Casual Dieting
Many people attempt to lose weight on their own by reducing food intake or eliminating certain foods. Others surf the web for information on various topics such as the right foods to eat, when to eat, exercise programs, etc. These tidbits of information are often saved and used to start a diet. The term we will use for this scenario is casual dieting. This type of dieting rarely gives the desired results so people throw in the towel and vow to start again at a later date. So, why do these diets lead to failure? The following are some of the pitfalls in Casual diets that lead to failure.
• There are no rules to break so you naturally break them
• The diets are not well planned so food choices are made meal by meal leaving too much room for bad choices
• Eliminate whole groups of food like carbohydrates resulting in vitamin deficiencies
• Do not account for fat or calorie content because food choices are made with insufficient attention to food labels
• Often include processed food which take away the needed vitamins and mineral contained in foods at their natural state
Structured Diets
The best way to succeed at dieting is to use a structured diet. Structured diets result in success because they have been researched and tested by professionals. They include step by step instructions and various tools that can be used to achieve lifestyle changes rather than short term diets. The following are benefits associated with structured diets.
• Have been researched and planned by professionals such as medical doctors and nutritionists
• Target specific areas such as vitamin and mineral daily requirements
• Provide references in times of doubt about food choices
• Include specific meal plans for specific periods
• Eliminate mistakes such as eating empty calories
• Eliminate spontaneous eating
• Allow for planned shopping at the grocery store where successful diets begin
• Eliminate consuming processed foods which counteract good food choices by taking foods from their natural state with preservatives and sugars
• Include worksheets and calorie guides used to chart food intake as well as monitor progress in loss of weight and inches
Dieting is a process that includes many areas beyond reducing the amount of food intake. Diets fail because people do not have a well rounded plan of action. Structured diets lead to very high success rates due to good planning. People who follow the steps outlined in a structured diet succeed because these plans lead to a lifestyle change rather than a temporary change in diet.