Don’t wait until next spring to pull out that teeny bikini. As summer approaches, women eye their winter hibernation bodies in the mirror and find themselves in a panic; desperate to lose the weight and gain the confidence to step out of the fitting room and onto the beach. These women frequently fall victim to crash diets; here’s why you should avoid them and start thinking about bikini season now.

The Appeal of Crash Dieting

Crash diets lure you with promises of a slim, toned body by the weekend. Dozens of crash dieters latch on to our generation’s desire for instant gratification and little real work. And for many people, a crash diet can certainly have them into a smaller size by Saturday-but at what cost?

How Crash Dieting Affects your Body

Crash diets basically involve a severe down scaling of caloric intake, which is why you initially experience weight loss. Usually at least one food group is eliminated, such as fats or carbohydrates, and emphasis is placed on low-calorie replacements, like eggs or popcorn. How bad is this for your body and your future weight? Examine what a crash diet does to the body:

• Your body uses up carbs stored in the liver and muscles. Water that is stored with these carbs is also lost, which explains the initial loss of several pounds of water weight.
• Once your body’s carbs stores are depleted, your body enters a starvation mode. For energy, protein the muscles begins to be used. Ketones are a toxic by product of this process, and can give you headaches and fatigue.
• The weight you lose is now lost from muscle mass, as the proteins are being used for energy. Still in starvation mode, your metabolism slows to maximize the fewer calories you are taking in.
• Your metabolism, or the rate at which your body burns calories, is directly related to how much muscle mass you have; the more muscle, the faster you burn the calories. Because the weight you are losing is muscle mass, your body is now burning calories slower.
• Of course, you will inevitably return to your pre-diet eating habits. Your body, still in starvation mode, will not be able to process the additional calories and they will be stored as fat. The potential is looming to regain the weight you lost and then some.

If You’re Going to Do it Anyway

There are a few things to remember:

• A low-carb, high protein diet can have many unpleasant side effects, including dehydration, weakness, and nausea.
• That’s why it’s important to still include a regular balance of carbohydrates, vitamin supplements, and protein in your crash diet.
• Remember that cutting back on processed sugars, soda, breads, candy and snacks will have a drastic improvement on high caloric intake. You should aim for this in both crash diets and healthy diets.
• Eat small meals often to keep your metabolism burning at an optimum level.

The Long Term Solution

Because you’re thinking about weight loss now, you’se got a leg up on all those procrastinators. The autumn season provides an excellent opportunity to find a healthy diet and exercise plan that will have you looking fit and fabulous by spring. Some tips:

Find a diet that has been appropriately researched and has proven results. Make sure that it lets you eat some foods you enjoy, and you’ll have a better chance of sticking to it.

Try to get as much exercise as possible; winter lends itself to hibernation, but don’t let the cold, dreary days keep you in bed. Go Christmas caroling; build a snowman with your kids; if you just had a baby, breastfeed! Bottom line, if you exercise any more than you normally would, without increasing calories, you will lose weight.

Don’t fall victim to the roller coaster of crash dieting. Take a healthy and realistic approach to your weight loss goals now.

Get a jump start on your personal weight loss program today.

Sources:
http://www.ivillage.co.uk/dietandfitness/nutrition/healthyeat/articles/0,,239_173920,00.html
http://ezinearticles.com/?Sweetie,-Does-This-Dress-Make-Me-Look-Fat?-The-Crash-Diet&id=80475