Weight loss is achieved through a calorie deficit which means a slimmer is burning more calories than consuming. However, according to one expert, this shouldn’t be done forever and losing the pounds is as easy as including more whole foods into your diet.
The expert added: “The cons surrounding diets usually boil down to sustainability. When you employ a strategy which reduces calories, a very common dietary method, your weight set-point changes.
“This is something I’ve recently discussed on a podcast with a friend of mine who is a Bariatrics surgeon. When you rapidly change your calorific content of food, the body goes into ‘starvation mode’ which means it will hold on to as many calories and preserve as much fat as possible.
“This is why people tend to plateau, despite having a consistent calorie deficit for a long period of time. This also leads to people falling off the wagon because they are less motivated, usually by the three-month mark, so they will regain the weight they rapidly lost.”
Healthline recommends not making your calorie deficit too large because it is unsustainable and puts slimmers at risk of nutrient deficiency.
“Dieting is not a great long-term answer – yes it works well if you’d like to lose weight rapidly for an event or something, but again it feeds into a short-terminist mindset and has other negative psychological consequences, especially if you’re constantly going up and down in weight.
“The best thing to do, in my opinion, would be to assess what your overall goals are and the reasons for changing your diet in the first place. If you want to be healthy, energetic, feel vibrant and achieve a sense of vitality, a long-term, sustainable strategy is best.
“Obviously, the best way to lose weight very quickly is calorie deficit – if you starve yourself you’ll lose weight very quickly!
“But the underlining problem with this is that it’s absolutely not healthy. It’s not healthy whatsoever.
“The best way to achieve your appropriate weight, the weight which is best for you and your body is to think about whether you are getting the right amount of nutrients. Which is why my focus is fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds. We lack this in abundance.
“We don’t have enough quality fats in our diets, we don’t eat enough plants or variety of plants, or fibre, so a plant-focused strategy is 100 percent the best way to think about these things.”
