Weight Loss Diets

Of all the many ways and means of losing weight, bay far the most popular method is dieting and to cater for the huge number of people that have a preference for this, a huge industry has sprung up in response. The diet industry is worth billions of dollars and its people that don't know any better that are fuelling this industry with their hard earned money.

calorie controlled dietsFor some people who need to lose several pounds, dieting is the only choice open to them as their lifestyle doesn't provide them with the time to join and visit a local gym or swimming pool and going for long, leisurely walks is out of the question. So their only recourse is to work on what they already do and that's to eat.

It's not a bad choice by any means, because you can lead a busy lifestyle and still eat a very healthy diet and control your weight that way. But succeeding in losing a lot of weight in the short term and then keeping it off in the long term requires both a very determined and disciplined mind and a lot of will power or the ability to combine a healthy diet with some form of daily exercise.

But this article is all about weight loss diets and so this is what it will focus on, with fitness and exercise covered in a separate article. So what is the low down on how well certain diets can work for you when you want to lose weight?

How do They Work?

The way that most weight loss diets work is by restricting your intake of calories while providing the essential nutrients that your body needs for normal functioning and to maintain good health. Unfortunately, not all diets are well balanced and even healthy, especially some of the more recently popularized diets that have come about because certain revelations about the way in which the body works has led to the ideas that restricting certain food groups can lead to the body burning more of its stored fat and causing weight loss that way.

These unconventional diets have their merits and while this website author, who is a qualified nutritionist, does not necessarily agree with their use, it would be unfair to exclude them altogether. This is because it has to be realized that not everybody is made equal and while some mainstream diets will work for a majority of people, they will not work for everybody. Some people respond better to certain food group restrictive diets and so this is the reason that no alternative should be left untried.

For the purposes of this article though, we will concentrate on a balanced, natural and healthy, calorie controlled diet as the best means of controlling weight.

Balancing Nutition and Calories

nutrition and caloriesGenerally, your body needs a certain amount of calories, which are nothing more esoteric than units of energy that make it easier to measure, for normal functioning. These functions include the beating of your heart, your lungs breathing oxygen into your body, your digestive system processing the food you eat and a million other essential functions that ensure your body keeps going in good condition. The actual exact amount of calories that you need for this will differ from person to person, so to get a better estimation of the level of calorie intake that will suit you personally, it is best to consult a personal nutritionist or dietician who can measure you from several angles and get a better understanding of you as an individual and what your body's needs are.

On top of the calories that your body will need to consume for normal functioning, it also requires more to be able to do any work. This work is in the form of muscles moving parts of your body, such as your legs when you walk or run, your arms when you lift things and a whole multitude of everyday tasks that require body movement and some exertion. Lastly, you will need further calories to cope with more strenuous workloads, such as if you do a manual job that requires a lot of muscular work or you force your muscles to work in the gym or through playing sports.

All that work adds up to the need for a surprising amount of calories to be taken in through food.

Calories in, Calories Out

Most people who do a desk job and don't use a gym or play any sports will obviously require far fewer calories than those who work their bodies a lot harder. But what the bottom line for dieting is that you must consume no more calories than what your body will use through work. It naturally follows then that if you want to lose weight, you should consume fewer calories than your body will use, forcing it to get the extra energy it needs from its store of body fat, which will gradually become depleted over time and you will therefore lose weight.

You can read more on specific diet programs in the following articles that are also published on weightlossgenius.com for your information.

Our Nutrisystem reviews article covers the main aspects of this popular diet food delivery program. While more specific information can be obtained about the cost of the program and the several plans. We also take a closer look at the meals and how they can help a person to lose weight easily and conveniently.

People often ask the question, "Does Nutrisystem really work?" which this article explains in great depth. We also take a look at the Nutrisystem auto delivery system which needs to be explained to prospective customers so they know what they are getting into before they sign up.

We also cover a South Beach Diet review to give an alternative to dieters looking to encorporate a more hands on approach to losing weight.