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Despite the recent Fen-Phen scare and frequent commentaries on the danger of short-term solutions, Demetre is incredulous about the continual and unrealistic weight loss claims made by local and national advertisers. This week alone, she has identified over ten advertisements making completely unrealistic claims or promising success through supplementation.
In one such radio spot for a popular "fat absorption" supplement the announcer states, "You can't help but lose weight". Another print ad headlines: "Lose Weight Fast ~ 18 pounds in 4 weeks!" A frequently seen television commercial proclaims: "Lose 10 pounds in 10 days!"
According to Dr. Gregory Ellis, exercise physiologist and nutritional expert, the American public is grossly misinformed. "People just don't understand the physiology of the body and it's natural penchant for survival," he exclaims. Many studies have clearly proven that even moderate dieting can damage the metabolism. When calories are reduced to even 1,200 per day, the metabolism can be damaged within weeks and take months, sometimes years to recover. That means it gets easier and easier to store fat!
Ellis's primary research and writings are on the subject of how the body utilizes fuel for energy. He has dedicated many years to encouraging people to focus more on caloric expenditure through exercise. In that quest, he was instrumental in bringing a unique tool called the Caltrac to market. The Caltrac is a very sensitive motion detector that is worn like a beeper. It very accurately calculates calorie burn. Used in universities around the country, it has been proven to be accurate within one to three percent in most activities.
Demetre has successfully used this tool with her clients. She teaches them how to "balance their energy equation" and "get beneath the surface" to promote permanent change in her self-study audio program and workbook, The LifeStyle Solution. She has found that those who are willing to face reality and make choices based on truth have lasting success.
As she explains, few people understand what they are really "losing" when they diet. She says that it is almost impossible for someone to lose ten pounds of fat in ten days. This is why:
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According to Demetre, the average woman burns about 1,700 calories per day. If she completely starves she could only burn about one-half pound of fat per day. However, in restrictive dieting and starvation the body also uses stored carbohydrates (glycogen) and protein for energy. So, what are people really losing? "Mostly water and muscle", states Dr. Ellis.
"And that's the last thing we need to lose", explains Demetre. "To lose fat and keep it off, the body must not feel compromised. It is important to get it off the same way you plan to keep it off", she emphasizes. "It's time we give people truth, so they can take personal responsibility and stop waiting for the magic cure."
Demetre encourages the advertisers of the "quick fix" to substantiate their claims. She feels that if the truth were told, these ads would read something like this:
Lose 4 pounds
of MUSCLE
5 pounds of
WATER
&
1 pound of FAT
in just 10
days!
The problem is…who would buy their product or programs?
Diets are about deprivation and restriction. To better understand why dieting is so ineffective try this simple exercise:
The "Air" Diet
Try holding your breath for 40 seconds while you read this section. While you are doing this, think about your thoughts and feelings:
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What did you do just before starting your air diet? You took a deep breath…you actually "binged" on air! Why did you do that? Obviously because you weren't going to breathe for awhile. What do you do on Sunday night if you're going on a diet Monday morning? Binge! Because you're not going to eat anything fun for a long time, right?
How did you feel during the air diet? Most people say they feel tense and deprived. It certainly isn't pleasant. How do you feel on a food diet? Do you enjoy it? If not, then it's time to STOP! Lastly, what did you do after counting backwards from 10? You took a deep breath… and binged again! Why? Because you had been deprived. That's exactly what we do on diets. Sadly, the binges often are more damaging than the benefit of the diet. You end up gaining more weight on the binges than you lose on the diet.
(1)
The
bottom line to losing excess fat is simply
calories in versus calories
out! In fact, most people
don't gain weight because they are eating enormous amounts of foods. And
it's not the occasional "blow outs" that are making us fat. It is
the little things we do (or don't do) each and every day that makes the
difference.
(2) The average person gains 20-30 pounds between the ages of 30 and 50 years old and they are only eating an extra 5-10 calories per day. That is the equivalent of one breath mint a day! That sounds like bad news doesn't it? But, it's not! Because the opposite is true also. It really is the "small stuff". In fact, if you simply burn 250 calories per day more than you eat, you would be 25 pounds leaner in one year without dieting. For the average woman, 250 calories is the equivalent of walking about two miles or eating one bagel.
(3) The average American woman burns 1,600 to 1,700 calories per day. That sounds like a lot. But, it's not. At the turn of the century, the average woman burned about 2,500 calories every day. That is because our lives were much more active. Our bodies haven't changed in the last 100 years. Our appetites haven't changed either. But, our lifestyles have. We are much less active.
(4) If you burn 100 calories more than you eat each day, it will take you 35 days to burn off one pound of fat! To lose one pound of fat (not water or muscle), you have to burn 3,500 calories more than you eat. That's why it's impossible to lose a pound of fat a day, as so many diets claim.
So, why do we think we have to "go on a diet"
to lose weight? Because the diet industry has been telling us lies! To
lose weight and keep it off permanently, we must get it off in the same
way we plan to keep it off ~ through lifestyle change. .
The American public deserves to know the
truth. The truth is, you must:
Danna Demetre - free tape and Weight Loss seminars (this site offers a tape you can listen to online)
