Negative Calorie Diet news 2010-03-17

Another mistake people make when trying to lose weight is cutting calories too drastically in an attempt to slim down quickly. Skipping meals or consuming too few calories for good health can have significant negative consequences, along with slowing down the metabolism and making it harder to keep the weight off.

The bulk of your diet should always come from healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean meats, but having a low-calorie treat every now and then as part of your eating plan can help you from feeling deprived, while still allowing for weight loss.

Weight loss occurs when the body expends more calories than it consumes. Dr. Rodriguez explains that weight loss has two components: exercise and calorie restriction. The combination of increasing calorie expenditure through working out and decreasing calorie intake through dieting cause the reduction in body weight that dieters seek.

When those last few pounds or inches refuse to vanish, frustrated fitness devotees are quick to blame the plateau on their exercise routine or diet. However, the plateau that dieters find so discouraging is not necessarily a negative thing, according to exercise scientists and nutritionists.

Maintaining a healthy weight is good for you and while everyone knows this it is not always the easiest of things to do. Eating a balanced diet will help with this and it can also help if you know the calorific values of the foods you eat. The sites named above provide a vast database of food along with the calories for typical portions and can provide all the information you need to keep track of your calorie intake.

To synchronize your diet and cardio, remember: In order to lose weight, you must burn more calories than you consume. If you dont achieve this negative balance, you arent going to lose any weight. Alternately, if you achieve too much of a negative balance, youre more likely to lose muscle weight along with some fat. This is the undesirable part of the equation. You can create this negative balance through diet, through increased physical activity or through a combination of both which is the route most people take. This is the acceptable and best way to synchronize your diet and cardio with the goal of losing weight.

For example, Somer writes that sugar today makes up 25 pct. of calories in most American diets -- much of it coming from processed foods. But a diet in which even 9 pct. of calories are from added sugar is a red flag for weight and health problems, she says, and too much sugar offers a temporary "high" that can end in fatigue and depression. The good news is that cutting back can bring immediate weight loss, mood improvements and increased energy. She says we should aim for no more than 6 pct. of our calories from added sugar -- 30 grams, or teaspoons, a day on a 2,000-calorie diet. (This doesnt include the sugar found in naturally sweet foods such as fruit. )

His calorie-slashing advice is based on findings from a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine last year. The two-year study comparing weight-loss diets with different macronutrient compositions of body weight found that reduced-calorie diets result in meaningful weight loss regardless of carbohydrate, fat, and protein content. "This is good news because we can tailor diets according to personal and cultural preferences and therefore have the best chance for long term success," said Foreyt, whos the director of the Behavioral Medicine Research Center in Houston, Texas.

Thoughts of spring break and warm sunny beaches often lead to thoughts of crash diets. "All diets can work initially, but crash diets are not good in the long run because they are not sustainable," said Bobbie Saccone, registered dietitian and nutrition counselor at the Indiana University Health Center in Bloomington. "You often end up gaining more than you lost in the first place. " Crash diets, which typically involve severely reduced calorie intake, can have the following negative side effects: low energy, poor concentration, increased depression and irritability, and increased risk for binge eating. And ultimately, they can slow down your metabolism. Saccone said the calories we take in must equal the calories that we take out or burn. "The only way to lose weight is to disturb this balance and cause a calorie deficit. " In one

The best part of the foods that are on many negative calorie lists is that they are -- for the most part -- fresh foods that are great tasting and great for you. Its easy to lose weight by simply substituting these for what most folks eat today in processed, pre-packaged foods," he said.

Harlan said there is clear and well-established research that shows diets high in fruits in vegetables result in weight loss. But, he said, it is not because they burn more calories than other foods, but primarily because of calorie density.

Q. I am a 75-year-old body builder trying to put on what is called "mass. " Thats muscle, not fat. I follow a prescribed exercise routine with average results. It is now suggested more protein in the form of whey is required. What do you recommend as a mass-building diet that does not cause (plaque) buildup in the arteries or any negative side-effects

The bottom line to gaining mass is you need to be taking in more calories than youre expending. So, if your current calorie intake is maintaining your weight and muscle mass based on the activity youre doing, you need to actually increase your total calories by about 300 to 500 calories per day.

To help people make healthier decisions at the fair (as well as the grocery and restaurants), this years edition of "The CalorieKing Calorie Fat and Carbohydrate Counter" diet guide includes an updated section for dining at carnivals and stadiums.

Whats amazing is when one of the dietitians brings back something you like, then you watch it coagulate," Fiducia says. "Talk about negative reinforcement. For one of the sandwiches, youd have to run for three hours to burn that off. "