Myths About Quick Weight Loss Programs

The words quick weight loss are words that virtually every dieter wants to hear. Unfortunately, what those words actually refer to and what dieters are looking for are far removed from one another. What dieters want in a quick weight loss program is quick fat loss. To loose fat quickly is next to impossible.

Fat is a storage of unused calories (energy); one pound of fat is the equivalent of 3,500 calories. The quickest way to burn 3,500 calories is to run a marathon. There is simply no way to diet or exercise more than a pound or a pound and a half of fat in a week. 3,500 calories per pound of fat is just way too many calories to burn quickly. Ten pounds of 35,000 calories is not burning up in any short order. So how do people lose a lot weight in short periods of time?

Most quick weight loss programs involve the shedding of water. Usually when one cuts calories and carbs are reduced in part or whole, there will be a lot of water released from the body. 500 grams of carbs equal a pound. Every pound of carbs one eats will retain three lbs of water. As the calories are burned, the water releases, but gets taken in again when more carbs are taken in. Also, carbs produce glycogen in the muscles which is ‘weight’ as well.

So, if one cuts carbs either by eliminating all of them or part of them from a diet, then the glycogen/glucose will deplete within a couple days taking the water with it. So, yes, one can lose ten pounds in a week, but such a quick weight loss program will not be a ten pound loss of fat.

When it comes to fat loss, there is no quick weight loss program. Stick with a sensible diet/exercise program and stick to it for an extended period of time and weight loss will be around the corner.