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Eat to Lose Weight

by Phil Satterfield

Just about every time I hear some one say they need to lose weight they talk about how they have to stop eating. Every person that I have ever known who dieting often tried "starving". I have even heard people say the best way to lose weight is to stop eating, nothing could be further from the truth.


When you go from eating your normal diet to eating nothing or at least very little the body goes in to "survival mode". In this mode the body slows down its metabolism and conserves every calorie it can. And the best way to store calories is fat. It is possible to stop eating and at best not lose weight and at worse you could actually gain weight.


A second reason to avoid starvation diets is that you will feel deprived, you will also feel hungry, obvioulsy after all you are not eating. One of the biggest reasons people do not stick with diets is that they cannot eat foods they like. How long can you go with out eating a favorite food, weeks maybe months. Eventually you will fall off the wagon and possible go on a binge and gain any weight you lost back.


So, if you are trying to lose weight start reducing you calories slowly. Start by switching to lower fat versions of the foods you eat now, like switching to skim or 1% milk. Or replace a high calorie food with lower calorie food, like switching donuts for whole grain cereal or a bagel. That you stay full and are less likely to binge and you keep your metabolism moving. One more thing try to get at least 15 minutes of exercise like walking or biking to keep your body losing weight.