Weight Loss Diets That Really Work
Please don’t fall for the line of the shysters who hawk diets that, they say, will cause you to lose 30 pounds in 30 days. That isn’t going to happen.
Here is the way that body weight is determined: calories in versus calories out determines body weight.
If you eat MORE calories than you burn, you gain weight. If you eat fewer calories than you burn, you lose weight. That’s IT — there is nothing magic about it.
The old saying “you are what you eat” is actually pretty accurate — at least your body weight is determined partially by what you eat. The other component is how many calories you expend.
When I hear people talk about “diets that really work,” I always want to stop right there and give the above lecture.
The ONLY diet that will cause you to lose weight is one in which you eat fewer calories than you burn. It doesn’t matter how you count those calories, either. You can count calories, carbs, and fat grams, or use a “points” system. The objective is still the same; fewer calories in and more calories out is the cause of weight loss.
A pound of body weight is worth about 3,600 calories. If you eat 3,600 more calories than you burn, you will gain a pound of body weight. On the other hand, if you eat 3,600 more calories than you burn, you will lose a pound of body weight.
When I speak of expending calories, I’m talking about the calories your body burns that just keep you breathing and your organs functioning (the brain requires about 400 calories each day) AND deliberate, intentional, on-purpose physical exercise such as walking, running, jumping rope, swimming, bike riding, etc.
There are two components to any diet that really works:
1. Consuming fewer calories
2. Burning more calories