Would you be surprised to hear that, according to the Today Show, American women have an average of 13 negative thoughts about their bodies each day? In extreme cases, women have up to 100 disparaging thoughts about their bodies each and every day. It’s an unfortunate symptom of our culture.
In hopes of fighting off these thoughts and becoming more confident with themselves, many women turn to juvederm treatments and botox injections to regain their youth and feel just a little bit better about themselves. However, doctors suggest that instead of immediately going to cosmetic procedures, women instead look to healthy weight loss plans to help shrug off this negative body image. After all, according to a recent study from Gallup, 59% of women say they are not at their ideal body weight.
Unfortunately, too many businesses have been built around providing women with quick-fix plans, taking advantage of body issues to make a pretty penny. The problem? Besides using this issue for their own profit, these companies provide diets that lead to even greater problems. That’s why you need to know what red flags to look for when trying to decide on healthy weight loss plans.
Three Signs You’re Not Using Healthy Weight Loss Plans
- Your Weight Management Plan Cuts Out Macronutrients
- You’re Not Allowed to Enjoy Food
- The Plan Sets Insane Goals
As Reader’s Digest points out, any weight loss plan that makes you cut out carbs or fats is likely not going to be healthy for you in the long run. Fats have been vilified as of late, but the truth is that healthy fats, like those found in nuts, avocados, and salmon, improve heart health, protect our joints, and serve a number of other important purposes. Likewise, carbohydrates are our bodies’ main source of energy. You should certainly take an “everything in moderation” approach to your diet, but cutting out any macronutrient group is only going to hurt you.
Too often “dieting” is synonymous with “no fun.” Remember, you don’t want to diet so much as you want to change your diet. See the difference? One is a temporary fix, while the other is a lifestyle change. As written in a recent article from U.S. News and World Report, a dietary lifestyle should include all sorts of food, even those we’re taught are “bad.” A diet that doesn’t allow for a piece of cake every now and then isn’t going to be any fun at all, and is more likely to drive you to binge eating and unsustainable weight loss over time.
For WebMD, healthy weight loss plans lead to you losing no more than a pound or two a week. Subsequently, diets that claim to be able to get you to lose 25 pounds in only a few weeks are not a great idea. Losing weight at this rate can lead to chronic fatigue, permanent calcium deposits in your soft tissue, and a slew of other health problems. As far as weight loss is concerned, slow and steady truly wins the race.
Are you a professional nutritionist specializing in weight loss diets for women? Share some of your tips for staying healthy while losing weight in the comments below. Good references here.