Weight Increase

What is considered a conventional approach to dieting, is actually a complete misnomer. Probably one of the first mistakes is to think that a "weight loss program" means you will lose weight. Weight reduction programs can produce very rapid weight loss in some, however invariably this is neither sustainable nor healthy. Why? Because it involves dehydration and a loss of muscle tissue.

A simple way to relate to this is when you are ill with a tummy upset or diarrhea. In just 2 days you can lose a considerably amount of weight - see below for figures - especially when you get a complaint like food poisoning. How much weight do you think is actually lost in the form of excess unhealthy adipose fat tissue? Read on...

Dehydration :

The fact is, 70% of the body is made of water. Therefore, losing fluids will lead to dehydration. A dehydration diet would be easy to create - especially one which loses 10 lb plus of water. Obviously this appeals to many many slimmer's as it's fast rapid weight loss.

Dehydration of just 2-3% of body weight can actually result in upto 7% drop in your physical performance - which therefore impacts on levels of exercise, metabolism etc.

Loss of Muscle Tissue

Losing weight quickly will result in a loss of muscle tissue. As a result it's estimated that losing more than 2lbs of weight each week would ensure that 30-40% of the weight loss would actually be muscle - this in turn (as you will see) can reduce your metabolism.

As you will now know, this is bad for losing the pounds. Muscle is up to five times more active than fat tissue in a metabolic sense.

The priority : exercise & healthy eating

An exercise plan is designed to ensure you lose fat without losing muscle and therefore without reducing your metabolic rate. Just make sure that your plan is designed for fat loss. As a combination, aerobic exercise and resistance training are an ideal combination in order to achieve fat loss.

[The next page has information on why exercising can help you lose weight].