What is a rapid weight loss plan?
There are many diet plans and programs that, by themselves, are good for fast weight loss. You will often see them advertised with statements like “I lost 25 pounds in one month!” or “Lose up to 50% of your fat by eating what you like!”
The old saying is that if something is too good to be true, it probably is, and weight loss plans are no different. Very often, on sites that make those claims, you will see a small print underneath that says “Non-typical results” or “Sample size: 11”. What this means is that one person may have lost that amount, but most likely everyone else on the diet lost much less.
Some diets actually cause you to lose a great deal of weight in a short time, at least initially. Atkins, for example, is well known to dieters who regularly lose 10-15 pounds in the first two weeks of the plan. However, much of this initial loss is due to water weight, and subsequent weight loss is likely to be much slower. This in itself can be daunting.
Programs like The Biggest Loser exaggerate this need we have to lose weight quickly. Contestants on the show must compete to lose the most weight each week; the person who loses the least is out of the program. This can lead to people standing up on the scale and saying “I only lost 5 pounds this week, it just isn’t good enough!” But the show is an artificial condition: the contestants are locked in the house with nothing to do except go to the gym. They are not working, taking care of the family, distracted by television or the Internet, or any other leisure. They get up every morning at 6, go to the gym, have breakfast, go to the gym, have lunch, go to the gym, have dinner … They exercise up to 10 hours a day, of course You can burn 7000 calories in a day and lose 10 pounds a week. Most of us don’t have that luxury and must settle for something more realistic!
A common mistake dieters make is thinking that in order to increase the rate at which they lose weight, they must reduce their calorie intake to a very low level. This can work for a week or two, but it just can’t be sustained. Once you’ve cut below 1,200 calories, you’ll lose the energy you need to maintain your daily routine, let alone add more exercise. You will be hungry all the time and will be much more likely to go off plan.
The best rapid weight loss plan, by which I mean one with proven results, that actively improves your health, is one that can be tailored to your particular metabolic type. Some people lose weight very quickly on a low-fat diet. Others find this type of diet very slow. You must determine your metabolic type before choosing the right fast weight loss plan for you.