- Strict and deliberate limitation of the amount of energy consumed with food (caloric intake). For example, it could be following a well-known diet, or simply counting calories and setting strict limits.
- Limit the variety of foods and eat the same type:
- low-carb diets: protein diet, Atkins diet;
- low-fat diets;
- juice-based diets.
- Irregular meals:
- hourly diet;
- 5: 2 diet (five days a week we eat normally, and two days a week - we significantly limit ourselves in food);
- skipping meals;
- "Days of fasting" means refusal to eat on certain days.
Who is on a diet?
Diets are common and popular. About half of normal-weight women are believed to have tried the diet. One study found that nearly 70% of 15-year-old girls are on a diet, and 8% of them follow an extremely strict diet. Another study found that about 70% of women and 45% of dieters are not overweight and do not need to follow any diets.
The diet is preceded by dissatisfaction with one's body and a desire to lose weight.
A UK study found that two-thirds of 14-15-year-old girls and half of 12-13-year-old girls want to lose a few pounds. Due to the stress associated with this, around a quarter of the girls skipped at least one meal a day.
Dietary Risks
Diets increase the risk of an eating disorder. Scientists found that if teenage girls eat a moderate diet, the risk of developing an eating disorder increases five times, and with a strict diet - eighteen times.
Frequent and strict diets contribute to excess weight. 95% of those who follow a weight loss diet earn more in the next two years than they lost due to the diet. This is due to the fact that during the diet, people greatly limit the number of calories and the variety of dishes, experiencing constant hunger. Perhaps for a short time, dieters can ignore hunger, but after long diets, there is an increase in appetite and overeating. This, in turn, leads to feelings of guilt and failure, which can exacerbate dissatisfaction with yourself and your body. Some people live on a similar cycle of diets throughout their life, meaning the diet takes up a certain portion of their time and energy each day.
In addition, diets have been found to slow down metabolism - the rate of calorie burning slows down.
The normal metabolic rate is restored some time after the person has returned to a healthy and adequate diet.
A strict diet affects both mental and physical health. Bad breath, fatigue, overeating, headaches and cramps, constipation, sleep disturbances and possibly bone destruction may appear.
Diets can change the body's natural responses to food, needs and appetite. A person stops feeling hungry and satiety, he can stop distinguishing his emotional needs from hunger.
Why do we go on a diet?
Many people of normal weight consider themselves to be overweight and want to lose weight on a diet. Also, many overweight people want to lose those extra pounds and believe that the diet will help them with that.
It is known that about ⅓ of the world's population is overweight, but about twice as many people want to lose weight.
I am on a diet for the desire to be slimmer. The worldwide quest for thinness has many reasons, one of which is the equally common fear of gaining weight. It has been revealed that such fear can already manifest itself in elementary school students. For some reason, in our society, wholeness is considered something shameful and doomed.
Through advertising, the desire to go on a diet is supported in people by companies focused on everything related to diets (diets, books, groceries and other goods). Because we are in a highly profitable industry, the diet industry is unnaturally optimistic about diets. In fact, it has been found that half of the people who follow a diet gain weight as a result - few of them are able to maintain the weight lost due to the diet for five years.
The success of a strict diet depends on many physical and mental factors and, in obesity, is highly ineffective for weight loss.