These Anti-Aging Weight Loss Tricks are Really Making You Fatter

By Dr. Kevin J. McLaughlin

I’ve noticed that the weight loss diet fad has really erupted in the past few years. It seems everyone wants that quick fix—people want to shed pounds quickly, effectively, and without having to invest too much time or energy. And the weight loss diet industry has certainly banked on this mindset, especially when combining it with the anti-aging market—they’ll tell you that you can look and feel younger by following this latest weight loss diet plan. And thus a new fad is born.

I call it a “fad” because a weight loss diet plan can be all the rage one day, and replaced the next with another one claiming to be even better for you. Because of this, weight loss diet fads do not and cannot sustain or encourage healthy weight management over the long-term—a weight loss diet fad isn’t an effective anti-aging weight loss strategy. Keep reading to find out why.

Your Body Needs the Calories

Regardless of nutrient content, the methodology behind a lot of weight loss diet fads is, more or less, to eat fewer calories. The logic is that if you consume less than 1,000 calories per day, it will force your body to burn body fat for fuel to make up for the caloric deficit, therefore leading to weight loss.

It’s true that you will lose some body fat by following this kind of weight loss diet plan, but in the process of doing so, several things will begin to happen. When your body experiences a low-calorie environment for a long enough period of time, your fat-burning capability will slow down to spare your energy reserves. Your body will subsequently start to store body fat as soon as you stray from your weight loss diet, even in the slightest. In the meantime, your body will start to crave food to keep its energy levels up, and you may start to experience uncomfortable side effects from calorie deficiency, like low energy levels, mood swings, insomnia, and poor concentration.

Furthermore, in the process of following a low-calorie weight loss diet fad, depending on what you eat and your level of physical activity, you will not only lose body fat, but also a great deal of muscle. When this happens, your capacity to use stored body fat as an energy source is reduced. Then, when you finally drop the weight loss diet fad and go back to a more sustainable eating pattern, you will not only quickly put on the weight you lost, but you have damaged your fat-burning process even more, and you will likely gain more weight than before. This pattern of low-calorie yo-yo dieting can make it really hard to control your weight over time.

Weight Loss Diet Fads are Unsustainable

Most weight loss diet fads are considered to be effective if you’ve experienced effective weight loss for at least one year. Unfortunately, most people will have given up long before this point because they were relying solely on the diet to get results, and nothing else. Dieting alone is never enough, and if any weight loss diet fad promises those kinds of results, then that’s your first sign that they’re a sham. Healthy eating (keep in mind I said healthy eating, and not weight loss dieting) needs to be done in addition to fitness and lifestyle changes to really see weight loss results.

Most weight loss diet fads are based on eliminating certain components of your diet, which probably won’t make it very appealing in the first place. On top of that, a lot of people find that the results they’re seeing do not justify the perceived sacrifice they’ve made to put themselves through this weight loss fad. Even if the weight loss diet fad has been successful after the one year mark, a distinctive change in thinking, attitude, and lifestyle are required before long-term weight changes can be realized.

Poor Scientific Reasoning of Weight Loss Diet Fads

Most weight loss diet fads either have no scientific basis, a limited scientific backing, or are based on theories that would fall into the “problematic” category. The important issue here is that all of these weight loss diet fads promise the same thing: quick, safe, and dramatic weight loss. But if they all promise the same thing, but don’t have the scientific reasoning to back them up, how do you know which ones actually work and which ones are just marketing ploys? In my opinion, you can’t really trust any of them.

Weight loss diet fads aren’t an effective means for dropping pounds. If you want to look and feel healthier and more alive as you get older, your best solution is to eat healthy, stay active, and be wary of any quick fixes when it comes to your diet.

Instead of That Weight Loss Diet Fad…

Rather than being disappointed yet again with the newest weight loss diet fad, try making small changes to your diet by making smarter choices about what you do and don’t put into your body. Click here for more information on making smart anti-aging food choices.

If you aren’t already participating in any sort of anti-aging fitness routine, that should be next on your list, as it’s more effective for managing weight than any weight loss diet fad will be. Click here for tips and information on how to master the perfect anti-aging fitness plan.

Dr. Kevin J. McLaughlin has degrees in nutrition, physical education, and is a certified strength and conditioning specialist with an interest in anti-aging medicine. He’s also a chiropractor with 27 years of clinical experience. He has also spent time studying health promotion and the effect that health education has on health outcomes.

This article originally appeared on Agein.com.