How Dieting can help you Lose Weight

Weight Loss and Dieting - What is it?

Dieting is a systematic training of eating food in a controlled manner to achieve or maintain desired body weight. Due to our modern lifestyles maintaining a healthy weight can be tough. Weight loss can be realized by using a combination of exercise, dieting and use of pills. Sportspeople usually use dieting to gain weight and muscles while maintaining a body weight that is stable. We gain weight when we eat more calories than our bodies can burn, and we lose weight when we eat fewer calories than our bodies burn.

There are four different categories of diets that promote weight loss.
They are: low calorie diet, low carbohydrate diet, low fat diet and very low calorie diet.

Understanding weight loss

To understand weight loss we should know how the body eliminates fats from our systems. Our bodies need energy so as to function properly, mostly while exercising our bodies use more energy than they've consumed. At this time the body relies on energy stored inside our body cells which are fats and complex carbohydrates. When the body has exhausted all this it turns to fat stores for energy, in this process fat is broken down into fatty acids which can be used to generate energy and help in the elimination of fat from our bodies.

Losing weight by dieting means that you eat fewer calories, but it does not mean that you have to eat less food. The secret is to eat and feel full but foods with fewer calories and high in fibre. Foods which are high in fibre are high in volume; they take time to chew and digest and they take longer to digest so you will feel full for many hours and your body will start looking for energy from the fat deposits to burn, hence you will lose weight in the process.

Foods which are high in fibre include all types of beans, whole grains like brown rice, oat meal and brown wheat. Fruits and vegetables are also great sources of high fibre diet which can be taken as snacks in the place of high calorie snacks like ice cream and chocolates. Unlike other diets the vegetables and fruit diet is not restrictive even when on diet you can eat as much as you can without going past the limit of your calorie intake because of the high fibre and water content in them.

Weight loss and drinking

Drink a lot of water in the place of soda, alcoholic drinks and coffee, as these drinks are high in calories and they can add up and exceed your daily calorie intake. Sometimes our bodies confuse thirst with hunger, so by taking in a lot of water you can make yourself feel full and help you avoid the intake of calories. Water also helps in the removal of toxins and fat from our body cells. When dieting junk food, sweets and alcohol should not be taken because these are known to be very high in calories and very low in fibre.
Please note that dieting can have its side effects which can lead to eating disorders, depression, malnutrition, and reduced sex drive.