The 500 calorie diet is one of these programs that are gaining
fast popularity with people desperate to lose weight. A generous
estimate says that you should lose between 3 and 5 pounds per week
without the need for any exercise, and while that might sound very
inviting we will discuss why this diet ends up doing more harm to your
health than good.
How to follow the diet?
The 500 calorie diet is pretty self-explanatory; the only requirement of this diet is that you stay under 500 calories per day. Considering that women need between 1200 and 1500 calories solely to perform bodily functions and men require roughly 1800, you can easily see why this diet causes such rapid weight loss.
Large meals, especially hearty breakfasts, are completely impossible under this program. You will need to eat roughly 150 calories in each meal and allow for at least 50 calories for a snack.
The only real options for breakfast are a little skim milk or orange juice (small cups), since any sort of food that needs to be chewed will increase your appetite. Fruits and salads are good options, as well as vegetable soups for lunch and dinner. Again, the portions need to be small, a regular bowl of plain fat free chicken broth will have roughly 80 calories, with added vegetables if you don't have to be on a liquid diet, will be more than that.
You cannot use oil when cooking and meats or dairy are completely out of the question, just like bread, rice or pasta. You should try to keep your choices varied, eating 8 apples will work calorically, but you need to take into account the different nutriments that your body needs, since you're already depriving it of enough energy.
The good aspects:
The initial weight loss is quick.
It's cheap. You don't have to buy anything special and you can save money because of the reduced portions you'll ingest.
The bad aspects:
The hunger. It will be very pointed and you won't have meals that will soothe it like in other diets. The body might increase its levels of adrenaline as it recognizes starvation, which causes a series of health problems, or you might feel weak and tired which will affect your work and general life.
The pounds lost will mostly be water weight and lean muscle mass. Muscle is heavy and full of nutriments that the body can transform in energy, but this will increase your body fat percentage and make you gain weight as soon as you quit the diet.
It's not sustainable long term. There will come a point where the body will adapt to the lower calorie intake, which will slow your metabolism and make it harder for you to lose weight down the line.
It can also cause severe health problems due to the lack of nutriments ingested. Women need between 1200 and 1500 calories solely to perform bodily functions and men require roughly 1800. This deficit is too large and thus, causes too much strain for the body.
In conclusion, the 500 calorie diet is not really an option unless you want to gamble with your health. If you're looking to lose real weight, this is a dangerous, difficult and detrimental option.
How to follow the diet?
The 500 calorie diet is pretty self-explanatory; the only requirement of this diet is that you stay under 500 calories per day. Considering that women need between 1200 and 1500 calories solely to perform bodily functions and men require roughly 1800, you can easily see why this diet causes such rapid weight loss.
Large meals, especially hearty breakfasts, are completely impossible under this program. You will need to eat roughly 150 calories in each meal and allow for at least 50 calories for a snack.
The only real options for breakfast are a little skim milk or orange juice (small cups), since any sort of food that needs to be chewed will increase your appetite. Fruits and salads are good options, as well as vegetable soups for lunch and dinner. Again, the portions need to be small, a regular bowl of plain fat free chicken broth will have roughly 80 calories, with added vegetables if you don't have to be on a liquid diet, will be more than that.
You cannot use oil when cooking and meats or dairy are completely out of the question, just like bread, rice or pasta. You should try to keep your choices varied, eating 8 apples will work calorically, but you need to take into account the different nutriments that your body needs, since you're already depriving it of enough energy.
The good aspects:
The initial weight loss is quick.
It's cheap. You don't have to buy anything special and you can save money because of the reduced portions you'll ingest.
The bad aspects:
The hunger. It will be very pointed and you won't have meals that will soothe it like in other diets. The body might increase its levels of adrenaline as it recognizes starvation, which causes a series of health problems, or you might feel weak and tired which will affect your work and general life.
The pounds lost will mostly be water weight and lean muscle mass. Muscle is heavy and full of nutriments that the body can transform in energy, but this will increase your body fat percentage and make you gain weight as soon as you quit the diet.
It's not sustainable long term. There will come a point where the body will adapt to the lower calorie intake, which will slow your metabolism and make it harder for you to lose weight down the line.
It can also cause severe health problems due to the lack of nutriments ingested. Women need between 1200 and 1500 calories solely to perform bodily functions and men require roughly 1800. This deficit is too large and thus, causes too much strain for the body.
In conclusion, the 500 calorie diet is not really an option unless you want to gamble with your health. If you're looking to lose real weight, this is a dangerous, difficult and detrimental option.
I was an obese man, who with God's help, lot of self-discipline
and work has lost many pounds and wishes to share his experience with
the world. Hopefully I can help to make your weight loss journey easier.
I still haven't achieved all of my goals but am on a good way. For more
articles you can visit my blog here.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michal_K.
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