Sorry, but Alex Rodriguez and Chris Pratt’s fast diets that cut carbs won’t help you improve your body in the long run.
Alex Rodríguez and Jennifer López started with a 10-day low-sugar, low-carb challenge earlier this year. Chris Pratt took a 21-day, Bible-inspired plan avoiding eating sugar, meat, and alcohol. Jay-Z and Beyonce have promoted a 22-day herbal diet plan.
The question: If all of these celebrities are jumping off the dietary equivalent of a cliff, does that mean you should too?
You should not do it without extreme caution.
First, let us tell you that following a low carb diet can help you lose weight. Eliminating added sugar for a few days can be a solid way to curb the sweet tooth and put pressure on your body to restart. And eating more vegetables is always a good idea.
But dieting as a challenge is one that short-term tactics don’t work in the long term.
“You’ve heard this a million times, but if fast diets sound too good to be true, they are,” says Brierley Horton, a registered dietitian in Birmingham. “The challenge with any quick fix is that it’s just that. A quick fix. If any “diet” were so good to be a solution, there would not be so many magic diets. “
Fast diets are attractive because people lose weight with them and lose weight quickly. But maintaining the weight you lost on fast diets will be an incredibly steep uphill battle.
When you lose weight quickly (compared to a slow and steady focus) you will lose more muscle and muscle is a calorie burning power.
You can prevent some of that muscle loss by increasing the amount of protein you eat, the frequency with which you eat that protein, and of course the amount of protein and weight-bearing in the gym.
Gaining (or at least maintaining) muscle while simultaneously losing fat is the last holy grail in weight loss. However, the challenges of fast diets aimed at helping you lose weight fast also cause you to lose some of that weight in your muscle.
Also, if you regain the weight you lost in the challenge, you can adopt a lose-and-win pattern. This dangerous pattern is referred to by the scientific community as “weight cycles.” Research shows that weight cycles can shorten life and potentially increase the risk of developing diabetes.
IN SUMMARY
It’s not that you can’t lose weight without a flashy challenge issued by some celebrity. You just have to be more realistic and fast diets are not.
“I tell patients to fight to lose just 2.5 kilos in a year,” says Dr. John Whyte, WebMD medical director. “And in five years they will have lost at least 11 kilos, while most of your friends will have gained weight.”
This is how you keep weight down, keep that muscle, and reach your fitness goals to become your healthiest being.