Kitchener Personal Trainer

Do I think dieting is inherently dangerous? No. But there are pitfalls. And jumping right into dieting without a solid plan of how to do it could be possibly dangerous. When you begin a diet, you basically shock your body into changing your eating habits, therefore, depriving the body of something it is used to having. 

It doesn’t matter whether it is fat or carbs in the form of calories. Once your body gets used to having a certain amount of something, suddenly denying your body of this thing can throw your body out of whack. Here are some things that happen when you begin to diet to extremes. Your metabolism slows down. Remember, your body is used to working on a certain amount of fuel. That fuel might be in the form of carbs or fat. If you suddenly stop giving your body that fuel, it will begin to feel sluggish. Leptin levels decrease. Leptin is a hormone your body uses to regulate its weight. When you gain weight your leptin level increases.

When you try to lose weight again you may be overwhelmed by an increased intensity in food cravings caused by the lower levels of leptin. This is why the first week of a diet is a critical time because these cravings may keep you from staying on your diet. It results in lower levels of immunity. Anytime you shock your system it scrambles to adjust itself. During this time of transition your immune system is impaired making it harder for you to stay healthy. Your body also has to fight harder to hold onto muscle, not something you want to lose while you’re dieting since the ultimate goal is to lose fat.

Decrease in testosterone levels: when you cut calories drastically from your diet, your testosterone level declines. Before you write this off if you’re a woman and not a man, keep in mind that both men and women have testosterone in their body. Men do have more testosterone, but women also need testosterone to support muscle growth. Even if you don’t want to look like a bodybuilder, you don’t want to lose muscle when you’re trying to lose weight. The ultimate goal is to get your body in the cycle of losing fat, not muscle.

Ways to Ease into Dieting: You may be tempted to go gung ho into your new diet because you want to lose a certain amount of weight fast. But depending on how much weight you have to lose, you may not need to make as drastic a cut as you think you do. Start out small. Whether you’re counting calories or macros, reduce your daily intake by no more than one third than what you were eating on a normal day before you started dieting.

For instance, if you were eating 2000 cal per day, reduce your calorie intake by 250 calories per day and burn 250 cals through exercise to start off your diet program. Once your body gets used to the new amount of calories you are eating, you can further reduce your calories, if necessary. You may find that you won’t have to reduce your calories much more as even a 30% drop in calories can be enough to kick start weight loss. The good thing about easing into dieting is that it won’t feel like extreme lifestyle change. You may still be able to treat yourself with the occasional snack or treat and still remain within your calorie guidelines. The same goes for decreasing your carbohydrate intake.

Remember to take it easy with dieting. Slow and steady wins the race! If you have comments or thoughts regarding this, please jot them down below. If you have questions, contact me. I’m always ready and willing to help!