Diet Advice

What is Diet Advice?

Dieting is the regulation of food intake to control or maintain weight. Diet can be used to gain or reduce weight by increasing or decreasing calorie consumption. Voluntary restriction of the diet can be categorized as low-fat, low-carbohydrate, low-calorie and very low calorie, and are sometimes coupled with physical exercise to promote weight loss. Diet varies from individual to individual depending on the person’s daily activities and other factors.

What can I expect when getting Diet Advice?

Low-fat diets involve decrease in fat intake in the individual’s diet.
Low-carbohydrate diets are low in carbohydrates but high in proteins and fats.
Low-calorie diets are performed by reducing a calorie deficit of around 500-1000, resulting in 0.5-1kg of weight loss every week.
Very low calorie diets provide only roughly 500 calories per day, follow the 2-4-6-8 rule – consumption of 200 calories on the first day, 400 the following day, 600 the third day, 700 the fourth day, and then totally fasting. This leads to around 2 kilograms loss in weight per week.

How to prepare for recieving Diet Advice?

Before committing to a diet, you should have realistic expectation of your goals. If you are aiming for weight loss, try to read up weight management related articles to understand the importance of nutrition before starting your diet. You can also speak to friends or people whom you know that have successfully undergone a diet. Often, it is harder to maintain the weight after stopping the diet. Rather than starving yourself, it is often advisable to eat healthily and be patient because weight loss does not happen over few days. It needs weeks and months of consistency. Do not be put off If there are no noticeable changes for the first few weeks.

What happens after Diet Advice?

Studies have shown that weight loss diets that manipulate the proportion of macronutrients (low fat or low carbohydrate) are more effective. The body uses energy generated by break down of glycogen produced from excess carbohydrates. When glycogen is depleted, fat cells are broken down to provide the energy required causing fat loss.
Prolonged fasting can cause malnutrition. When glucose level is too low to fuel the brain, ketones produced from mobilization of body proteins become the preferred substrate, causing muscles loss.