Sunday, February 1, 2009

Less Is More For This Diet

By Michael

Losing weight has become a household mantra in todays fast paced lifestyle. Most people are thinking about losing weight and leading a healthy lifestyle. People have taken to dieting and have become what we call calorie conscious. It is common knowledge that reducing calorie intake or burning more calories keeps people from gaining weight. This has lead to what is called the Low Calorie Diet.

Talking about low calorie diet, one should first assess if the diet is suitable. It is important to consult a dietician instead of going into a self-made diet routine. Low Calorie Diet does not have any hard and fast rules, but is normally tailored according to individual needs.

To define a Low Calorie Diet in simple terms, we can say A Low Calorie Diet is any diet that allows a person to consume 1500 to 1800 calories a day as against a average normal consumption of 2000 to 2400 calories per day. People following this diet are said to lose about 2-3kgs in a week. According to experts, this diet is followed for a relatively short period of time, generally 3-6 months and extending it for a longer time period could lead to health complications.

Who can follow this diet? This is a form of diet that is followed by people who are overweight or suffer from obesity (generally with a body mass index over 30). It is not prescribed for children, pregnant women and adolescents. The person following this diet needs to monitor the intake of every calorie for nutritional value and the calorie intake is very low compared to the average calorie consumption.

Normally, for people following the Low Calorie Diet, physicians/doctor recommend avoiding regular food diet in favor of meal replacement supplements. Doctors will also include a prescription for physical activity as part of the diet plan. It is suggested that when following this diet one should change one thing at a time to move away from the regular diet.

It is very essential to monitor your diet routine followed by regularly consultations with your physician as there are chances of side-effects such as nausea, diarrhea, fatigue and constipation. However, expert claim that these side-effects will reduce over time.

In case dieters are losing weight rapidly it could lead to complications such as gallstones, hence it is extremely important to start a Low Calorie Diet after consulting a physician.

Many people mistake the Very Low Calorie Diet with the Low Calorie Diet. The Very Low Calorie Diet is however, different " here the calorie consumption is restricted to 800 calories per day. People are generally recommended a liquid diet with supplements. However, experts do not recommend this diet without proper medical guidance.

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