People go to extremes to be thin. Every once in a while an article comes across my desk (or desktop) that is heartbreaking.
A British woman died this summer while following a commercial program, Lighter Life, which restricts calories to 530 per day for 12 weeks.
The woman, trying to lose weight for her upcoming wedding, had lost 42 pounds in 11 weeks. She died of heart failure.
Is this diet to blame? At a starting weight of almost 250 pounds, her health may well have been compromised already. The extreme diet may have been the last straw to an already taxed heart.
The sad part is that everyone knows (or should know) that extreme fads can be dangerous, and are unhealthy at best. In our ‘quick fix’ society, people look for fast results. Medicine and research has proven that extremely fast weight loss not only has risks, but doesn’t last. Muscle and water are lost rather than just body fat. People forget that taking it off can take as long, if not longer, than putting the weight on; plus, losing slowly means keeping it off.
You have two choices in weight loss:
- Lose fast, lose muscle and gain it back when you stop the extreme diet.
- Lose slowly, lose fat and keep it off.
There’s an extra benefit to the second one. You can learn new healthy habits and get rid of the old unhealthy ones so that you don’t have to do this over and over again!
My recommendation? Avoid the rollercoaster and do it right. You’ll be glad you did and healthier for it!
- Renee
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Labels: Diet, Fad-Diet, healthy tips, Renee
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Such a sad be oh so true post! It is amazing that people still fall for these quick weight loss schemes & some of it is them, wanting it to happen fast rather than taking the slow & healthy approach. In this day & age, people want it now & even over their own health. I have never heard of this plan & the so very low calories.. OMG!