The fact that something is difficult to do and is more complicated does not mean that it is necessarily more fruitful. For example, a 10K run will burn significantly more calories than running half the distance. But why run 10K when you could do two 5K runs? It’s far better to fit two 5Ks into your weekly schedule than to aim for a Herculean effort on Sunday with a 10K jog. Not to mention that there are long-term problems with long-distance racing, but that’s beside the point.
The same applies to diet and nutrition. Just because something is more difficult to achieve, not to mention that you have to be very careful about what you do when it comes to your diet, there are plenty of ideas that could have dangerous results. You need to stay away from extreme diets.
Let’s consider an individual Matthew, who wants to lose weight more than anything else. Matt is a 45-year-old man diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. His doctor has told him for years that his weight is a problem. But the best he has been able to do is to move a little in the right direction, before stalling and inevitably going back to the old ways.
Matthew is sick of calling himself fat and feeling out of shape. He knows that he deserves much better. It is a delicate period in his life and the cardiovascular risks are becoming real. The last thing he needs is to suffer the same fate as someone close to him, who is also dealing with type 2 diabetes. He has tried what his doctor advised, but it just hasn’t worked for him. He has to try something new…
- maybe you will search and stumble upon an online fad or a strict diet.
- a friend may tell you about a crash diet, claiming that it worked for them.
Whatever happens, you have to be careful because some diets will do more harm than good. Such is the case of a diet that proposes…
- severe calorie restrictions,
- complete avoidance of carbohydrates, or
- too much of a food like protein.
Especially the first on the list: it’s become quite popular these days to try extremely low calorie diets for a “temporary” period. Temporary in this sense should be a matter of one or two days. There is no physiological problem with spending a short period with minimal feeding. Your body finds a way to deal with it. But when you spend several days or weeks, consuming an intake of just over 1000 calories or even less, we are talking about a serious concern. Add diet pills to the equation, and we have a more significant problem.
Not only are these diets extreme, so are the repercussions. Consequences are rarely discussed, while potential benefits get all the attention. Even if you can apply your willpower to accomplish these feats, it doesn’t mean you should.
But why not apply the same motivation to something less extreme? Anything that is proven to work? A balanced diet is all you need to follow. Progress may be slower, true. But the benefits are guaranteed and priceless.