6 Reasons Diets Will Only Make You Fatter (And What To Do Instead)

You know in your gut that diets don't work. Time for a change.

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Typical diets are starvation diets, which is why you have a difficult time staying on them  your body rebels.

When you are in starvation mode, your body starts conserving its resources by slowing down your metabolism, regardless of your body type.

This is your body’s response to what it perceives as a famine or limited food availability.  

To prevent you from starving to death, your body becomes more efficient and reduces the number of calories needed to maintain necessary function.

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When you start eating again, your body puts back not only what you have lost, but extra weight to prepare for the next famine.  

Consequently, diets are a yo-yo experience, with your weight constantly going up and down.

The causative factors are:

1. Food availability cycles mimic the seasons. 

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Abundance of food followed by famine, is a cycle just like the seasons. There is an abundance of food in the summer, and limited food in winter.

Essentially, you are triggering this cycle you are on a diet. You restrict the number of calories or eliminate one food group, like eliminating fats or carbohydrates, throwing your body into ketosis causes you to break down your muscles and use them as your protein source.

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The reason you feel so good is because you are burning good quality protein.

The problem is that rebuilding muscle is difficult, and ketosis is hard on the kidneys.

 

2. The change in your metabolic rate is not beneficial in the long run.

Your body becomes more efficient and is able to function on fewer calories, so when you get off your diet and eat as much as others eat, you gain weight.

 

3. Your food choices swing between extremes. 

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When you are on a diet, you eat more vegetables. 

Once you are off, you reward yourself with sweet treats, salty snacks or soft drinks.

Empty calorie foods do not supply the nutrients the body needs to function well, so you tend to eat more of them.  

They can also cause inflammation which causes your body to retain fluid.   

 

4. Your body has different nutritional requirements than your friends or family.

We gain weight in different areas of our bodies and like different foods.

These differences are determined by our dominant gland, organ or system which determines our body type.

The biggest dietary difference between different body types is the time of day they can best eat fruit without it upsetting or influencing their metabolism. 

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Do you know what works for your body type?

 

5. You need to eat on your optimum eating schedule, not just go hungry.

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Do you eat your largest meal in the morning, mid-day, or evening, or smaller meals throughout the day? Is it best to snack when you want to lose weight?

It is your body type that determines your best eating schedule, as well as the best foods to eat at certain times.

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For example, if your body type is Pituitary, you do not digest protein well after 2 pm, so you should eat the majority of your food for breakfast and lunch.

You have heard the best way to lose weight is to eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pulper; this is true for the Pituitary body type.

But if your body type is Adrenal, and you follow this advice, you will find yourself eating all day long and gaining weight, so you are better off eating fruit for breakfast and saving your calories for later in the day, like the typical Weight Watcher’s diet.

This is why a standard starvation diet simply won't work.

 

6. Not all proteins are created equal for different body types. 

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Can you be a vegetarian, or is it better if you are not? How well is your body able to process or digest legumes?

A simple way to determine if you can be a vegetarian is whether or not you are able to digest legumes. Beans are legumes, and when combined with rice form a complete protein.

If you get intestinal gas after eating beans, you are having difficulty digesting and assimilating them, so they are not your best protein source.

It takes less energy for the body to covert dense protein like fish or eggs into a usable form than it takes to convert legumes.

 

So if you are not going to go on a crash diet, what else can you do?

You can give your body a rest by doing a Cleanse Diet.  

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A Cleanse Diet consists of 1 to 3 days of vegetables and fruit per week, up to a maximum of 4 times per month.  

The vegetables may be raw, baked, steamed or juiced, with no limit on quantity.

Vegetables are the body’s natural cleansers. Fruit may be included depending on how well your body is able to handle sugar and the time of day best suited for your body type.

Reset your metabolic rate by mixing up your daily caloric intake.

While losing weight requires taking in fewer calories than you burn up, you don’t want your body to go into starvation mode.

So increasing your activity level, eating low-calorie nutrient rich foods and eating more good fats on certain days makes a difference.  

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The most important thing you can do to help you lose weight is learning to decode your cravings.

There were times when I found myself wanting (and eating) ice cream after a balanced, nutritious dinner. Unfortunately, just a few bites of ice cream turned into a lot more, and even then, I was not totally satisfied.

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So, I asked myself what I really wanted in the ice cream, it was cold and sweet. I then looked for something healthy that met the same criteria, and came up with frozen fruit, like cherries or mangos.

 I found when I ate them after dinner, I was satisfied and did not find myself eating as much.

Ultimately, it’s about learning to listen to your body.

Your body will crave sugar if it is not able to get or assimilate protein. Sugar acts as transport medium that transports protein across the blood-brain barrier, which is why we crave sugar after eating protein.

The key is to make healthy choices by understanding what your body requires.

Foods that are difficult for your body process are considered "Rarely" foods, and should be eaten once a month or less. Some of these foods can act as stimulants and can be foods you crave when your energy is low.

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Knowing which foods best support your body will allow you to give your body what it needs rather than stressing it further. After all, excess weight is often a sign that your body is stressed.

 

Dr. Carolyn L. Mein is a chiropractic physician with an active practice in Rancho Santa Fe, CA, who developed the 25 body type system as a way to help her patients attain and maintain their ideal weight and energy levels by eating the foods that best support their bodies.  She is the author of “Different Bodies, Different Diets”.  To learn more about the 25 body type system and determine your body type, go to www.bodytype.com