Within these past few weeks, we’ve covered body composition and fat distribution and how to fight fat. Many people will take extreme measures to lose weight and to get rid of body fat. What most people don’t recognize is that many of the popular diets require you to limit your intake on essential nutrients, which isn’t healthy. In this post we are going to cover popular treatments for weight loss, how to recognize a “fad” diet, drugs used for weight loss, and what to look for in a weight loss program.

Reasons for Overweight and Obesity
The two main reasons that lead to being overweight and/or obesity are genetics and the environment (external reasons). There are other causes such as having a “thrifty” metabolism, which means you could have a greater inclination to store fat, have a increased concentration of lipoprotein, Lipase (LPL) enzyme that allows fat cells to store triglycerides, the lack of activity, and much more. Studies have shown that the current generations of children are spending more time on the computer and watching the television that they aren’t “going out to play.”

Popular Treatments for Weight Loss
Popular treatments for weight loss usually begin with diets. To be more specific, “fad” diets. There are also many other diets, but they usually lead to taking pills, procedures, weight cycling, and very low kcalorie (kcal) diets. Very low kcalorie diets usually require a dieter to have a very low amount (less than or equal to 800) of kcalories (kcal) per day. You also might want to take a look at Oprah Winfrey; she’s a great example of weight cycling. We see her on television one year having lost a lot of weight and the next year she’s gained it all back.

Jared’s Diet from Subway
Everyone knows Jared from Subway. His success story is one of the most recognized nationwide, “I lost 245 pounds (lbs) eating at Subway.” His Subway only diet consisted of just about 1000 kcals per day and only 10 grams of fat. Jared didn’t eat breakfast, ate a turkey sub, baked chips, and diet soda for lunch, and veggie sub and diet soda for dinner.

How to Recognize a Fad Diet
Diets that advocate…
• Magic or miracle foods (promise to do things)
• Rapid weight loss (more than 5 pounds a week)
• No physical activity (exercise)
• Rigid menus, “good” vs. “bad” foods (specific food combinations)
• Promise a quick fix
• Recommendations based on studies published without a peer review
• Sound too good to be true

Is Surgery the Answer?
Surgery is only recommended as a last resort for treatment. This usually applies to a person who would be considered morbidly obese and a person who has a body mass index (BMI) over 40. The two surgeries that have been proven to be effective are the gastric stapling and gastric bypass surgeries. There have been some cases however, that a person who received a gastric stapling or gastric bypass gained all of the original weight back because he/she wasn’t following specific food portions.

Diets Don’t Work
• Average diet lasts 42 days
• Only about 5% to 10% will maintain a significant weight loss
• No scientific data from commercial programs and diet book programs

What to Look for in a Weight Loss Program
• Does the program take into consideration current eating habits or preferences?
• Does it meet nutrient needs?
• Does it set realistic weight loss goals?
• Does it include exercise?
• Does it include some type of social support?
• Is it based on sound principles?

When you’re on a weight loss program you want to make sure that you aim for realistic goals. Aim for a realistic energy intake (subtract 500 calories a day from your diet, which equals a 1 pound loss every week). Don’t cut foods completely out of your diet. Eat smaller portions, drink adequate water, balance your foods, exercise daily, eliminate negative self talk and become aware of undesirable behaviors, eliminate inappropriate eating triggers, engage in desire eating behavior, and emphasize the positive consequences.

Why Should You Care About All of This?
Because this is the age (young adults) where you set up lifetime habits.
Because as you get older habits are harder to break.
Because more diseases are being found in younger people.

Recap: Planning a Healthy Diet
Balance: Balance your carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and include daily physical activity and exercise.
Variety: Eat different types of food.
Moderation: Lower your portion sizes for each meal.

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