Quick Weight Loss

The American Heart Association says that adopting healthy eating habits permanently, rather than impatiently pursuing crash diets in hopes of losing unwanted pounds in a few days through fad quick weight loss plans.

What is a fad diet? It's a well marketed diet with some hair brained scheme to lose weight in an impossible manner, often by eating nothing but one food like a cabbage.

Quick weight loss diets generally put far too much focus on one particular food or type of food. They don't include a variety of foods or good balance, a violation of the first principle of good nutrition, eat a balanced diet that includes a variety of foods. Because no one food has all the nutrients needed for good health, these diets can result in a lot of health problems. One such diet is the Cabbage Soup Diet. The myth of this diet is that cabbage soup is some sort of fat dissolving potion. People supposedly lost 10-17 pounds in only a week, eating mostly cabbage soup. On top of not working to lose weight, this diet lacks essential nutrients and can cause serious health issues. Pixies, elves and fairies, or even cabbages, can't provide magical weight loss. Moderation in eating all the major food groups is the best bet.

These crazy diets also violate a second important principle of good nutrition which is that eating should be enjoyable.. It's impossible to stay on these diets for a long time because they're so monotonous. Consider a week on the Cabbage Soup Diet. By mid week crawling bugs would look good. They'd cart you off in a straight jacket by week's end.

Boredom isn't the only reason fad diets aren't good ones. Many don't mention physical activity, for example, walking 30 minutes most or all days of the week. While a lifestyle of little physical activity can lead to heart problems, exercise is a major element of maintaining proper weight. When you hear a diet that mentions “no need for exercise†run for the hills, or at least run on a treadmill.

Quick weight loss sounds great. It is possible. But if a program sounds too good to be true, it is.