5 Weight Loss Methods That Do Not Work for Men

Source: nutripledge.com

Weight loss continues to be a hot button issue in American society despite the move toward, in recent years, body positivity and acceptance for both men and women. So much money has been made on the production and sale of low-calorie food, diet pills, and celebrity endorsed fad diets, with endless amounts of money to still be made. According the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2009-2010, more than 2 in 3 adults are considered to be overweight or obese, 1 in 3 adults are considered to be obese, and more than 1 in 20 adults are considered to suffer from extreme obesity. There is no doubt that we do have a weight problem beyond accepting and loving ourselves.

On a positive note, over the last decade, we’ve become more knowledgeable about food and have demanded more awareness of what goes into what we eat, whether it’s when we go to a restaurant or while at the supermarket searching for healthier, organic food. The U.S. Organic food market is expected to grow 14% from 2013 to 2018, which is promising considering that this will mean wider availability of healthy, organic food nationwide. It is already easier for us to eat well to combat this ever-present problem.

Still, men (as well as women) will continue to search for quick fixes and fast weight loss. We’re not completely helpless in our weight-loss quest: According to researchers from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston, many Americans are actually successfully losing weight amidst our national weight problem. These researchers analyzed data that looked at 4,021 obese people, ages 20 and older who participated in the government’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and found that between 2001 and 2006, about 63% of those participants were trying to lose weight and 40% had slimmed down. That weight loss, however, was achieved through healthier eating and exercise and not by following these five weight loss tips. Here’s some advice you should definitely avoid.

1. Severely cutting calories

This will work for a little while but just wait until you can’t take it anymore and start to eat everything in sight.Severely slashing calories causes you to lose precious muscle and will lower your metabolism. Don’t cut calories to below 1,200 a day, otherwise you will struggle to get enough nutrients to fuel you and satisfy hunger. Plus, you’ll be severely miserable and losing weight quickly almost guarantees you’ll pack it (and then some) back on.

2. Fad diets

Take the word “diet” out of your vocabulary. The word diet, and saying that “you’re on a diet” just makes you want to eat everything. It’s counter-productive. It’s human nature to want things we can’t have, and it certainly carries over to restricting the foods you can eat. Studies prove that fad diets do not work to keep weight off. In 2007, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) reviewed 31 long-term studies that had lasted between two to five years and concluded that at least one-third to two-thirds of people who go on diets or fad diets regain more weight than they lost within four or five years. Diet now, pay later.

3. Cutting out entire food groups at once

The more you deprive yourself, the more likely you will not stick to healthy eating in the long run. Better to slowly phase out an offending food group or specific ingredient than go cold turkey.

4. Juice Cleanses

Juice cleanses give the illusion of lost weight because when our bodies start lacking carbohydrates, which juice cleanses contain little of, we start to automatically lose water weight. Our bodies need carbohydrates to function properly and if you’re on a juice cleanse for an extended period of time, your carb-deprived body may rely on attacking our muscles and fat instead. Remember, weight loss is not likely to stick and bagels will start to haunt your dreams.

5. Diet pills

The magic weight loss pill does not exist. Researcher Melinda Manore at Oregon State University did an extensive review of evidence and claims surrounding weight loss supplements. Manore analyzed hundreds of diet pills in the $2.4 billion dollar supplement industry in the U.S., and found no research evidence to support any single product resulting in significant weight loss. She found that many are detrimental to your health. Pop collars, not pills.

By: Taryn Brooke

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