Diet eBooks & Weight Loss Articles

Crash Diets – 5 Risks

When one considers going on a diet, weight loss instantly comes to mind. Let’s face it, for most people thinner means better… doesn’t it? However, people that participate in extreme ‘crash’ weight loss programs are liable to experience some or all of the following 5 side effects listed on this page:

1. Anyone who constantly tries out crash diets will find that they develop poor self-control – and get into the habit of trying out a diet for a week or two and then giving up. This habit ends up defining their whole approach to dieting, and is a disaster. There needs to be a long-term sense of discipline. That discipline is not something that just happens, you need to work at it. It’s a skill – and crash diets, far from fostering such self-discipline, promote giving in and not sticking it out.

2. When the dieter has perfected this pattern of going on extreme diets for a few days/weeks, then quitting they will be constantly losing and gaining weight. This can lead to physical side effects, most notably sagging skin, and sagging breasts in women. Given that the whole point of the diet for most people is to change their appearance and build their confidence as a result, this can be a devastating side effect.

3. Many of the more extreme diets are wholly irresponsible when it comes to food intake. A balanced diet is not just for the rest of the world: it’s for dieters too; and if they are forsaking that balanced diet, and just eating two or three food groups, they are giving themselves long term, potentially disastrous consequences. A plethora of health problems can come from insufficient vitamins and minerals, problems like: hypertension, high cholesterol levels and heart disease. It’s total madness to go on a diet to get healthier and then proceed to cut out the healthy food and minerals that you need.

4 Energy: one of the problems with certain crash diets is that you don’t eat enough foods that give you energy – the energy you need to exercise. Any sensible diet regime is run parallel with an exercise routine. If you constantly feel tired because you aren’t eating enough carbs you won’t exercise and burn off that fat. You must eat food that will fuel your energy supply – this is why no-carb diets are highly suspect.

5. The fifth reason is the mental and psychological damage caused by not eating well. Not eating enough vitamins and minerals can lead to conditions like insomnia, tension, irritation and depression. These can all cause you to quit the diet you’re on, and in many cases revert to binge eating. Always check that the diet you’re looking to start includes food that will enhance your mood and relax you – if you feel good you’re much more likely to succeed in your dieting.

There are many diets in the world. Many are great and have succeeded with many thousands of dieters; but there are also others diets that promise the world but are based on irresponsible, short term methods that will in all likelihood get you losing some weight – but at what cost? And, equally importantly, will it last, or just be a few weeks until you realize you can’t sustain it. Good luck, stay strong, eat well, exercise well – and then the sky’s the limit!