Diets will allow you to lose weight - but losing weight should NEVER be your goal. As we've already established it is fat that you should be losing - and only fat. Most diets are based on cutting calories way back - sometimes below 1000 calories. One problem with this approach is that you can't keep it up for that long. That's why 95% of people who go on conventional diets end up regaining the weight - and then some. In addition, most people who go on restrictive diets have no energy left over to do any exercise. As a result, the weight that is lost will be primarily lean muscle mass. And that is bad, bad , bad. Muscle is what gives your body it's shape, it's strength and it's power. Muscle also allows you to burn more fat. That's because your body has to do a lot more work just to maintain and feed muscle than it does fat. So, the more muscle mass on your frame, the faster your metabolism will be and the more calories you will burn at rest.

The word diet has morphed in meaning over the years. Originally a person's diet referred to their general pattern of eating. Nowadays we use the word primarily to refer to a temporary restriction of food intake. Often diets involve extreme restrictions of calories (anything under 1,200 calories per day for women and 1,800 for men is considered extreme). By definition, then, diets cannot be sustained for an ongoing period. And, while it's true that they will allow you to lose weight while you're on them, you won't be losing the kind of weight that you want. Muscle needs to be preserved and so does water. Yet, these are the very things that will be first to go on a restricted calorie diet. And there's even worse news. Restricted calorie diets will actually make you fatter due to a little thing called the starvation response.

Humans can survive for a long time without food. The reason is that our bodies are great at storing energy as fat when food is plentiful as insurance against the lean times. Secondly, our bodies are able to adapt to periods of starvation by decreasing energy expenditure and enhancing their fat storage ability. So, when we go into a low calorie diet situation, the body goes into survival response mode. It slows down the metabolism and stores more energy as fat. These are the exact opposite bodily responses to what you want to happen. They are also the main reasons why you should never again waste your time, money and energy on a restricted calorie diet.