Many claims are made about miracle cures in weight loss. Supplement companies, weight loss companies and experts all portray weight loss as a rigged reality that can be achievable through energy restriction and physical activity. Based on the flawed theory they push, it is claimed that weight gain is based on over consuming energy and as such the result is simply a case of redressing the balance by under consuming energy for a period of time. The very high failure rate of such energy restriction diets, as recorded in the medical and nutritional scientific literature, is testament to the fact that the theory is not based on science and that the claims made about the mechanism of weight gain are not correct. However, despite this, wild claims are made as to how much it is possible to lose on such diets. These claims are never supported by medical literature, but are simply cheap advertising copy to sell more product. These companies are in the business of taking your money and their modus operandi is by using stealth and lies.
High quality diets for fat loss should lead to a loss of between 1 and 2 pounds per week of fat. Any more weight than this will likely include large amounts of skeletal muscle, and this can be detrimental to the health.
Successful long term fat loss is achieved by following a high quality diet containing high quality foods. This allows reversal of the insulin resistance and other metabolic damage that is caused by the low quality foods of the typical Western diet. However, once this path is chosen it is important to manage expectations correctly with regard to the amount of progress that is likely to be made. In this regard, the most important point to make is that progress with vary between individuals. Just as weight gain varies between individuals, the amount of fat that can be lost will depend on the genetic biochemical individuality of the subject, and as such you should not base expectations too much on what others have achieved. The main focus of fat loss through consuming a high quality diet should be on the very long term. Success is brought about by consuming high quality foods for life. It is important to forget the idea that the change in eating habit is a temporary fix. You must maintain better habits for life.
It is important to understand that effective fat loss and body composition improvements come from eating high quality foods for life. Forget the idea that fat loss is achievable with short term energy restricted fad diets.
That being said some generalisations can be made about the progress that can be made when following a high quality fat loss diet. Most people could expect to lose between 1 and 2 pounds of fat per week, which compared favourably to most studies that have ever been performed on fat loss. In other words, there really is no better way to lose fat. Any further weight loss will likely include muscle mass, and this can be detrimental. Those who have more fat to lose may lose more because as normal weight approaches, the progress rate slows due to the law of diminishing returns. Another important cavet about focussing on weight is that body composition can improve without weight loss. If muscle is gained and fat lost, body weight may remain stable and so fixation upon the bathroom scale should be discouraged. It should be expected therefore that modest but steady progress of between 1 and 2 pounds per week is achievable for most when following a high quality fat loss diet and this should be consistent and steady.
RdB
