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Home > Active Living > Activity - general information > Fad diets brochure Fad diets brochure Lose weight the right wayWe all want a way to lose weight fast. And right now there’s no shortage of supposed solutions. These days it’s hard to open a magazine without reading about the next miracle cure. But you’ve got to ask yourself, if these diets are so effective, why are there so many new ones? Shouldn’t one do the trick? They are known as ‘fad diets’. They may provide short term results but are difficult to sustain and ultimately they deprive you of the essential nutrients only balanced eating can offer. So how do you spot a fad diet? Typically a fad diet shares some or all of the following characteristics:
Why are fad diets a problem? By cutting out key foods, fad diets have been known to cause the following symptoms:
So what’s the answer? There is an eating plan that gets results. It will allow you to achieve a healthy body weight and maintain it over time. It will boost your vitality and improve your sense of self-worth. Best of all you don’t have to cut out any foods, because you can eat everything, in moderation. It’s called a balanced eating plan, and it’s really nothing new. But combined with moderate physical activity it will change your life in a way that fad diets only dream of. You might have heard it all before but let’s refresh your memory. With a balanced eating plan, it’s what you leave in that makes all the difference. For a balanced eating plan to be successful you need to:
A stable body weight means that the amount of kilojoules from food matches the kilojoules used by the body. If your weight is increasing, this may mean that you are eating too much food, doing too little physical activity, or both. Different food components contain different levels of kilojoules. Fat is the most concentrated source containing 37 kilojoules per gram, whereas protein contains 17 kilojoules and carbohydrates 16 kilojoules per gram. Alcohol also contains energy, at 29 kilojoules per gram. What are carbohydrate foods? We have all heard of them but what are they and why are they important? Carbohydrates provide the body with kilojoules or fuel. Foods that contain the most carbohydrates include grains, bread, breakfast cereal, rice, pasta, noodles, fruit, potato, corn, dried beans, lentils, milk and yoghurt. These foods are rich in vitamins and minerals and are generally low in fat, making them well suited to a healthy eating plan. Some are excellent sources of dietary fibre. Foods with lots of added sugar (such as fizzy drinks and sweets) are another source of carbohydrates but rather than good nutrition, these contribute extra kilojoules with few vitamins and minerals. What is protein? Protein is an essential nutrient needed throughout life to make, maintain and renew all our body tissue and cells. Protein can be found in both animal and plant based foods. Protein-containing foods from animals are meat, chicken, fish, eggs and dairy products. Protein foods are often a good source of iron. Protein-containing foods from plants are tofu, nuts, seeds, lentils, dried beans and peas and soy milk. What is fat? We need to eat some fat; however choose foods with the healthiest type of fat. Many Australians eat more fat than they need which can lead to weight gain and heart disease. Healthier fat, otherwise known as unsaturated fats, can be found in sunflower oil, safflower oil, peanut and olive oils, poly- and monounsaturated margarine spreads, nuts, seeds and avocado. These are much better for you than the saturated fat found in butter, cream, fatty meats, sausages, biscuits, cakes and fried foods. Be active every day When you start to have healthy eating patterns, you’ll soon feel increased levels of vigor, and being active will start to feel not only possible, but also desirable. To make it easier for you to get the right amount of physical activity each day, here are a few suggestions:
A healthy lifestyle - easier than you think Changing your eating and physical activity habits can be difficult to begin with. But once you’ve got the ball rolling, it’s easy to sustain. Here are a few tips to help ease the transition:
Being healthy includes feeling good about yourself. Don’t buy into the unrealistic images portrayed in the media. At times there are pressures, on top of work and family, that make it harder to maintain a healthy lifestyle, but adopting balanced eating habits can help you feel better about yourself. Fad dieting is one pressure you don’t need in your life. Healthy food and physical activity will undoubtedly give you more get-up-and-go and leave you feeling healthier. Furthermore, it will enable you to set a good example for your children, and look after your family, by offering them healthy food. Once a wide range of nutritious foods and physical activity become an everyday routine, the mere idea of dieting will start to seem strange. If you have any questions, or want to know more about being healthier and more active, visit your local doctor or call the Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD) Hotline on 1800 812 942 to find an APD near you. Related articles Note: The following links return you to the "Everyone" area of the website. Email this article Print a fact sheet
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