Tip 30: Crash diets make you crash

Drop a dress size in a week! Lose 12 pounds in 2 weeks!

Promise of quick weight loss with little or no effort.

But all you have to do is cut out all carbs from your diet. Or, eat and drink nothing but juice for 2 weeks. Or, eat only cabbage for two weeks. Or, eat only grapefruit. Or, only eat steak and nothing else.

All those “quick fixes” are doing you more damage that you think.

I mean, come on. Don’t you ever wonder why you’ve lost and gained back the same 13 pounds?

Tip 30: crash diets make you crash!

When you “crash diet” you’re setting yourself up for failure.

A “crash diet” is defined by Wikipedia as "a diet which is extreme in its nutritional deprivations, typically severely restrictingcalorie intake. It is meant to achieve rapid weight loss and may differ from outright starvation only slightly. It is not meant to last for long periods of time, at most a few weeks. Importantly, the term specifically implies a lack of concern for proper nutrition. Contrary to the belief of many who start this sort of diet, this form of dieting is neither healthy nor largely successful in achieving long term weight loss as it provokes a slow down of the body's metabolic rate - the body seeks to conserve every calorie and so weight loss becomes increasingly difficult. While some initial weight is often lost, the weight is usually regained quickly in the weeks that follow, as the individual reverts to their original pre-crash diet."

Crash dieting is also known as “yo-yo” dieting, which refers to the cycle of loss and gain you experience with your weight.

There is no “quick fix” to make you lose those unwanted pounds. Unfortunately, only patience, hard work, and sticking to your healthy eating and exercise plan will help you lose those pounds.

And even in situations where you want to look your best fast, crash dieting to get there has more serious consequences than weight gain. Here’s a list:

Crash diets are horrible for your health because:
- gaining and losing that same 13 pounds takes a toll on the elasticity of your skin, and can increase your likelihood of getting stretch marks
- slows your metabolism
- you can gain more weight than you initially lost, leaving you heavier than you started out
- the more yo-yoing you do with your weight, the harder and harder it becomes to lose any weight
- stressing you body packs on more pounds
- can cause many medical problems (especially with the heart and stomach)
- it can make you feel hopeless and helpless
- lowers self esteem (when you gain again)
- you never learn the right way for you to eat (or exercise) to stay healthy for life

So remember, no matter how tempting that quick loss of 12 pounds might be, it’s not worth your health!

Just Another Whale,

MyzzLyzz