Do diets "work??"

Ok, I must rant a little on diets.  Do they work?  Most of them....YES!  (yes, my answer was affirmative).  Let's ask that question again in a different manner.  Do they work long term???  Most often....NO.

My point?  Well, let's take the Atkins Diet specifically.  Does it work?  Well, that depends on how you define the word "work."  If by work, you mean lose weight?  Then your answer is YES.  The diet is designed to put your body in to Ketosis which is when the glycogen level in your liver are depleted.  This then causes your body to to use fatty acids as an alternative form of energy (it will usually pull from the glycogen stores in your cells).  So by design, this diet does exactly what everyone seems to want.  Weight loss (more specifically fat loss).

If by "work" you mean healthy?  Then I say NO.  In my opinion, if you are not going to do something long term....why do it?  Should you do the Atkins long term?  Absolutely not (again, in my opinion).  Your body NEEDS carbohydrates and the Atkins diet has been shown to put a lot of stress on your liver.  One of my grad school professors used to always say "fat burns in a carbohydrate flame."  You need carbohydrates to burn fats healthily.

To further my point, I have a client that is currently doing the Atkins diet (not by my recommendation) because he's done it before and it "worked."  Not sure how long ago it was he did it but he has since put the weight back on and is using it again to lose weight.  Since he started, he has done about half as much during the workout as he used to.  Constantly stops to catch his breath.  Is dizzy and needs breaks often. That should be a sign right there.

The other point I'd like to talk about with weight loss is....what KIND of weight are you losing.  Not all weight is created equal.  Remember, your body has lean muscles mass weight, bone weight along with fat weight.  Some weight loss diets (especially very restrictive ones) cause you to lose a little of the "right " kind of weight (fat) along with some of the wrong kind of weight too (muscle).  There is almost never a case in which you want to lose lean muscle mass.  And if your diet is restrictive, doesn't include enough protein and you aren't eating the proper amounts often enough, your body will break down your muscle to use for energy. Not good.

You wanna know what diet works?  ......ALL the time, for the rest of your life, and provides the right amount of fuel for activity and exercise?!?!?!  A "diet" that focuses on eating the right things to keep your metabolism up.  That is the healthiest way to burn fat.  You should shoot for a complete and balanced diet in that is protein-focused (but still includes good carbs) which your body gets the right amounts of vitamins and nutrients from clean foods.  These foods should be unprocessed, not packed with preservatives and as close to their natural form as possible.  If you are not getting a complete amount of vitamins and nutrients from these foods, then add supplementation to fill in the gaps (and by supplements, we means vitamins, nutrients and protein....not fat loss pills).

Do you guys have any thoughts on this?  I know there are differing opinions and even research showing both sides of the story.  This is just my opinion.

~Coach Robyn