taking more exercise.
You can find a range of articles to help you achieve a healthy weight in the Lose weight section of NHS Choices.
And there's lots of information and advice on healthy eating in Food and diet.
Learn the basics of a healthy, balanced diet in Eight tips for healthy eating.
It’s not just small changes to your eating habits that can make a big difference. Getting more exercise also helps you to shed the pounds. Adults between 19 and 64 should get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity – such as fast walking or cycling – every week, and those who are overweight are likely to need more in order to lose weight. Learn more in Physical activity guidelines for adults.
Even if you're well on the way towards your target weight, there are always danger zones that leave you tempted to overindulge. See our tips on how to avoid the Diet danger zones.
A common excuse for choosing a fat-laden, quick-fix supper is that healthy eating is expensive, but don’t be fooled. See how to save pennies as well as calories in Eat well on the cheap.
Two-thirds of dieters regain all the weight they've lost within four years. For advice on how to stop piling back on the pounds, read Keep weight off.

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/loseweight/Pages/Whyyourweightmatters.aspx