The Grapefruit Diet: Does It Work?

The grapefruit diet works in the short-term, but does it have
any staying power? In other words, if your goal is to drop
weight quickly and gain it all back in a month, then go for it.
If, however, your goal is to have lasting weight loss, the
grapefruit diet is not for you. Here's why.

The grapefruit diet has been around for many years. It's been
modified slightly over the years, but for the most part, it's
the same. The basic diet plan for the grapefruit diet consists
of four meals. Breakfast includes a half a grapefruit, three
eggs, and two slices of bacon. Lunch is another half a
grapefruit, a piece of meat (any kind), and a salad with any
type of dressing. Dinner is again, a half a grapefruit, any
piece of meat, salad and then added to that a cup of coffee. The
last meal isn't really a meal, but either an 8 oz glass of
tomato juice or fat-free milk.

Proponents of the grapefruit diet tout the grapefruit as having
a fat-burning enzyme which is why it's added to all but one
meal. Grapefruit is a wonderful fruit and a good healthy choice
for fruit; but it's not magical! The grapefruit diet helps a
person drop weight quickly because it's drastically low in
calories. As with most fad diets a gimmick (in this case the
grapefruit) is used to promote an extreme cut in calories. The
grapefruit diet has a dieter eating around 800 calories per day
which is not an adequate amount of calories to consume.

An average-sized woman who is moderately active needs around
1800-2000 calories per day for the body to function correctly.
When the diet is varied and healthful, this 1800-2000 calories
brings that woman optimum nutrition in terms of receiving all
the recommended daily allowances of important vitamins, minerals
and fiber. The grapefruit diet is seriously lacking in fiber,
calcium, iron and many other important nutrients. Over time,
this will cause and contribute to serious nutritional deficiency
related problems such as anemia and osteoporosis. The lack of
fiber will lead to gastrointestinal problems such as
constipation. In addition, fiber has been shown to promote
weight loss, lower serum cholesterol and aid in colon cancer
prevention.

So, say hello to a thin body that will fit into the size zero
dress, but you might want to pick up some make-up to cover the
pale, sickly face you'll be sporting as well! And whoever said a
hunched neck as seen in osteoporosis wasn't sexy? Healthy weight
loss is not achieved with the grapefruit diet, bottom line! And
more than likely, you should keep the tags on the size zero
dress because the weight will be back as soon as you start
eating normally again.

Seriously, lasting weight loss consists of slow, steady weight
loss resulting from a healthy, varied diet, exercise and
patience. The grapefruit diet contains none of these things.
Start by figuring out your daily caloric needs for weight
maintenance. There are many calorie calculators on the internet
that utilize your height, weight, age, sex and activity level to
determine the amount of calories needed for weight maintenance.

Next, realize that one pound of body fat is equivalent to
roughly 3500 calories. Healthy weight loss is about one to two
pounds per week. Therefore, if you wish to lose one pound per
week, you'll need to decrease calorie intake and burn calories
to the tune of 500 calories per day. This could be as simple as
eliminating dessert at night and taking a brisk 2.5 mile walk.
Two pound per week requires a debt of 1000 calories. This should
only be achieved through calorie reduction combined with
exercise, or you'll be right back to extreme calorie reduction
seen in the grapefruit diet. Ramp up that work-out! Go another
mile, use the incline, or increase resistance on the elliptical.

Lasting weight loss isn't about gimmicks and fads such as the
grapefruit diet. Lasting weight loss requires a person to commit
to changing their eating and exercise habits for good.

About The Author: From a sickly little girl to a healthy chef
to the stars, Darlene Nicholson transformed herself into The
"Kick in the Butt" Healthy Lifestyle Expert and creator of the
popular DVD "The Healthy Grocery Store Tour". Grab a copy of her
free ebook "4 Steps to Permanent Weight Loss"...guaranteed to
open your eyes to how easy weight loss can be with the right
plan of attack. http://free-weightloss-book.com/

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